“..another year over, a new one…”

And so this is the end of the 2016 blog.  My next post will be in 2017, a year filled with…God only knows what will transpire in the new year.

I do know that at least on my personal front, I managed to meet a goal, accomplish my target.  I wanted to write more this year. And I did manage to write more.  The average was just over one a week.  Yes, a couple of months only had three, while one had seven (!) but I still was able to sit down and write more. I’m glad.  I don’t know if it did anything for anyone else (I hope it did) but it helped me by allowing me to process, express, consider, respond, etc.

I hope that next year I do as well. Maybe better.  Maaaaybeee 🙂 If I continue to average once a week I’ll be good.  Perhaps I’ll crack 2000 view…I know, not much compared to many I know and follow, but still a nice metric for me.  And 72 countries, which also pleases me.  So on to the new year, new blogs, new topics, new themes.

Happy new year folks.

General Concern

As I have watched the unfolding of the selection of various Cabinet and high-ranking officials in the new administration, I find I have a General concern about three of them.

Three generals have been selected so far, and more could be tapped.  In general principle, I do not have an issue with the selection of military officers for Cabinet and other positions.  But I have concerns with aspects of these three.

The selection of Lt. General Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor concerns me, on a couple of fronts.  First, his anti-Muslim views are too broad and run the risk of isolating the US from the world Islamic community.  I get that we are fighting radical Islam, and that the failure of the current administration to use that term has galled a number of people. Still, there are millions of Muslims that are not radical, not terrorist, not beyond the pale of our connecting.  It doesn’t appear that LTG Flynn has that nuance in his view, and that is a concern.  Second, his experience with Islam has been as a warfighter, which may not transition well to dealing with the diplomatic aspects of national security.  And then there are issues of managerial style, handling of classified information, and a tendency to alt-right positions.

The selection of General John Kelly for DHS is also disconcerting.  The DHS is a disparate, civilian, law-enforcement focused agency with a bad morale problem.  While a highly successful Marine Corps general, Kelly is a combat commander.  How that skill set will mesh with an organization that includes the US Secret Service, TSA, ICE, CBP,and FEMA, among others, will be challenging.  An individual with law enforcement experience would seem to be a more logical choice, or even a head of a multinational conglomerate where diplomacy and politics help make an organization operate.

The selection of a Warrior Monk to run the Pentagon would, at first blush, seem to be a smart option.  General James Mattis is a highly successful, highly regarded (almost worshiped) combat general with a reputation as a great leader and great thinker.  The role of Secretary of Defense should, however, be a civilian in order to provide the proper checks and balances on military authority, to ensure the realization of civilian control over military matters.  And least any think that clash doesn’t happen, remember Truman dropping McArthur because the general forgot that it was the President who made decisions.

Finally, all three are veterans of the long war in southern Asia.  The military, and indeed the government, tends to focus on getting the last war right and learning the lessons from it, and not so much learning how to prepare for the next one.  While we need to end this conflict and prepare to solve the accompanying mess in Iraq and Afghanistan, we also need to be prepared for the cyberwar that is coming, for dealing with the next generation of warfare and challenges.  None, including Flynn, are heavily focused on cyber. Or Russia.  Or China.  And if these leaders aren’t focused on these areas, how will they be able to advise their newly elected boss?

Time will tell.

 

 

Death Marks

I had first seen the signs, but forgot them.

I had passed by the signs on my walks a couple of times, and didn’t pay any attention to them.

And then it hit me.  Death marks.  The trees that graced my walk path were going to be removed.

By paint on the trunk, and marks on the road, the tree is marked for removal.

          

It is, undoubtedly, due to the Emerald Ash Borer.  We’ve lost a lot of trees in the region, and in Columbia, from the pest.  I understand the need to remove them, although the change in the view of my path will be sad to see.  It was right beside the first tree in the first picture that I saw my first (and only) in-person pileated woodpecker.

I suspect my only real compliant with the process is wondering, since it has likely been known for a couple of years that the trees would eventually have to go, why new ones weren’t planted sooner, to give them a little time to grow, to give them a little shade.

It does make me more attuned to the issue of biological diversity.  For history has shown the effects of a dependency on a particular species, whether it is the potato, the elm, or the ash.  And perhaps it should be considered when we think about the other crops of corn, wheat, rice, bananas.  How dependent are we on a single sources, which can be susceptible to a particular disease….or biological weapon.

For now, I know I will have a tree-less promenade next spring and summer, and a significant change in my shade.

#HoCoBlogs

Gifted

I don’t know how many gifts I have received in my life.  I suppose that there a way of estimating the number, given a known number of birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, graduations, etc.  For many years receiving gifts was as difficult as giving gifts.  I think it comes down to generosity, and not being able to accept or extend it.

http://www.sebaboston.com/members/gifted/

Two gifts stand out for me recently in my life.  Both have provided me with examples of what generosity is and what makes it so memorable, so important. The first example was three years ago.  I had spent the day in the hospital with my mother.  As anyone who has been in an ER knows, it isn’t an easy or comfortable process to be there waiting for hours on end, even if the news turns out alright.  I was beat that day, physically and emotionally.  My friend with the cats had a key to my place at that time, and when I came home she had left a gift on my table.  She had left favorite candies of mine (dark chocolate peanut M&Ms, dark chocolate Reese’s miniatures). That she had known my favorites and left them was touching enough, but ….. she gave me three (3!) bags of each! It was, I think, the extravagant generosity of the gift that touched me.  Thoughtful, extravagant, unexpected, loved.  I still remember the feeling, still have the empty bags as a reminder.

The second was more recent.  My friend from my recent road trip,  without any reason, gave me a gift.  It was an unexpected, unique gift for me; it was the first time someone gave me a piece of jewelry, a cross on a chain.  The gift caught me off guard, for a variety of reasons, and I her why she had given it to me.  Her response surprised me, and has lingered with me.  She told me that during the trip she had noticed, and commented, on my lack of jewelry and asked why.  She remembered my response that during and after the divorce, I stopped wearing any because I didn’t feel I was worthy, or more accurately felt too worthless to wear anything.  She gave me a cross because she felt that as a symbol of my faith I might wear it when I wouldn’t wear something else.  She hoped that in wearing it I would eventually see myself again as worthwhile and begin to forgive myself.  An amazing insight and compassion from one conversation, delivered in one gift.

Two very different gifts.  My heart touched by both.  I’m still trying to learn generosity, still trying to forgive. But gifted to be touched by two such caring people.