Organizational Head Shrinking

ZardozZ

Today I am in a company meeting in what may be the new movement de jour in corporate America. Group psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral learning.... being taught in a group setting, all in an effort to gain a single collective consciousness in a corporate environment. I have a sneaking suspicion that the brave new world is already upon us and has been there for at least 5-10 years now. We just haven't noticed it...! In fact we seem to be embracing it almost oblivious to how it is destroying individuality and the appreciation for the natural order of things. Total Secularization seems to be the inescapable conclusion.... I am beginning to question if I want to be a part of this any longer..... It is begining to violate some of my innermost principles and values. Nuff said.

US / British "Intelligence"

BBC NEWS | UK | Politics | WMD pressure builds up for Blair: "The prime minister is facing growing pressure to say the basis for going to war in Iraq was flawed."

And so it goes... As both world leaders begin to look like they have been had by faulty "intelligence". The CIA directors should be held accountable... Both in this administration and in the last as well as in Britain. The entire idea of current WMD stockpiles could have been played down if they had better intelligence, and instead more spin on POTENTIAL production and proximity of completion should have been used.

Of course that would not have been an acceptable justification for the U.S. to sanction an invasion, therefore, the White House decided to roll the dice just in case. Personally, I have no problem with that... They should have taken this guy out in the first war. But not having your facts straight sooner or later always bites you in the ass. Even though they might not have hard facts of possession, the POTENTIAL THREAT surely was there. I think the majority of American people know this and do feel better with Saddam gone.

The problem now is, how to get democratic stability in that country without it turning into another radical fundamentalist state ?

By Zardoz Z. Bachman

WMD may become a bigger issue in the Democratic Campaign.

TBILISI (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said on Saturday it was an "open question" whether stocks of weapons of mass destruction would be found in Iraq (news - web sites) and conceded it was possible Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) had none.


Powell made the comments one day after David Kay, the leader of the U.S. hunt for banned weapons in Iraq, stepped down and said he did not believe there were any large stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons in the country.
--- Reuters

One can only imagine how this will play out in the months ahead.

The Whole Earth ..... Now a Memory

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things: "RIP, Whole Earth Review
Apparently another generational milestone has been reached. The final demise of the Whole Earth Review. The Whole Earth Review, as anyone over the age of 50 will remember, was the holy grail of Hippiedom !! A mainstay for "the movement" in the sixties and early seventies. I wonder how many flower children, now Conservative Republicans, are holding on to their catalogues as a financial investment to be sold on eBay when the price is right? Ironic isn't it ?

Oh the shame of it !! Stigmata Mr. Dean

Yahoo! News - Dean Reprises Election Night Rant

One can tell from this article that Mr. Dean is clearly in the damage control mode. Such activity will continue to distract the public from any message he has outside of Bush bashing. The strategy now seems for him to "play" with that image of an out of control madman to the point that it looses it's imprinting factor with the public. It might work... to keep him in the hunt in the campaign, but the persona instability will haunt any swing moderate or independent voters who will be concerned about his electability.

Well at least he admits this is his natural personality. You'll get what you see. No Fear of being himself that's for sure. (Except now... that won't last... it's too confining for his style and looks contrived now.) We DID see the real Mr. Dean this week. I'll give him that. The fear is in the mind of the observer as they conjure up this personality type dealing with a crisis !!

Iowa Caucus

By Zardoz Z. Bachman

An interesting turn of events for Howard Dean. It will be very interesting to see if he can re-make himself.... wondering in fact if he SHOULD try to re-make himself. The more he tries to push himself out of his own natural nature, the more uncomfortable I think he will become. My gut tells me this fellow will not "alter" his "style" for very long...

Congratulations.. Carolina !! Now beat the Snot out of New England

By Zardoz Z. Bachman

Hat’s off to the Carolina Panthers. The consummate underdog in yesterday’s lopsided NFC playoff game. From the first moments of the game, it was clear that the feisty Carolina Nascar Dads came to play football. The story was far from the same with the cheese steak eating Eagles. Not only did they get their wings clipped, They did it in front of thousands of OVER CONFIDENT and uppity Eagles fans.

There was so much over confidence in the past week in the media from Philly fans, one would have thought Philadelphia would be the only team on the field yesterday. Less than 5 min was spent in the Philly media cautioning about Carolina’s running game. I don’t know what they had to be so confident about since they made it to yesterday’s game on a single miracle play with plenty of help from an excessively paranoid Green Bay coaching staff. Green Bay was taking it to them for almost the entire game.

Carolina is a team in the genre of Rodney Dangerfield... hard for them to get any respect. I, for one, hope Carolina beats the snot out of that other arrogant team, New England, in the next big show in two weeks.

New England fans see the Patriots as the second coming to their pathetic Red Sox baseball team, sometimes confusing the two in their typically warped, dysfunctional “fantasy” style of thinking. Case in point... The last time the Patriots won the SuperBowl, the day after, when the parades were held in Boston, fans were shouting “Yankees Suck”! So emotionally dysfunctional, distrubed and deeply rooted is their agony and torture with being a consummate “cursed” looser to New York in baseball, that they were actually fantasying the Pats as their surrogate baseball team !! How pathetic. One truly has to feel some pity for New England’s confused and misguided fans... The Bambino has apparently inflicted mass psychosis to an entire region of the U.S.

In two weeks they get to act out their warped distorted fantasies again.... New England fans... pisst... It’s not baseball ! It’s not the Yankees ! And, by the way, the Carolina Panthers come from Carolina, not New York, as much as you might regret that!! Take some Prozac and see a therapist – collectively you all need it.

Congrats Carolina !

By Zardoz Z. Bachman

Congratulations to the Panthers.... and I don't feel that sorry for the Eagles. Everyone acted like is was a sure thing. A shoe in. Carolina wont get any respect even if they win the Superbowl !

The average Eagle fan is starting to understand what it must feel like to be Bills fan or a Red Sox fan. Choke city !!

Good Luck in the Superbowl Carolina... you guys worked hard for it !!!

-zzb

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Iraq-bound Japan troops in Gulf

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Iraq-bound Japan troops in Gulf: "Iraq-bound Japan troops in Gulf


The troops will be heavily armed to defend themselves
Soldiers from Japan have arrived in the Gulf, on their way to a controversial mission to Iraq.
It is the first time a Japanese contingent has been sent to a combat zone since World War II. "

This might be a subtle signal to North Korea as well.....

Oliver North: Reality check

Oliver North: Reality check
Now here is a fellow that has it pretty sweet. Oliver North explains why his present assignment with Fox News is the tops ! I suspect there is more than one reporter who wishes he did not have to cover the Neverland Circus !!

The Last Jihad... Great Reading

By Zardoz Z. Bachman

I am about half way through The Last Jihad, by Joel C. Rosenberg. Although this is the prequel to The Last Days... which I plan to read next, this book is riveting! If you are looking for a fast paced, non stop action novel, that was written in the Tom Clancy style, with some interesting prophetic notions, I recommend this to you.

When you read it you will feel like you are part of the inner circle in the White House a few years after 9/11 and get a glimpse of what might have been if Sadaam was not taken out. An interesting mixture of speculation, mixed with current high probablity scenerios.

It is interesting to read since we have made our move on Iraq... I believe this was written after 9/11 but before the decisions to take Saadam out ! The timing is interesting. Check it out...

Braun Quits Race and Endorses Dean for Presidential Nomination

The Spyglass Chronicle
CARROLL, Iowa, Jan. 15 — Carol Moseley Braun dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination today and endorsed Howard Dean, who is in a tightening race here four days before the state caucuses.....

I really liked this lady. I also liked the way she set Al Sharpton straight in the IOWA debate the other night. Dean should have told Sharpton I have as many black executives on my starff as you have white executives. Only Ms. Moseley Braun had the courage to put the Reverand in his place. No wonder she is backing Dean now....

Our Angelic World Leaders...

Free Press International - What's The Deal Mainstream Media? .....Developing

I think you will find these photos interesting if not humorous....

Invaders From Earth .....

By Zardoz Z. Bachman

Today President Bush announced a vision for having man colonize the moon and develop it as a base for future space exploration. Men from Earth would invade Mars ! Certainly ironic in contrast to the 50's science fiction obsession anyone of the age over 50 may remember. "Invaders from Mars" redux.

The strategic advantages of having a moon base, may also have geopolitical overtones. Surely there will be those nations suspicious of our intentions.

The president may have missed an opportunity to characterize this vision in terms of uniting more nations for a common external good. The "vision" of an Isreali and Palistinian space explorer working together in space for instance might have been a powerful one, and contrasting this vision with those of terrorist organizations that would have us return to living in caves and turning back the progress of Western Civilization, might have been a powerful image and message......

Perhaps he may paint such a vision, or reference to it, in the State of the Union address next week....

Getting Better All The Time .....

By Zardoz Z. Bachman


A friend of mine found out today that his HCV viral infection has been "eradicated". A testimony to science. He was a health care worker in the late 70's and it took almost 30 years for symptoms to show itself in his liver. Taking interferon and ribavirin for 6 months, he was fortunate that the strain of virus he was infected with responded well to this new therapy..... This is not always the case.

Science can be a wonderful thing..... Humanity needs leaders that understand how to direct it for the common good. Businesses that produce TANGIBLE social benefit will survive the economic Darwinism this world economy is going through. The shake out is only beginning for some of the smoke and mirror tech companies. More company consolidation and over seas outsourcing lies ahead. Watch and see.

-zzb

The Spyglass Chronicle... Martian Update

The Spyglass Chronicle: "It appears things are not going all that well on Mars"

Scientists are getting a surprise as Spirit is still sitting on it's shipping crate... Could it be another muliti-million dollar space anchor ?

Treasury Seeks Probe Into Papers Taken by O'Neill

Yahoo! News - Treasury Seeks Probe Into Papers Taken by O'Neill: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury requested a probe on Monday of how a possibly secret document appeared in a televised interview of Paul O'Neill, as a book criticizing the Bush administration that uses material supplied by the ex-Treasury secretary hits the stores".....

Wow... this guy's goose is going to be cooked. I have a feeling Paul O'Neil is going to have some major issues from the Justice Department. Sharing goverenment documents on TV for political reasons is not very smart. In fact, I never did think this guy was very smart. He was opposed to the tax cuts.. and did NOTHING significant to improve the economy. Keep an eye on this story... it is loaded with political fall out !

Wired News: Tech Chiefs Defend Overseas Jobs

Wired News: Tech Chiefs Defend Overseas Jobs: "Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, introduced a bill in November requiring service representatives to disclose their physical location each time a customer calls to make a purchase, inquire about a transaction or ask for technical support. The proposal targets the increasingly popular decisions by companies to move their call centers overseas to capitalize on low labor costs. " ......

CEO statements in the artilcle above are outrageous.... it may take awhile, but there will be a major backlash on this attitude.....

This is an eye opener for anyone who works for ANY multi-national corporation.

The Spyglass Chronicle ... All is not well with Dean supporters

The Spyglass Chronicle: "All is not well in the promised land ! There was a great discussion this morning on Meet The Press in the final segment of the show about Blogs as an unknown phenomenon in political communication.

Apparently more Dean supporters are getting disillusioned about his campaign tactics. You can get a sense of that in the article above."

The Chronicle has an excerpt from Dean's Blog for America ... There are more and more negative comments being posted from disillusioned idealistic supporters who are apparently regretting contributing to his campaign after hearing about some of his campaign tactics...... All I can say to those poor folks.... live and learn and get real. What did you expect. He is a politician !

Temperatures Hit Record Lows in Northeast while things HEAT up in IOWA

Yahoo! News - Temperatures Hit Record Lows in Northeast: "Temperatures Hit Record Lows in Northeast "

It is freezing today ... will be interesting watching the NFL Playoff this weekend. Spent some time outside and it's brutal !

Speaking of brutal,... things are really heating up in the IOWA caucus... Dean is starting to appear more and more defensive in the media regardless of how he tries to spin things to cover his foot in mouth syndrome. What I find so interesting about the media coverage of this campaing so far is how their pirahna tactics change and influence voter's and poll perceptions. Selective negativism. It is as though the voter masses are lemmings, making sure they are aligned with the rest of the crowd in their thinking. We love winners. No one wants to admit they supported a looser.... so this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy facilitated by the constant media barrage of every comment and facial expression of these 8 wanna be 's.

We need more independent thinking in this country.... More people who can think for themselves and are not afraid to say they have no "party" affiliation and reject the mainstream. Too many agendas in these party platforms that get in the way of making the right decisions for the right moment in time.

Take amnesty for illegal immigrants for example. We do this while higher paying american worker's jobs are moving overseas. If this keeps up we should annex Mexico as a 51st state ! Then Washington leaders can say ... "Look at all the job growth in America" !

Job growth through country aquisition !!! Now there's a twist !

By Zardoz Z. Bachman


Had a major PC mess on my system today.... Recovered ok but not without the usual amount of pain and consternation. Some of these programs are too smart for their own good.

Had enough of looking at this CRT for one day..... Good evening.

That Sucking Sound.... Perot was Right !

By Zardoz Z. Bachman

Still waiting for my DNS servers to update our website. In the meantime I had a wild day today at work. The outsourcing pressures there are increasing. I mean the real bad kind, off shore outsourcing.

Every consulting company seems to be on the payroll of the Indian and Chinese governments these days, recommending work be done there for the cheapest price. At least that's the impression I'm getting. Well, that's what Clinton wanted... A new world order.... a "global community".... and now we have it! The U.S. wanted the rest of the world to become capitalist. Now we have that too...! China included....! They (China and India, as well as other low cost labor producing nations) will turn out to be the biggest economic threat to the US worker that we have seen since the 1930s depression!!

How ironic!! ... World capitalism becoming the biggest threat to the U.S. Economy in history!


When is America going to wake up....? Multi national US companies, that originated in this country, that owe their very existence to this country, are abandoning it's own people in search of "cheap labor" without any sense of moral shame. Nothing new, it has been going on for the last 5 years with a vengeance. Problem I see now the decisions being made on what to keep and what to outsource are indiscriminate. Companies are risking even their brand image to get lower labor costs! I hope the political backlash bites them all in the ass....

Sad part, we are now exporting our intellectual labor as well as our manual labor !!!

I have never been big on protectionism, but at what point does a government step in and protect IT'S people ?? My sense it will be happening in a big way soon...

Pete Rose ... Get Real !

Yahoo! Sports: "Rose admits he bet on baseball; next step up to Selig

By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer
January 6, 2004

AP - Jan 5, 6:05 pm EST
More Photos


NEW YORK (AP) -- Pete
Rose finally says he's guilty. Now he wants his pardon. "..............

This guy was a disgrace. Now he is admitting everything in a last ditch effort to cash in and score a contact as a manger with a looser ball club looking for some controversy to hype boxoffice.

If this guy works his way into the hall of fame it will be a disgrace to all those that went before him. The rule says if you gamble in baseball you are barred for life... He accepted that verdict. So what's the deal ?

Bud Selig find some "balls" and make a final decision on this.

"Selig's immediate predecessor, Fay Vincent, read the excerpts and was outraged, concluding that Rose did not deserve reinstatement. " - RB

Yahoo! News - Foreigners Fingerprinted at U.S. Airports

Yahoo! News - Foreigners Fingerprinted at U.S. Airports: "Foreigners Fingerprinted at U.S. Airports


By MELANIE COFFEE, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO - Foreigners arriving at U.S. airports were photographed and had their fingerprints scanned Monday in the start of a government effort to use some of the latest surveillance technology to keep terrorists out of the country. "....

We act as thought this is something new ! Singapore for instance enters every incoming traveler to their country into a data base so they can be quickly located if the person's embassy needs them to be evacuated. That is Singapore... the caning capital of the world.... but I have to tell you they have their act together when it comes to social order !!!

Sunday Politics

By Zardoz Z. Bachman


Spent most of the day watching political shows... Meet the Press and the like. Democrats still seem to be in a feeding frenzy directed at Dean. Things may become more interesting when the field thins out. 90% of the rhetoric is Bush bashing... BORING.

That is the safest position to take, the cop out position, to get their leftist base votes. It's the rhetoric any democrat will agree with, everyone knows this. Pandering ? Maybe just a weeeee bit. Like Dean recently getting religion as he looks for votes down south! Give me a break ! These politicians can be seen through like a sheet of glass. Problem is these debates are probably alienating independents.... Being so far to the left !! This may back fire on most of them. We'll see .....

Everyone says what they would have done differently... Hindsight is always 20/20.

For my part the world is a safer place without Saddam !!! I don't see how anyone can argue against that.

Iowa and onward !! Good luck losers....

Slashdot | Automagic No-Fly-Zone Enforcement

Slashdot | Automagic No-Fly-Zone Enforcement: "Automagic No-Fly-Zone Enforcement

Posted on Slashdot:

Posted by michael on Saturday January 03, @05:33PM
from the also-works-to-keep-dogs-out-of-your-yard dept.
An anonymous reader writes 'SoftWalls is the name of an aviation project at UC-Berkeley that's developing a system for commercial airliners that establishes and enforces no-fly zones. Basically, through GPS, if a plane begins to enter a no-fly zone (eg, around a mountain, or over Lower Manhattan), an alarm goes off in the cockpit. ".............

This idea is nuttier than a fruit cake.... read the comments in this thread from a professional pilot .... If this works so well why bother having pilots at all !!! No thanks !!! Folks seem to think they can PROGRAM their way out of any social problem !

- ZZB

Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Home

Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Home: "America's Spirit Is Ready to Rock-n-Roll Martian Style Saturday Night"

This is another link worth taking a look at .....

Mars Global Surveyor 2003/2004 Mars Landing Site Weather Reports

Mars Global Surveyor 2003/2004 Mars Landing Site Weather Reports

Did you know Mars has weather ?? I found this interesting page off of NASA's website.... there are also some interesting links regarding a real time "simulation" of exactly where the craft is and what it sees from it's theoretical vantage point. I could not find any live video feeds.

We are explorers at heart we humans !!!!!

Yahoo! News - Flights Disrupted As Terror Worries Mount

Yahoo! News - Flights Disrupted As Terror Worries Mount: "Flights Disrupted As Terror Worries Mount "

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Terror concerns prompted the disruption of more than a half-dozen New Year's holiday flights, as U.S. authorities tightened the air safety net around the country with flight cancellations, airline searches and fighter jet escorts for some planes...... (more)

-- Certainly not a good time to be flying to the U.S. from the U.K. ! Let's hope as many of these international murderers as possible are rounded up and brought to justice for conspiracy to commit crimes against humanity.

Bible Codes on History Channel

By Zardoz Z. Bachman

Just watched an interesting documentary on the History Channel about the so called "Bible Codes". Sort of another version of hindsight prophecy similar to Nostradamus quatrains.... you know, "seek and ye shall find". I am starting to become less skeptical. The two do seem to have some cross correlations and gives one pause to concider a few things. What if in the end, the answers are in front of us all along, we were just too ignorant to take them seriously ? Or for another perspective, why do we need answers at all ? The beauty is in the journey and discovery that takes us from one moment of time to the next. The facts are just the path to follow in the journey. (Very philosophical - excuse me.)

We may have lost any sense of spirituality in our present culture. That being said, it appears we would prefer the hedonistic and materialistic society that has evolved instead. Maybe as a society it is time to take spirituality and the understanding of our place in the universe more seriously. It is not all about silicon and nano-technology. We still seem to act like we believe we are at the center of said universe and are the controllers of it ! As a species we seem to be consumed by the here and now and are thinking less and less about the future and our collective legacy. The cosmic roadmap will continue whether we "understand" it or not... that is the beauty of it ! We don't need a crystal ball to be in awe of it !! The facts we uncover in science are just the footsteps of the journey.

Happy 2004 !

By Zardoz Z. Bachman

So begins another year. It will be interesting to see what happens in the presidential democratic primaries. The web master Dean seems to be trying his best to confuse America... I am sure by the end of this he will cast himself as a "man for all seasons".
We'll see.

Not much planned for today... think I will continue reading The Last Jihad and surf around and check in later.