How Times Have Changed

The picture of the Intel CEO holding a pizza size silicon wafer with billions of transistors brought me back to an incident in my early engineering career.

In 1958 , Connie Zeirdt and I went to Tokyo as a consulting team to assist Sony with its evolving semiconductor manufacturing.

Our stay in Tokyo was unforgettable. We were treated with the up most respect by the likes of Mr. Ibuka the co-founder of Sony, the legendary Akio Morita the Managing Director and Mr. Iwama the Director of Engineering.
As an illustration of the management philosophy which would lead Sony to the pinnacle of the consumer electronics industry I am reminded of an incident which took place during the course of discussions with Sony engineers.

At the time of our visit the standard for float zone silicon single crystals was approximately .5" diameter. However at GE we were about to release to manufacturing equipment and a process to grow crystals approximately .75" in diameter ( a far cry from today's pizza size crystals).

In discussing crystal growing techniques with the Sony engineers they pressed me for the drawings and process specifications for the crystal growing equipment currently being used at GE. I recommended that they wait approximately another month and then they could have access to the larger diameter crystal growing process. One of the engineers was unconvinced and intimated that I was stalling. A debate ensued among the engineers. The debate was short lived. Mr. Iwama, the Director of Engineering proclaimed that they would do as Mr. Rugare suggested. Dollars and time were saved. To me this was indicative of how fast Sony would progress.

Chief Wahoo - A Cancer

How bad are the Cleveland Indians? Very bad if switching over to WVIZ to watch Confronting Colon Cancer after watching two innings of an Indians game is any indication. I hope that some of the Indians front office people were also watching WVIZ.

There were some valuable lessons to be learned. The best prevention for colon cancer is a colonoscopy during which polyps can be removed before they develop into cancerous tumors. That's just what the Indians needed years ago. I'm not referring to the manager and his beleaguered staff, I'm referring to Chief Wahoo.

Firing the manager and his staff would be like leaving a diseased colon. Chief Wahoo would still be there and the prognosis for the Indians would leave much to be desired.

Chief Wahoo at his best was a benign polyp but he now is a full blown cancerous tumor. Only radical surgery will bring the Indians back to respectability. CHIEF WAHOO MUST GO!

Diversity - A Work In Progress

The United States of America is composed of a very diverse population. Diversity brings problems to the table, so it is not surprising that racism has again reared its ugly head in political debates. Whether it is racism or ethnic agendas, it goes with the territory in our America.

Living with diversity is a work in progress. WOP, Greaseball, Spic, Pollack, Kraut, Mick, Kike, Nigger, Chink and Jap are still part of our vocabulary but not part of our everyday conversations to the extent they were years ago. The melting pot is on medium heat instead of simmer. Once it gets on high heat, diversity will only be a side dish. Being an American will be the main course.

( Can't help noticing the number of cliches unintentionally used in this post about diversity. Cliches have been known to beget cliches so does that make "diversity" a cliche?)

Cliche Candidates

If a cliche is an overused, trite expression which has lost its impact by long overuse, then the following are worthy candidates:

• I apologize - its OK to blow your stack, you can always apologize
• Screw you - in response to an apology
• Awesome - makes a mountain out of a molehill
• That's cool - used when awesome is not appropriate
• You guys - familiarity breeds contempt
• It's on life support - better than dead on arrival
• Bipartisanship - on life support
• Have a ball - what if I don't dance?
• It's all in the genes - reason for success, excuse for failure
• Fiscal responsibility - it has been so long since practised, no one is sure what it is
• Text me - as opposed to "call me" or better yet " give me a holler"
• Do you tweet - strictly for the birds
• Carbon footprints - bad for the rug

( to be continued )

From Rags To Riches

Being poor as a church mouse implies living in extreme poverty. By putting one's nose to the grindstone coupled with a little conniving, greasing of palms, ruthlessness and a lot of luck, someone who is dirt poor can become filthy rich proving that you can go from rags to riches but the dirt never rubs off.

I spent two hours yesterday trying to make a doctor's appointment at a world renowned medical clinic. After being put on hold and listening to two hours of " salsa music" I gave up. I later found out the lines were tied up by misinformed undocumented aliens trying to get a free swine flu shot. I'd bring this up at the next town hall meeting my Congressman holds but I don't want my finger bitten off.

About Labor Day

Samuel Gompers characterized Labor Day as a day which differs in every essential from the other holidays of the year since it is not "connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another". He went on to say "Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation." Labor Day honors the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Ironically this year , workers must feel betrayed as their jobs are at risk and unemployment rates approach double digits. Where once Labor Day was a day to celebrate and relax , for many of our neighbors Labor Day this year is a day full of despair. Holidays for many is a day off from work. Unfortunately for others it is a day like all days - unemployed!

Politics makes strange bed fellows

I did not appreciate the close friendship that Senator Kennedy had with Senators John McCain and Orin Hatch until Kennedy's memorial service. Their friendship certainly lent credence to the cliche, politics makes strange bed fellows.

On the subject of politics, the escapades of Senator Ensign, Governor Stanford , former Senator John Edwards and of course Former President Clinton bring to mind another cliche, don't shit where you eat.

Political concerns are pre-empting Obama back-to-school speech in some school districts

Some school officials have decided not to show students President Barack Obama's live back to school speech on Tuesday, September 8th. Typical of the explanation offered by superintendents is , "In my heart I wanted to air it and want to believe that it is nothing more than a motivational speech but In the end, I made a decision based on what I thought was best for the schools in a politically charged environment." ( What he meant to say is , "If I air the speech, I'm afraid that conservatives will not vote for my next levy". )

A politically charged environment? We are talking about the President of The United States! Yes, he is a politician - that's how you become President. Yes, some of his policies are controversial - not surprising for a democracy. Yes, there are those who would like to see him fail even to the extent of misrepresenting policies and fomenting rage about them. Should all this translate into shielding students from viewing and listening to their President talk about studying hard and staying in school? It shouldn't, but it is happening.

Why? It appears to me that a small group of crazies have taken over the Republican party and are implementing a strategy of vilifying Obama and his agenda at every turn. They are being very effective in steering up hatred and anger. Their actions come dangerously close to stirring up mob rule. I have heard that some of this is racist. I'd like to believe that it is the reaction of a poor loser and not racism but I am beginning to have doubts. In some respects I'm beginning to believe there is an American style "Taliban" in the making.

As a next step, perhaps our school superintendents will start reviewing the text books used in their schools. When they find politically charged material and they will, they can save the book for the beloved big game bonfires. Let's hope that The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of The United States States are spared a fiery death.

Time To Fold The Cards

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue on and on. We'll soon have sons and daughters fighting the same battles their fathers and mothers fought. George Will in his September 1st Washington Post op-ed makes a good argument for bringing the troops home from Afghanistan. It's also time to leave Iraq sooner rather than later.

Has anyone at the Pentagon read "Charlie Wilson's War" or at least seen the movie? The roles and principals have changed but history is repeating itself. Our war on terrorism has turned into nation building which is a lost cause in the Mideast.

The Mideast wars are making us a pauper nation! Time to fold the cards.

As she deals with old age and age spots, the High Primal swears that if she had feathers she would be referred to as mottled!

About The Second Amendment

Apparently legislating gun control has become the third rail of American politics. Even the the recent praises for the legislative prowess of Senator Kennedy are quick to point out that this powerful liberal was not a voice in the gun control debate, in spite of the tragic role that guns played in his family history. Little if anything is heard about Obama's agenda for gun control legislation. The voice of the NRA remains strong in fending off any attempts to reign in the proliferation of guns in our society.

Behind this fear of coming to terms with the slaughter caused by the indiscriminate possession of guns by all elements of the population is the second amendment to the Constitution.

"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

The words constantly brought to our attention are " the right of the people to bear Arms, shall not be infringed". Charlton Heston , the late poster boy of the NRA, emphatically made this a point when he paraphrased an N.R.A. bumper sticker (“I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands”), by waving a replica of a colonial musket above his head and shouting defiantly, “From my cold, dead hands".

I read the words of the second amendment and the key words to me are "A well-regulated Militia".

My interpretation of the second amendment is that the right to bear arms is contingent on whether or not we have a well-regulated militia. A militia is a body of citizens organized for military service. More to the point a militia is a a part of the organized armed forces of a country liable to call only in emergency. In modern America, a militia is the National Guard and the Army Reserves! In colonial times a militia was a loosely organized group of citizens who responded to emergencies with their weapons in hand.

If the day ever comes that our security is dependent on citizens rushing out of homes with their automatic weapons to defend us ,we will have seen the passing of the United States of America.

We have a well regulated militia that is well armed by the taxes which the citizens of this country pay. The right of the the same citizens to bear arms can be infringed without jeopardizing the security of the country. In fact, not regulating guns is tantamount to creating a society where the law of the land will be the law of the gun.

When will a champion for effective gun control come forth? Not until many more cold , dead hands line the streets.