Framing the Dialogue

Archive for December, 2013

The Brothers

the brothers“Pretend you want to help them while whispering deceits in their ears.  Only lie when you have to.  Speak the truth when you can; for the truth, once it’s twisted, is the most effective tool we have.  Coat all your lies with enough truth, and they will swallow it down…evil can be twisted into virtue if you phrase it just right.  Any vice is acceptable if you cloak it in an issue of freedom.  Any immorality is worth fighting for if you tell them they are fighting for choice, if you wrap it in the mantle of privacy and freedom.”

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Whew…Only 364 Days Til Christmas

Now that Christmas is over this is a time when I prefer to relax and enjoy time with family.  A few years ago my kids and I entered a contest sponsored by John Mayer for decorated cakes.  We spent the whole day making this cake even going as far as pouring blue hard candy for the water.  I still cannot believe that we didn’t win or even place.  No sour grapes here, but our cake was way better than the winners and we even made a video of the process.  You can read the original post for December 26 here.  I hope you have some time to relax before New Years Eve.

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Merry Christmas 2013

As we celebrate the Christmas Season I hope that all of you have a very merry Christmas.  The following is a well decorated house that I pass every day on my way to work.  It is perhaps my favorite decorated house and the wonderful owners turn on their lights so we can see them on our morning commute.  Seeing this house never fails to make me smile.

Merry Christmas!

 

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White House Access

obama leekIn an unprecedented move the Obama White House has decided to become even more transparent than previously.  Long considered by President Obama to be the most open administration ever he has now taken steps to be even more accessible to the White House Press Corps.  Press Secretary Jay Carney announced the following measures late Friday night:

  1. Press photographers will still not be allowed into most events to take photographs, but the White House Ministry of Communication will make additional photographs available upon written request and seven day’s notice unless “executive privilege” applies.
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Suspect

suspectI have often said that it is difficult for me to review a novel without giving too much away, but I also never want to just say “it was good…read it.”  Though Suspect by Robert Crais was good and you should read it.  This is the first novel by Crais that I have read and now will feel compelled to go back and pick up some of his earlier books.

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Command Authority

“No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.”

command authorityI was saddened to learn of Tom Clancy’s death in October of 2013.  I had just started reading his work again and have enjoyed the thrill of his most recent novels.  With Command Authority packed story featuring the Ryan’s in a well woven tale that follows the senior Ryan flashback to decades earlier adventure, with junior Ryan on the lead of other criminals and the agents from Campus are retraining and enter back into operations.  I generally do not like when books converge from different vantage points, but this was done well.

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Narcissist-In-Chief

imageWith the recent death of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela it is a convenient time to compare two very different “leaders.”  The stories circulating about President Mandela tell a tale of a great man and leader. The one that touched me most was hearing that he invited his white jailers to his inauguration.  Instead of bitterness he chose the path toward healing.

Obama doesn’t contrast well.  Actually he pales.  As the graphic on the left attests “I” is clearly Obama’s favorite word. On the news of President Mandela’s passing the Obama White House released this photograph of Der Leader sitting thoughtfully in Mandela’s jail cell…

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Mushroom Harvest

profiles_mushrooms_5411_541637_media_xlargeThere is a saying where I am at my level in my organization.  “We are mushrooms…we are kept in the dark and fed shit.”  I am not sure that is a proper metaphor for the voting American public as they perhaps resemble ostrich who mythically bury their heads in the sand.  I remember years ago when an acquaintance who worked in the oil and gas industry said that he just go tired of the politics and tuned out.  He didn’t want to hear all of that anymore.  I can understand that emotionally as it is tiring, but tuning out is what gets up obaminations like Obamacare.

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