Without testing

When not tested or challenged by an opposing view, a hypothesis is unsound and an opinion is irrelevant.

Political Change and Individual Responsibility

The failure of the electric car exemplifies that, as long as I [read: You] am comfortable, there is no need to fix anything, even if the end result is ecological devastation. That is the reason why we have happily trudged from around $1 per gallon in 2003 (when I left for Korea) to almost $4 per gallon, now. The oil companies edged the prices incrementally over time, each just enough to make us mad, but not furious enough to take action.

The best way to get a person, or group of people, to see things your way is, like guerilla warfare, to do surgical strikes against key targets. Philosophically, what that means is that if you and I have dramatically opposing views on a subject matter, it is pointless for me to try to convince you of your view being wrong and mine being right. I will lose that fight as surely as you will (unless, of course, one of us does not have the conviction to uphold our view). However, if I want you to have a paradigm shift to my perspective, I will have regular debates with you on topics related to each of our perspectives, but only those topics which lean more to my point of view. Over several debates, fighting the battles I strategically placed myself to win, your resistance to my ideas will be dramatically reduced and may even be mitigated.

Back to our beloved oil companies. For those of you who don't know, they are currently showing record profits and are projecting continued profits over the next several quarters. Ask yourself how we got to this point? All Bush-Big Oil conspiracies aside (I'm not saying they don't exist, but I like to put responsibility where it really lies), let us ask ourselves what we've done to mitigate this rise in fuel prices. Considering the aforementioned rise in prices, ask yourself, what would have happened in 2003 if Big Oil had bumped the prices from $1 to $4. There would have been open revolt. But, since they did it incrementally, they accomplished their goals. Raise the prices until the community becomes outright pissed. Then lower the prices just enough to quell the raging masses. Once the paradigm had shifted ($1 to $1.50 as a fair price), start raising the prices again, repeating the raise-lower practice until the price is almost $4 a gallon. How much further will we go? (I predict that, given their ingenious practice, they could raise the price indefinitely.)

It's a simple equation of supply and demand. If we stop our gluttonous consumption of petrol, then it demonstrates a fall in demand. As the fall in demand drops while the supply remains constant, the price drops. If the American community holds out long enough, the prices will return to normal. But it takes a unified approach. One person, or one city will not make enough of a difference.  So, who is to blame? We are. Insurance companies show that most accidents happen within 5 miles of the house. Many say it's because as we get closer to home we become more complacent. But what if we conducted our own little experiment, setting the trip meter to our daily destinations. How many would only find that most of their destinations were within 5 miles of their homes?

I like to take my dogs to the doggie park. They're so cute when they get to play with others. I finally got the distance and it's 5.3 miles away. I run 4 miles each morning. We road march from 6-12 miles at work. At a relaxed pace of 2.5 miles per hour, it would take around 2 hours to get there. An hour for them to play, and another 2 hours back. Or, if you're like me and like to hurry up and get there, about 1-1/2 hours. But the thought of exertion is so repulsive that our country now suffers an 80 percent obesity rate. How far is it to the grocery store? I remember walking to the store with my Mom when I was a boy. Cars were expensive and the fam only had one, which Dad took to work.

My point here has specifically targeted the petroleum companies and the exorbitant price of fuel. I want to see a change, not only in consumption, but in price. I hate the government-big oil relationship that does exist. But the solution does not come from the hands of politicians who are ever so willing to take credit. The solution for our current global problems all come from our willingness to demand change and to sacrifice for it. Nothing is free. You will pay in either freedom, coin, or effort, listed in this order because it is the path of least resistance; most will sacrifice freedom and coin before committing effort.

Compost Reflections

I'm watching YouTube videos on composting, after visiting Joseph Jenkins' website. There are a lot of reflections based on these videos and previous readings.

First, in preparation one video, I think for the eco-composting toilet, showed an image of "seeding" the compost with previous sawdust or soil. I thought on this last year when "designing my own compost bin out of a plastic trash can, with holes drilled in for ventilation and seepage. I thought of putting in about 18 inches of potting soil (compost after my first couple of batches) stocked with a handful of worms. The initial 18 inches would serve as an absorbent base, particularly with a layer of straw on top of it. Additionally, I felt that 18 inches would be adequate to protect the worms from the thermophilic decomposition going on over head. As the additional layers of compost cooled down, the worms would migrate to the new layers of food, aerating the soil and munching on any further pathogens as they went.

Second, the use of compost. Many users say compost is only good for horticulture because of residual pathogens. (This is actually the reason for my double major in Microbiology, to develop credible testing methods for my compost.) Others say to till the compost in with the soil. In Farmers for 40 Centuries, by King, he observes the application of fresh night soil (feces and urine). The practice involves layering the additive. Dig down, laying the soil off to the left and right of the row. Put the [compost] as the base (where the roots will be), then add a layer of the soil you removed. Next, add a layer of silt or dampened soil, rubbed smooth (I assume this is to serve as a vapor barrier to prevent evaporation) and top it off with the remaining soil.

And finally, is simply an observation. If we are to transition to this environmentally sound practice, then videos showing "Deliverance" style settings should be minimized. Westerners love their comforts. To get a western community to move in the right direction requires a preservation of comforts equivalent to current technologies. My vision is to develop and put into place a system that synthesizes environmentally sound methods with current technologies to produce a sustainable system with relevant degrees of comfort.

Leadership 2

Decentralization.

How can we effectively raise our subordinates in a decentralized environment? A hands off approach is not leadership, but rather, apathy. A hands on approach is considered by many, especially the subordinate, to be micromanagement. So what is the answer?

I struggled with this my entire time as a platoon sergeant. On the one hand, I was rather authoritarian. On the other, I was apathetic. It was a pendulum swing in which I bounced back and forth, ever trying to reach that happy medium wherein my subordinates would have the maximum potential for growth and introspection.

In retrospect, I think the answer lies in tasks and timelines. While at FOB Prosperity this past tour (Oct 06 to Mar 07) as a platoon leader, I tasked my squad leaders and team leaders to write appendices to the platoon's standard operating procedure. They would submit these articles, I would read them, make corrections or discuss them with the owner, and kick them back. The task was two-fold. First, to keep my leaders busy, and thinking. Second, to attempt to produce an actual SOP based on how we actually did things, not how someone in an office pictured them being done. I met with each of them to look at what they had produced, and kept them working on the tasks until we moved back into the fight.

My favorite saying of all time from a subordinate leader is, "How can you evaluate me in how my squad does on the APFT (any task, actually) if you're doing all the planning?" I spoke with Jake on this a couple of times and really boils down to this: if you don't want the Lieutenant or the Platoon Sergeant doing your job, then do it yourself.

I had this one team leader last year who wanted to be home with his pregnant wife while the rest of the platoon was doing training. His squad, in particular, was doing PT twice a day. (The other platoons were off by noon, but I held my guys in until around 4-5 O'clock: a day's wage for a day's work) I appreciate family, but when you assume a leader role, your men have to take priority. Whether they live or die is often a direct reflection of how you trained them. Most in the army do not appreciate this perspective any longer. One of my recent team leaders is now frequently at home with his family; quite frankly, I expected no less from that particular person.

Ayn Rand?

I can't remember where this comes from, and Morgan will probably correct me if he stops by here, but I think it's from Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged.

Premise: A person can only be punished according to his values.

Arguments:

(1) A person without values cannot be punished.

(2) A person whose values are not understand or are unknown cannot be punished