Four Ad hominems and Me

I read something the other day that I liked: "Very Serious Narrative (VSN) will be trumped by Easily Checked Facts (ECF) every time." Ideally, that should be true, but I've bumped up against a couple of difficulties while pondering this.
My Dad, as I have mentioned before, has a proclivity toward chain emails. Usually, these emails contain a lot of Culturally Pervasive Misinformation (CPM), and CPM can often be dealt with using ECF. But the question always comes to mind: If the truth is so easily found, why does the false keep popping up in my inbox?
But what caught my attention this morning was that somehow I have been lumped in with four other blogs, the writers of which say things like

"Anyone who has read a newspaper or paid attention to world events–even only occasionally–in the last ten years knows that the Muslim world is a savage place that will never be civilized and whose only version of “democracy” is to elect fellow savages. Anyone who needed the Muslim invasion of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, last week as a wake up call should go back to sleep. You simply haven’t been paying attention . . . "

and

"These's protests, like the supposed "anti-war" protests, are usually a bunch of children of upper-middle class families who convince those who've never made anything of themselves that capitalism is to blame for their sorry condition. Yeah right! Just another excuse to find drugs and maybe a hook up for tonight. Dumb hippies!"

In these kinds of cases, it's not just a matter of misinformation and lack of fact-checking. These are expressions of deep-seated prejudices which they justify using current events. It would take a book -- or several books, perhaps -- to explain that these current events have long histories going back decades, and even then they would fail to understand the motivations of the people they are judging.

No, people are going to believe what they want, and they will seek out others who will confirm or justify the things they believe regardless of the data, the numbers, the history or the evidence. To do otherwise would take too much effort.

Inside Job Insider

At the Oscars back in February, the movie that won the award for best documentary was a film by Charles Ferguson called "Inside Job," which detailed the causes and effects of the 2008 economic crisis. By coïncidence, I had begun trying to understand the whole crisis and macroeconomics through my own reading. One book, which I am currently in the middle of, is entitled "All The Devils Are Here," which covers the same topic.
I really wanted to see this film with my Dad, but I missed it in the theater when it was showing at Quail Springs. Later I found the DVD at SunCoast, and then at Target, but I never had the money to buy it when I was there.
Then last Wednesday I found four copies at the Edmond Library. I checked it out and watched it that same morning. It blew me away.
Saturday night I took it over to my parents' house, and we watched it as a family. When it was done, my Dad said, "Everyone in the world needs to watch this movie." The next morning, my Mom called to ask what the title was again because my Dad was going to Target.
The movie, essentially, is about how deregulation over the last 30 years has allowed powerful banks to grow more powerful by breaking basic rules of sound finance. So I thought it was funny, and I know my Dad would think so too, that The Financial Times reported in a front page article that Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan, was balking at new banking regulations, calling them "un-American." Too bad, Jamie.
Tonight I saw on my blogroll that Paul Krugman has something to say about it, too:

"September 12, 2011, 9:32 am
Satire Is Dead

"Last month I had a little fun with Jamie Dimon, putting in his mouth the words of the corrupt, embezzling banker in John Ford’s Stagecoach:

"I don’t know what the government is coming to. Instead of protecting businessmen, it pokes its nose into business! Why, they’re even talking now about having *bank* examiners. As if we bankers don’t know how to run our own banks! Why, at home I have a letter from a popinjay official saying they were going to inspect my books.
"I have a slogan that should be blazoned on every newspaper in this country: America for the Americans! The government must not interfere with business! Reduce taxes! Our national debt is something shocking. Over one billion dollars a year! What this country needs is a businessman for president!

"But today I read this: Jamie Dimon, CEO Of JPMorgan Chase, Calls International Bank Rules ‘Anti-American’.

Satire is dead."

Turmoil

I'm upset with a dear friend.
Last night he posted an invitation on Facebook to sign an online "petition" to rob 'Group A' of their basic civil rights because of their superficial resemblance to 'Group B'. This apparently is justified because the acts of Group B were so heinous that anyone who looks like them should be viewed with suspicion and contempt. Failure to oppress Group A might make Group C feel bad, even though Group A is in actuality a subset of Group C. Group A has no actual connection with Group B, in spite of the specious claims made by a cable "news" organization which are reiterated in this petition. The project that Group A is working on is being entirely mischaracterized in order to provide a rationale for the petition.
I have other friends who would gladly sign this petition, and that's just the way they are. But this friend surprized me because I have never known him to be bigoted or unjust. It's very disturbing.

A Well Written Police Report

Augusta, GA

Orville Smith, a store manager for Best Buy in Augusta , Georgia , told police he observed a male customer, later identified as Tyrone Jackson of Augusta , on surveillance cameras putting a laptop computer under his jacket. When confronted the man became irate, knocked down an employee, drew a knife and ran for the door.

Outside on the sidewalk were four Marines collecting toys for the "Toys for Tots" program. Smith said the Marines stopped the man, but he stabbed one of the Marines, Cpl. Phillip Duggan, in the back; the injury did not appear to be severe.

After Police and an ambulance arrived at the scene Cpl. Duggan was transported for treatment.

The subject was also transported to the local hospital with two broken arms, a broken ankle, a broken leg, several missing teeth, possible broken ribs, multiple contusions, assorted lacerations, a broken nose and a broken jaw -- injuries he sustained when he slipped and fell off of the curb after stabbing the Marine.

Breaking the Rules

I'm not allowed to blog about work anymore. However...

Happy New Year

The one and only art show that I've done this spring is over, and that frees up a lot of time to work on the backlog of projects piling up around here. As one of my co-workers put it, "Wow, the day after the show is like New Year's for you." An apt description.

So I got the studio cleaned up, mostly, and the show stuff put away, and most of the bookkeeping done, and I sat down at the drafting table. Gaby came in and asked what I was doing, and I said, "Just trying to figure out what to do next." He asked me what kinds of things I needed to be doing, and I started on the list. When I mentioned staining the tables for the living room, he said, "Ooh! Do that one!"

The tables in question are a trio of tables (an occasional table, a coffee table, and one of those tall skinny tables that goes in the entry or behind the couch) that I picked up at a garage sale last summer for $50. They have beautiful styling, but when I found them they were painted with a two tone finish, the paint on the tops of the tables was scratched, and they smelled like cat piss.

Last October, when my friend Ted was staying with us, he worked on stripping the tables and managed to get two of them done. After it got too cold to work outside, the project was put away. Ted got a job, his own place, and then moved to Oregon to escape his ankle-biting girlfriend, leaving us with doubts that he would finish this project.

Yesterday, I went to the Wally-world and got a can of dark walnut stain. My new framing table in the studio provided a lot of space to work, and I managed to get the occasional table coated twice, and the top of the coffee table coated once. The underside of the coffee table has one coat as of this morning, as well as a second coat on the top. They look good.

Staining furniture is a messy job.

I'm not sure when my next day off will be, but that's the day I'll be applying the polyeurethane, weather permitting. I'll give that a week to dry, and then we'll move them into the living room.

Advice from my Dad

While cleaning out my office today, I came across this list of rules for success in your career and thought it would be good to pass it your way.

Buckleys 18 Rules for Political Success

1. You need to exhibit good performance that pleases your supervisors.

2. You need to manage your career.

Be active in influencing decisions about yourself.

Pure effort is not always rewarded!

Don't rely on the kindness of strangers. Most individuals in an organization are concerned only with themselves.

3. Always take high visibility, high risk jobs.

If you fail, you will at least be recognized for your attempt.

If you succeed, you become the rising star of the organization.

4. Develop a sponsor within an organization.

Find a mentor. Find someone to help you navigate the waters of the organization -- someone with honesty, integrity and political savvy.

5. Nominate yourself for positions within the organization.

Modesty is never a virtue in the long run.

6. Always leave an organization on good terms.

Regardless of how bad it is, bite your tongue before you badmouth it.

7. Be aware of Politics.

You need to be aware of politics to be successful. Do politics well.

8. Realize your dependence on others and utilize it.

Nobody gets ahead alone.

Don’t forget those you depended on or those who depended on you.

9. Everybody has ethical dilemmas.

No research can show that dishonesty achieves goals faster.

Unethical decisions will always catch up with you.

10. Don’t gossip.

Don’t listen to it - don’t repeat it.

If you cant say something nice, don’t say anything.

11. Be persistent. Do not give up.

12. Failure occurs.

Everybody fails. You have to learn to live with it, and don’t let it destroy you.

13. Be Positive.

14. Do not engage in ingratiating tactics.

Don’t be an “ass-kisser”; its so transparent its resented.

15. Life is not always fair.

Don’t keep score.

Don’t feel like you are owed something.

18. Think before you speak.

If its worth saying, its worth thinking about.

17. Do not embarrass people.

Don’t use what you know to harm others; it only creates enemies.

18. Always wear a smile.

During my 48 years of working various jobs, I can say all these rules apply; regardless what kind of work it was.

I believe the most important element is rule #1, but in order to do that, you need to keep the other rules.

Reflecting back on all the jobs I had where I worked for someone else, the success came by supporting and making your boss look good. In all cases, the boss was more concerned about how he/she looked to his/her boss, and was less concerned about how the employee felt about it all (Rule 2). If there was someone in the organization that was a problem, they would find a way to get rid of the problem. As a manager, I had some experience with this. I lost track of the number of people I fired when I worked for AOL. I fired one while working for Honeywell.

Regardinging rule 3, while working for Honeywell, I took a job that my peers said they "would not touch with a 10 foot pole!" It was a new job and did not have any parameters set on how to do it. Therefore I was free to determine how the job was to be accomplished. I was successful in putting together a program and hiring a staff that resulted in recognition throughout corporate Honeywell. (That is why the SETH THOMAS ships clock hangs on my office wall. It was for OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE in this program.) But I had to get support from key people in Honeywell to make it happen (Rule 4).

When working with people, at all levels in an organization, make people feel good about themselves. They will want to keep you around! But don't forget to promote yourself (rule 5). And always wear a smile (rule 18).