Watch What You Say
I ran across this the other day..
www.blueovalforums.com
It purports to be an official Ford forum although i find that a little hard to believe. There is an interesting cross section of Ford employees on the site though. Read through some of the posts and you'll see quite a range of opinions on everything from Ford's financial problems to new models and inner plant workings. It's really an interesting site to peruse. I ran across a few comments supposedly from Ford UAW employee's ranting on about how Fords current problems are managements fault, or wall street's fault, or even the consumers fault. No doubt there is a grain of truth to all those statements but what surprises me is an almost complete lack of recognition to the fact that the UAW has also played a big role in Ford's problems. The bottom line is that Ford and the UAW are stuck in a vacuum called the 60's where there was little global competition and “buying American” was a given.
I saw a number of comments along the lines of “the UAW is America”, “Buying non-union is anti-American” etc etc. Well, to that i say that unions are more anti American than nearly anything else i can think of in the modern economy. Even, dare i say it, Microsoft. What is America? America is the entrepreneurial drive, the competitive spirit, it's self reliance and self determination. Does the union represent any of those things? No. The union has outlasted its usefulness by at least 3 or 4 decades. It's nothing more than an anti competitive protectionist organization bent on miking all it can from it's victims.
And oil prices...well those evil robber barons sitting on their black gold thrones are at it again. BP, in an attempt to be a good corporate citizen has shut down a large portion of its Alaskan pumping capacity due to environmental risks. So we have a supply shock, according to my recollection this means prices will go...anyone? Anyone? Bueller? UP. I only bring this up because it will be interesting to see how the media and the public perceives this action. How much is the environment really worth to people? Is it worth a few months of higher oil prices? Or is a few hundred thousand barrels of crude dumped over Alaska a better alternative.
There's already talk of dipping into the strategic oil reserve which, in this case might actually stem higher prices, unlike in the past when Bubba Clinton tried it. That is of course because we have a crude oil supply problem whereas when Clinton released the crude we had a refining capacity problem.
And now to the middle east...what started as a simple rescue operation for 2 soldiers has now become a WAR (in the words of Israel's own Prime Minister today). When is Israel going to realize that destroying Hizbullah is like trying to destroy an idea. Authoritarian regimes throughout history have tried to destroy ideas only to realize that it's impossible. You can already witness this through the reports of CNN and BBC corespondents in Lebanon. Reports show normal citizens vowing support to Hizbullah if Israel continues fighting or occupies Southern Lebanon, which looks increasingly likely. Israel might win the battle, but they're losing the war. Lest we forget that Hizbullah is the organization that ultimately drove the Israeli's out of occupied lands a decade ago, after years of brutal fighting.
I also find it ironic that Israel attempts to cover it's ass on civilian deaths by “warning” towns before striking. Anyway you look at that it's a total cop out. If everyone takes the bait and leaves, then they are only destroying infrastructure, and for what purpose? If everyone stays, then they are undoubtedly killing civilians. I guess what they think is the “civilians” will leave while the Hizbullah will stay. What a brilliant new war strategy.
Speaking of infrastructure, this is where the real crisis lies in my mind. Lebanon was successfully, albeit slowly, clawing its way back to the modern world. Factories, FDI, hospitals, tourists, all signs of a modern country were slowly coming back to life. This sort of progress would destroy Hizbullah faster than any number of rockets. But now this is all gone. Factories, jobs, houses, everything is being destroyed. Theres already a giant oil slick creeping up the cost of Lebanon into Syria that has yet to be contained.
Lebanon just announced that they will send troops to the South. This is an intersting development because how the Israeli's act towards these troops and the relationship between the Hizbullah and the Lebanese troops will, in my opinion, determine if Lebanon as a whole is occupied or not. If the lebanese troops attempt to contain and control the Hizbullah, and do so successfully, than we will quickly see a reduction in the hostilities. On the other hand, if Hizbullah fights the Lebanese soldiers just like they do the Israeli's, well then we are on the path to a Lebanese civil war.
What a situation...and there's no easy way out. On the one hand you've got a country who is living in daily fear of rocket attacks from an unseen enemy. On the other hand you've got a country that is watching its infrastructure, livelihood and citizens killed en masse from the country that formally occupied it. If politicians can figure out a mutually acceptable solution to all this, well then I'll buy the first round at the bar.
www.blueovalforums.com
It purports to be an official Ford forum although i find that a little hard to believe. There is an interesting cross section of Ford employees on the site though. Read through some of the posts and you'll see quite a range of opinions on everything from Ford's financial problems to new models and inner plant workings. It's really an interesting site to peruse. I ran across a few comments supposedly from Ford UAW employee's ranting on about how Fords current problems are managements fault, or wall street's fault, or even the consumers fault. No doubt there is a grain of truth to all those statements but what surprises me is an almost complete lack of recognition to the fact that the UAW has also played a big role in Ford's problems. The bottom line is that Ford and the UAW are stuck in a vacuum called the 60's where there was little global competition and “buying American” was a given.
I saw a number of comments along the lines of “the UAW is America”, “Buying non-union is anti-American” etc etc. Well, to that i say that unions are more anti American than nearly anything else i can think of in the modern economy. Even, dare i say it, Microsoft. What is America? America is the entrepreneurial drive, the competitive spirit, it's self reliance and self determination. Does the union represent any of those things? No. The union has outlasted its usefulness by at least 3 or 4 decades. It's nothing more than an anti competitive protectionist organization bent on miking all it can from it's victims.
And oil prices...well those evil robber barons sitting on their black gold thrones are at it again. BP, in an attempt to be a good corporate citizen has shut down a large portion of its Alaskan pumping capacity due to environmental risks. So we have a supply shock, according to my recollection this means prices will go...anyone? Anyone? Bueller? UP. I only bring this up because it will be interesting to see how the media and the public perceives this action. How much is the environment really worth to people? Is it worth a few months of higher oil prices? Or is a few hundred thousand barrels of crude dumped over Alaska a better alternative.
There's already talk of dipping into the strategic oil reserve which, in this case might actually stem higher prices, unlike in the past when Bubba Clinton tried it. That is of course because we have a crude oil supply problem whereas when Clinton released the crude we had a refining capacity problem.
And now to the middle east...what started as a simple rescue operation for 2 soldiers has now become a WAR (in the words of Israel's own Prime Minister today). When is Israel going to realize that destroying Hizbullah is like trying to destroy an idea. Authoritarian regimes throughout history have tried to destroy ideas only to realize that it's impossible. You can already witness this through the reports of CNN and BBC corespondents in Lebanon. Reports show normal citizens vowing support to Hizbullah if Israel continues fighting or occupies Southern Lebanon, which looks increasingly likely. Israel might win the battle, but they're losing the war. Lest we forget that Hizbullah is the organization that ultimately drove the Israeli's out of occupied lands a decade ago, after years of brutal fighting.
I also find it ironic that Israel attempts to cover it's ass on civilian deaths by “warning” towns before striking. Anyway you look at that it's a total cop out. If everyone takes the bait and leaves, then they are only destroying infrastructure, and for what purpose? If everyone stays, then they are undoubtedly killing civilians. I guess what they think is the “civilians” will leave while the Hizbullah will stay. What a brilliant new war strategy.
Speaking of infrastructure, this is where the real crisis lies in my mind. Lebanon was successfully, albeit slowly, clawing its way back to the modern world. Factories, FDI, hospitals, tourists, all signs of a modern country were slowly coming back to life. This sort of progress would destroy Hizbullah faster than any number of rockets. But now this is all gone. Factories, jobs, houses, everything is being destroyed. Theres already a giant oil slick creeping up the cost of Lebanon into Syria that has yet to be contained.
Lebanon just announced that they will send troops to the South. This is an intersting development because how the Israeli's act towards these troops and the relationship between the Hizbullah and the Lebanese troops will, in my opinion, determine if Lebanon as a whole is occupied or not. If the lebanese troops attempt to contain and control the Hizbullah, and do so successfully, than we will quickly see a reduction in the hostilities. On the other hand, if Hizbullah fights the Lebanese soldiers just like they do the Israeli's, well then we are on the path to a Lebanese civil war.
What a situation...and there's no easy way out. On the one hand you've got a country who is living in daily fear of rocket attacks from an unseen enemy. On the other hand you've got a country that is watching its infrastructure, livelihood and citizens killed en masse from the country that formally occupied it. If politicians can figure out a mutually acceptable solution to all this, well then I'll buy the first round at the bar.
posted by Corrigan at 10:58 AM
2 Comments:
good post
I just like trying to say/type Hizbullah...it cracks me up listening to the anchor's cough through that word.
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