Island Chrissy

Howdy,
On Christmas eve Gino and I headed out from Arlie beach to Long Island. It is part of the Whitsunday chain. Tomorrow we'll be going back to Arlie beach to go on a 1 day excursion to the barrier reef.



Christmas was looking up!



What were we thinking?



So, this was me for about 18 hours.



Saw lots of wildlife... below is a Ray.







A bit weird food, but all good!







Then back to Mackay and off to a pub crawl...



It was a rough 2nd day...

Lovely... Really..?

Hello again from down under.

We went dirt bike riding yesterday.



Saw some neat country. Tropical. Same latitude as Cabo, Mexico. Didn't find a platypus, but will try again later...




That is a gum tree! Aka Eucalyptis

Rain forest only a few miles away from the dry hot desert.

Deano and Gino. Great M8s! Dean lemme use his bike.

Gino and I.


Laughed a bunch with friends at dinner. Saw & experienced more of Macay. It grew up recently with the local coal mines. The average income supports lots of toys, neatly shaven lawns, boats, etc. We went for drinks on Sunday at the harbor; which didn't exist 4 years ago and now has 6-7 thirteen story apt buildings/condos. Now it is FULL of 30 foot catamarans and larger play things. A nice mix of women and men, which surprised me for all that I have heard about the over abundance of men in this male dominated mining town. It was fun to see some folks in a dance move to cover the stumble. Felt like home. I was quite surprised at the whole Ozzy alcohol thing. I've heard 100s of times over the last couple of months that they can drink. And, I suppose it is true. But I wouldn't say that their bodies react differently. That being said, at the Harbor there were ~250-400 people and things seemed to be cranked up rather quickly. The music absolutely sucked. It wasn't much more than a karaoke band. Yet, there was lots of moving and shaking. Good stuff. Seems harmless enough. Can I get another? Yea, you usually buy two at a time.

So, I want to write about my mood. That is what recreation is about, right? Things are well. The end goal is being more comfortable in my own skin - I think. I am a bit on edge from my recent immersion in living a tobacco free life. I have been a user for a long time and rapidly redesigning my thinking to exclude it from my thoughts. But it has been 5 days. Equal to my best stretch in 5 years. Pathetic I admit, but moving forward.

I want to remain humble, but this is important. I am not sure why I feel that way, but it is true. Interesting to note that (1) my mood has trended below mediocre in the recent long term history. (2) I am responsible for my mood and have the ability to change it. (3) I wish to experience how I feel fully. Without denial, subterfuge, fear or possession. That is living!



These guys spread out that skin around the neck to look huge! They also have a colorful mouth for very scary effect!

Be well,
Matthew

Communication hasn't been an issue

Except for the normal stuff. I have a zebra sun burn on my back because after getting sprayed with sun screen by my buddy and feeling complete coverage (indicating to him to stop), it was in fact not so. I should have just (as usual) spoke about my concerns and not giving instructions.



Words that I have heard used in conversation:
Grog - booze of a mixed variety.
Patchu Hunter - Likely complimentary term for a man indicating his status as a womanizer
Ta - Thank you

All in all, most things are verrry similar to the US. Suburbs, shopping malls, food courts, big box stores, little convenience stores, clotheslines in the back yard. Driving on the left side of the road spins me out. I have almost been hit once and scared more than a few times. It should be interesting going out on motorcycles today. The country that I am in is rain forest. The homes are built on a pillars, but only a few feet high. It is common for 2 story homes with the bottom being for cars or other non finished spaces.



Yesterday we went spear fishing around some islands just off shore from Macay. Snorkeling was great. The area is a bit overfished, but I managed to get a couple that were too small (legally) but were good to eat. I am feeling strong from all the fishing, but need to do some serious stretching before jumping on the dirt bike today. I think we are going to go up a canyon and maybe ride 400 kilometers.



Nescafe is good. Gino is good. He has some long term plans and continues to be a bright light in the people's lives that he participates in. He and a friend of his installed an window air conditioner in my little room. Isn't he sweet! Within like 2hrs he told me that if I needed a place to stay because the US is toast, I could come to stay with him.



We booked a two night stay at an island just off the coast of Arlie beach. Should be nice. Lots of tourists. Resort price includes meals and non-motorized water sports. It is a refuge and should have great snorkeling/scuba!

Heading off to go dirt bike riding today. I rode around the neighborhood last night just to make sure I can still ride. Shouldn't be a problem. I'll be careful.

Be well,
Matt

This is Macay! Pronounced Makoi!

The World Headquarters of the Peaceful World Travel Club & Cafe

Hi Dad,

Well, I was sitting on Haight street in SF (have you been there?) this
evening after walking around after work. I went in to the cafe because
I could get a decent vegetarian meal and it looked quaint.

So, after placing my order (brea, avocado and grilled onion sandwich
w/ salad) I walked around and looked at the peace focused art. In the
back was a guy giving a presentation on "How self image effects
communication", but rather than attending, I took a seat at the table
marked "World Conversation Table". The little tent sign on the table
said to sit hear to meet people like/unlike me and then gave some tips
on how to have a conversation; differences - new points of view,
similarities - shared feelings and experiences, speaking - from my
life experiences, listening - really listening, understanding -
empathy, not persuasion, brevity - keep it short and to the point.

No one sat down next to me. Figures.

Have a great evening.

Matthew

And we should let Transparency International monitor our elections!

Presidential Debate.

Matt

Werth Family Roots

Where the Werth's are from

Apple

I just heard this review about Apple. Their new operating system is
out. The speaker and I would have diverged from the interview at the
point that the interviewer asked if he thought it were possible for
there to [be more Apple OSs out there than] Microsoft.

My attitude is that, yes, anything is possible. It will be up to their
killer designers and architects of the business to make that happen.
But if the new OS is any indication, then there is an obvious YES to
the argument.

That is China

I was digging around YouTube to find a translation of Hu Jintao's
recent speech when I found a great video:

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It started with swamp walks
Train ride in
Finding home
The apartment that I stayed has a primer Reality TV show produced from one of the networks about 2 weeks or so before another popular one flopped. Killer back patio in the city!



More ambitious than any Braun had been; Staten Island bridge AND the Empire State Building.



One of the few spots where there were only a few tourists.



Well, there was this cute shorty in a place with few pedestrians.

10-20-30 Rule

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Thanks for the card

> The day is coming. Funny, it will be a day like most days. I
> enjoyed most celebrating it with you. The moment you said that was
> my greatest celebration. I am actually not looking forward to the
> ceremony. So many hyper-personalities, but I'll make the best of
> it. I have a (brief) speech to make; Outstanding Professor award. I
> am glad to honor one of the profs; the one selected was great. The
> only one that demanded pushing our limits while being concise and
> attentive.
>
> Thanks for the card and $50!
>
> Have a great weekend.
> Matthew

Commons Dilemma

I am only about to say to you what I am going to because I can see
the sensitivity that you carry with you. Please allow me to say thank
you in advance. I have something to say about the commons dilemma. I
have been beating around the bush in my thoughts regarding taking the
paradox. Please let me explain, because what I want to do, I am
unsure about and I feel like you can offer excellent comments.

First, let me explain myself as well as I can. For a long time I have
been interested in personality. I have taken many self-evaluations
and philosophized considerably about human nature. From graduate
studies in psychological engineering (MS 2005) to understanding
eastern spiritual experiences, including studying acid trips from the
likes of Keasey and Leary, I am desperately interested in what makes
us tick. Knowing this, believe me when I say that I am a competitive
collaborator. However egocentric as this seems, what it means to me
in practice is dedication to study. As a recipient of power, I feel
obligated and privileged to pursue the best interests of mankind. I
know this sounds grandiose, but I approach my circumstance in the
most humble of manners.

I am a huge proponent of goal setting theory and have translated this
to my professional endeavor as a corporate cultural transformation
coach. Suffice it to say that I am approaching you as a colleague.

Much of the language that I have gained from the Negotiations class
has adapted my thinking to what I describe society to myself as it is
today. The commons dilemma displays a significant element of that. It
appears that the stakes are low and the trust is high. I believed
that the nature of society would experience the highest of rewards
when collaboration excelled.

The steady state environment resulted in 10%-13% competitive people.

When I started this communication I thought that I had a question. I
thought that I wanted you to validate my assumption, but I guess that
I don't need that. I would be happy to hear anything that you and
others have to say. I think that I need to adapt my approach and
realize that cooperation is going to take considerable effort and a
long-term time line. I cannot explain to others that collaboration is
the best means of bringing up society in its whole, nor am I certain
that doing so would bring the most benefit.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

News of China

Been doing a lot of thinking and writing about China. Hard not too
since the wonderful, wonderful fried food and not so clean oxygen
that I lived on in the 10 days that I was in Beijing. Funny seeing
the remnants of Mao; got his portrait defaced not too long ago.

Need to be doing more about Leadership and Negotiations in the next
couple of months. Not that i haven't been Enjoying San Diego. Funny
how it all works out; can't even begin to say the ride I'm in. Been
meaning to let the secrets out, but alas, the game is playing. So,
tell me, what cultural characteristics am I exhibiting?

That is it, Thunderbird. To culturally adapt the online students with
the on campus culture, you need to offer a blog to the MTB!

Gawd, can't these blogs search for latest entry?

Renminbi weakness tests US patience

It is interesting to note how much leverage the US has if the Treasury
were to find that the renminbi was 'misaligned' and that this was
damaging the US economy. First, there would be 180 days move toward a
resolution, then sanctions including US veto to block any increasing
in voting rights at the IMF, disapproval of international financing,
preventing the issue of trade insurance and guarantees for trade under
the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and less favorable status
under the US anti-dumping laws.

This information was gathered from the FT article, Renminbi weakness
tests US patience and was found on page 4 of the print edition,
3/29/06.

Well, it is pretty obvious that the U.S. found the RMB to be quite
mis-aligned. In fact, the purchasing power parity of the two
currencies adapt to about 2:1. That means that the average value of
the farm worker in construction is 4x the value of him getting paid.
Hella concrete buildings going up. I wonder if more than the
ignorance of Kim Jung Il is running that country. Single party! Not
that two is much better . . .

MH 2007 06 01

Enlightenment

Your eyes are for creating movement, not seeing.
Your ears are for getting people to speak, not hearing.
Your brain is for taking you from moment to moment, not remembering.
Now, what is it in this moment that you want to take with you?
What is the story that you tell yourself about yourself?
What is the story that you tell yourself about the people you know
and don't know?
What is the story that you tell yourself about the world?
For all of these stories are reality.
Your eyes do what your brain says shaped by these stories.
People speak in accordance with your story.
Don't believe me? How hard was it the last time that you were listening?
Not an arguable point; and I don't want to be taken for some
paraspiritual evangelist.
So, I'll leave it at that for now. Be careful. Share love. Have
confidence and security.

Matthew 5-1-07

asking for help

I asked for help the other day.
Not too unusual, but nice to ask none the less.
Work is fine, school is fine, family is fine, friends are fine.
Just fighting the good fight and tired of doing it alone.
It only took a minute to let my guard down and realize how
much I have been going at it alone.
Wow, thank goodness, I thought.
What a relief. "Someone" to be there with me.
Help guide me and polish my judgement.
Give me advice and reinforce my intuition.
Keep me company and on the bright side.

Thank you and thank you again.

Marketing? That is odd!

Strange really.

I have been finding myself wanting to do marketing work. That is the
biggest flip of positions that I have ever had. Actually, I wouldn't
say that it is the desire to do these things that are new, but the
realization that it is something that I want to do. More on the late
20s later. Working on one of my three new classes now ( haven't yet
sorted out which one is which yet ).

Making peoples' relationship with work better

It occurred to me yesterday that I am doing what my mission in life
has been for 10+ years.

Wow
I'll be a son of a gun
I can't believe it
That is awesome
Hooray!

it is alright, it is all right

He made me laugh
He made me cry
He smoked his doggies in bed
But I'm all right
I'm all right
I've been lonely before
I asked the boy for a few kind words
He gave me a novel instead
But I'm all right
I'm all right
I've been lonely before
It's fine, it's OK
It was wrong either way
I just wanted to say
There isn't much fun when you're drinking wine
He got drunk, he fell down
He threw a few of my things around
But I'm all right
I'm all right
I've been lonely before

I'd like to believe healthy cigarettes
But I have to conceive that wherever you are
You're still driving my car
Sticks and stones break my bones
But tears don't leave any scars
So I'm all alright
I'm all alright
I've been lonely before

Mmm...
I'm all alright
I'm all alright
I'm all alright
Yeah
He played solitaire in bed
Used to blow bubbles in bed
He sang Christmas songs in bed

- Madeleine Peyroux

Dammit Doug

Wearing cowboy boots all day hasn’t helped my demeanor much.

Here is to the girlfriends that I can no longer make up with and to
the future heart breaks that I will realize. A friend of mine
perished this week. Worked his whole life for a company and talked plenty about the pending retirement. One month before he died I asked everyone to get
along and negotiate how they’ll perform the job. After the planning
was in place he bitterly stated that he knew the plan was false
because no one asked him for his advice. Damn it Doug. I wanted
you to share from the beginning. God speed mi amigo.

Slanapa 440

Howdy Slans,

Thought I would try a different format for this month's contribution. Possibly generating some traffic on my blog, but also being slightly lazy. Work is going excellently; I am having the opportunity to learn from people that are bringing me to a level of maturity that cannot be done alone. School is commencing as planned, and progress towards the CFA exam is slow. Otherwise, just living in my house and tolerating the heat of the beautiful southwest.


hehehe, this is me before the end of my first cup of coffee.

Actually, while abroad I ran into an old friend of mine, Homer Simpson. Well, really, it is my father.




This was the London Irish vs. the London Wasps. Wasps won and even though it was fun to watch the best rugby that I have ever seen, it was a rather boring game.






This is me from inside the Eye of London. It is ferris wheel overlooking the city owned by British Airways.

Rygbi

Did you know Wales is the home of Rugby?

While in London I went to a professional game. Probably the best
Rugby that I'll ever see; even if it was a slightly boring game.

Freedom

I really enjoyed buying a ticket for unlimited use on the tube
yesterday. It was very satisfying to walk through the automatic gate
event-free. I guess I came to London to get the confidence of being
here. This, I accomplished. I don't think that I needed to be here to
get that confidence, but I didn't know that before just now. Makes me
wonder if there is an easier way to gain confidence in what I know/my
abilities.

Missed the train

I think that I told you earlier that I planned for the unkown in my
schedule by padding the temporal distance between activities. In that
case it was extra time needed to get from the airport to the train
station in Paris. I also purchased a train ticket from Geneva to
London, online, through RailEurope.com or somewhere like that. I had
an hour and 15 minutes between trains; no problem. Little did I know
that Gare de Lyon and Paris Nord were two different stations,
seperated by a 35 minute taxi ride in the bustle of downtown traffic,
even if it was a Sunday. Then I checked the information kiosk where
to check in and had to go through security. I literally had to go to
my coach through 7 others because I couldn't make it to the proper
end of the train before the doors closed. In fact, I wouldn't have
had a chance if it weren't for a lady on the exact same route, fluent
in French. Wow, I got lucky. But here now. All's good. Spent the 2
+hours from Geneva to Paris talking with a German lady. She is the
assistant to the high commissioner of human rights for the United
Nations. Wow, we had a great talk. Ranging from the hierarchy in
Austrian business to the UN ambassador (her former boss) who was
killed in Iraq two years ago. Tears came to my eyes.

Something else we discussed. German heritage from her perspective. I
hadn't ever heard the family stories from a local who witnessed the
great wars. Concluding that terrible time her parents were displaced
and started from scratch. Much like the people of the western US.
Well, I am pooped and want to hang by the bar on coach 6. ;-)

Before I depart from this brief message, let me include a couple of
statements of our (German lady) conversation. She spoke of a personal
story that she learned of the importance of honesty. I mean real, up
front, no holds barred honesty. Like, not saying to a friend who is
dying of cancer false words of hope. Go with and be God is the morale
we presented. In that note, I hope my Welsh girlfriends aren't
distracted by my uncommitted tone of making plans. It will work out
perfectly, this I am sure.

Matt

Tell me a story about a fellow with a crazy dream…

The sun is at 15 degrees off the horizon, I am heading straight for
it and it is midnight. I’ll touch down with my bag and brief, not
knowing much of anything. The Pimsleur tapes came and went bending a
few brain cells, but I am not ready to be in France for a week and
show verbal respect for the country. Guess I’ll keep my mouth shut;
there’ed be something new. I’ll take the advice and not use alcohol
(jet lag), but can’t stay off the coffee.

I should spend my last remaining battery life reviewing Central and
Eastern European history, but fcuk it. I have worked hard enough and
I would rather dance on the keyboard for a while. Did make a little
progress with economics, but wow, the exam coming in December is
huge. I am averaging around 60-70 percent on the practice exams at
the end of a Learning Outcome Statement group. 70 is passing.

My bag got packed and in a loose way, most things are handled at home
while I’ll be gone. It is too cloudy below to see the land, but I
think we are over it now. My travel plans put me into the check in
about ¾ the way through it; which, if you ask me, is perfect. I don’t
really want to stay for an extra minute with this group, although I
can say that I am excited to individually see everyone that I am
going to be with (my class).

I hope that I have a thick enough jacket. Living in Phoenix distorts
my perspective of the rest of the world. Even San Diego is way too
cold for me. Suppose to be a great time of year in Geneva. The girl
sitting one row up is going on a one year exchange program. Reminds
me of Greece. Maybe I am making a mistake by not visiting that city.
One of my underlying reasons for booking the trip to London following
class is that the time alone will give me time to study. Athens is
really the city that I would like to go to. Isn’t that funny how I
want what is familiar? And I have two friends in Athens that I would
really love to see. The other reason is that I have dreamed, once, a
long time ago, that I would like to live and work in London. I don’t
know why, other than probably some NPR radio show talked about old
men sitting in coffee shops reading their local newspaper and
cherishing this, how there are a lot of newspapers. Isn’t that precious?

There is a chance of a bonus. A friend of mine has two nieces from
Wales whom visited her and I had a chance to get to know. Their
family invited me to stay for a couple of days. My sick pleasure of
studying coupled with my desire to escape kept me from solidifying
the change in plans that would be required to secure the trip out there.

58 degrees and light rain in Paris. If I stay out in it, my light
coat won’t be sufficient. I managed about 15 minutes of sleep; I
should be good until at least I am milling around the train station
waiting again for departure. Assuming that I make it. I believe that
the train station and the airport are quite a way away from each
other, and I don’t have a clue how to make that little leg of the
journey. A little anxiety, but I built in a couple of extra hours
into my schedule due to the uncertainty. I’d like to take the time to
go to a sight or two in Paris; we’ll see. The Eiffel tower isn’t
poking its top through the clouds yet. I guess it isn’t 10,000 feet
tall.

Matthew Horvat

You know how dumb the average person is? Well, by definition, half
the population is dumber than that!

pre-trip to Geneve!

Well, my exotic, once per decade, totally fun trip abroad is about to
commence. I'll leave on Friday, and then a week from Sunday (2 weeks
from today) I'll take a train to London. That night is the 2nd of 3
days of the Notting Hill Carnival. I would love to attend this Reggae
festival near Kensington.

Then on Tuesday of that week I am going to lunch with a friend that I
met through a professional conference and in the last part of the
week there are a couple of girls which are nieces of a friend of mine
which may come to visit.

So, besides that I have the final for the Regional Business
Environment class in Geneva. The week before (class) is filled with
discussions about Central and Eastern Europe, Political and Legal
environment, Economics, and Integration.

The plans to Croatia weren't realized, I am afraid that I just
couldn't pull it together. The difficult understanding of
transportation coupled with the short time available made the trip
out of my grasp. I hope that I won't regret it once I am there.

Ode to finals

How final exams suck
Perhaps a beer will help me
Eureka a B!

Arizona Skys

Tonight is the perfect night in Arizona. Many days I wonder why the
heck I am in this land. Hell on earth is the common name I have for
Phoenix. But…. It has rained the last couple of nights (got to love
the monsoon season), my roomie and friend is doing wonders on the
landscaping for my little house, he just got a job and that is reason
enough to celebrate, I have had some major successes at work (this
usually causes me stress), and the temperature is absolutely perfect.
The clouds are making a wonderful scene above with blues, grays, pink
and oranges. There is a light breeze, the kind that makes you want to
run.

Forming storming NORMING performing

Hello,

Have you ever found yourself 30 to 50 percent through a project to
realize that you are past the stage of newness in the team? At my job
I must interact with new teams, where I am an advisor. It is very
important to set the stage early in the relationship. Gaining
understanding about expected behavior, responsibilities, and language
use is critical.

Maybe you are on a high performing team that is half way to your
goal. Do you have a feeling that if some teaming tools were in place
you would have an even higher performing team? What can we add to our
toolbox; well designed behavior norms, a matrix of our strongest
skills, an issue resolution process, please volunteer …

How do you approach your team with these suggestions when you are
clearly no longer in the initial stages of it?

Tomorrow will be yesterday in two days

Now, life is good. I am sitting with my bluetooth keyboard on a macintosh. I think that I have become one of those evangelical mac users. Having not experierineced one in ages… anyway, it is great. And I am running windows inside of it at the same speed as if it was a windows machine.

 

But enough of that. I would not like to determine my daily happiness with the new toys that I put in the mail. A friend is helping me remember some of the more important things in life. He is a bit older than me and says… If I had the time that you do… you have no idea. He is a Latin guy and gets away with this language. Very fun. And, he knows how to cook! After a week with him I am remembering how I use to make good tasting things. His mother is Italian and he has a lot to share.

 

So, I am at home. Been here a lot lately. Feeling a bit hermitish with a tight body. In some regards, I really want to accomplish the tasks that I have set out upon, but again, I wonder if this is the most healthy thing for me. My friend, Juan, hasn’t directly told me that perhaps I am overdoing it; he also has higher education, but I see that there is lightly weighted patience in his looks. I tell him that these efforts will be complete in about one year and that is it. Then he says, “what then?” And then I tell him that I have secretly been thinking about attaining a PhD. That is crazy, I know. I need to live my life and see the whole picture. That is something that I am lacking right now. I don’t see the fun things to do in Arizona, because I am constantly home in front of the computer.  I see my youth being wasted. That is a scary thought. What should I do? Give up a couple of major things and let it ride. Take the day off and go for a hike.

 

To be honest, I don’t have the slightest clue how to start my youth. I could find reason to be with a  partner… this loss of youth may turn me to burning my ability to finding the right person. Is that what I want? Am I working so hard at school because of fear to be close to a mate? That isn’t so crazy. My “angle” cards told me to forgive my father, praise my mother, and not be afraid of letting a lover under my skin.

 

And the worst part about it is that I have to make this decision everyday. It matters in a small amount what I am going to do tomorrow. That is some reality for me.

 

Well, I am bored with this. I hope that I am not ƒeeling terrible about saying these things and then, with out some climatic conclusion signing off. Just don’t know what else to write about the subject. Goodnight my love.

'work' trip to San Fran

Heya - Sure have a high feeling right now. Just got off AirBart from the Oakland airport and heading to the City via a very plush BART train. Got a little ragweed on the box and homework prepped to do. I know that doesn't sound like a really great time, but can you imagine a better way to be satisfyied? High performing life including school and work???

This morning was great. I sat with my new boss for a 2 hour meeting trying to incurr a realization that there was a breakdown of communication and that we, our small consulting company, had the methods to fix it.

We have been strategizing with the executive level team and the director level team for their client. Not bad for this kid from the sticks to be sitting in such meetings. There are somethings that I need to work on... Don't introduce myself as a student for starters. Maybe apply some Groucho Marx shoe polish to my upper lip and brows.

Anyway, that is about it for my recent past. In some sort of tunnel going under, no doubt, the expanse of the east bay. Or perhaps we are going under the bay proper. There is a little hotel downtown that I have reservations in tonight. Appearantly something that was built on the car dealer strip back in the day and catered to new automobile owners.... there is a route from the parking lot to the ballroom... It'll be a one mile walk from the civic center up Vann Ness to the hotel and I am looking forward to the walk. Then I'll grab a dog and head to the room for the dreaded accounting and finance homework. Actually looking forward to the numbers games. It is the strategy class that I dread.

Better get back to it... Just entered West Oakland :-)

--
Matt Horvat
To innovate is to create new configurations of action that deliver new competitive customer satisfaction and value. - Robert Dunham, 1997

"Today we march, tomorrow we vote"

Mass protests reveal growing Hispanic power in US

 

It was quite enlightening to see 80,000+ primarily Mexicans walk past my building this afternoon. Happily, I witnessed as many white shirts and nearly as many US Flags waving.

 

I haven’t seen ‘Nationalism’ or ‘Socialism’ mentioned in the articles or on the radio, but this seems to be the underlying issue. Are we protecting our borders from terrorism resulting in excluding the low paid workforce or are we somewhat accepting of the illegal people here because they do the jobs that citizens don’t want and will do the jobs for less? Are the jobs being offered for less money because of this legal situation which exploits the workers?

 

After months of reading the FT I see the words Nationalism and Protectionism quite often. Prior to this experience the arguments were still made, but the terminology seems much more prevalent in the European paper. Interesting.

 

Renminbi weakness tests US patience

It is interesting to note how much leverage the US has if the Treasury
were to find that the renminbi was 'misaligned' and that this was
damaging the US economy. First, there would be 180 days move toward a
resolution, then sanctions including US veto to block any increasing
in voting rights at the IMF, disapproval of international financing,
preventing the issue of trade insurance and guarantees for trade under
the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and less favorable status
under the US anti-dumping laws.

This information was gathered from the FT article, Renminbi weakness
tests US patience and was found on page 4 of the print edition,
3/29/06.

Well, it is pretty obvious that the U.S. found the RMB to be quite mis-aligned. In fact, the purchasing power parity of the two currencies adapt to about 2:1. That means that the average value of the farm worker in construction is 4x the value of him getting paid. Hella concrete buildings going up. I wonder if more than the ignorance of Kim Jung Il is running that country. Single party! Not that two is much better . . .

MH 2007 06 01

Expanded WB and IMF roles

Put reserves to work

One man, the former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, suggests that the volume of money in developing countries’ banks that is needed to guard against FX crisis is much lower than the actual volume of the money they contain. This bulk of cash is typically in the form of short term US Treasury bills with very low RORs. The suggested fix is that the IMF and WB should open an asset management arm so that the extra cash (in excess of $1,500 billion) could be put to a more profitable use.

Whether the money is used to invest in high-return imports (such as life-saving drugs or capital goods for infrastructure projects) or private sector development (like China and to some extent, India).

The IMF and WB would be in a good position to do this because of their existing infrastructure of coaching and technical support. They could, in conjunction with the developing country, evaluate the level of liquid cash that is needed and how to best deploy the remaining cash. The article goes on to state the potential pitfalls; corruption, mismanagement and the ‘squandering of reserve assets by spendthrift governments’.

 

US Nationalism

US seeks to end dispute with UK on fighter jets

Looks like the US got caught in its protectionist habits with this one. The article also indicated that in the past the US shared computer technology with the Brits therefore they were wondering why the protest now. The program is $2 billion and supportive of a lot of US jobs.

Nuclear suppliers raise doubts on US-India deal

Remember last month, President Bush went to India. There, he signed a bi-lateral agreement (with the support of UK, France and Russia) that allowed India to keep its nuclear weapons in trade for US contracts on 8 civilian nuclear energy sources. The argument is that this will promote global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons (!!!). Does this not go against the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that N. Korea pulled out of in 2003, continuing tensions in Iran on the same subject and Pakistani black market sales?

Seems like the US is banking a lot on nationalism, be it US jobs in the jet fighter industry or nuclear reactor industry.

World Bank Events

The World Bank is fighting for clean air ($20bn proposal to cut emissions). Maybe this is in response to the Independent Evaluation Group saying that their focus has been too narrow, but clean air isn’t the issue. During the 80s and 90s, the World Bank lent with the reciprocation of trade reform without considering wealth distribution or bureaucratic streamlining.

Since 2001, the services of the World Bank has shifted to offering advice and analysis besides loans and grants. The voice of the WB has become public offering debate on the poverty/agriculture/rich nation topics at the Doha round.

Youth riots in France

From the articles in the FT I can hardly tell what is going on in France. The youth seem to be protesting a ‘bill’ in the legislation that would allow private companies to terminate the employment of people aged 26 and younger in the first two years of working due to non-performance. What is the problem with that? When I get a non-performing intern I let my company know; I believe that work ethics are formed well before the professional working age.

Global Savings Glut

From a speech of the new Fed chairman low long term interest rates reflected low levels of investment in the global economy relative to savings. Additionally there is a low level of desire for US exports and slow growth outside the US.

 

The beige book released yesterday stated that home prices weren’t increasing as rapidly as before; the economy was increasing at a 3-3.5% rate and on 3/28 the interest rate would raise to 4.75.

 

Although not said in the FT, I heard from a source that oil would be over $100 by the end of the year.

Outcome of Banana Wars...

The FT reports (http://news.ft.com/reports/mauritius2006) on Mauritius, an ACP country off the eastern coast of Africa. Google earth wouldn’t even focus to the street level it is so ‘out there’. Apparently they are filling 38% of EU’s quota on Sugar from their primary cash crop, sugar cane. The EU is reducing the cost of sugar with the ending of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement, which guaranteed Mauritius and other countries access to the European market.

 

Accenture and Infosys have setup shop and they are encouraging more technical development; off shore universities are being encouraged to have a campus on the island. Therefore there are alternatives to European support of these places, but I wonder if this is an exception.

 

Anti-protectionist vs. a fear of exposure

There is an economic summit next week in Brussels in which European leaders will discuss opening their borders to the multinational service industry. Mr. Schussel, Austrian Chancellor, primed the members during a ski weekend at a resort near the meeting site. The stage is set between Britian, the Netherlands, and the Nordic Countries vs. France, Poland and Spain. Even if all countries outlined a couple of key points that Mr. Schussel urged them to do next week; installing this plan in real life and planning this plan are two very different things. Not just that, but these nations that contain protectionist flares in the matter are reluctant to expose their plans for fear of EU criticism.

 

FT: http://news.ft.com/world/brussels

 

Where should we buy gas?

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) is a group of militants who are fighting for the rights of the largest tribe in the area, the Ijaw. One way that this group moves into power is to have its leaders be awarded state positions due to negotiations with kidnappers.

 

Perhaps we should buy gas from Angola, where Global Witness, a London based NGO estimates that in 4 years preceding 2001 over $8 billion of public money is unaccounted for.  The US imports 4% of its oil from Angola, yet output per capita is among the lowest in the world.

 

Something can be said for the ‘other side’. The tribes on the Nigerian delta live among oil slicks and gas flares. Cabinda, the provience where ChevronTexaco, Sonangol (the Angolan state oil company), and ENI-Agip have Block Zero, a place where a majority of Angola’ crude is pumped out is located took a payment (payoff) for their impedance.

Optimism on the Doha Deadline Day

It is interesting that, in this article Optimism on Doha deadline day, trade analysts are saying that developed countries will need the concession of allowing their corporations into foreign markets of utility and energy in order for them to allow the agriculture tariff reductions that the developing countries need so badly.

 

It looks as if an effective way to get around protectionism is increase complex interdependence.

DPW takeover of P&O

My first impressions of the DPW takeover of P&O conflicted with my interpretation of what GWB stated in the 2004 elections regarding terrorism as being our #1 priority. This was validated in the FT article Bush trips up trying to balance security fears with free trade.

 

This continues to make headlines (did they misspell February):

13 Febuary 2006

DP World to acquire P&O

We are delighted to announce that the shareholders of P&O have approved the sale of shares to DP World. At an EGM held in London this afternoon, the shareholders voted over 99% in favour of the DP World acquisition. This means that the process of transferring ownership can now begin, and we expect for this to be confirmed by the court on 2nd March 2006.

Fresh Fish Rugger

Just came from the pitch; my first game with the Thunderbirds. It was
pretty much like I remember the sport; lots of running and guys that
are stronger than me. Besides forgetting my mouth gaurd I came
prepared i.e. I didn't eat before the game. The alumni network is
strong. One of the quotes on the rugby discussion board reminds us
that the school projects are temporary but the friendships developed
during play will last a lifetime.

A couple of Socialist ideologies

Wake up to old-fashioned power of new oligopolies
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/e4620e70-9cfd-11da-8762-0000779e2340.html

If you are a large company that is experiencing a lot of competition
then you may not be part of an oligopoly. If your company is very
broad and/or are one of only a few competitors, then you might be part
of one. This article points out the "disproportionately high profits"
that members of a typical oligopoly experience. U.S. business policies
have allowed corporations to become extremely broad in scope.

For example, the article goes on to say… "Mittal Steel's play for
Arcelor may not be a global-scale problem, as the two companies
combined account for only 10 per cent of the world steel market. But
what of the fact that three companies account for 75 per cent of
global iron ore production?"

Global terror threat prompts request for record $439bn in military
funding seems to make the president's plea for healthcare spending
accounts reasonable. However, this means for utilizing pre-tax dollars
for medical expenses do nothing to help the lower classes.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c19243cc-977d-11da-82b7-0000779e2340.html

Wikis, Chats, VoIP and online collaboration

I have been using Yahoo IM (xgreekloverx@yahoo.com) to move video and
GoogleTalk (matthew.horvat@gmail.com) for the voice. This combination
seems to be the best for seamless communication. Skype is also a
method, but the voice seems odd at times.

For Wikis I use PBwiki which makes creating a wiki as easy as making a
peanut butter sandwich. The formatting seems to work better than
others that I have tried. This is a great tool for mobile development
or collaboration.

G8 energy focus threatens Gazprom monopoly

Moscow meeting of the G8 focused on transparency between oil consumers and producers. The topic took 2 of the 7 hours of the meeting. Increased fiscal transparency is needed so as to encourage investment and curb corruption (paragraph 4) as well as enhance public support for the reform process in general, which were all goals of the Statement of the Government of the Russian Federation and Central Bank of Russia on Economic Policies July 13, 1999

Six Sigma, Lean and DFSS

I don’t think that many of us would know about 6s if it weren’t for the recognizing that 80% of our GDP comes from service organizations AND the similarity of a manufacturing process with a business process. Originally, the main focus of 6s was eliminating defects as defined by customers (it moved onto cost reduction and increasing value, I will get to that). So, once we have a customer’s requirement, we recognize the variation (defects) that hinders our ability to reliably deliver high-quality services. We then use analytical tools to break down and specify where this inefficiency is coming from. Then can make a decision based upon data, not just a hunch (ie. tweaking the machine).

There are a lot of statistical tools available to determine where in the process that the variation is coming from (Design of Experiments, Statistical Process Control, Regression, and to a lesser extent simulation). But don’t get caught up in the technical aspects. Just think of your process as a flow of information/commitments/paperwork/invoices/contracts/communications and see what it is that caused one project to get done in an hour, and a similar project to get done in a week. Do, however, enlist a Master Black Belt or a Black Belt to lead the project.

It has been stated that Lean is an excellent combination to 6s. In service applications, the cost related to work that adds no value in your customers’ eyes, is higher than in manufacturing, in both percentage and in absolute dollars. Queue time kills satisfaction. Lean focuses at removing the waste in the process using value stream maps and other lightly analytical tools.

The evolution of 6s began at Motorola (the focus was on defect reduction). GE championed it in the late 90s (focus on cost reduction). DuPont is the newest player in the spotlight and is focusing its improvement on value as viewed by the customer.

For a successful recipe of 6s there are a couple of things that your organization is going to need to do. This is going to have to be sponsored by the top management. There has to be a supporting infrastructure in place or at least the recognition of the need of one (that would be a formal project selection process). You are going to have to put your best people on these projects. There needs to be in house pilot projects (major ones with impact) and the results need to be tied directly to finances (why TQM is generally considered a failure). You will need to establish performance metrics to the projects and the players in the projects, and you will need to tie these evaluations to payments to the employees. After all, we measure what we value (and most frequently we only measure employee turn over rate).

The sustenance of executing a 6s project is the DMAIC process; Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (similar to the Shewhart Cycle, or PDSA - Plan Do Study Act). This is a constant on every project. First we define the project, understand our Measuring devices (and verify that the variability is not coming from the gauges) and get the data, then we Analyze the data and understand the variability, next is to Improve the process (the only time in the entire 6s process where it is ok to modify the process), then we Control (which is to say that we make the change long term).

The applications are only as narrow as what is slated for improvement. 6s can be used to, with a very high degree of reliability, consistently take the trash out, improve your golf game, and reduce your commute home. But that is not really one of my goals so the project would be trashed (through the formal selection process of value in the eyes of the customer). Do you understand now that 6s is simply a business process improvement methodology (and not holistic unless combined with lean because lean addresses waste removal and not variation reduction)?

 

Curious as to how 6 Sigma got its name? Standard deviation is a measure of variability. In the bell curve 99.7% of the data are within 3 standard deviations of the average. If a process has 100 steps and every step is 99.7% reliable, we still have a 16% failure rate. If the variability of the process is reduced so much so that the variability is within 6 standard deviations from the average where our specification limits are we only have 3.4 parts per million defective. The Greek letter sigma is commonly used as notation for standard deviation. Therefore, the only way to increase the value of the customers is to lower their expectations, or to tighten our reliability.

One more thing for the advanced; Design for Six Sigma (DFSS). There is only so much blood that can be wrung out of a turnip; and eventually we are going to need to rethink our business process (rather than starting with what we have and improving it). Then you will have the customer in focus from the start!

 

G20

The G-20 has a focus on transparency of policy, perhaps to expose
corruption. I don't see anything in this organization that is not
nationalist or capitalist.

-- Statisticians never say anything for certain

Iran, Nukes, Islam and Cartoons

Iran warns West ‘we don’t need you but you need us’
Seems as if Iran’s nuclear motivation has moved from energy to weapons. The U.S. is on two sides of Iran, with the other semi (at best) stable environments of Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. But Turkey is there, and I am sure that with their recent plees of joining the EU, they will provide stability to the region.

I don’t know what is going to happen with Iran, but with the recent speech from the U.S. President it sounds like Iran is on the radar. Tehran seems to have validity in their wishes of weaponry because they seemed to be surrounded with it, but why? I guess that a topic for another class, but what a discussion.

Danish consulate in Beirut burnt over cartoons
I wonder if the authors of the cartoons realized that Islam forbids any depiction of Mohammed. Now, protestors have burned the Danish consulate in Beirut, the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus and to a lesser extent the French and Swedish embassy. I can’t say that the same reaction would not have happened if the roles were reversed; do you recall all of the racial profiling that has and is happening in the U.S. in relation to 9/11? The religious war goes on… another example of a poor platform for discussion. I wonder if a more benefitual enforcement purpose for a ‘globo-cop’ would be a communication platform rather than a market/state enforcement that is so many times discussed.

Why should investors be bailed out?

Why should investors, including big banks and financiers, be bailed out if their investments go sour? I would like to make a point (in general) about why they shouldn’t.

Corruption. Didn’t the recent gathering in Scotland have a decision regarding debt reduction to analyze? I remember there being many things to consider; one of which was how the governments of the developing nations use the money. AND corruption on the high levels was one of the considering factors. If the money that would be spent on debt is instead not shared for the benefit of the population, what good is reducing the debt?

Overall IMF Setup

I am open for conversation, but I believe that it is the most advanced practice that is realistic given the history and options available. We have always done what we had to do; sometimes the motivations have been less than democratic, but in the sandbox, the biggest kid rules. No, let me take that back. In our youth the biggest kid ruled. Rules change with maturity and nations grow up.

Many developing countries don’t have corruption staved off; from the street cops to the highest officials. Although they would like equal shares of vote; and regardless that the teaming seems to be based upon financial information, it is no wonder that Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, and Zambia have one representative (P.J. Ngumbullu from Tanzania) on the Executive Board. Could these countries individually comprehend the required position or devote time to such issues? Now, I haven’t traveled much, nor to I know the inner workings of their governments, but it seems like the way it is made up is the natural way.
There are piles of complaints and protests; but I would say, what can you do for your country?

Utopia, America and the Asian Financial Crisis

It sure was interesting what William Greider (Author, “One World, Ready or Not”) said in the PBS video, the Crash (1999) about what a classical or neoclassical action does. The liberal action of equilibrium is perhaps wild swings of investment and pullout and how the motivation to do so is risk aversion. He essentially said that this would not work and result in ruin – general ruin. He also said that America was led by this model, the utopian model of self regulating markets.

Being evil or not and Falun Gong

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/fed23e1e-8f2a-11da-b430-0000779e2340.html

Is the political body of China repressing the ideals of peacefulness
through hard lined secularism? The article is an introduction to me of
the Chinese government and its need to hold communism. Falun Gong
seems to be a religion that many people throughout the world would not
only tolerate, but embrace. I have only read a couple of articles in
FT.com and other searches from my censor free American version of
Google but Falun Gong appears to be nothing any more cultish than Tai
Chi Qigong.

The political body in China is similar to American in the sense that
it is made up of a number of politicians. I do not yet know what I
believe, but it would seem that these officials are protecting
themselves by not allowing the masses access to information regarding,
not only this subject but many. China apparently has the 'Great
Firewall' and monitors and limits email across borders. This seems to
be as Marxist as it gets.