Smart people can do really dumb things

By all accounts, Rafael Correa is a smart guy.  If you've never heard of him, he's the President of Ecuador.  For the geographically-challenged, Ecuador is next to Peru, and got its name from the equator.  Peru has been mining silver and gold since the days of the Incas.  Since geology doesn't respect national borders, there's a lot of that stuff in Ecuador, too. 

Back in 1999, Ecuador finally got tired of being mired in poverty, and the new government (they have a new one every year or two) invited foreign companies to come in and explore for its untapped mineral wealth.  Many companies came in and exploration has been going quite well.

Enter Mr. Correa, who has often been described as a leftist and close ally of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.  That may or may not be correct, but part of that perception was due to Chavez making a speech at the UN in New York, in which he compared our president George W. Bush to Satan.

At the time, Correa was campaigning for the presidency, and when asked about Chavez' comments, he said it was Satan who should feel offended.  Because, he explained, Satan may be evil, but at least he's smart.

I won't argue that point; in fact I think Correa may have been on to something.  Unlike Chavez, Correa is no thug.  He speaks four languages, and has a Ph.D. in Economics.   However...

Last week, Correa and Assembly President Acosta passed a mandate that would expropriate (that's a fancy word that means "steal") as much as 90% of the land from the foreign companies that staked property back in 2000, with no compensation or right of appeal.  Correa also ordered all exploration work suspended for 180 days, thereby throwing thousands of people out of work for six months.

My impression is that Ecuador is a rich country that insists on being poor by electing men like Correa and Acosta.  I'm also starting to wonder how many box tops Correa had to send in the get his Ph.D.  (Just kidding, it's from the Univeristy of Illinois.)

That's why people are rioting in Ecuador now.  Because Correa and Acosta (who is an environmentalist) want to preserve their country's pristine environment while the people starve.

The runner-up for Dumb Thing of the Week goes to an executive of one of the foreign companies that just got ripped off.  When asked by angry shareholders WTF just happened, he said this:

- he said the mandate was completely ridiculous in its lack of clarity.

- he said there appeared to be some serious backtracking going on down there.

- he said if things stand as they the media has portayed them to be, Correa is gone immediately and there will be a mass exodus of foreign investors. He said Correa is practical and will not allow this to happen.

- he said he has heard there are more protesters coming in from the outlying areas.

- he said he doesn't care if the state takes a portion of the company as it is really just another word for tax.

- FIPA is getting involved.

- the Chinese are aware of what is happening and want clarity and are not happy.

- he said Correa is smart and cunning and his theory is that he is going lay this whole mess on Acosta to get him removed and Correa will look like the white knight.

- this whole mess was under the guise of appeasing a few country folk who like their environment.

- he said now there is nowhere for Correa to hide and things are only going to get worse.

- he said Correa now needs to find a fall guy to prevent him looking like a buffoon....I think Acosta fills the bill here. He said Correa is an egomaniac who will hang on to power at all costs and therefore he has no choice but to fix this mess.

Nice stuff to say when your bosses are about to start negotiating with the buffoon and the egomaniac who just ripped them off.  I think that guy is gonna have some splainin' to do!  And he probably won't be so candid with shareholders in the future, assuming he still has a job.

The moral of the story: If you walk into a library, and ask to see a copy of the country's constitution, and the librarian says, "sorry, we don't carry periodicals," then don't invest any money in the country.

What the @!%#&*%!! Happened to Flight Service?

My subject line is the topic of a meeting at Oakland Airport scheduled for April 21.  The actual title of the gathering is:

"Everything you wanted to know about the new @!%#& Flight Service Stations, but couldn't find anyone to ask!"

I'm not making this up, either.  Here is the link:

http://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/event_details.aspx?eid=19050

The meeting will be run by a Lockheed Martin PR rep, who will explain how LM managed to totally screw up Flight Service through its own incomptence and greed.  Well, actually I imagine he'll try to spin that to convince everyone they're getting better service now than in the old days when they could actually get through on the phone, and filing a flight plan wasn't like playing Russian Roulette.

That is one assignment I would not want to be tasked with.  But, to quote the announcement's description of Fred Gibbs:

He can usually answer any and all your questions. Fred says, "BRING IT ON"!

Gee, I hope ol' Fred remembers to wear his bulletproof vest that evening.  Out of the 100+ pilots at that meeting, chances are at least one or two might not have received good service lately.

I won't be at the meeting.  I admit it holds a certain morbid fascination, kind of like taking a peek at the aftermath of a car accident, wanting to see just how bad it really is.  But that part of my life is over, and I'm glad I got out when I did.  My last night on the job, I worked until midnight.  Technicians were all over the place, waiting to start ripping systems out of the walls.

I was about one hour from retirement when Seattle Center called, and asked me how they could get in touch with us for traffic at Crescent City.  I told him to call the same line as usual, and with any luck, someone at Prescott, AZ would answer the line.  It was supposed to be transparent.  He said I didn't sound too confident.  No, I told him, I'm not.  There was no doubt in my mind that the new system was going to be a disaster.  In particular the FS21 system was going to be a clusterf-, because one of our guys had been detailed back east for months testing it, and he came back and told us it wouldn't work.  The good news was that I wasn't real concernedabout it because I was retiring in an hour.

The ZSE guy said he had his suspicions to that effect, and congratulated me on my retirement.  All I can say is that everything was working just fine as long as I was at OAK.  And as soon as I left, the whole place literally fell apart.  Clean living, I always say.  Sometimes things just work out.

But it turns out I had some bad information in an earlier blog entry.  It seems they still have to work mids at OAK.  The only redeeming virtue of the whole LM FS21 mess was going to be a part-time schedule, and now that can't even get that right.  One of the guys told me he had thirty (30) briefings on a mid.  Retirement never sounded so good.

 

 

Where have all the leaders gone?

This is an excerpt from Lee Iacocca's new book.  I know, I'm getting lazy.  It isn't easy being retired, you know, but somebody's gotta do it.

Lee Iacocca Says:

'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course'

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned 'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out!'

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the 'America' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

The Biggest 'C' is Crisis !

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A Hell of a Mess. So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?

Had Enough?

Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope; I believe in America . In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: the 'Great Depression', 'World War II', the 'Korean War', the 'Kennedy Assassination', the 'Vietnam War', the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this:

'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to 'Action' for people who, like me, believe in America It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had 'enough.'

 

Luis Resto, 24 years later

In 1983 I went to Madison Square Garden to see a boxing match.  Roberto Duran, one of the best lightweights ever, was challenging Davey Moore for the junior middleweight title.  On the undercard, Billy Collins was fighting Luis Resto.  I had seen Collins fight a few times.  He could punch, and take a punch, but I didn't think he was anything special.  But he was white, he was undefeated, and one of the TV networks was trying to build him up for a title shot.  I figured he was a creation of television, maybe good enough to be a top-10 contender, and would lose a title fight if he ever got one.

I had never seen Resto fight, and vaguely knew him by reputation to be a 30 journeyman boxer, someone brought in as an "opponent" to make Collins look good.  Before the fight started, I asked my brother about him, and he said Resto was a clever boxer who couldn't punch.

As I recall, Resto won the first couple of rounds, really nailed Collins, and had him in trouble for a while.  When the round ended, I asked my brother, "I thought you said Resto couldn't punch?"  But he was just as surprised as I was.

The rest of fight went the same way, Resto beating up Collins for ten rounds.  It went to decision, but Collins had been hurt in almost every round, ending in a unanimous decision for Resto.  I just chalked it up as an upset, and figured Collins was just an over-hyped TV fighter.  After the fight, there was some commotion in the ring, but I was too far away to hear anything, and besides I was looking forward to the main event.

Roberto Duran knocked out Davey Moore to win the title, and did it convincingly.  Duran's return to glory was all anyone talked about the following day.  Until the Resto story broke.  We didn't know it at the time, but at the end of one of the first rounds, when Collins staggered back to his corner his father (who was working his corner) said Resto was no puncher.  But Collins said it felt like Resto was hitting him with an ashtray.

Collins' father was suspicious, so when the fight ended he went into the ring as if to shake hands with Resto.  He squeezed Resto's gloves and felt his knuckles.  He immediately screamed to the officials that Resto had torn all of the padding out of his boxing gloves.  For ten rounds, he had been hitting Collins with bare knuckles.

The decision was eventually reversed, Resto's cornerman Panama Lewis was banned from boxing for life, and Resto was given a 2-year suspension.  As an experienced boxer, they felt he should have known something was wrong with his gloves.  Not that this did Collins any good.  He suffered eye damage, blurred vision, and his career was over.  Since he couldn't box any more, he started drinking, went into depression, and several months later killed himself in an automobile accident.

Now, 24 years later, Resto has come forward to admit he knew about his gloves.  They didn't just rip the padding out, either.  The tape they used to wrap his hands had been saoked in plaster of paris, and had hardened.  Collins was getting hit with a plaster cast all night.  I'm not sure what the moral of all this is, but they just made a movie about it called "Cornered" and it opens this month.  I really don't know if I want to see it.