December 22, 2005

We Wish You A Merry Crash-mas

In the middle of all this strikery, I noticed yesterday what I had been waiting for for so long--the whiff of Christmas spirit on the air. The thing about New York--and this holds true even for the people who hate the city on principle--there are a couple of times of year that are simply magic in this city. One is the springtime, because when the flowers come up on Park Avenue, and everyone starts going back to Central Park for the first time, there's nothing like it. Springtime's rebirth is emphasized by all the concrete and glass, and somehow the city feels calm, as though it were taking a deep breath again. This is actually one of the main reasons S and I are getting married in late spring here. While there are others, to me, the most magical time is late evening during the second and third weeks of December, especially if a bit of snow comes down. Somehow you feel transported back to the 1950s, with people holding hands, scurrying along to some new shindig, dreaming of mere (i.e. not entirely crass) material gifts, and the city feels enveloped in an uber-familial glow. To me, the scent of Christmas trees being sold on the corners just encapsulates all of this. And last night, as I saw neighbors helping neighbors with rides to wherever-it-was, I was struck by that piney whiff. It made me happy. Ironically, the other reason why I'm remembering it is because I'm not being distracted by my computer at home, which croaked out a miserable hard-drive failure for the holidays. I'm thrust back to actual experiences, while simultaneously researching new computers, trying to figure out just what I want. It's sort of like Christmas, except I'm being Scrooge to myself, trying not to spend good money without reason.

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December 21, 2005

Cold As Ice

When I was a but a little shoe, I had a friend who rode horses. For some reason, a lesson he told me stuck with me. To this day, I don't know if it's accurate or not, but I remember it from time to time. He told me that when you're riding a horse at a gallop, you can't just make it stop; you have to slow it to a walk and then bring the horse-rider combination to rest. If you don't--he said--you end up making the horse's stomach tie up all in knots and kill it. When I first heard the story, I wondered if that was something that could happen to humans. I doubted it, but I wondered anyway. And we all know the benefits of cooling down. But this is what is frustrating me, personally, about the transit strike. I won't get into the politics of it, because I make a very healthy wage, and I recognize that sometimes drastic measures are needed to call attention to issues. I also won't get into the fact that I would really have preferred that the workers went on strike in the springtime, where I didn't freeze myself on the 25 block walk to work. I also recognize I've got it pretty good on that front. This week, I've been coming to work with nothing to do and leaving without having done anything. It may be letting the cat out of the bag a bit to say that the majority of my clients are investment managers running hedge funds, and that many of them were required to file their registrations with the SEC last week. This means that the majority of my work suddenly was completed, and my superior from whom I get all of that work has gone on a (well-deserved) little vacation. At the same time, I've had a project with a very senior member of my firm who doesn't seem to be very concerned with making forward progress. In reality, I know it's that he's worried about the forward progress of far more lucrative and time-sensitive clients, but the fact is that my emails don't get returned and my voicemail take at least 3 days to provoke a response. Which is why it's a true delight to call him and check in (what a bizarre situation that one of the most-junior people in the firm is calling one of the most senior to ask him to pay some attention) only to find out that he has gone on vacation for the week without telling me. Result: no work on that project for Shoe. Which brings me back to being the horse--I was busy, I was very busy, and then suddenly, I have literally nothing to do. I spent 18 minutes yesterday doing client-related work. Yet I had to walk to work, and I had to walk home. And when you are forced to dress up nice-like, trek in eye-watering cold to a job at which you need to be, but have nothing to do after having raced all year…well, that's just a recipe for getting your insides all twisted up.

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November 3, 2004

And It's Over

So here it is: my team lost. There were a lot of things that happened that I find un-American and despicable, both in terms of actual voting--defining marriage as being between a man and a woman--and in terms of tactics used to change voters' opinions--horrible, horrible people dressing up as ACT UP! members and parading in front of black church groups, announcing that "Kerry is in favor of gay adoption!" Regardless of its truth, it's a dirty, underhanded trick that was totally inappropriate. However, I believe that we ought to get past our partisan rancor and remember that we love this country or we wouldn't fight over it so much; we just don't like the current leaders. As they say over and over again, Mark Twain said it best: "Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it." In the spirit of non-rancor, I want to try to focus on things we can do, not things that didn't get done. Thank you to everyone, but especially my friends B and D, who were active in both Ohio and Florida, making sure that those who could vote did. Thank you to MoveOn.org for continuing to fight on our behalf. And here's where I get a bit big for my britches: an open letter to John Edwards and John Kerry. Dear Sirs: Congratulations on a well-fought battle. You have reminded me that there are men of character in this government, and that men of character, though beset by many villains, still shine through as heroes, even when defeated. And you have done a good job of pointing out to many just what it is this country must focus on in the next four years, even if we were unable to dispatch you to do it yourselves. However, I must note that while I hope that time will heal partisan wounds, and that the rancor must undoubtedly subside, you must not disappear. This country needs you both more than ever, and though you may return to your jobs, you are still the figureheads, even nominal heads, of the Democratic Party. Do not let your defeat drag you out of the limelight. Instead, take this opportunity you've been given, and use it to create a national dialogue. Use it to frame all the mistakes Bush makes and even successes that George Bush enjoys and demonstrate what the Party would have or could have done in a similar place. That will heal the country. But it will also promote debate, and that's what was sorely lacking since 2000. I loved Al Gore, and I think he would have been a fine President, but I am disappointed that he--unfortunately, somewhat like Nader--vanished during the rest of Bush's tenure. Do not go gentle into that good night, or at least, refuse to be put out to pasture. Now that you have notoriety, use it to engage Americans at every turn, and keep the comparisons running through the next 4 years, rather than waiting for 2.5 years before dragging an entirely new crop of faces before the American people, from which they may make an unfortunate decision. When it comes right down to it, do not take this defeat as a personal offense; instead use it to fight for your causes just as you would have if you'd become the leaders of the new Administration. We're waiting for you. We'll follow you.

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October 30, 2004

More Reasons to Vote For Kerry: No One Likes Bush

Look, I know that my last political diatribe might not have been the most eloquent, despite my high ambitions for it. I was searching for a clip I couldn't find that would explain a lot of my sentiments on Bush's flip-flopping, but couldn't find it. Here it is, if you want to listen. (via Air America, I'm told) However, what I do want to point out is the fundamental reason that I don't like Bush: his own people don't like him. And they recognize that whatever the problems they may have with Kerry, it is absolutely true that "Bush has behaved like a caricature of what a right-wing president is supposed to be, and his continuation in office will discredit any sort of conservatism for generations." This comes from a conservative magazine. Conservative. Say it with me: his people don't trust him. More quotations below, but I hope you'll read the article in full. >To the surprise of virtually everyone, Bush has turned into an important president, and in many ways the most radical America has had since the 19th century. >[I]t is as if Bush sought to resurrect every false 1960s-era left-wing cliché about predatory imperialism and turn it into administration policy. >Bush has accomplished this by giving the U.S. a novel foreign-policy doctrine under which it arrogates to itself the right to invade any country it wants if it feels threatened. It is an American version of the Brezhnev Doctrine, but the latter was at least confined to Eastern Europe. >These sentiments mean that as long as Bush is president, we have no real allies in the world, no friends to help us dig out from the Iraq quagmire. More tragically, they mean that if terrorists succeed in striking at the United States in another 9/11-type attack, many in the world will not only think of the American victims but also of the thousands and thousands of Iraqi civilians.... >I’ve heard people who have known George W. Bush for decades and served prominently in his father’s administration say that he could not possibly have conceived of the doctrine of pre-emptive war by himself....

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October 27, 2004

Bush: Not a CEO, Not a Director, Not a President

Yesterday, in the business journal Compliance Week, former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt proposed some guidelines for outside directors of companies.#[OD] Ironically, I think that his lessons about what an outsider can and should do are applicable to the presidency of the United States, particularly if you buy in to the theory of the "CEO President", as Mister W likes to be framed. Obviously, a CEO is an officer, and usually an inside director, but I believe that these rules apply equally to both kinds of directors.#[dir] Below, you'll find Pitt's pointers for potential directors, and my commentary as to whether I think the Bush has followed through on them. [OD]: For those who don't know, an outside director of a company is someone who is broad onto the board of directors without a prior connection--like being an employee--to the company. [dir]: Actually, the reason for the article in the first place--aside from Pitt's obligation to write a column each week--is that outside directors until recently were not held as closely responsible for the foibles of companies. This means that the rules really are meant to remind outside directors of the responsiblities of all directors. Here are some general guidelines for all directors to consider: 1. Understand your responsibilities. Being the President requires a balance of what Lyndon Johnson described as "guns and butter"; you have to match foreign affairs with domestic concerns. Bush has neglected, time and again, the domestic for the foreign affairs. If there is anyone who doubts this, consider the spectacular failure of our employment rates, our education of children, and the safety of this country. Why are we focused on foreign wars and democracies in other countries when we can barely police ourselves? Make no mistake, it is the precise opposite of safety from terror that we spend our time focusing abroad rather than internally. Bush does not understand this. 2. Monitor and assess corporate policies and procedures. In other words, there are rules that you must set, and rules you must follow, no matter how far up you are, and when things break down below you, it is not to be shuffled off on someone else--like Herr Ashcroft--but to be accepted as your responsibility. Yet we have a President who cannot recall a single mistake he'd ever made. 3. Understand the requirements and obligations associated with being a director. Guess what? The President doesn't understand that he cannot act as he would on his ranch in Texas. He has obligations to be a statesman, not just a commander-in-chief; the principal American, rather than the only American. He acts as if it is only his will that matters. For that matter, he is required to remember that, despite his belief that God called him to the job, he has a responsiblity to listen to and respond to the American people. And all that I have seen is a stubborn resistance to that call. 4. Assure the existence of effective delegation of oversight responsibilities. I don't trust John Ashcroft; even if you believe his policies, the fact that Bush sends him out and then cuts him down so as not to seem so bad suggests ineffective delegation. 5. Avoid constituency dictates. Stop listening to the Religious Right. Stop listening to the homophobes. Stop listening to any one group that got you where you are and start leading a country towards unity. Start doing what is best for the country. 6. Learn the business of the corporation. Does anyone else get the feeling that in the Bush Administration, one hand hasn't a clue as to what the other is doing? Shouldn't the guy at the top know it all? Does anyone really believe that he has even more than the slightest gloss on the facts of the US economy, even though he is theoretically an MBA holder? 7. Know where the company and its competitors stand. Maybe Bush is aware of this, but I'm convinced that he takes the stance of "competitor" or rival countries and twists them in his mind so as to make the best of himself. Nevertheless, I don't believe that he knows where this country stands, ethically, politically, spiritually, legally, or otherwise. 8. Make compliance and ethics programs a priority. People don't listen to Bush in his own administration. 9. Assess risk and fortify internal controls. Do you feel safer when you walk through airport security? Me either. 10. Be prepared. 9/11 11. Ask questions. Bush takes everything on faith, and asks surprisingly few questions. 12. Understand alternatives. Is there a man more committed to a black-and-white worldview than W? 13. Be committed. This means to commitment to the general purpose, not to some single point. Bush is very stubborn. Unless you go to think about his recent thoughts on winning the war on terror, children being left behind, or just about anything else he claims to believe. 14. Be direct. What's that in your suit, Mister President? Where are the WMDs? What happened to my job? No answers? Hmm. 15. Keep up. Given how much time he spends on his ranch, is there any doubt he's way behind? 16. Ensure that you have adequate resources at your disposal. Oh, I know, we're losing money, so I'll just give money away, and then I'll spend it on a war that I underfunded. Double Oops. 17. It’s important not only to do the right thing, but to be able to prove that you did the right thing. This is a man not believing in--in fact mocking--the concept of a global test that he simply doesn't understand. It's very simple, Mr. Bush--you have to be able to demonstrate that you did the right thing. That's it. That's the whole test. At any rate, it should be no surprise that I plan on voting for Kerry. I believe he has every single one of these rules not just understood, but ingrained in his very person.

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