Yesterday's New York Times had an article about John McCain looking to pass on tax breaks. Supposedly, the tax breaks include a gas tax break (which I suppose is a good thing) and other tax breaks. Interestingly enough, though, I can't understand how he can give away something that he can't is beyond me. Things do not add up. Yet, John McCain continues to enjoy a free ride while the Democratic Candidates continue to tear each other up every day.
As for what is going on locally, our school district is working to try to save 266 teachers from losing their jobs. The Capistrano Unified School District Foundation has undertaken an effort to raise money from the community to help maintain the reasonable student to teacher ration. There has been a continued debate within the community about some of the policies that the School District may or may not have pursued. But, we are here now. I think we have enough of a strong community that would indeed rally to the cause. But, it pains me greatly when I see us sending $ 10 Billion/Month in cash we do not have for a war that we did not have to fight with no end in sight, yet our school has to recycle water bottles to help raise funds for schools. Our priorities are not in line with what Tom Friedman called, "creating the future".
I am amazed as to how George W. Bush is not being held accountable for all that he has done. All the stories on what is going on with the stress and the suicide rate due to repeated combat tours worries me. When will the suffering end? When will we focus on the right things? Who truly knows what the right thing is these days?
Showing posts with label George W. Bush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George W. Bush. Show all posts
4/16/2008
3/05/2008
What a Day....amazing!!!.
Well, John McCain is officially now the presumptive Republican Nominee. George W. Bush endorsed him today. I envy George W. Bush. For a man who has presided over such a disaster of a Presidency, he has a lot of nerve to go before the people and basically tell the people that they should accept another 4 years of the same. Their time has passed. I don't see anything that tells me otherwise, right now.
Meantime, the Democrats are still at it. Senator Clinton fought back, yet again. The fight goes on. What I am fearful of is that this fight will embolden the Republicans and once again we will have four years of Republican Rule. John McCain has said he will run a "respectful" campaign. For the sake of the country, I hope that is the case.
The struggle continues.......
Meantime, the Democrats are still at it. Senator Clinton fought back, yet again. The fight goes on. What I am fearful of is that this fight will embolden the Republicans and once again we will have four years of Republican Rule. John McCain has said he will run a "respectful" campaign. For the sake of the country, I hope that is the case.
The struggle continues.......
1/05/2008
John Bolton Strikes Again!!
Why I even bother with John Bolton is beyond me. But, this man seems to be everywhere these days. He was featured on the BBC regarding a story on the UN. Apparently, the UN has initiated a scheme to teach school children about the UN by teaming with Spiderman. Marvel Comics helped with the scheme. Yet, John Bolton said, "....it is a sign of how desparate they are..." The undermining of the UN and international treaties has been a hallmark of this Adminstration. And Mr. Bolton, more than any other man, is responsible for the profound challenges that the UN continues to have over the past seven years. I would not even know what to say to such a man. Yes, he probably made a profound sacrifice to join the public service. I would have had him stay at one of the Washington Think Tanks and continue his speech making....and I'd probably would read at least one of his position papers. But, to give him power as he enjoyed, was the height of irresponsiblity. John Bolton was not the only one, but one of many who have been responsible for the profound sense of despair that I feel right now. I am confident that the people will rise up and vote for change. I pray that I make the right choice...because the choices are quite tough.....
May we live in interesting times.....
I understood today why I love reading the Financial Times. It had a commentary on the challenges the next President of the United States is going to face. It basically threw George W. Bush under the bus...and boy did he deserve it. As I am reflecting upon our contemporary history, I would like to see how this man will be able to be judged for how much havoc he has brought upon this country. I feel sorry for the next President--whomever that is.
11/06/2007
Pakistan, The War on Terror, Our President and the Challenges....
Pervez Musharraf declared an emergency over the week-end. Pakistan has been going down the path of anarchy for quite some time, now. What this fake democrat did was to further damage the virtually non-existent credibility that the Bush Administration's so-called war on terror had. The Taliban have come back with a vengeance, the cities of Pakistan are becoming unsafe--and yet we think that Musharraf will ride in on a white horse and save the day....How naive we are as a nation to think that all is well in that part of the world....
The so-called War on Terror continues on. But, so far, we seem to be losing. Iraq is not front and center in the news anymore. I have to dig through it. Of course, there is Juan Cole and his daily commentary that is as insightful as ever. The killings, the kidnappings and the displacements do continue on though. Despite the drop, 2007 is still the deadliest in Iraq. At some stage, the draft will have to be introduced to maintain this sustained level of commitment. We cannot sustain this level of commitment and request sacrifices as we have. The political will to implement this is another matter, though. Mr. Bush tried to mollify the Kurds. But, it is tough to ask a country to stay silent when your territory is attacked and your people are killed. When an Israeli soldier was kidnapped by Hezbollah, the Israelis launched a war that destroyed Southern Lebanon with the approval of the United States. The Soldier is yet to be released and Lebanon continues to limp along from crisis to crisis.
As for where it all began, Afghanistan: A suicide bomber attacked in the North of the country, killing a number of Afghan members of Parliament. The tragedy of it is that a number of school children were also killed. As such news comes out of Afghanistan, I think about the comments that Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan (or as Time Magazine once called him The "Mayor of Kabul") made about how great everything is in the country. I wonder how he would explain this tragedy away. The war continues, yet opium production is exceeding expectations. The Taliban have come back with a vengeance. We seem not to have a strategy in place....only more of the same.....
I am just a face in the crowd and at times, a hopeless one. I still believe that we can overcome. I pray that my optimism is justified. The struggle will continue.
The so-called War on Terror continues on. But, so far, we seem to be losing. Iraq is not front and center in the news anymore. I have to dig through it. Of course, there is Juan Cole and his daily commentary that is as insightful as ever. The killings, the kidnappings and the displacements do continue on though. Despite the drop, 2007 is still the deadliest in Iraq. At some stage, the draft will have to be introduced to maintain this sustained level of commitment. We cannot sustain this level of commitment and request sacrifices as we have. The political will to implement this is another matter, though. Mr. Bush tried to mollify the Kurds. But, it is tough to ask a country to stay silent when your territory is attacked and your people are killed. When an Israeli soldier was kidnapped by Hezbollah, the Israelis launched a war that destroyed Southern Lebanon with the approval of the United States. The Soldier is yet to be released and Lebanon continues to limp along from crisis to crisis.
As for where it all began, Afghanistan: A suicide bomber attacked in the North of the country, killing a number of Afghan members of Parliament. The tragedy of it is that a number of school children were also killed. As such news comes out of Afghanistan, I think about the comments that Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan (or as Time Magazine once called him The "Mayor of Kabul") made about how great everything is in the country. I wonder how he would explain this tragedy away. The war continues, yet opium production is exceeding expectations. The Taliban have come back with a vengeance. We seem not to have a strategy in place....only more of the same.....
I am just a face in the crowd and at times, a hopeless one. I still believe that we can overcome. I pray that my optimism is justified. The struggle will continue.
10/14/2007
Is Starbucks dealing with Change? Is Reality Starting to Set in?
This memo from Starbucks' Howard Schultz to his Executive Team (Courtesy: http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/_/2007/02/starbucks_chair_2.html, retrieved October 14, 2007) is an interesting insight into a business visionary who steered this company into what it is today. This, to me, is leadership at its' best. As I finally had a chance to locate this memo, I wonder if anyone in political circles will be able to offer the same mea-copa for their own failings (including the "decider", George W. Bush...) Enjoy...
From: Howard Schultz
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 10:39 AM Pacific Standard Time
To: Jim Donald
Cc: Anne Saunders; Dave Pace; Dorothy Kim; Gerry Lopez; Jim Alling; Ken Lombard; Martin Coles; Michael Casey; Michelle Gass; Paula Boggs; Sandra Taylor
Subject: The Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience
As you prepare for the FY 08 strategic planning process, I want to share some of my thoughts with you.
Over the past ten years, in order to achieve the growth, development, and scale necessary to go from less than 1,000 stores to 13,000 stores and beyond, we have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have lead to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand.
Many of these decisions were probably right at the time, and on their own merit would not have created the dilution of the experience; but in this case, the sum is much greater and, unfortunately, much more damaging than the individual pieces. For example, when we went to automatic espresso machines, we solved a major problem in terms of speed of service and efficiency. At the same time, we overlooked the fact that we would remove much of the romance and theatre that was in play with the use of the La Marzocca machines. This specific decision became even more damaging when the height of the machines, which are now in thousands of stores, blocked the visual sight line the customer previously had to watch the drink being made, and for the intimate experience with the barista. This, coupled with the need for fresh roasted coffee in every North America city and every international market, moved us toward the decision and the need for flavor locked packaging. Again, the right decision at the right time, and once again I believe we overlooked the cause and the affect of flavor lock in our stores. We achieved fresh roasted bagged coffee, but at what cost? The loss of aroma -- perhaps the most powerful non-verbal signal we had in our stores; the loss of our people scooping fresh coffee from the bins and grinding it fresh in front of the customer, and once again stripping the store of tradition and our heritage? Then we moved to store design. Clearly we have had to streamline store design to gain efficiencies of scale and to make sure we had the ROI on sales to investment ratios that would satisfy the financial side of our business. However, one of the results has been stores that no longer have the soul of the past and reflect a chain of stores vs. the warm feeling of a neighborhood store. Some people even call our stores sterile, cookie cutter, no longer reflecting the passion our partners feel about our coffee. In fact, I am not sure people today even know we are roasting coffee. You certainly can't get the message from being in our stores. The merchandise, more art than science, is far removed from being the merchant that I believe we can be and certainly at a minimum should support the foundation of our coffee heritage. Some stores don't have coffee grinders, French presses from Bodum, or even coffee filters.
Now that I have provided you with a list of some of the underlying issues that I believe we need to solve, let me say at the outset that we have all been part of these decisions. I take full responsibility myself, but we desperately need to look into the mirror and realize it's time to get back to the core and make the changes necessary to evoke the heritage, the tradition, and the passion that we all have for the true Starbucks experience. While the current state of affairs for the most part is self induced, that has lead to competitors of all kinds, small and large coffee companies, fast food operators, and mom and pops, to position themselves in a way that creates awareness, trial and loyalty of people who previously have been Starbucks customers. This must be eradicated.
I have said for 20 years that our success is not an entitlement and now it's proving to be a reality. Let's be smarter about how we are spending our time, money and resources. Let's get back to the core. Push for innovation and do the things necessary to once again differentiate Starbucks from all others. We source and buy the highest quality coffee. We have built the most trusted brand in coffee in the world, and we have an enormous responsibility to both the people who have come before us and the 150,000 partners and their families who are relying on our stewardship.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge all that you do for Starbucks. Without your passion and commitment, we would not be where we are today.
Onward…
From: Howard Schultz
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 10:39 AM Pacific Standard Time
To: Jim Donald
Cc: Anne Saunders; Dave Pace; Dorothy Kim; Gerry Lopez; Jim Alling; Ken Lombard; Martin Coles; Michael Casey; Michelle Gass; Paula Boggs; Sandra Taylor
Subject: The Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience
As you prepare for the FY 08 strategic planning process, I want to share some of my thoughts with you.
Over the past ten years, in order to achieve the growth, development, and scale necessary to go from less than 1,000 stores to 13,000 stores and beyond, we have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have lead to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand.
Many of these decisions were probably right at the time, and on their own merit would not have created the dilution of the experience; but in this case, the sum is much greater and, unfortunately, much more damaging than the individual pieces. For example, when we went to automatic espresso machines, we solved a major problem in terms of speed of service and efficiency. At the same time, we overlooked the fact that we would remove much of the romance and theatre that was in play with the use of the La Marzocca machines. This specific decision became even more damaging when the height of the machines, which are now in thousands of stores, blocked the visual sight line the customer previously had to watch the drink being made, and for the intimate experience with the barista. This, coupled with the need for fresh roasted coffee in every North America city and every international market, moved us toward the decision and the need for flavor locked packaging. Again, the right decision at the right time, and once again I believe we overlooked the cause and the affect of flavor lock in our stores. We achieved fresh roasted bagged coffee, but at what cost? The loss of aroma -- perhaps the most powerful non-verbal signal we had in our stores; the loss of our people scooping fresh coffee from the bins and grinding it fresh in front of the customer, and once again stripping the store of tradition and our heritage? Then we moved to store design. Clearly we have had to streamline store design to gain efficiencies of scale and to make sure we had the ROI on sales to investment ratios that would satisfy the financial side of our business. However, one of the results has been stores that no longer have the soul of the past and reflect a chain of stores vs. the warm feeling of a neighborhood store. Some people even call our stores sterile, cookie cutter, no longer reflecting the passion our partners feel about our coffee. In fact, I am not sure people today even know we are roasting coffee. You certainly can't get the message from being in our stores. The merchandise, more art than science, is far removed from being the merchant that I believe we can be and certainly at a minimum should support the foundation of our coffee heritage. Some stores don't have coffee grinders, French presses from Bodum, or even coffee filters.
Now that I have provided you with a list of some of the underlying issues that I believe we need to solve, let me say at the outset that we have all been part of these decisions. I take full responsibility myself, but we desperately need to look into the mirror and realize it's time to get back to the core and make the changes necessary to evoke the heritage, the tradition, and the passion that we all have for the true Starbucks experience. While the current state of affairs for the most part is self induced, that has lead to competitors of all kinds, small and large coffee companies, fast food operators, and mom and pops, to position themselves in a way that creates awareness, trial and loyalty of people who previously have been Starbucks customers. This must be eradicated.
I have said for 20 years that our success is not an entitlement and now it's proving to be a reality. Let's be smarter about how we are spending our time, money and resources. Let's get back to the core. Push for innovation and do the things necessary to once again differentiate Starbucks from all others. We source and buy the highest quality coffee. We have built the most trusted brand in coffee in the world, and we have an enormous responsibility to both the people who have come before us and the 150,000 partners and their families who are relying on our stewardship.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge all that you do for Starbucks. Without your passion and commitment, we would not be where we are today.
Onward…
10/12/2007
Silent Exile
Jake Price has just had a series of powerful images of Iraqi exiles....These are the images...another result of the disastrous decision by "the decider" ,George W. Bush:
http://www.pricephotos.net/single%20stories/silent_exile/silent_exile.htm
The images are heart-breaking and left my speechless.....
http://www.pricephotos.net/single%20stories/silent_exile/silent_exile.htm
The images are heart-breaking and left my speechless.....
3/29/2007
Iraq...The Nightmare Goes On.....
The Congress has finally begun to live up to what the Constitution envisioned it to do. We in the United States do not have Kings. We settled this issue over 200 years ago. Mr. Bush seems to have forgotten that. The President has promised a veto and a compromise will eventually have to be reached. But, at least the President is being reminded that he has to listen.
What bothers me is the the fact that John McCain and Joe Lieberman are taking to the Airways (and say on the floor of the Senate) that the Plan is starting to work. I don't doubt their patriotism or their committment to this country. But, I don't know what planet they're living in. If the "surge" is working, why is it that the Government has ordered all US Personnel to wear protective armor. Juan Cole, in his blog today, reports on a very disturbing development:
(Source: http://www.juancole.com, retrieved March 30, 2007)
"The US embassy in Baghdad circulated a memo to all Americans working for the US government in the Green Zone. It ordered them to wear protective gear whenever they were outside in the Green Zone, including just moving from one building to another. Guerrillas have managed to lob a number of rockets into the area in recent days, and killed one US GI on Tuesday.
The Green Zone is therefore actually the Red Zone. I.e., it is no longer an area of good security contrasting to what is around it. Senator McCain was more wrong than can easily be imagined. Not only can American officials not just stroll through Baghdad districts unarmed and unprotected by armor, but they can't even move that way from one building to the next inside the Green Zone..."
When will we see an end to this nightmare? What is worst that Iran is being targeted especially with what Chris Dodd and Tom Lantos have apparently just introduced. It seems to me that talking will achieve a hell of a lot more. But, the folks in Washington seem not to want to buy into it.
What bothers me is the the fact that John McCain and Joe Lieberman are taking to the Airways (and say on the floor of the Senate) that the Plan is starting to work. I don't doubt their patriotism or their committment to this country. But, I don't know what planet they're living in. If the "surge" is working, why is it that the Government has ordered all US Personnel to wear protective armor. Juan Cole, in his blog today, reports on a very disturbing development:
(Source: http://www.juancole.com, retrieved March 30, 2007)
"The US embassy in Baghdad circulated a memo to all Americans working for the US government in the Green Zone. It ordered them to wear protective gear whenever they were outside in the Green Zone, including just moving from one building to another. Guerrillas have managed to lob a number of rockets into the area in recent days, and killed one US GI on Tuesday.
The Green Zone is therefore actually the Red Zone. I.e., it is no longer an area of good security contrasting to what is around it. Senator McCain was more wrong than can easily be imagined. Not only can American officials not just stroll through Baghdad districts unarmed and unprotected by armor, but they can't even move that way from one building to the next inside the Green Zone..."
When will we see an end to this nightmare? What is worst that Iran is being targeted especially with what Chris Dodd and Tom Lantos have apparently just introduced. It seems to me that talking will achieve a hell of a lot more. But, the folks in Washington seem not to want to buy into it.
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