Showing posts with label comments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comments. Show all posts
03 April 2011
Libya
So, an old friend of mine recently wrote to catch up and noted there'd been no new entries here since nov'10. I have been very busy with work (in spite of my new years resolution.) I had another friend write to talk about what was going on in Libya and it was an interesting convo. I will post it here when I get home(currently on the road).
17 July 2009
30 June 2009
organizational challenge
The commitment for USAF pilot training is 10 years. But pilot training takes about 1.5 to 2.5 years. And of course (I mean, _OF COURSE_) every pilot has to be an officer, which generally takes 4 years of undergrad work at a commissioning source to accomplish. This means that today, the USAF is making decisions about pilot manning ~16 years in the future. That's an awfully long decision cycle. Our OODA loop is very big...no wonder we are so terrible at managing our manning.
08 June 2009
Monthly update...
It has been a habit of mine for several years now to write a letter once a month to a collection of friends and family. (At least, once a month was my intention, I have very rarely lived up to it.) The idea was to stay in touch with people and keep them up with where I was and what I was doing since I moved around so much. This was in 2000, just after I had commissioned and started my military service, while I was in Delaware; This was in the dark ages: before Twitter, before Facebook, before blogs, when all we had was email.
It was surprisingly difficult to make myself write a two page letter once a month. Anyway, starting this blog really put the final nail in the coffin of this process, since blogging is so much easier than writing an email and maintaining a list of emails to send it to. It is useful, however, to actually write entries like that, a summary of what I've been up to. One of my old email subscribers wrote recently and noted that I haven't written in awhile, which was the motivation for this entry and to send out an email to my list with a link to my upcoming monthly post.
I can thank my sisters for getting me involved in Facebook (and I do). I wouldn't have started blogging if it weren't for my last deployment...I've had conversations about this with my dad, who noted that people tend to grasp a method of communication and hold onto it at some point. It's not that email isn't faster than snail-mail, but if you only have mail addresses for all you old college buddies, it's hard to get into email. Changing established means of communication (or anything, for that matter) takes energy and a willingess in change and innovate. So anyway, I am trying to get back into the habit of writing once a month, and I will be posting them here.
~~~
minor edit 23jun09, a couple of typos
It was surprisingly difficult to make myself write a two page letter once a month. Anyway, starting this blog really put the final nail in the coffin of this process, since blogging is so much easier than writing an email and maintaining a list of emails to send it to. It is useful, however, to actually write entries like that, a summary of what I've been up to. One of my old email subscribers wrote recently and noted that I haven't written in awhile, which was the motivation for this entry and to send out an email to my list with a link to my upcoming monthly post.
I can thank my sisters for getting me involved in Facebook (and I do). I wouldn't have started blogging if it weren't for my last deployment...I've had conversations about this with my dad, who noted that people tend to grasp a method of communication and hold onto it at some point. It's not that email isn't faster than snail-mail, but if you only have mail addresses for all you old college buddies, it's hard to get into email. Changing established means of communication (or anything, for that matter) takes energy and a willingess in change and innovate. So anyway, I am trying to get back into the habit of writing once a month, and I will be posting them here.
~~~
minor edit 23jun09, a couple of typos
20 May 2009
Gitmo
For pity's sake. Seriously?
Congress denied the funding to close Gitmo.
Okay, I don't have much time for anything but sleep these days, so pardon the lack of finesse: the threat posed by those in Gitmo is now and always has been overstated. We are all surrounded, all the time, by much more dangerous criminals, safely contained in the same prisons we could put these guys in. Gitmo itself is a continuing blemish on our reputation as a just and democratic nation, and makes it harder to fight this war. It should be closed immediately.
Congress denied the funding to close Gitmo.
Okay, I don't have much time for anything but sleep these days, so pardon the lack of finesse: the threat posed by those in Gitmo is now and always has been overstated. We are all surrounded, all the time, by much more dangerous criminals, safely contained in the same prisons we could put these guys in. Gitmo itself is a continuing blemish on our reputation as a just and democratic nation, and makes it harder to fight this war. It should be closed immediately.
12 March 2009
More cadet advice...
...work hard. Did you know that your order of merit from the zoo is used to calculate your line number for major?
AFPC Promotions page
AFPC Promotions page
14 February 2009
Love stories
In honor of the day, a few 6 word love stories from a collection by Smith magazine. Some happy, some sad endings.
"will you marry me?" he texted.
No more psychos. Or Boy Scouts.
After three years, he chose cocaine.
Found prince, living happily ever after.
I always smile when he calls.
Too pretty? I got her anyway.
Sock drawer's hidden letter betrayed her.
Married too young. Now both sorry.
Let's get naked and wrestle. Ready?
I was sad. Then we met.
Where's the emoticon for "you suck?"
He had "man boobs". Strike three.
My history notwithstanding, hope springs eternal
What do you see in me?
He remembers wrongdoings but not birthdays.
Dumped through email with spelling mistakes.
Seeking Prince Charming, found Princess.Engaged!
Two captains. Haven't sunk ship. Yet.
Spellbound, I followed you to Arkansas!
Man, you still get to me.
shot my cat, stole my camera
This could be love. You in?
Found love when apartment caught fire.
You had me at "Ender's Game".
He'll always still matter to me.
Lost her. But she's happy now.
(Minor edit 15 Feb to make sure it's clear I took these from Smith mag...don't want to steal someone's stuff!)
(Minor edit 26 Dec 13 to make it easier to search. Valentine's Day, six word stories, six word story)
"will you marry me?" he texted.
No more psychos. Or Boy Scouts.
After three years, he chose cocaine.
Found prince, living happily ever after.
I always smile when he calls.
Too pretty? I got her anyway.
Sock drawer's hidden letter betrayed her.
Married too young. Now both sorry.
Let's get naked and wrestle. Ready?
I was sad. Then we met.
Where's the emoticon for "you suck?"
He had "man boobs". Strike three.
My history notwithstanding, hope springs eternal
What do you see in me?
He remembers wrongdoings but not birthdays.
Dumped through email with spelling mistakes.
Seeking Prince Charming, found Princess.Engaged!
Two captains. Haven't sunk ship. Yet.
Spellbound, I followed you to Arkansas!
Man, you still get to me.
shot my cat, stole my camera
This could be love. You in?
Found love when apartment caught fire.
You had me at "Ender's Game".
He'll always still matter to me.
Lost her. But she's happy now.
(Minor edit 15 Feb to make sure it's clear I took these from Smith mag...don't want to steal someone's stuff!)
(Minor edit 26 Dec 13 to make it easier to search. Valentine's Day, six word stories, six word story)
16 December 2008
07 November 2008
Thanksgiving
I won't be home for Thanksgiving this year, and that's annoying for the following reason (besides the obvious): I had a really good thing to be thankful for this year.
Last year, I was thankful for the Internet. That isn't sarcasm, and it isn't meant to be shallow either. I didn't have something specific in mind when we started talking about our things to be grateful for, but I started on the fact that I was able to stay in touch with friends and family throughout all my travels, and that the Internet was a big part of that.
This year, I am grateful for the fact that the presidential race was not as bloody (metaphorically) as it could have been. Since really becoming aware of politics in college, it has seemed as though the level of discourse in the nation has dropped off, and that the most radical elements of both parties were gaining hold, increasingly creating a rift between groups of citizens (and often doing so over incredibly small issues, things that are beginning to affect smaller and smaller parts of the population, that are taking precedence over much larger issues).
In a time of such divisiveness, it would be easy to unleash the hounds, and really play to the baser human instincts, but this didn't happen. Both candidates fought for what they thought was right, and did so without true viciousness, and I truly feel that the way they both chose to campaign has bettered the country. I had conversation via email with a friend recently regarding the candidates, and I said of McCain, "There are few people in Washington I have as much respect for as John McCain; he has sacrificed more than most people can imagine. I think his true colors have shown lately in his rallies where he has been defending Obama to McCain supporters..."
John McCain had to pause in the middle of a rally, and tell to his own supporters, people (right or wrong) full of anger and fear, that they had no need to be fearful of or angry at Barack Obama.
This was a terrible political move. But it was the correct moral thing to do, and truly was good for our country, and I again reaffirm my respect for McCain's character and leadership. Sadly, his choice will be seen by lesser men both as weakness and as a failed political choice. No one remembers Cincinnatus or Scipio Africanus, but it was men such as these who made Rome great, in their willingness to set aside their own power for the benefit of the nation.
So I am thankful for John McCain and Barack Obama, and the choices they made. It is easy to find politics gone badly wrong. Look to Zimbabwe, or Myanmar, where the "bloody" is not metaphoric. Or try this one out for a change, for myself and others my age: ask your parents about American politics in the 1960s and 70s. They were there, and it was much worse in America then than now. I think of the way I have felt watching our government in action over the last several years, and I think I have only a small inkling of what it was like in the 60s, and none whatsoever of things like Myanmar, and I am thankful.
Last year, I was thankful for the Internet. That isn't sarcasm, and it isn't meant to be shallow either. I didn't have something specific in mind when we started talking about our things to be grateful for, but I started on the fact that I was able to stay in touch with friends and family throughout all my travels, and that the Internet was a big part of that.
This year, I am grateful for the fact that the presidential race was not as bloody (metaphorically) as it could have been. Since really becoming aware of politics in college, it has seemed as though the level of discourse in the nation has dropped off, and that the most radical elements of both parties were gaining hold, increasingly creating a rift between groups of citizens (and often doing so over incredibly small issues, things that are beginning to affect smaller and smaller parts of the population, that are taking precedence over much larger issues).
In a time of such divisiveness, it would be easy to unleash the hounds, and really play to the baser human instincts, but this didn't happen. Both candidates fought for what they thought was right, and did so without true viciousness, and I truly feel that the way they both chose to campaign has bettered the country. I had conversation via email with a friend recently regarding the candidates, and I said of McCain, "There are few people in Washington I have as much respect for as John McCain; he has sacrificed more than most people can imagine. I think his true colors have shown lately in his rallies where he has been defending Obama to McCain supporters..."
John McCain had to pause in the middle of a rally, and tell to his own supporters, people (right or wrong) full of anger and fear, that they had no need to be fearful of or angry at Barack Obama.
This was a terrible political move. But it was the correct moral thing to do, and truly was good for our country, and I again reaffirm my respect for McCain's character and leadership. Sadly, his choice will be seen by lesser men both as weakness and as a failed political choice. No one remembers Cincinnatus or Scipio Africanus, but it was men such as these who made Rome great, in their willingness to set aside their own power for the benefit of the nation.
So I am thankful for John McCain and Barack Obama, and the choices they made. It is easy to find politics gone badly wrong. Look to Zimbabwe, or Myanmar, where the "bloody" is not metaphoric. Or try this one out for a change, for myself and others my age: ask your parents about American politics in the 1960s and 70s. They were there, and it was much worse in America then than now. I think of the way I have felt watching our government in action over the last several years, and I think I have only a small inkling of what it was like in the 60s, and none whatsoever of things like Myanmar, and I am thankful.
29 October 2008
13 September 2008
the myth of the free market...
With the recent news of the Fannie May and Freddy Mac bailouts, I thought it might be interesting to go over the exact process of a bailout.
So here's how it goes. A privately owned or publicly traded company gets itself into financial troubles, in this case by buying a whole bunch of debt (in the form of mortgages). Unfortunately, they vastly overestimate the face value of these items. (E.g., a 30-year mortgage for $250,000 ought to be worth $250k over 30 years (simplified here by leaving out interest). However, they purchased hundreds of thousands of these and overlooked the fact that many of these new homeowners had no possible means to to pay $250k, even over 30 years.) So they pay a bunch of money for something and actually get nothing in return. When this becomes apparent, everyone who's loaned them money comes asking for it, and the company approaches the verge of collapse. Then, for whatever reason (friends in high places usually), the federal government decides that allowing such a company to go under would be "bad for America" and steps in with a bunch of cash to fund the debt of such a company. That cash comes from tax payer dollars. The net monetary effect is to take tax money from every American and transfer it to a few Americans. (Slightly different this time, see below). It also prevents what free-marketeers say is the upside to a free market, that the company in question (and the people that invested in it) get punished for their poor choices, thus preventing such problems in the future. (This is why Dick Cheney was against the housing market bailout.)
Savings and Loan scandal of the late 80s/early 90s followed the same pattern. Bear-Stearns was similar, and rumor is Lehman Brothers is next.
This type of action, which occurs at regular intervals in America, is the antithesis of the free market.
The new wrinkle with Fannie and Freddy is that for perhaps the first time, the majority of the investors in question were foreigners. Meaning that rather than sending tax dollars to a few select Americans, we sent that money overseas. America is being sold for parts, and it's being done by the very institutions that are supposed to protect it.
~~~
14 Sep: Anne's link: NPR link
So here's how it goes. A privately owned or publicly traded company gets itself into financial troubles, in this case by buying a whole bunch of debt (in the form of mortgages). Unfortunately, they vastly overestimate the face value of these items. (E.g., a 30-year mortgage for $250,000 ought to be worth $250k over 30 years (simplified here by leaving out interest). However, they purchased hundreds of thousands of these and overlooked the fact that many of these new homeowners had no possible means to to pay $250k, even over 30 years.) So they pay a bunch of money for something and actually get nothing in return. When this becomes apparent, everyone who's loaned them money comes asking for it, and the company approaches the verge of collapse. Then, for whatever reason (friends in high places usually), the federal government decides that allowing such a company to go under would be "bad for America" and steps in with a bunch of cash to fund the debt of such a company. That cash comes from tax payer dollars. The net monetary effect is to take tax money from every American and transfer it to a few Americans. (Slightly different this time, see below). It also prevents what free-marketeers say is the upside to a free market, that the company in question (and the people that invested in it) get punished for their poor choices, thus preventing such problems in the future. (This is why Dick Cheney was against the housing market bailout.)
Savings and Loan scandal of the late 80s/early 90s followed the same pattern. Bear-Stearns was similar, and rumor is Lehman Brothers is next.
This type of action, which occurs at regular intervals in America, is the antithesis of the free market.
The new wrinkle with Fannie and Freddy is that for perhaps the first time, the majority of the investors in question were foreigners. Meaning that rather than sending tax dollars to a few select Americans, we sent that money overseas. America is being sold for parts, and it's being done by the very institutions that are supposed to protect it.
~~~
14 Sep: Anne's link: NPR link
21 August 2008
AF career notes
Some notes regarding the AF vectoring process.
~~~
Developmental teams meet at random times at Randolph. They meet for different reasons (e.g. school, promotion, et cetera). And I don't think they make decisions. They merely give a recommended "vector" that real boards will use later.
For example, my IDE DT board is 4-8 August. But my promotion and school board (the people that make the decision) is 8-12 September. So the 4-8 August people are going to make a recommendation to the 8-12 September people.
Another personal example: When I was a 2 year captain a DT board met when I was nowhere near a promotion or school board. There they gave me a "vector." I assume they used that vector when my major's board met a year later. The vector used to be visible on the T-ODP. I can't find it on the ADP. Look at an old T-ODP or ask me and I'll bring in one of my old ones to show you.
Bottom line is that you need to make sure your ADP is correct. If you haven't updated your assignment preferences since the T-ODP became the ADP, I bet you they are jacked up (mine were...F-15E at Randolph?).
X's said something about him being a chaplain! And it takes awhile.
I updated my ADP last summer. I didn't get finalized with the wing cc's comments until January 08.
If the developmental team looks at your ADP and it says you're a chaplain who wants an F-15E at Randolph...your vector/recommendation might suffer.
~~~
The Vector can be found by going through the AF Portal under Top Viewed:
Career and selecting Assignment Management System (AMS). Once you open that link scroll over to the left where it says Personnel Information and select My Career Brief from the pop-up menu. Once you get into that, go to choose view and a menu appears with DT Vectors and Comments at the bottom. Now you're getting close! Choose that and click GO to see what your future holds. Mine is attached below for your viewing pleasure, not that I know what the hell it means.
Vector(s) Rec. Skill Pairing (If Appropriate) Rec. Specialized Studies (ACSC Only)
Air Staff
MAJCOM Staff
Chaplain - Wing
Development Team
***** 9/11/2007 12:00:00 AM *****
Notes: Wg Ch; assign at large base ( 8 or more Ch assign), Needs of the Air Force; Potential future senior leader
my intelink blog
~~~
Developmental teams meet at random times at Randolph. They meet for different reasons (e.g. school, promotion, et cetera). And I don't think they make decisions. They merely give a recommended "vector" that real boards will use later.
For example, my IDE DT board is 4-8 August. But my promotion and school board (the people that make the decision) is 8-12 September. So the 4-8 August people are going to make a recommendation to the 8-12 September people.
Another personal example: When I was a 2 year captain a DT board met when I was nowhere near a promotion or school board. There they gave me a "vector." I assume they used that vector when my major's board met a year later. The vector used to be visible on the T-ODP. I can't find it on the ADP. Look at an old T-ODP or ask me and I'll bring in one of my old ones to show you.
Bottom line is that you need to make sure your ADP is correct. If you haven't updated your assignment preferences since the T-ODP became the ADP, I bet you they are jacked up (mine were...F-15E at Randolph?).
X's said something about him being a chaplain! And it takes awhile.
I updated my ADP last summer. I didn't get finalized with the wing cc's comments until January 08.
If the developmental team looks at your ADP and it says you're a chaplain who wants an F-15E at Randolph...your vector/recommendation might suffer.
~~~
The Vector can be found by going through the AF Portal under Top Viewed:
Career and selecting Assignment Management System (AMS). Once you open that link scroll over to the left where it says Personnel Information and select My Career Brief from the pop-up menu. Once you get into that, go to choose view and a menu appears with DT Vectors and Comments at the bottom. Now you're getting close! Choose that and click GO to see what your future holds. Mine is attached below for your viewing pleasure, not that I know what the hell it means.
Vector(s) Rec. Skill Pairing (If Appropriate) Rec. Specialized Studies (ACSC Only)
Air Staff
MAJCOM Staff
Chaplain - Wing
Development Team
***** 9/11/2007 12:00:00 AM *****
Notes: Wg Ch; assign at large base ( 8 or more Ch assign), Needs of the Air Force; Potential future senior leader
my intelink blog
06 August 2008
Delicious
Okay, so nerding out the other day I started a Delicious account. I read a lot of news online, and I finally got curious about the logo I kept seeing everywhere. Trying it out for now. Seems cool, lets you keep you bookmarks apart from a specific computer, a way of becoming hardware independent.
Bookmarks
~~~
16 Dec 08:
Later post
Bookmarks
~~~
16 Dec 08:
Later post
20 July 2008
psychosis
Long ago, I read an opinion about mental health saying that schizophrenia, where you see and hear things that aren't there, was the only true form of craziness. All other mental problems are simply exaggerations of normal responses or actions that, in the proper environment, would seem normal.
Agree or not, I always remembered the story because it illustrated the meaning of the word psychosis, disconnection from reality.
On the topic. Among many of the other things that is disturbing to me about the war is complete madness it has created among Americans. Specifically, one mistruth I hear all too frequently in the military: "The threat to the United States has never been greater than it has today."
Let us take a historical example not even very far back, this was in my lifetime: 1983. Do we really think that the objective threat to the United States is greater today than it was in 1983, when there were literally thousands of independently launchable and targetable nuclear weapons pointed at every inhabited inch of America, and the USSR? I don't think I need to go back to the Civil war for a better example.
The statement is objectionable enough as a falsehood, an illusion of a threat. But the real danger in it is that it is so hyperbolic, so out of touch with reality, that it pushes us towards actions that not only don't help, they create further problems for us and exacerbate the ones we have.
We are fighting a global guerrilla war, and what is important in a fight like this is a long term, relatively low-cost, persistent and consistent strategy focused on the very small minority of people who wish us ill. The low-cost is important because it must also be long term - we cannot allow the cost of the war to overwhelm our economy. (Incidentally, our economy has always been the heart of U.S. military dominance and thus deserves a great deal more stewardship than we have shown in my lifetime. Problems like the current housing mess need to be foreseen and avoided by conscientious and patient leadership, and we could also do without carrying the elephant of a $9 trillion dollar debt on our backs.)
We do not have this strategy now, which is why we are not winning.
Agree or not, I always remembered the story because it illustrated the meaning of the word psychosis, disconnection from reality.
On the topic. Among many of the other things that is disturbing to me about the war is complete madness it has created among Americans. Specifically, one mistruth I hear all too frequently in the military: "The threat to the United States has never been greater than it has today."
Let us take a historical example not even very far back, this was in my lifetime: 1983. Do we really think that the objective threat to the United States is greater today than it was in 1983, when there were literally thousands of independently launchable and targetable nuclear weapons pointed at every inhabited inch of America, and the USSR? I don't think I need to go back to the Civil war for a better example.
The statement is objectionable enough as a falsehood, an illusion of a threat. But the real danger in it is that it is so hyperbolic, so out of touch with reality, that it pushes us towards actions that not only don't help, they create further problems for us and exacerbate the ones we have.
We are fighting a global guerrilla war, and what is important in a fight like this is a long term, relatively low-cost, persistent and consistent strategy focused on the very small minority of people who wish us ill. The low-cost is important because it must also be long term - we cannot allow the cost of the war to overwhelm our economy. (Incidentally, our economy has always been the heart of U.S. military dominance and thus deserves a great deal more stewardship than we have shown in my lifetime. Problems like the current housing mess need to be foreseen and avoided by conscientious and patient leadership, and we could also do without carrying the elephant of a $9 trillion dollar debt on our backs.)
We do not have this strategy now, which is why we are not winning.
03 July 2008
06 June 2008
quick
Okay, one more quick entry.
A friend of mine recently confessed that despite the importance of her family in her life, she doesn't spend enough time with them, a problem I have noted more than once myself.
It's hard to turn over a new leaf in my present position, but there is some stuff I can do, like really read a FB page instead of scanning it and finding the funniest wall post.
So anyway, Liz, I just wanted to say I read your interests and I found them very entertaining and also very representative of you. I, of course, also love old book smell. I love your Venn diagram about pants, it reminded me of Homer Simpson. And that link the architecture rant...Catherine, this isn't an attack on you, but I agreed with a lot of what Choi said. (And is it true that Rem gets a lot of sleep? Why doesn't that trickle down to his organization? Having personally worked for such organizations (working for one now) and observed the poor decisions (life or death decisions) we make while sleep deprived, I would work hard to build an org that would have shorter workdays, so as to focus only on what is truly important.
A friend of mine recently confessed that despite the importance of her family in her life, she doesn't spend enough time with them, a problem I have noted more than once myself.
It's hard to turn over a new leaf in my present position, but there is some stuff I can do, like really read a FB page instead of scanning it and finding the funniest wall post.
So anyway, Liz, I just wanted to say I read your interests and I found them very entertaining and also very representative of you. I, of course, also love old book smell. I love your Venn diagram about pants, it reminded me of Homer Simpson. And that link the architecture rant...Catherine, this isn't an attack on you, but I agreed with a lot of what Choi said. (And is it true that Rem gets a lot of sleep? Why doesn't that trickle down to his organization? Having personally worked for such organizations (working for one now) and observed the poor decisions (life or death decisions) we make while sleep deprived, I would work hard to build an org that would have shorter workdays, so as to focus only on what is truly important.
excuses; good samaritan
It has been true of each of my deployments that by the end, my knowledge of the situation is at it's peak, my flying skills are good, but have fallen off from their peak (somewhere around month 3), my apathy is at a maximum and my patience is at a minimum.
All of this is a left-handed way of apologizing for the fact that haven't written many good entries lately. Yesterday was another helluva day at work; they never end. Despite my best efforts, we had a number of late takeoffs, and it is hard to care very much about that since whether I care or not, or work against them or not, they still happen and no one else cares. So yeah, apathy, because the only thing I can really change around here is whether or not I get an ulcer. I have no patience right now to write decently constructed entries about things here. It takes too much effort to write clearly, try to explain things from a non-military POV, screen it for opsec, proofread it and post it. (Not to mention the fact that I don't care to re-live my work hours during my free time.) I might do some backdated posting after I get back to the states, hopefully I will at least finish some of the 10 or so draft entries I have going right now.
So the deployment story I will spend the time to write today: I spent a few minutes face down on concrete on my way to chow before this for incoming fire.
Anyway.
Sorry for the tangent. This entry was motivated by the recent news story of the older man who was struck by a car in Hartford recently.
(I am reading back each way I have written this and there isn't at least some part of each that comes our sounding preachy, self-righteous, or insensitive. So do I post this? At risk of seeming an ass, I will...I'd rather be a bad writer than not one at all.)
I am reminded of some things I learned in the Boy Scouts. The proper thing to do would be to block off traffic, send someone to call the police and emergency services, then render first aid, but only if you think he's going to die right there. If he's breathing and not bleeding to death, you shouldn't touch him, and if he's conscious, you should tell him not to move either until trained help arrives.
A note on sending someone for help: You have look one of the on-lookers in the eyes, ask for their name, and then say, "Hello John Smith, nice to meet you. Go call 911 immediately and tell them there has been an accident at 123 Main Street and they need to send police and an ambulance." If you can do this while shaking their hand or slapping them on the shoulder, so much the better, it distracts them momentarily from the panic and confusion.
This last step is important and illustrates a common problem in urgent situations involving groups of people: no one's in charge, no one wants to be in charge, and everyone thinks someone else has all the relevant information and is doing something. The name step is important because it cuts through the herd mentality. Most people will react fairly well in a urgent situation if they are given simple instructions for tasks they've done before that make sense.
All of this is a round about way of saying that while the reaction of onlookers might have been slow, I don't think it was criminally so (the hit and run drivers are another story, and they need to be punished). Within 1 min 10 seconds, there were several people standing in the street around the victim and there was a police car on the scene. I think that's probably competitive with the response time in any city in an industrialized nation.
Thoughts? I haven't had much time to scan open source news for public impression of this incident.
All of this is a left-handed way of apologizing for the fact that haven't written many good entries lately. Yesterday was another helluva day at work; they never end. Despite my best efforts, we had a number of late takeoffs, and it is hard to care very much about that since whether I care or not, or work against them or not, they still happen and no one else cares. So yeah, apathy, because the only thing I can really change around here is whether or not I get an ulcer. I have no patience right now to write decently constructed entries about things here. It takes too much effort to write clearly, try to explain things from a non-military POV, screen it for opsec, proofread it and post it. (Not to mention the fact that I don't care to re-live my work hours during my free time.) I might do some backdated posting after I get back to the states, hopefully I will at least finish some of the 10 or so draft entries I have going right now.
So the deployment story I will spend the time to write today: I spent a few minutes face down on concrete on my way to chow before this for incoming fire.
Anyway.
Sorry for the tangent. This entry was motivated by the recent news story of the older man who was struck by a car in Hartford recently.
(I am reading back each way I have written this and there isn't at least some part of each that comes our sounding preachy, self-righteous, or insensitive. So do I post this? At risk of seeming an ass, I will...I'd rather be a bad writer than not one at all.)
I am reminded of some things I learned in the Boy Scouts. The proper thing to do would be to block off traffic, send someone to call the police and emergency services, then render first aid, but only if you think he's going to die right there. If he's breathing and not bleeding to death, you shouldn't touch him, and if he's conscious, you should tell him not to move either until trained help arrives.
A note on sending someone for help: You have look one of the on-lookers in the eyes, ask for their name, and then say, "Hello John Smith, nice to meet you. Go call 911 immediately and tell them there has been an accident at 123 Main Street and they need to send police and an ambulance." If you can do this while shaking their hand or slapping them on the shoulder, so much the better, it distracts them momentarily from the panic and confusion.
This last step is important and illustrates a common problem in urgent situations involving groups of people: no one's in charge, no one wants to be in charge, and everyone thinks someone else has all the relevant information and is doing something. The name step is important because it cuts through the herd mentality. Most people will react fairly well in a urgent situation if they are given simple instructions for tasks they've done before that make sense.
All of this is a round about way of saying that while the reaction of onlookers might have been slow, I don't think it was criminally so (the hit and run drivers are another story, and they need to be punished). Within 1 min 10 seconds, there were several people standing in the street around the victim and there was a police car on the scene. I think that's probably competitive with the response time in any city in an industrialized nation.
Thoughts? I haven't had much time to scan open source news for public impression of this incident.
28 May 2008
18 May 2008
food
Interesting this rote that I haven't gotten tired of many foods, probably because of the variety there is here. I used to get tired of certain foods or meals and would have to quit them for awhile, but here that hasn't happened. The only things I can think of are pineapple and the generic breakfast meal (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage). I even preemptively stopped drinking so much red gatorade, which is available here in abundance, so that I wouldn't burn myself out (or get kidney stones), but I don't seem to have built up a revulsion to it.
12 May 2008
Boyd
My schedule just changed and I should have some more free time, so look for some updates here. In the meantime, a couple of links relevant to John Boyd.
http://www.d-n-i.net/
http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/school/ots/boyd.htm
http://www.d-n-i.net/
http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/school/ots/boyd.htm
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