June 2008

Just love quotes!

"Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.
- Robertson Davies

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
- Samuel Johnson

There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don't know.
- Ambrose Bierce"


Memoirs. Inherently egotistical, but I'm compelled to write one. Partly just to remember, to celebrate, but mostly to review for patterns of successful behaviors and draw conclusions, which usually only come via such experiences. My efforts to draw wisdom juice out of my 40 plus years will undoubtedly bore most people not in my circle of love, but I may have to try it, if just to silence the inner voice that nags me about it. These works ask to be born.

I've been thinking some about resonance, and about patterns. I've been looking at my work and how teams collaborate. I was humming in the public bathroom recently and I always have enjoyed how my lower register resonates in them. I meditated on that effect today, after the terrific Kung Fu Panda movie. Between a three year old boy and a 4 decade old bladder that is more of a gravity feed system now, I spend alot of time in toilets these days. When my voice resonates, its almost like someone else is singing with me. It is as if the voice inside of me has found life outside of me. Its louder clean bass tone. I feel it helping me stay on pitch. I am sad when I stop and it doesn't continue.

Is there a way that software development teams resonate? What patterns are there for effective teams? I recall this last football season. Despite losing the super bowl, the NE patriots were the best team of the year in my opinion. Their victories, 18 in a row, had an aire of inevitability. There were moments when each member of that team would pick up where the others would slack off. Now the Giants clearly had their weakspot figured out -- offensive line. The blitz was the death of Brady, and really in football the QB has to be secured or you can't perform. I imagine if their RB was just a bit more dominating they could have run against that crazy blitz, but I digress.

The Steelers, the 49ers, the Patriots. These teams seem to resonate on the field. Actors, in shows like X-files and MASH, true classics such as Lord of the Rings, Lost, The Matrix ( how about that energy between Neo and Trinity!) and X-files resonate with each other and the audience. Movies are an excellent example since if they do not resonate, they usually fail. Politics, art, science ( read about how those teams cracked the human genome)...every endeavor has some notion of resonance. What stops resonance? What causes it? Ponder I must.

Digg lunatics

I get an RSS feed from DIGG I continuously think of removing since its just a bunch of loonies ranting against Bush. What are they EVER going to do after the election?

Anyway, one fellow commented this, and it is AWESOME:


"My position is very clear: The time has come for decisive action to eliminate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. I'm a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Resolution that's presently under consideration in the Senate. Saddam Hussein's regime is a grave threat to America and our allies. We know that he has chemical and biological weapons today, that he's used them in the past, and that he's doing everything he can to build more. Every day he gets closer to his long-term goal of nuclear capability.

Democracy will not spring up by itself overnight in a multi-ethnic, complicated society that's suffered under one repressive regime after another for generations. The Iraqi people deserve and need our help to rebuild their lives and to create a prosperous, thriving, open society. All Iraqis, including Sunnis, Shia and Kurds, deserve to be represented. This is not just a moral imperative. It's a security imperative. It is in America's national interest to help build an Iraq at peace with itself and its neighbors, because a democratic, tolerant and accountable Iraq will be a peaceful regional partner, and such an Iraq could serve as a model for the entire Arab world."

Senator John Edwards (Democrat, North Carolina)
Speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
October 7, 2002

and this:

Impeach Bush? How quaint.

I fully expect the robot Libs to digg this down because the truth hurts too much to acknowledge.

Let's look at what some Democrats said about Iraq and Hussein, some of which were said BEFORE Bush was elected.

Nancy Pelosi: Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons-of-mass-destruction technology, which is a threat to countries in the region, and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.

Senator Clinton agreed, October 2002: In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical- and biological-weapons stock, his missile-delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al-Qaeda members.

Al Gore in September 2002: We know that [Saddam] has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country. Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter, and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power.

John Kerry, also speaking in 2002: I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force--if necessary--to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.

Sen. Ted Kennedy: "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."

Bill Clinton himself, speaking in 1998: If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons-of-mass-destruction program.

Secretary of State Madeline Albright, also speaking in 1998: Iraq is a long way from [the USA], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risk that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face.

Quite a list, wouldn't you say?

Nice!