The Impending Failure of Western Diplomacy in the Middle East

In a previous monograph, I discussed the fallacy of US Diplomacy in Libya.

Now I would like to expand the subject matter to include Western Nations and The Middle East.

Memo to Western World Leaders

Re: Middle East Turmoil

Subject: Don’t get happy.

There are, no doubt, many who are secretively happy to see the turmoil in the Middle East.

Diplomatically, they may express their concerns, regrets, desire to help, compassion, support, and so on. Still, inside, they are embracing the wrong impressions. They secretively believe that this turmoil will bring about not merely change in the Middle East, not merely a positive change in the Middle East, but a change that will result in truly favourable diplomatic and economic relations.

The problem arises from the fact that the Diplomacy of late falls into the following categories:

1. Diplomatic relations with those with similar, agendas and common goals.

Pro-forma Diplomatic Relations.

2. Diplomatic relations with those with dissimilar agendas and common goals.

Goal Oriented Diplomatic Relations.

3. Diplomatic relations with those with dissimilar agendas and common goals.

Expedient Diplomatic Relations.

4. Diplomatic relations with those with dissimilar agendas and dissimilar goals.

Tenuous Diplomatic Relations.

5. Anticipated diplomatic relations with those with dissimilar agendas and with divergent goals.

Now we have the need to find and engage in a mutually beneficial Diplomatic Agenda to accommodate those divergent goals.

Why will we have problems?

We have been dealing with government leaders who operate within a system of unilateral decision-making. (Disagreements, if any, are not expressed publicly and often times are not expressed privately, either.)  

The old canard, “It takes ten people to say yes but only one person to say no.” does not apply.

The old system was simple. It takes one person to say yes. Full Stop.

Soon, if the revolutions result in regime change, the changes may or may not change the above system of decision-making. If the system stays the same, the West will have to contend with the divergent goals. If there is a new system, refer to the old canard.

A second reason we will have problems establishing Diplomatic Relations is that we are not equipped to accept the types of government that may arise from the changes in the different regimes.

Within new regimes, we will be contending with the following:

1. Pro-Western Regimes.

2. Anti-Western Regimes.

3. Regimes where most are Pro-Western and a few are Anti-Western.

4. Regimes where most are Anti-Western and a few are Pro-Western.

Our Diplomatic Relations will be different with different countries out of necessity. The differences in these relationships will give rise to contention both at home and abroad. The differences will be bargaining chips in Diplomatic Relations abroad and at home, they will become justifications for political rhetoric.

“Everybody knows what everybody knows. The rest is rhetoric.” – Slim Fairview from the Quotations of Slim Fairview ^©

We are no longer engaged in relationships based on demonstrating sensitivity to a diversity of cultures. We are now about to approach people with divergent agendas, methods, and goals.

Their interests may not be our interests. There may be little common ground with some and much common ground with others.

We were told:

The friend of my enemy is my enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

We were also told:

It’s me and my cousin against my neighbor; but, it’s me and my brother against my cousin.

These we were told. Now it is up to us to establish Diplomatic Relations with a diversity of cultures where we’ve defined diversity as different from us.  

Now we will have to redefine diversity as those who are different from one another.

It will be interesting to watch Western Nations establish Diplomatic Relations in the Middle East with any new regimes that may arise.

Regards,

Slim 

slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

President Obama's Homegrown Diplomatic Conundrum

President Obama is doing fine. As he pointed out:

1. No flag burnings or Anti US rhetoric in Egypt.

2. Bringing together a broad based coalition involving, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

3. Setting a precedent for future cooperation among disparate nations and cultures--perhaps for peaceful rather than military purposes.

4. Showing that Ivy league types can handle global diplomatic and military matters.

Now, the only problem is dealing with the surfeit of professional pundits who've raised the task of asking question to the level of high, intellectual discourse.

Since when did "I don't know...." and "I don't understand..." serve to repudiate another person's opinion?

How many times does one have to ask a question when the answer is intuitively obvious to the casual observer?

Regards,

Slim


Copyright (c) Slim Fairview

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Coming of Age by Slim Fairview

My latest SlideShare upload : An allegorical novel of Canadian history: Coming of Age http://slidesha.re/hPthGH

Transnational Business: From Distopistan to Netopistan

To: Fellow Linkedin member:

Perhaps Mr. _________ is seeking the collective input to help him to address the changes he will have to make in his strategy as a consultant in Egypt. He can, if he chooses, find opportunities here for Business leaders who did not read my ppt. presentation Global Management, a shift in the paradigm of corporate America.

More to the point, We will create a metaphor.

Hey, Mr. Big American Company Guy, you can no longer rely on the Big Company Guys of Distopistan who are protected by the Distopistanian Army because the King of Distopistan makes big bucks (through private transactions) via The Big Company of Distopistan.

Distopistan is in the midst of change. Tomorrow, the King of Distopistan will be gone. Tomorrow the country will be Netopistan. The Netopian Nation is now an ally. To do business in Netopistan (Formerly Distopistan) you will have to connect with the Netopian people.

"How do we do that?" asks the Big American Company Guy.

Answer:

Meet with _________ _________. He will teach you how to do business in the New World Order. A world without borders. (unabashedly lifted from and alluding to my blog which coincidentally goes by the url http://slimviews.blogspot.com

Regards,

Slim
Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

P.S. Mr. ________. Carpe Punctum. And good luck.

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

Egypt and the Failure of Global Diplomacy

Egypt and the Failure of Global Diplomacy

It is simplistic to say that the situation in Egypt is for the Egyptians to resolve. This, because we are global community. To complicate matters, different countries have different cultural norms. To complicate matters further, efforts to understand the cultural norms of other countries routinely involve explaining “our” culture to others rather than asking others to offer us insight into their cultures.

Now, to diplomacy.

The Egyptian people have called for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. They have stated their resolve not to leave The Square until he resigns. They have issued a fait accompli.

President Mubarak has stated he will not resign as President. In effect, he has issued a fait accompli.

We have called for President Mubarak to step down. We did so publicly.

We can focus on the Egyptian Constitution and the constraints it places on all parties. We can also focus on the remarks by the pundits and analysts to the effect that our failure to support President Mubarak will cause other allies to be concerned about our fidelity. No one, however, has addressed the issue of “loss of face”.

For the Egyptian people to recant their demands, they will suffer what the world knows to be “loss of face”. For President Mubarak to capitulate to the demands of the protestors will result in his suffering “loss of face”. Then there is the American position—stated publicly.

We became Pontius Pilate the moment we entered the fracas.

If the Egyptian people do not prevail, there will be bitterness among the Egyptian people. By extension, if this is attributed to our support for President Mubarak, there will also be a bitterness shared by all who looked to us as a symbol of freedom.

However, if the Egyptian people do prevail, if President Mubarak does step down, it will do more that cause concern among our allies with respect to our willingness to support them. 1.3 billion Chinese people will see that we have caused President Mubarak to lose face. 1.3 billion Chinese will wonder when we will cause their leader to lose face. This question will be asked by people all around the world.

Rather than regard America as supporters of the Egyptian people, people around the world will see America as the betrayer of the Egyptian peoples’ leader. This, notwithstanding the call by the Egyptian people for President Mubarak to resign.

Lastly, if we recant our position, our global status and stature will suffer.

What to do?

The best possible way to resolve the problem is for the United States to defer to a neutral third party nation who will meet, PRIVATELY, with both the leaders of the Egyptian people and with the Egyptian leaders. Yes, there is a difference. This is not to suggest that the U.S. should not be present at the table. After all, Egypt and The United States are allies and have been for a long time. However, we should not head this delegation.

This neutral third party nation will be able to help both the Egyptian people and the Egyptian government under President Mubarak, to resolve the contretemps in a matter that will avoid humiliation and mitigate rather than propagate enmities.

Regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

Watching the Process

The Process

Management, Project Management, Process Management, each a process. Can you isolate the moment you realised that?

I was in the second grade. We were out in the playground for recess. We were playing kickball.

Recess was unstructured. There was no micromanagement of children then.

The two usual classmates were captains. This was SOP. Then, one day, one of the teams had a co-captain.

While some of the other boys in my class complained, “Why do they always get to be captains?” “They always pick their friends. That’s not fair,” I observed the process.

The captains were the natural leaders. This was because they were good at the game and good at picking players. (Athletes will routinely hang out with athletes. Question: Are they picking their friends, or good athletes, or both? Answer: both.)

We root for the underdogs; but we want to run with the winners. Good at sports or bad at sports, each of us wants to be on a winning team.

However, we now had co-captains. I was less concerned with why. I simply wanted to be on a winning team. That was over 50 years ago. I still remember the day. However, we never stop learning. It was only a few weeks ago when I thought about that day that I realised something.

If you are a good athlete, and I am a good athlete, and we have three powerful players in the class; Tom, Dick, and Harry, and we toss a coin for first pick, the following are the possible results:

You have three power players: I have two power players.

I have three power players: you have two power players.

It comes down to the toss of a coin.

Plan B. I have a co-captain. It doesn’t matter who wins the toss. Either way, I have three power players on my team and you have two on your team.

Now, that was not the end of the lesson. That was the beginning.

1. We learned not only about leadership, but also about followship.

2. We learned the art of negotiation and the result of having good leaders.

3. We also learned how to get along without being micromanaged by parents.

4. There was a lesson in conflict resolution and the value of cooperation.

It went on from there.

Some of my classmates complained. They, however, had no viable alternative. They also had no appreciation for the objective assessment of what was happening.

Some had inflated views of their own skills. (If he can do it, so can I.) Yet, none ever explained why others never gravitated to them as leaders.

There was more to be learned by watching the process.

1. How did some classmates interact with others?

2. How did some interact with the teacher?

3. How did the teacher interact with some students as opposed to others?

For the last one, I can offer some insight. If the objective is to encourage a student to participate, the teacher calls on the quiet one. If the objective is to teach the class how to solve a problem, the teacher calls on the student most likely to have the correct answer.

There is much to be said for participation. There is little to be said for sitting on the sidelines. However, as Yogi Berra once said, “You can see a lot by just watching.” To which I shall add, “You can hear a lot by just listening.”

What does this have to do with project management?

Perhaps you shouldn’t be managing projects.

Regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

Egypt and Others--A New World Order: A World without Borders

 

New World Order: A World without Borders

The real problem is our lack of understanding of the concept of what is going on globally. The younger generation is no longer embracing the customs of the past. What are the customs of the past? For one thing, embracing the customs of the past.

 

One thing that is very important to understand if we are to get along with the rest of the world. Many cultures have 3,000; 4,000…6,000 years of history, custom, and culture to look back on. We have a bit over 200. This creates a major difference between Americans and, for example, the Egyptians, The Chinese, The Japanese, and so on.

On the other hand, the aforementioned youth culture is very similar to American culture in that both they and we are “forward looking.” As we cannot look to a long past, we long for a future that will.

As this pertains to Egypt, we are in a unique position to understand the Egyptian people. (Did someone say, 1776?)

Both America and the Middle East were part of a Colonial Empire. But wait! There’s more!

In what is known in some parts of the world as the Colonial Rebellion of 1776, we had aid from France and, that by extension, the French people. We did not look upon France as the enemy because they supplied us with weapons. We looked upon France as a nation that aided us in battle. Much the same way America has aided the Egyptian people in their government’s efforts to protect the Egyptian people from enemy soldiers.

Thus, as evidenced by the protests around America, the American people have a shared perspective with the Egyptian people. (This does cause me to wonder why Americans in Egypt would be afraid. I want to believe that the Egyptian people see the American people as people who share in a belief.)

Hence:

The blogosphere is a world without borders; Facebook is a world without borders; Twitter is a world without borders. Linkedin is a world without borders; SlideShare is a world without borders, and, the new generation is a generation of a nation without borders.

We now have a world where emerging nations are no longer define the way I defined them on my ppt. presentation only three months ago. Global Management: A shift in the paradigm of corporate America at http://slideshare.net/

I touched on some aspects of the new way of doing business from a global perspective but failed to see the absence of the borders in the new world. The technosphere. The following links are to very short monographs related to the above topic.

The Next Generation: Better Than Brand New

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/next-generation-better-than-brand-new.html

Managing Projects in the New Millennium

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/managing-projects-in-new-millennium.html

The New Age Biz Wiz

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-age-biz-wiz.html

Project Management of the –Oops! Gotta Run

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-management-of-oops-gotta-run.html

The new, the young, the future, is a world where communication is instantaneously global. Questions asked an answered in moments.

Enough said? No. Enough said!

Regards,

Slim

eMail: mailto:slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

Chinese Wisdom and Privacy

Chinese Wisdom:

"In the West, when you want privacy, you go into a closed room. In the East, when we want privacy, we go into an open field."


Regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

A WHITE HORSE IS NOT A HORSE

A WHITE HORSE IS NOT A HORSE

That is what is known as “an old Chinese saying.” I learned it from my finance professor. I was too embarrassed to ask him to explain what it meant. Soon, I would figure it out for myself.

A few years later, my wife and I moved out West. What happened? Something that almost never does. I got a craving. A food craving. A food craving for for something I never crave. A salami sandwich on rye and a bottle of beer.

We drove to the supermarket. Beer, no problem. Salami, no problem. Then, we went to buy the rye bread.

I found, pumpernickel rye; marble rye, low-sodium rye; diet rye; California rye; I found every kind of rye bread except rye bread. Then I understood. A white horse is not a horse.

Solution. I had a baloney sandwich on white bread and a glass of chocolate milk.

How many white horses do you have in your stable?

Regards,

Slim

Mail Slim tilden9@yahoo.com

Copyright, © 2011 Slim Fairview

Starving Nations and Food Equations

A Metaphor:

If one person in the group does not have enough food to eat, he may die.

For a while, that means more food for the rest of the group. However, that also means one less person to work the farm. That means less food to eat. Less food to eat means someone will die.

For a while, that means more food for the rest of the group. However, that also means one less person to work the farm. That means less food to eat. Less food to eat means someone will die.

Soon, there won't be enough people to work the farm. That means there won't be enough food to eat.

Get the idea?


Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com


Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

The Stages of Ages

The stone age, the iron age, the dark ages, the renaissance, the age of discovery, the age of enlightenment, the age of reason; what will those in the future call this the age of?

Regards,

Slim

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

Contact

Contact Information:

For Global Interests: tilden9@yahoo.com

For Domestic Interests: slimfairview@yahoo.com


Thank you.

Sincerest regards,

Slim

Welcome

Just a note to thank those from around the world who have visited my Blog.

From the Stats we have, The United Arab Emirates, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Turkey, United Kingdom, and The United States arranged in alphabetical order. There have been varying numbers of visits from one per day to 28 in one day.

And welcome to new visitors: China! Lebanon! Malaysia! Moldova!

I am happy to have visitors from around the world.

Sincerely,

Slim
Mail: tilden9@yahoo.com

More to View

Slim Fairview's PowerPoint Presentations on SlideShare.

Global Management: A Shift in the Paradigm of Corporate America.

The Future of the G-20 in Good Times and Bad

Preview: Fairviews: The Quotations of Slim Fairview

The Multiplier Effect: Illustrated

Regards,

Slim Fairview

Also available on LinkedIn.

Mail: tilden9@yahoo.com

copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

Innovation! Again?

.
All I've read recently about innovation discusses a myriad of subtopics and views. With one exception: Adaptation.

Innovation can be changing a product to improve it. It can be changing the way we do things. It can involve where we do things.

Topics like these are sometimes linked to basic principles in economics: Time/place utility, form utility, and so on.

However, in every article I've read about innovation, competitiveness, even in my own writings, what has been omitted seems not to be conspicuous by its absence.

A new boss once said, in his hello speech, "The ability to adapt is a sign of intelligence." What he really meant is that we would have to recognise the fact that he is the boss now, not the other guy, and that we would have to do things his way. Fair enough.

However, the first thought that came to my mind was this: Intelligent people have the ability to change their environment.

Humanity did not survive based on the ability to grow fur to adapt to the cold. We either migrated or learned to build shelters with a heat source in order to survive the cold. However, I said nothing. I did not want to be pedantic and I did not want to be fired.

As nations go global to do business with others, the question of adapting arises.

First, and foremost, we want to adapt to the environment: Business, Financial, Economic, Social, Cultural, Legal, and so on. However, if there is no adapting by others, this will create a lopsided form of change. True, we can use the term evolve. We can suggest that others will evolve. However, that is condescending, patronising, and rude. The method, subject to much spirited debate, is that others must be aware of the fact that they too must adapt.

Change, for the sake of change, may not satisfy the demands of a new market, culture, customer needs. If we use the word innovate as interchangeable with change we are missing the point. In addition, how much change can we expect will be accepted by a broad range of markets, cultures, and customer needs?

Henceforce, let's relegate the word "innovation" to the same scrap heap of linguistic legerdemain as the term, "strategic planning". Let's use the word adapt. Let's be clear about what the adaptation involves. Then, we can move forward from a different perspective with a different view, and better results.

Regards,

Slim

Copyright (c) Slim Fairview

The Fall and Rise of Empires

Empires rise and fall. The Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and before The Soviet Union was called the Evil empire, Russia had an empire extending down into what is now Poland.

Correct my history if necessary. Russia was beaten back by the emergence of the Polish empire, which extended toward Western Europe. They were driven back by the rise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed with WW I.

However, in each case, the empire, as it grew to include vast and divergent territories, became not merely too large to manage, but too fractious. What played well in Italy, closest to Rome, did not play well in France. Less so in Egypt and England.

In addition, we all remember, The Sun never set on the British Empire. I always wondered how that Sceptred isle set in a silver sea managed to dominate the world. India, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada...It may well have been the delegation of authority.

The Evil Empire collapsed because Eastern Europeans grew weary of a system that destroyed what they had spent centuries to build. The U.S. however, never really had an empire. Too often, we've been isolationist. We have not been networking.

Wouldn't it be lovely if nations had Linkedin accts and Facebook pages? Germany could ask Portugal to join its network on Linkedin. China could friend Brazil on Facebook. Japan could friend India. Pakistan could friend Canada.

Our problem lies not in the empire we don't have. Our problem is conspicuous: our problem is our lack of allies. Our lack of metaphorical Facebook friends. We still have an isolationist mentality.

The delegation of authority? We can't even accept the concept of the 10th Amendment in The Bill of Rights, the concept of States Rights.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

With apologies to Charles de Gaulle:

It's a good thing we have only three political parties. We have only three kinds of cheese.*

Sincerely,

Slim

* [American, Cheddar, and Cream]


Coipyright (c) 2010 Slim Fairview

Monograph on the Population Shift to Cities in Emerging Nations

GLOBALLY, the population is moving to urban areas. Food and Jobs are two topics that arise for discussion. This suggests that by talking about it we will solve the problem. Which problem? The problems suffered by the people who move from rural areas to urban areas. Abolishing farm subsidies in Western countries is not the solution.

Farming is a job. In addition, it is hard work. Moreover, it doesn't pay well even under the best of circumstances. Then, when the population increases, it gets harder because plots get smaller. What helped the decline of Russia was the absence of primogeniture.

Cities had to start somewhere. England and France were emerging nations at one time in history.

The rural populations is moving to cities rather than building cities.

The affluent leave the cities and move to rural areas because they can afford to escape the cities.

Cities are indeed vibrant areas of creativity. This even in emerging nations. (We don't need a new world big city to have creativity. The WSJ published an article:
Why Some Islanders Build Better Crab Traps (about the creativity in commerce of emerging communities. It is well worth reading.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704523604575512071789091444.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter



There is a very unpleasant step between reduced subsidies making cheap food available in emerging nations, and farmers in emerging nations becoming 1. Self-sufficient and 2. Being able to produce a sufficient amount of food to feed the large numbers of people.

That unpleasant step is where abolishing subsidies comes up against phasing out subsidies.

(The banning of DDT was a positive environmental move that created the unpleasant step of increased deaths due to the spread of malaria.)

One trendy catch phrase used by the media vis-à-vis our current governmental conundrums is "unintended consequences." That phrase has the moral equivalent of a little boy outside church on a Sunday morning tossing a hand-full of change into the air and saying what God wants he'll take and the rest belongs to me.

There really are no unintended consequences.

True, globally, people are moving en-mass into urban areas. There is no work in rural areas and there are no jobs in cities. Migrations to European countries confound the migrants. "How come in such a wealthy nation the government cannot provide 300,000 jobs?"

However, abolishing subsidies will have consequences. If our leaders stop referring to unpleasant consequences as unintended consequences, they may start to focus on solving the problem--micro finance was one of the solutions propounded by an economist in an emerging nation. That earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Regards,

Slim

Mail: tilden9@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2010 Slim Fairview

The Next Generation: Better Than Brand New!

When I was at University, I was having an informal discussion with a dorm mate about the "youth movement" du jour. I said, it wasn't going to change anything. I went on to say, "they will graduate, get jobs, get married, have children--and everything will go on as it has."

The Resident Assistant ( A law student) argued with me. "No, no, no. This is a new generation, we have new ideas, we're going to change everything...and so on."

That was 37 years ago.

Jerry Rubin, the Yippie, became a stock-broker; Sonny Bono, and Tom Hayden ran for Congress, and Jane Fonda ("H*ll no, we won't go.") became a fitness guru and changed her mantra: "One, two, three, four, make another million more....two, three, four, make another million more."

More to the point, even those who are anti-establishment are part of the establishment.

The Hippies became Yuppies, the Yuppies, became the Me Generation, the Me Generation became Gen X and so on.

Plus ca change, plus la meme chose.

Regards,

Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com


Copyright (c) 2010 Slim Fairview

GE Wants to Bring Manufacturing Back to the US

GE HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WANT TO BRING MANUFACTURING BACK TO AMERICA. GOOD LUCK.

We are very susceptible to gimmicks. I just adopted a free-range cat. When he first started hanging around, he would eat whatever was put out for him. After I brought him inside, he remained consistent. Then, he became choosy.

If he left what had been put down, I would simply pick it up, stir it a bit with a fork and put it back down. Then he would eat it. I don't expect that to last too long. He still remembers being skin and bones, as it were. He will forget.

We watched Bill Clinton's Presidential campaign. When he appeared on MTV his hair was brown. When he addressed the AARP his hair was grey. This was noted in the press. It didn't matter. People saw what they wanted to see.

"If people like you, they will overlook your faults. If people don't like you, they will overlook your virtues." -- Slim Fairview

We used to teach reading with phonics. Children learned to read. Now, with apologies to Meredith Willson who wrote, The Music Man....

"You've got trouble here, right here in River City, with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for phonics. Yes, my friends, you've got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, vowels in the alphabet. With 21 consonants that give you 9 billion, 63 million, aught '9 COMBINATIONS. No wonder Billy can't read trying to remember all that.

"You don't need to know phonics to speak do you? You just think of a word and say it. That is the whole language approach to reading is the think-method to speaking."

We've fallen for every gimmick imaginable in educating our youngsters. (The character of Harold Hill, in the Music Man is what is known in Americana as the lovable rogue. We know he's a crook, but we love him anyway.)

And it is not simply a question of older employees. Having served on committees in organisations whose functions included the "new hire" problem, consensus is that young people lack basic skills. They cannot add, subtract, multiply, divide, or use simple tools: micrometers, calipers, or even rulers.


In addition, at the initial stages of education, the fundamentals are necessary--crucial.

I am good at math because I memorised the times tables. I didn't want to, it took me longer than my classmates because I didn't want to, but I did it (because I had to).

That, coupled with one small tool in math, 3(a+b) = 3a + 3b, means that I can instantly determine the cost of several cans of green beans in a supermarket and do a cost analysis of 3 small cans v. two large cans. Not important? No, the VP Finance is not buying green beans to bring a covered dish to the next board meeting. However, as he, or she learned this (probably in the 5th grade) the concept was learned along with it.

When it comes to teaching youngsters how to think, not what to think, there is a point in time where analysis will come into play.

GE will need young people who can do what I can do. If they haven't memorised the times tables, they won't be able to do much analysis.

While there may be more than a few youngsters coming out of school who are fluent in technology, that won't meet the demand. Hence, the influx of people from countries who value education highly and apply themselves as a means to financial success and social elevation.

No doubt, the technologically literate will run things in this country through a combination of immigrants and outsourcing, and the rest of the students will be taking jobs that pay just enough to hang out at clubs and party.




BTW: The equation above: The distributive property of multiplication (over addition). I actually had to Google the term to be sure I remembered what it was called accurately. That information I can Google. The ability to use that skill cannot be Googled.


We have become victims of our own success. Good luck to GE if they are using the old business model.

If they want to build it here with workers there. It isn't going to work.

If the want to build it here with workers from there, that won't put the unemployed to work.

It will be interesting to see how Harold Hill explains GE's plan to the people of River City. OOPS, I mean to the shareholders and the stakeholders.

Regards,

Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2010 Slim Fairview

City of Hope: A Children's Story:

I received the following email from a friend.

Subject: THIS IS THE SEASON OF GIVING, ISN'T IT?

On Capriole's site, caprioleproductions.org a Non-Profit production company, there is a Pay Pal link asking only for tax deductive donations from $1.00 to $ 10.00. or whatever moves people. (Click the "title link" to go to Capriole Productions)

With that stated: IQ2011 we will travel to BR to shoot a 30 minute short, updating the plight of the BR favela kids [street urchins] whose plight has escalated to 1) drug distribution, 2) sex enslaved kids from 6 to 12, 3) murder-for-hire and so forth. This IS A JUST CAUSE. Our footage from the nineties is tremendously outdated and the numbers of kids caught up in this mess has increased radically.

"City of Hope: A Children's Story" is one of good news. Not only is BR's democracy gaining on the drug lords, but faith-based organizations [NGOs] have increased exponentially as have community watch groups and private contributors.

Most remarkable is the Recovered children are now taking the GOOD NEWS back into their own favelas to open their own 'schools of recovery'.

Any amounts are welcome and all showings ,ticket sales, after expenses to locally use Brazilian film people, will be returned into the community.

Won't you help? Any help, either financial or your experienced advice is greatly appreciated.

Sincere thanks,

John