The “Make America Great Again” experiment has issues. What should we look for in 2020? Character Needed? Honesty Yes Effort Yes Experience Yes Intelligence Yes Maturity Yes What about a combination of honesty, effort, intelligence and maturity? Despite being a “stable genius” and “very rich” the current “Commander” does poorly with the requirements above. Maybe […]
Read MoreAuthor: Timothy Schell
Kill Chain?
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the last of the trophy generals) reported to congress in 2018 that the U.S. is not involved in the “kill chain” in Yemen, but we are supplying the bombers, laser guided bombs, intelligence, and mid-air refueling to the Saudis and Emiratis who are involved. Is not being […]
Read MoreNew Tariff on Baseball Stars
Tariff Man Hits Cuban Ball Players! MLB and Cuban Federation Agreement The agreement reached between MLB and the Cuban Federation after three years of negotiation provided Cuban players a safe and legal path to playing professionally in the U.S. In the past some Cuban stars have risked life and limb making their way illegally to […]
Read MoreThe Mueller Report
“There’s nothing wrong with taking information from the Russians.” Quoting from the Report: “…the Special Counsel’s investigation established that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election principally through two operations. First, a Russian entity carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Second, a […]
Read MoreBasket of Redeemables?
How did these constituencies get cobbled together? EvangelicalsGun EnthusiastsRural CitizensPollutersWhite Nationalists The commander has demonstrated weak strategic thinking, antagonistic diplomacy and thin negotiating skills. Instead, we have a feral focus on short term targets: a Moslem ban, zero tolerance at the border, canceled aid to the Palestinians and the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras and […]
Read MoreWorld Affairs
Name calling, Tariffs and Sanctions seem to come from the same lizard brain region: lazy, blunt and harsh. Tariffs and Sanctions indicate a lack of effort and a failure to grasp the risks and opportunities. Drop Outs: in the past two years we have reneged on the following without better ideas – no plan B […]
Read MoreLazy Decisions
A useful if not foolproof principle for problem solving is “Occam’s Razor“: “simpler solutions are more likely to be correct than complex ones.” Decision making doesn’t have to be rational. Sometimes emotions are OK: Should I call my rivals names? Should I play golf today? Should I pursue pornstars? Should I tell lies and brag […]
Read MoreBecause It Is Difficult!
I moved to Houston, Texas in my youth. I went to an Astros game about three weeks after arriving. The Astrodome was amazing and as I was watching the game in air cooled comfort, I understood: these people think big. Who else would build an indoor domed stadium? Sometimes big is required. The “Green New […]
Read MoreLose The Labels
Political labels help us sort ourselves, but get in the way of progress. Labels encourage us to combine our positions on issues to satisfy our perception of order. This muddles efforts to fix or improve anything. It would be better to tackle each issue on its merits: gun control, climate change, health care, access to […]
Read MoreHistory Lessons
Troika of Tyranny? Cuba Nicaragua Venezuela Our perpetually angry National Security Advisor introduced us to this catchy new phrase “Troika of Tyranny” in a speech November 1, 2018 in Miami with the clever Russian reference and reminiscent of the “Axis of Evil” from the good old days. Lessons learned and forgotten Cuba: As Nicholas Kristof […]
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