NYTimes: Who Will Tell The People?

I read this op-ed in the New York Times and was compelled to share. Click on the title above to read the full article; highlights are below:

Our president’s latest energy initiative was to go to Saudi Arabia and beg King Abdullah to give us a little relief on gasoline prices. I guess there was some justice in that. When you, the president, after 9/11, tell the country to go shopping instead of buckling down to break our addiction to oil, it ends with you, the president, shopping the world for discount gasoline.

We are not as powerful as we used to be because over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to subprime values: “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years.”

I'm worried that the youth today—not just in America, but in Taiwan as well (and quite possible the world over)mdash;get the wrong message. Buy the bag, the shoes, live the celebrity lifestyle - but how is that possible with average salaries?

If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.

How could this be? We are a great power. How could we be borrowing money from Singapore? Maybe it’s because Singapore is investing billions of dollars, from its own savings, into infrastructure and scientific research to attract the world’s best talent — including Americans.

Nothing like a little travel to give you an idea of how we're keeping up with the Joneses. Thailand's new airport in Bangkok is great, far nicer than LAX, and it's a developing country.

Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, just told a Senate hearing that...“China, India, Singapore ... have adopted biomedical research and the building of biotechnology clusters as national goals. Suddenly, those who train in America have significant options elsewhere.”

America is still a truly wonderful place to get an advanced education. I believe American universities are at the top of their league. In fact, a lot of America's growth can probably be contributed to those who trained in American and chose to stay. But if they have options elsewhere...?

Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he’ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don’t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I’m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV — at 8 p.m. — from the White House East Room.

Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.

I don’t know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn’t matter is dead wrong.

Mist in the midst of hills

You know those classical Chinese paintings where there are layers of discrete clouds in the midst of hills? This morning when I got up to take my shower, the view outside the window was just that. Very pretty. Unfortunately, by the time I got dressed and got my camera, the mist had already rolled in. But it was a great way to start the day.

Organic vegan chocolate chip cookies

Last night I came home late for work and really wanted to bake, but not put in a lot of effort. I had a Goodbaker mix that I've been wanting to try, so that's what I used. It was really simple - empty the bag, add a little oil and water, mix, and scoop out.

The organic vegan chocolate chip cookies were really good!


They did taste healthy, in a really good way. There was good texture, depth of flavor, and enough salt to contrast against the sweetness. I'd definitely get them again.

On Hillary and Barack

Last summer I was torn. I'd read Barack Obama's book, Dreams from My Father, and found him to be a compelling politician. One of the most compelling and inspiring politicians, in fact. Especially when most politicians say the same old circular nothings, he actually had something interesting to say.

On the other hand, I respected Hillary's tenacity and hard work. As a feminist, the thought of the U.S.'s first female president was particularly appealing. And she seemed to have the upper-hand - she was consistently ranking higher in the polls, by about 20 points, if I remember correctly.

So both candidates were appealing. I was torn over who to support.

After witnessing the primaries so far, I have definitely become a Barack Obama fan. Say what you will about his experience, but running a primary campaign ought to reveal a lot about a politician's managerial skills, and he has certainly run a better campaign. He's come back from behind last summer to the leader in pledged delegates by building strong grassroots organizations.

As reported by numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, the Clinton campaign didn't have a Plan B, they thought they would have the nomination wrapped up by February 5.

Last week she told reporters that she “had no idea” that the Texas primary system was “so bizarre” (it’s a primary-caucus hybrid), adding that she had “people trying to understand it as we speak.”

Hello? Aren't you supposed to know these things when you run for office?

Another New York Times article quotes her senior adviser, Harold Ickes, as saying:

“It’s hard to draw conclusions about her management style because she is, in fact, not the manager of her campaign.”

Um...but you're the candidate. You ought to have some management of your own campaign. The Washington Post has an article on the incredible dissent within the Clinton team.

In contrast (and this is a different, marketing-based perspective) - Obama has a "coherent, top-to-bottom, 360-degree [branding] system at work." Newsweek quotes graphic designer Michael Bierut as saying:

The thing that sort of flabbergasts me as a professional graphic designer is that, somewhere along the way, they decided that all their graphics would basically be done in the same typeface, which is this typeface called Gotham. If you look at one of his rallies, every single non-handmade sign is in that font. Every single one of them. And they're all perfectly spaced and perfectly arranged. Trust me. I've done graphics for events --and I know what it takes to have rally after rally without someone saying, "Oh, we ran out of signs, let's do a batch in Arial." It just doesn't seem to happen. There's an absolute level of control that I have trouble achieving with my corporate clients.

I've done corporate communications. I know how hard it is to stick to the branding. There's management skill there.

Finally, Hillary's behind. For her so-called wins last week in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island, she and Barack are where they were before those elections. If you do the math, it's highly unlikely that she's going to get enough delegates to win the nomination before the Democratic convention.

Again, it's her fault. As reported by the Rolling Stone, the Obama campaign decided to invest in states like Idaho. Clinton apparently didn't have one staffer, there. As a result,

Obama won with eighty percent of the vote, netting fifteen of the state's eighteen delegates. While Clinton was spending lavishly to win New Jersey with 600,000 votes, Obama more than offset his delegate loss there simply by mobilizing 17,000 Idahoans to caucus for him.

Again, there's another example of vision, strategy, and management.

Overall, he's run a better campaign. He's been able to last in the race as long as he's had, and be ahead in the delegate counts, because he had the foresight to have multiple plans for varying situations, monitor and use his resources carefully, and be strategic. Don't you want to have that kind of person be the President of the United States?

On a final note, here's two more interesting articles. One, marketer Seth Godin's perspective on sunk costs and quitting, and two, David Sirota's analysis of Clinton's "electability" argument.

Biofuels not as clean as it may seem

The New York Times ran an article yesterday on pollutants from the production of biofuel, the latest in a reminder that corn and soybeans may not be the answer to our fuel consumption. I've also read that because of increasing demand for corn-based ethanol, the price of corn (and thus, tortillas) - staples of the Mexican diet - have increased drastically, making it harder for ordinary people to afford their traditional groceries.

La Dolce Vita

It's almost February, and we leave for Sri Lanka on Friday for an early start to the Lunar New Year holiday. Meanwhile, here is a photo of Malapascua, a small island off of Cebu in the Philippines, where we spent the western New Year's.



While there, we ate at the best restaurant on the island, La Dolce Vita. We were so busy enjoying the food, I forgot to take photos. Thankfully, this blogger did.

uniqlock...like unique clock

Talk about clever advertising for the holidays. Uniqlo has a video clock with cheery music and sweaters and cashmere that just look so light and comfy and cozy.