This morning I listened to President Trump’s speech in Riyadh.  Two things really struck me as amazing.  The first is that I could only find this broadcast on the BBC World News.  The second was that the speech was both presidential, and was a cogent and appropriate statement on policy.   So parsing these two thoughts here, let’s examine the first: what is wrong with US-based news agencies? Even C-span didn’t cover the speech, I couldn’t find the speech broadcast anywhere but on BBC World News.   Is this an indication that our media doesn’t see such an event as news-worthy in comparison with controversy and conflict that brings in viewers?  Is it money, or is it an evaluation of the interest and understanding of the American audience?  If either plays a role in not presenting a live broadcast, then we all should have significant distress for the quality of our media coverage, as well as, their likely well-nuanced understanding of their audience.   To be a great country we need a great press, a great political and legal system, and an educated, involved citizenry.   Watch the news coverage that will come, it will be about how this speech is so different from what he said on the campaign trail, instead about the policy implications.  It will be negative, because that’s what the news media, their sponsors, and the people expect.

The second thought is: this was a real policy speech, a bridge building speech with Middle-East countries, and a clear statement on who and what the enemy really is, oh … and it was delivered in a presidential style.   You who have read my material in the past know that I’m far from a Trump supporter.  I have been critical of his campaign positions and his judgement, temperament as well as his ethics and morality.   However, having said that, he really presented today a coherent and reasonable policy in this speech.  Getting past the obvious statements of appreciation for his hosts, he presented a picture that we are in a battle, together, against evil, against terrorism born out of radical ideology.  He asked for help driving this evil out of communities, out of places of worship and out of the Middle-East, and out of existence.   He presented a case that we will provide a principled realistic approach to working with our allies to combat this threat.  Basically suggesting that we will not impose our american ways upon our allies, but will work to achieve a common goal to eradicate terrorist.  We will of course seek to improve the lives of all peoples, and protection of individual rights, but also recognize that in some of these countries it will take time for these goals to be achieved.  But we can unite today in the war on militant and radical islamic terrorism.   Furthermore he was clear that we must jointly work to eliminate the funding and sponsorship of these terrorist organizations.  He called for stopping the sale of oil by ISIS, he called for the isolation of Iran’s government if they continue to fund and support terrorism in the Middle-East.  He prayed for the great people of Iran to replace the regime that continues to sponsor terrorism in Syria and throughout the Middle-East.  He indicated that we would stand-by and support the moderate leaders of Islam that will set the direction and future of that part of the world, to the benefit of their citizens, to the benefit of those oppressed and to the benefit of the Western-world.

I like that he calls out the enemies of a future where children can grow up secure to prosper, to pray as they wish…

“The true toll of ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and so many others, must be counted not only in the number of dead. It must also be counted in generations of vanished dreams.”

“Every time a terrorist murders an innocent person, and falsely invokes the name of God, it should be an insult to every person of faith.
Terrorists do not worship God, they worship death.”

He went on to praise the sacrifices of the countries fighting terrorism, recognizing that there is much being done, and more yet to do, and we will support them,  here’s the countries he recognized:

“Many are already making significant contributions to regional security: Jordanian pilots are crucial partners against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Saudi Arabia and a regional coalition have taken strong action against Houthi militants in Yemen. The Lebanese Army is hunting ISIS operatives who try to infiltrate their territory. Emirati troops are supporting our Afghan partners. In Mosul, American troops are supporting Kurds, Sunnis and Shias fighting together for their homeland. Qatar, which hosts the U.S. Central Command, is a crucial strategic partner. Our longstanding partnership with Kuwait and Bahrain continue to enhance security in the region. And courageous Afghan soldiers are making tremendous sacrifices in the fight against the Taliban, and others, in the fight for their country.” …

He recognized those at the conference doing much for hosting refugees, yeah maybe ironic in a way, but understanding the sacrifices of our allies is important..

“I also applaud Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon for their role in hosting refugees. The surge of migrants and refugees leaving the Middle East depletes the human capital needed to build stable societies and economies. Instead of depriving this region of so much human potential, Middle Eastern countries can give young people hope for a brighter future in their home nations and regions.”

His speech was inspiring, and potentially vital in changing the direction of our involvement in the Middle-East, and possibly more importantly uniting others in a front to overcome the unspeakable evil of militant islamic terrorism.

If you would like to read his speech in total, I found it at the following site… sadly not yet posted at a US News site!   http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.790748

 

That’s what the sign said above my most audacious friend.  He loves that guarantee.  He’s seen that sign at many places and loves to test the limits of its meaning, sometimes to the chagrin of his cringing kids, wife, or friends.  One time he had a ceiling fan that broke, and so he pulled it down along with two others that matched it and returned them to a well-known home improvement store.  The clerk checked the model number of the fans my friend wrestled into the service counter-line, and said it’s been seven years since we had this model.  He said, yes, he bought them about ten years before, and they were supposed to have a life-time warranty, and you claim satisfaction guaranteed!  Well do you have a receipt, he says no, he just wanted equivalent replacements.  With much grumbling and head shaking, he got his new fans for no cost!  The fans looked great and we had plenty of laughs over drinks at his score of new fans.

That was a long time ago, and now my friend is a very successful executive, but he cannot help himself, he still has to get his satisfaction.   A few days ago, he was in the process of moving his son from a four-year stay at a prestigious university when his son said we need to toss this mattress, its shot and I don’t want to bother moving it.  Well the mattress was four years old and cost about $1,000 when bought at a well-known discount-membership store.  He said, well I’m sure that came with Satisfaction Guaranteed!  So, along with his son and a friend of his son, they bundled the mattress into a mini-van and took it to the store.

Soon the mattress-team find themselves in the service-line with a mattress with stains on it, (one large stain that we haven’t heard an explanation for at this writing) and with a bow in the middle and people staring and asking them what they could be doing with this old mattress.  The boys stood waiting with obvious embarrassment, but my friend stood stoic in his certainty of guaranteed satisfaction.  One 80 some-year-old gentleman asked my friend’s son what they were doing with the mattress.  When he explained it to him, he said “look how its bowed here!”  The old guy pumped his fist forward and back, forward and back, and said ah ha, too much of this I see!  He laughed hard and wandered on into the store.   The girl at the service desk scanned the bar-code, and said you purchased this four years ago.  My audacious friend said yes, and I’m not satisfied with it.  She said I need to call a manager.  The manager came, and asked why didn’t you return this sooner if you weren’t satisfied?  He said, I wasn’t here enough to know that the mattress wasn’t performing to our satisfaction.  Besides there’s no time limit on my satisfaction is there?  He got a store credit!  A $1000 for buying a new mattress at his son’s next residence.  We had some great laughs as we celebrated this great institution of customer satisfaction… Sometimes it pays to be audacious!

 

 

 

 

I was trying to come up with something positive to say about Washington D.C.  Today we think of Washington D.C. as a political morass, or a swamp, but it truly is a remarkable city.  Few other countries have a city established precisely to be the seat of a national government.  In 1790, the Residence Act, laid the foundation for the creation of a capital district, and George Washington selected the site for the new capital.  The city of Washington, named for a truly remarkable man and patriot was established in 1791.  Today what we have is a very well laid-out city that is completely functional as the seat of a great nation.  The facilities of the executive, legislative and judicial heads of our national government are impressive, functional and deeply and appropriately symbolic.  The current occupants good and sometimes bad, are carrying forward a remarkable tradition of separation of powers, and something of cooperation within this city.

This city though, is much more than the location of the current heads of each branch and the mechanisms of national service to our nation, it is also a living, working monument to our great country and its historic democratic values.  The Washington monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Arlington National Cemetery, all resounding tributes to our history, and our values, and appropriate remembrances.  Furthermore, we are a nation of culture, of science, and of art, and that too is captured in museums that are grand and so very effective of telling the history of mankind, of our country, of science, and effective in keeping art in the forefront of our story and the telling of that story. Museums that are free to every citizen as, is our monuments to our very successful republic.

The city functions with effective transportation systems, security and the feeling of grand spaces, beauty as well as efficiency.  Yes, not everyone will agree with me, and I know most would like to see less acrimony and more collaboration among our leaders. Me too!  I would still have to opine that the debates, the checks and balances, and the peaceful transitions of power are all symbols of democratic values that remain well intact, and furthermore the function and form of the city that is our national center is remarkable.  I believe George Washington would be very proud of his city, and our nation, the greatest in the history of world!

Mountain Reckoning

 

The mountain draws us ever close

Majestically demanding its own prose

 

Dramatically urging an attempting

Come, get higher, summit tempting

 

Always there with perspective sight

Grand vista’s reward the brave, the right

 

Ah, but that climb is oh so steep

The strength needed ever deep

 

Paths often so unclear

The top vanishingly near

 

Mankind, tribes, nations climb

A must to find a better place in time

 

Born in a valley we are drawn to heights

Struggles, growth, learning and fights

 

It is a life of strain, of stress of battle scars

Yet our souls seek this path to the stars

 

The mountain is always there beckoning

Our drive and character it’s always reckoning

Keep Her Close

 

Quiet, thinking, in stillness I sat

Waiting for what, one could ask

 

For revelations, waiting for why

Impossible in youth I cannot deny

 

As if pondering life-long mysteries

And challenging byzantine-like histories

 

Why we are who we are

How we came this far

 

Where we go from here

Is there nothing we should fear

 

Control and shaped a world to our liking

Conquered with the deftness of a Viking

 

Yet she too waits, planning her future wins

If we forget, go too far, commit too many sins

 

Keep thinking, there is harmony in sight

Secrets of life, joining with mother nature is right

 

Keep her close, respect her needs

Future ensured with carefully planted seeds

Listen and Learn

 

Words spoken for all to hear

Meaning to see it a little more clear

 

Listen with both your eyes and ears

See excite, love and even fears

 

Suspend beliefs, open closed minds

Amazing and amassing new finds

 

Sometimes wisdom in a whisper found

A world a way but homeward bound

 

Not all you see is absolute and true

Don’t believe all heard by others or you

 

Learning to listen, learning to discern

Wisdom from nonsense can be learned

 

Wisdom grows with mistakes and age

Turn and read on to the next page

 

But learning never is over or done

There’s a higher place, another rung

 

Read and listen, learn and discuss

In your developing wisdom learn to trust

 

 

Hidden Figures… What a great movie.  It’s about the black women that were NASA’s “computers” during the early space age, and later went on to become computer programmers, engineers, and helped delivered us into space and on to the moon!

I was thinking of a poem about listening and really hearing yesterday afternoon. Then I saw this movie in the evening, and thought about the lesson of these great women whose words should have mattered, but it was the unrelenting and irrefutable mathematics that made them matter, made them be heard and thus made them relevant in the end.  An end that was really the very beginning in so many ways!

In so many ways this movie brings a life lesson for all of us.  Even when you seem invisible to the world, through prejudice of age, race or other reasons you can overcome such prejudice with your actions, with your performance, with delivered results.  In America in the 1960’s, this was a tremendous fete for these women, and it’s not just worth acknowledging, it’s a must for those that respect American ingenuity, equal rights and fair play to celebrate such achievement!

My poem on listening seems trivial in the face of the voice of mathematics, and genius that must be heard because it is what wins the day!  Performance always matters!

Rounded

 

Remember bubbles wonderful and round

Strength and beauty in round to be found

 

Arch supports builders dream

Rounded by pi and so very clean

 

Orbits of gravity efficiency

Life modesty and sufficiency

 

Heavenly bodies in perfect sphere

Be in the moment, be right here

 

Hands mark time in a circle face

Everything is right in time and place

 

A well-rounded life is sure to be

The best of life for you, you’ll see

Water and You

 

Dew adorned grass, wet feet

Tickle our toes, as we meet

 

Rain, thunder and lightning

Light and dark so enlightening

 

Leaves, flowers and so many trees

Storing water and spring beauty please

 

Waves spray sweet cool, until

Goosebumps showing our chill

 

Refreshing, floating so lazy

Inspiring thoughts go hazy

 

Bubbles, jets at a hundred and four

Warming hearts and inspiring more

 

For making fine whiskey and wine

Cheering your health as well as mine

 

For life is better with you

And Life-giving water too!