It’s a musing day…

In this morning’s paper, there are three articles about Trump and truth… “Trump vs. Fiction”; “And in Time, Trump vs. Facts” and “The Scary World of Pre-truth” … wow, hold the presses we have a politician lying!  Of course, they never like to use that word… they talk about alternate-facts, fiction, pre-truth, mistaken, anything but liar.   In this case though, we have the king of lying, the king of attack politics, and conspiracy stories.  I read an article that says that 70% of people lie, but nearly 100% of people consider themselves truthful.   I guess that our president, Donald J Trump, probably considers himself a truth teller too, and has somehow found an accommodation with his view of the world and events around him.  I think the media helps him by constantly giving him enough room to move around his lies, and allowing an explanation, which becomes a broader assertion, or “this is what I heard”, or what I believe statement… ugh!   Seems like a dangerous game being played out in Washington.   Hopefully we’ll see progress despite a dearth of presidential integrity.

I read an article about being a conservative on a college campus, apparently a rare and nearly-extinct species in a land of liberal ideas.  The point of the article was made with a statement that you are twice as likely to find a Marxist than a Conservative in the ranks of a college faculty.   Well I’m not too surprised at this, I believe that young people should be more liberal in their early twenty’s, when they have time to think about the world as it should be, and at the same time begin exposure to the way it truly is.   Conservatives will lean toward testing themselves in the real world, Liberals will lean to testing themselves in the world of academia, staying in a world of thought that fits their mind.   Thus, the trend will continue… but that is good, conservatives need a little liberal exposure, and it’s important to understand and internalize the compassion that embodies liberal ideals.   Personal freedoms and social liberties are important just as fiscal conservatism is the bedrock of a capital real-world.

A movie we watched on Friday was interesting, “Passengers”.  Raising a moral question.  If you believe you can make that person’s life, and your own better by changing their life’s trajectory, should you without their understanding and collaboration that you are doing so?  I suppose we do this with our children, but this is not quite the same as an adult.  If an adult has formed a path, but that path could be altered and it would benefit them, should you do so, even if it is without their knowledge and understanding?   A conservative would say no, that personal choice matters more than the greater good, a liberal, or better said in this case, a romantic might think otherwise.   What would you do?

 

 

In our society so focused on sports, entertainment and politics, it was a true wonder and joy to see what Match Day 2017 was like.  Match Day is the day that 4th year medical students at 155 medical schools in the U.S. all find out where they will do their residency.  They have a list of their top 10 programs, they apply, they interview over a few months and then wait for this one day, at noon on 17 March this year, its always the third Friday of March, the envelopes are opened.  Its quite the ceremony, live video streamed, thousands watching, and screaming and celebrating and crying too for the joy of achieving a match!  Families hugging, jumping up and down, oh and more than a few drinks passed around!  As I watched, I thought how it rivaled NFL draft day, or the academy awards, or a political race.  Family members sometimes are on stage and they open the envelope and make the announcement. One jokester opened the envelope for his girlfriend and said loudly “La-la-land”.   It was great excitement and it was a real lift to know that there is so much enthusiasm and passion for achievement in education of our medical practitioners as well as researchers.  A doctorate in medicine is an enormous achievement, and deserves celebration.    Our dear friend Dr. Roy Elias matched to his first choice on Friday.  He will be an oncology physician and will also do oncology research, and will learn throughout his residency at UT Southwestern in Dallas Tx during a three year program.

To work so hard to overcome the ruthlessness of math, science, and a new language (Latin of course, but Greek to me) of medicine, requires a passion for learning, for achievement and for a future goal of delivering a great value to society!  The community of support for medical students is critical, it seems they do learn the value of a team and they appreciate support of family, mentors, friends and co-workers.  Oh and they definitely learned how to celebrate!

Congratulations Roy and all Matchers!

More people are migrating and are refugees of war, or corruption, or gang violence and conflict at this time than any time since World War II.  In the US, about 46M people are immigrants (they were born in a different country), some estimated 11M are illegally here.  Europe continues to see an influx of millions of refugees and immigration is a dominant issue.  World-wide the estimate of immigrant population is 255M.  Consider that too many are moving not for advancement and careers but rather to escape corruption, violence and conflict.  This is not a political post, I make no argument about border protection either way, I just hope to point out a situation that may have societal implications…

I shudder to think of the implications if too many millions lose hope…

 

When Night Becomes Most Dark

 

Escaping nightmare, or chasing a dream

Into a desert or fording a stream

 

Tears and perils and threats

From anxiety, strife and regrets

 

No option, no option, move on

Stay and die or live on the run

 

Footprints of thousands before

Bloodied knuckles on the door

 

No attorney, no help, no money

Just move on, hoping for land of milk and honey

 

Returned and we’ll try again

There’s nowhere else to land

 

Millennia of refugees, moving on rumor

No love, no life, no soul, no humor

 

Where to run if left without hope

Turn to find societies slippery slope

 

Where is revolutions kindling and spark

Where the night becomes most dark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy…

Scotch and Me

 

Heavens above blessed rain

Cool and clear refreshes the grain

 

By the river cool, clean and clear

Harvest my barely or rye my dear

 

Heat and time and I am one

Evaporate, filter, refine me home

 

Resting and thinking in barrels of oak

Soul maturing, complex I soak

 

Color of amber, made nice in a sherry cask

A little sweetness is not too much to ask

 

Complex and smooth I’ll be just right

Enjoy me neat with a drop of rain tonight

We as humans live in a universe of immense proportions, we are traveling through space at an enormous speed as we orbit around our star, as our star orbits the Milky Way galaxy, and as our galaxy is accelerating away from other galaxies in an ever-expanding universe.  Yes, more than a million miles an hour, in fact about 1.3M Mi/Hr.  Yet few of us think of ourselves as travelers, even though in the time you’ve read this you’ve traveled hundreds of thousands of miles.  So too has everything you see with you, so your motion relative to the walls or furniture is 0.  However, I’ll think about this next time I feel weary from business travel!

In our universe, and local existence, we have an amazing attraction to the apple.  Yes, think about it, apples have been around for millennia, and have been cultivated by humans, such that there are 7500 or more varieties of apples.   Not gonna try them all!  Furthermore, the apple has been a major element of our history, of the story of humankind.  Not only have we cultivated, and improved upon the apple, we can claim an apple helped Newton discover gravity, helped Eve seduce Adam, and all that happened thereafter.  Helped us with understanding, such as who is the apple of your eye?  And in a pie, has been associated with motherhood and all goodness.  Even our biggest city in the USA is the “Big Apple” … oh and I’m writing this on an Apple Computer!

The Other Side

 

So, I find myself on the other side it seems

Couldn’t imagine, never in my dreams

 

Never in the middle, never in between

Not here before, not sure what I mean

 

Flying into the endless sunset

Delaying that night comes yet

 

Thoughts wheel in the sky

Like starlings way on high

 

Escaping above, beyond is dying

Surely no more pain, no sighing

 

But there I find on the other side

Wisdom and beauty of this ride

 

I was thinking about strategy, and about complexity.  An article I read in a technical magazine talked about dealing with complexity, and the need for generalists that can work with many deep understanding specialists to address the increasing complexity of today’s engineered systems.  Truly evolving our human capacity to accomplish through teamwork and visionary insights solutions that no one person can understand completely.  However we can still see it and experience the benefit of the total system.  Additionally they made the point that it is best to observe and understand from a bottom’s up like a biologist, instead of modeling and predicting as a physicist would, looking for elegance that may not exist in complex systems.  I have another thought, and that is when looking at complex systems, whether that be engineering, politics, or business, that one needs to look at the holes as much as the observed and expressed complexity.  Asking what is missing, or hidden in the system is where insight can be found.  A generalist’s view point, looking broadly across the problem set, being content with not having to dive into the specialists realm, but to understand the connections, the coverage, the broad brush strokes that from sufficient distance make a picture come to life.

On Sunday mornings I watch two news/analysis shows, both cover the same political and world news each morning, but one always addresses and talks about exactly what was said on either side, and they do a good job of it.  The other, does the same, but also looks for the things not said, the issues not being addressed.  Example where in politics is the middle today?  Where is the messaging that is not progressive, yet not hard right conservative?  The analysis this morning was about the hollowed out center, that’s looking at the complete landscape and seeing what is missing.

In business, it’s sometimes not what we are being told by the customer, employees, or shareholders, but what they are not asking us, or telling us that matters most.  I’ve been involved recently in developing a strategy for a business initiative, and the approach we are taking is not just to gather data and survey in detail from the bottom’s up the people that have deep knowledge, we are also looking at what is missing, what they didn’t say, and what are the gaps to close in order to arrive at a more complete picture, a vision, a direction forward.

In engineering, I have found so many times that the insight on the success or failure of a project is really dependent on the generalist’s viewpoint.  The ability to see what is missing, what did the team not talk about, what issue or item was assumed to be covered, and really wasn’t.

Think about the holes in order to see the world as it is, to see problem sets more completely, to become a strategist and problem solver.

 

I saw on a magazine the title Heart Smart… intriguing, what the real meaning could be?

I saw the full moon last night on the rise, so beautiful and yet with its reflected light it takes the colors from the night, but-yet it rules our thoughts, per the Moody Blues, why?

Listened to Counting Crow’s Rain King yesterday, why the delivery to heaven in the “belly of a black-winged bird”, and why can’t I be that creative in imagery?

Why this morning as I looked upon the fading full moon in the face of sunrise, I still felt wonder at the world we live in and the endless sunrises and sunsets as quiet and sustaining over the millennium as a trillion people have watched and wondered too over the span of history?

Well, today I felt like musing, and I felt inferior in poetry to the poetry of the world we live in, and the work of others, but to not disappoint, I hope you find meaning and enjoy a poem by the Moody Blues…

 

Late Lament, by Moody Blues

Breathe deep the gathering gloom,
Watch lights fade from every room.
Bedsitter people look back and lament,
Another day’s useless energy spent.
Impassioned lovers wrestle as one,
Lonely man cries for love and has none.
New mother picks up and suckles her son,
Senior citizens wish they were young.
Cold hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colors from our sight.
Red is grey and yellow white,
But we decide which is right.
And which is an illusion?

 

 

 

 

 

For the last 12 years, the Super Bowl has been played on the first Sunday in February.  This matches nicely with our princess’ birthday, and this year she turns 17!  So, Happy Super-Birthday Tiana!

 

Super Birthday Princess

Start first with peppers as poppers fried

A delicacy that the princess has loved since first tried

 

Follow with Pup’s chili tangy and sweet

With plenty of spice, beans and tender meat

 

Football begins as we all gather to see

Quick get squares filled and collect the fee

 

Watch the game, laugh and play

Eat, drink be merry today

 

At half-time we gather for birthday sing-a-long

Grandma’s chocolate éclair cake never goes wrong!

 

Princess, her smile is beautiful, eyes so bright

This girl is smart and does everything right!

 

Athletic, tennis powerful

Top of her class, determined and strong

She volunteers, looks out for others as the day is long

 

So, she should have a Super Birthday

As she outshines all today and every day!

 

Last night I watched a PBS show covering the experience of soldiers and civilians on the frontline in Mosul Iraq.  You can see the same in Syria and other worn-torn areas, as well…  I see such a tragic situation of families caught up in war.  Caught without access to clean water, food, medicine, and living without safety, always in fear.  Hoping for a way out, walking sometimes beyond their endurance.  Soldiers weary, no hope of clarity in a war where children are bombers and their enemies speak the same language, and can infiltrate with civilians to get behind them.  Constant fear, constant needs and constant stress.  These situations are impossible…. and yes we can wall ourselves off and keep them away, but how can we not look, how can we not realize that by virtue of the lottery of birth we are safe and blessed with an opportunity for the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.   Regardless if you believe we should be there to help to support an end to suffering, or you believe it is their problem to solve, you should not take for granted the great win in life’s lottery you enjoy.