Month: Oct 2009

Integrity vs Entertainment

It’s a funny old world …

Recently I was asked to run a detail lasting 4 hours in an Airbus simulator, for a film crew coming from Australia.

I was told by the training office that this was just operating the instructor panel on the simulator to help them get the information they needed regarding certain situations that would be explained in a television documentary to be aired on a Sunday evening weekly program.

Apparently the various people involved had visited Airbus, and were due to return to Australia for interviews with some of the major airlines operating Airbus aircraft.

I soon gathered that the likely scenario was to be the loss of instrumentation and automation as experienced by an A380 crew recently, and what might have been the case with the A330 lost over the Atlantic.

Cash for Clunkers program a failure

The law of unintended consequences

It should come as no surprise to anyone that U.S. car companies are slumping once again. The Cash for Clunkers program was a wasteful, inefficient publicity stunt or, worse, an actual attempt by the US Federal Government to stimulate the economy. The worse part is that the program cost the economy jobs: many healthy, profitable dealerships had their company taken away from them by government edict under this program, never to return. It’s almost criminal.

By Sherry Jarrell

Integrity of explorers

Achievements and integrity

What do the achievements of explorers like Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Ann Daniels have to do with “integrity”? It certainly is about directing a huge effort towards something larger than oneself, while exposing oneself to considerable risk. It is also about taking single steps and trusting that they add up to something. However, there is perhaps another aspect.

It is my understanding, without being a psychologist, that it is all in the mind; and one can detect this in their interviews. For example, Ann Daniels clearly loves being “on the ice”, especially floating ice that is moving, sometimes in the wrong direction! Her references to phoning her children very occasionally while away also indicate that she is not concerned about being away from them.

Take your own baggage

It is also my understanding that there is one aspect that psychologists have discovered is required for this kind of activity. It is a characteristic that they have found in people who are remarkably successful at it. Perhaps it was spotted in Ann Daniels by the people who selected her for her first expedition.

It is not easy to describe, but it is the characteristic that, psychologically, these people “take themselves with them” when they travel. When they are in all sorts of very demanding situations, they are not wishing that were back at home in a cosy environment. They are completely “present”, as others have described it (including on this blog). They have all their feelings, psychological baggage and all, “with them”.

Perhaps there is something that we can all learn from this.

The love of a dog

Dog love

The following is a guest post from Daniela Caride. Daniela is the publisher of The Daily Tail, a Blog about her life with animals. To use her own words, “life with three dogs, three cats, her husband and the countless other animals she meets.”

Dogs inhabit my very first memories. I grew up with dogs as part of my family. They, too, got goodnight kisses from Mom.

In my early years I realized dogs had their own traits, just like humans. While our old boxer China quietly roamed around the house looking for love, Colita, our crazy Dachshund, tried to pee on everyone’s legs. If unsuccessful, the green rug under the dining table was an agreeable option. I don’t blame him. It looked just like a big square of grass.

Remarkable people: Guy Watson

Down to earth integrity!

GUY-WATSON Brought up on a farm, working as a management consultant and returning to farming, Guy Watson brought something from outside and applied it to a “field” in which he had a passion.

After starting an organic farming business from nothing, and after many trials and tribulations, he latched onto distribution by delivering food boxes directly to customers. The business grew until he was personally delivering boxes weekly to 800 customers; nowadays the business serves 40,000 customers weekly through a network of co-operating growers and franchised distributors and has revenues over £30 million ($45m) per year.

A tax is a tax is a ….COST !

The role of taxes.

We’ve talked a lot about taxes as revenue to the Government and the inefficiency of government spending on this Learning from Dogs, but a far more important issue is the impact of taxes on the costs and output of businesses.

Any imposed cost to business is a “tax,” whether it’s called that or not. And any tax is an additional cost to that business, which lowers its output, reduces employment, and raises prices of goods and services to you and me.

Somebody forgot to tell the dogs!

A reminder about how dogs, just like their human masters, love an ordered life.

We live in a rural country village with some 500 people scattered around, and have the New Forest on our door step, so our two dogs, Millie and Summer, get lots of walks. They are nearly six now, and arrived here as puppies.

Like most dog owners, we are known because of the dogs. The dogs sit near the five-bar gate during the day waiting to see if anybody will pass by and talk to them. The normal routine when I am home is to go out shortly after 6am for a morning walk, then they get another walk later during the day.

Harvest Festival and “The Midnight Truce”.

An old Saxon church and echoes of world wars

Recently, the children from our small school in Breamore started their day with a Harvest Festival service in the old Saxon village church which is over 1,000 years old.

Rural life has not changed much for generations.

The Breamore Estate, set in beautiful Hampshire countryside has some 300 inhabitants, many of them living in old thatched cottages. The main Breamore House is where General Patton stayed in the run up to the D-Day landings.

The truth about this crisis – and it isn’t pretty!

The coincidence of events

Today started like most days in that after a breakfast with Jean it was time to switch on the PC and review the news that had come in over night and think about what material might be appropriate for the Blog. But that’s as far as it went for a normal day.

Because a number of items came together in a way that left me reeling. Not because it was necessarily new information but because together they represent the most compelling evidence as to why this economic crisis happened and, more importantly, the terrible likelihood that our leaders aren’t go to fix it and that the future will bring an even worse calamity.

The US personal savings rate.

What, You Think The Savings Rate Can’t Go Higher?

This Post is entirely indebted to others. It is too important a message not to warrant dissemination on this Blog. (But read to the end to see a valuable tutorial from our own Dr.Jarrell.)

So thanks: First to Naked Capitalism for providing the link (Yves does such an amazing job). Then to Business Insider for the actual article, which is the bulk of this Post, as follows. Finally to David Goldman who provides the data behind the chart.

The article starts thus:

This chart should give chills to anyone hoping that Americans will stop saving and start spending again.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: