Quality

There is hardly anything in the world, that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey.

John Ruskin
1819-1900

Papal Encyclicals

Pope Benedict XVI recently released his third encyclical, Charity in Truth. He commented on human development, fraternity, economic development, civil society, the financial crisis, business ethics, the environment, the cooperation of the human family, technology, social justice, the common good, and more – egad, the pope is getting into it: circular, circle, with the music, the flow, all good things.

The pope’s other encyclicals include God is Love and Saved by Hope.

The "Crisis of Confidence" Speech

Jimmy Carter delivered this televised speech on July 15, 1979. It is now known as the malaise speech and a symbol of Democratic defeatism.

Here are a few excerpts...

Why have we not been able to get together as a nation to resolve our serious energy problem?

It's clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeper -- deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recession.

The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence.

We've always believed in something called progress. We've always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own.

Our people are losing that faith, not only in government itself but in the ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy.

In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We've learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.

We are at a turning point in our history. There are two paths to choose. One is a path I've warned about tonight, the path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest. Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom, the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others. That path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests ending in chaos and immobility. It is a certain route to failure.

All the traditions of our past, all the lessons of our heritage, all the promises of our future point to another path, the path of common purpose and the restoration of American values. That path leads to true freedom for our nation and ourselves. We can take the first steps down that path as we begin to solve our energy problem.

Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally. On the battlefield of energy we can win for our nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny.

In little more than two decades we've gone from a position of energy independence to one in which almost half the oil we use comes from foreign countries, at prices that are going through the roof. Our excessive dependence on OPEC has already taken a tremendous toll on our economy and our people. This is the direct cause of the long lines which have made millions of you spend aggravating hours waiting for gasoline. It's a cause of the increased inflation and unemployment that we now face. This intolerable dependence on foreign oil threatens our economic independence and the very security of our nation. The energy crisis is real. It is worldwide. It is a clear and present danger to our nation. These are facts and we simply must face them.

Every act of energy conservation like this is more than just common sense -- I tell you it is an act of patriotism.

Every gallon of oil each one of us saves is a new form of production. It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives.

ASICS

This is worth a post... I just found out what ASICS stands for. Anima sana in corpore sano, which means a sound mind in a sound body. Nice.

Defense

In general, a war must pass three tests to be justified. A country must first have exhausted all other means of defending itself. The attack should be proportionate to the objective. And it must stand a reasonable chance of achieving its goal.

New Year

We spent over a week at my parents' home in Nebraska during the Christmas holiday. It was good to see their newly constructed house, which replaced the one that I have known for the past 29 years. No work and no school meant a lot of time for eating, relaxing, and catching up on reading The Economist. Unfortunately, we were a sad bunch because everyone got sick. It was Levi's first illness. He was very congested and had trouble sleeping. A guy that little can't tell you what is wrong and he certainly can't do the farmer blow to rocket the snot out of his nose. We took Levi to the doctor to make sure the crud hadn't moved into his lungs. It hadn't, but the doctor discovered an ear infection in each ear. Anyway, he's better now.

We drove back to Minnesota in time to visit with Kofi & Kate and Soren & Emily on the eve of the new year. Kofi & Kate are moving to Accra, Ghana! Professor Anderson starts teaching econometrics at Michigan State and Emily is truly a chocolate connoisseur. Later that evening Marye & I made it to midnight in Bermuda. Happy new year old folks.

I am about to begin the spring semester at the Hamline University School of Business. The next two classes in my Master in Public Administration cohort program are Organizational Theory and Human Resource Management for Government. Cheers.