Random Thoughts of a Muddled Mind

Let’s see if this is going to work, or if it is going to cause me more pain…..CNN

Okay…I just watched the new Playstation III commercial…the one with the doll and the machine in a room.  Anyone else think that this thing is just creepy?

As they started the third game of the World Series in St. Louis, the game time temperature was 43 degrees….not exactly weather that brings to mind sunshine and day/night doubleheaders. My guess is that players wish it were a bit warmer…and while I am a baseball guy, I am also a bit of a political junkie as well…so with that in mind….

For those of you who are convinced that we are in the midst of runaway global warming…just a few reminders. Global temperature rises and falls in fairly predictable cycles. (I am not an expert, but I can read what the experts write..) To remind everyone, the global temperature was actually much higher during the Middle Ages…and for those of you old enough to remember, back in the ’70s, the worry was something else.

While some have declared the debate on global warming debate ended, others continue to look at the issue, with most agreeing that temperatures have risen, but not necessarily pointing the finger at people and their actions as the cause. Some have actually taken on the arguments of those who declare the debate completed in a fairly straight forward manner.

Agree with the theory or not, since when do scientists declare any debate to be completely settled?

I thought one or two of you would wonder where I got the numbers for the formula I put together on the board today…here is the source.

The current debate in Washington concerns the comments by the President dealing with the issue of changing tactics for dealing with Iraq. He has consistently stated that he will not change the strategy, but that tactics would be analyzed and adjusted as necessary. Last night, during a discussion, I realized that the person I was having the discussion with did not understand the difference between the two terms. They are not synonymous.

Strategy is immutable; it is a Big Picture look at a problem that focuses upon the entire forest and not individual trees. Military concepts such as objective, offensive, simplicity, unity of command, mass, economy of force, maneuver, surprise, and security represent the timeless principles of strategy. Why do you think Sun Tzu’s The Art of War has been a best seller for thousands of years and translated into every imaginable language? Because it teaches strategy and the lessons of strategy are timeless. They are bound to our very nature as humans.Tactics vary with circumstances and, especially, technology. If I were to teach you how to be a soldier during the American Revolution, you would learn how to form and maneuver in lines, perform the 27 steps in loading and firing a musket, and how to ride and tend to a horse. Naturally, yesterday’s tactics won’t win today’s wars – but yesterday’s strategies still win today’s wars… and will win them tomorrow and into the future.

So, tactics present a Small Picture perspective where individual trees are in focus but the Big Picture of the forest is not. Just as your eyes have to look up from this page to refocus on the larger room you’re reading it in, so strategy and tactics require a different focus.(source)

Not understanding the difference colors the debate, and creates a framework for discussion that does not allow for an honest assessment of the situation as it now exists. The frequently made argument is that the President is inflexible, and unwilling to address changes that need to be made…but that just does not seem to be the case.

“One must change one’s tactics every 10 years if one wishes to maintain one’s superiority …”(source)

A recent blog by Professor John Mark Reynolds highlights a coming problem for our nation.

Early this year, at back to school night, I was asked,

“Why are you having the students do these blogs?”

…my answer was that this was an opportunity to teach students to read, analyze and then compose intelligent, well articulated arguments. I know some of you do not enjoy blogging, oh well…I know you NEED to do this. I was convinced a couple of years ago, after reading the book In, But Not Of by Hugh Hewitt, that every serious student needed to blog. We do not do this to build social skills, you have those. We do this because you need to be thinkers…real thinkers, capable of reading and understanding high end, challenging material, analyzing it, dissecting it, and then making informed comments on what you have read. We have plenty of people in this world who parrot whatever they read or see on television…we don’t need any more.

Those who have these skills will likely be the leaders of the future…and the leaders will be the one’s most likely to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

The Tigers and the Cardinals (Sorry ARod…I was sort of hoping for your guys to make it) will face off Saturday night in Detroit for the first game of the 2006 World Series.

The last time these two teams hooked up in a World Series, it was one of the best in history.

The ‘68 Cardinal team was a great blend of talent, with names like Gibson, Carlton, Maris, Flood, McCarver, Brock, and Cepeda. I am sure glad this years team doesn’t have Bob Gibson on it.

A couple of interesting (to me, a baseball geek) things will happen in this series. Jeff Weaver and Juan Encarnacion will face off against the team that traded them away, and Scott Spiezio will likely come off the bench for the Cardinals against the Tigers, just like his Dad did back in the 1968 series.

With the November elections rapidly approaching, I find it interesting that House Democrats plan to

jump-start our economy and reform our economic policy, designing it to address the needs of working families.

source
Jump-start it?

We are currently looking at a Dow of over 12,000…an unemployment level of just 4.6%…just to remind everyone…economist consider 5% or less to be the full employment. Additionally, we are in the midst of 19 consecutive quarters of GDP growth.

The term “jump start” brings to mind the idea of utilizing a defibulator on a patient who has no heartbeat…but this patient has a strong heartbeat, and “jumpstarting” or defibulating a healthy patient is a great way to stop the heart…which is usually a bad thing for the patient. The economy is solid…and as Bill Clinton so eloquently stated…

It’s the economy, stupid

source

Analysis

This economy is not broken…so why fix it?

Ever once in awhile, the really smart people write down important things for us mere mortals to read. Victor David Hanson is one of those people, and this column makes some very important points about the debate currently being fueled by several books on the market.

First, note the disturbing pattern in this resorting to anonymity. Usually the unidentified source supports the author’s critique — and thus is almost always critical of the present policy in Iraq. Rarely do these journalists quote unnamed sources who dissent from their own views, although there are surely pro-U.S. Iraq policy candid voices among the thousands of retired generals.

Objectivity requires that both sides of an argument be examined. You may not agree with both sides, but only looking at one side of the argument tends to a predetermined outcome.

He also takes on the frequently repeated comment that the current administration has no plan for winning Iraq…(I still remember CNN running a story about the fact that people believed that to be true…and then placing this right beside it.)…Davis’ article gives a unique view of what needs to happen.

You probably heard me yelling when Magglio Ordonez took Oakland pitcher Hudson Street’s pitch over the left field fence to secure a 6-3 win, and secure a spot in the 2006 World Series.

Twenty-two years ago I was a bandwagon fan of the Detroit Tigers as they defeated the San Diego Padres in the 1984 World Series (I spent that summer in Toledo, Ohio, which is just 40 miles from Tiger Stadium, and it was a magical season). Since then, there has been one team that has had my alliegence. I suffered through the loss to the Twins in the ‘87 ALCS (I still hate the Twins for that one)…through the 13 years of losing records (including 1996, a team which is considered by ESPN to be the second worst in MLB history, and the 2003 team, which lost 119 games…119)

For now, all of that is a distant memory. After winning 95 games, struggling through a late season swoon, and losing the division lead on the last day of the season, the Tigers have now won 7 of 8, beating “The Payroll”, and then sweeping the Oakland A’s. The only bad thing now, is that we have to wait until next Saturday for the Series to begin.