Nathalie Walker - quicksand thievery corporation remix

Tonights Bedtime Music ~HUGE hugs to the WORLD, ~S

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY COLLABORATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND GENERAL MOTORS IN HAWAII - TheCypressTimes

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY COLLABORATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND GENERAL MOTORS IN HAWAII - TheCypressTimes

Can someone please explain to me: Why we are not using geothermal micro turbine engines to produce electricity in Hawaii and Guam? Ie. It's the ring of fire like philippines: produces 27% of its electricity via Geo thermal for thousands of tiny islands (or Iceland Geothermal) why can't we? If you are worried about seismic activity created by H20 injection use a closed natural topside water pond cooled loop system....Just my 2 cents...

Pretty Little Boxes: Part 3 of WHY Portland Rocks!

So I get a few days notice that my fellow BRC citizen will be in PDX. Right after I leave . I am really bummed....because she IS NOT ONLY unique but a GEEK GIRL! (well most BRC people are unique...but for that matter...She is PURE Radiant Gift Culture ENERGY!)! The Alchemy of life always prevails if you have an open mind and open heart....listen to what it tells you....make sure to be aware...

So needless to say if I were any other person on the planet: I would think to myself WTF: Why is this "random chick" (me) trying to give me a hand and see if we can get a hacker space! However, that is the special thing about the Random BRC universe. The things you can do if you only ALLOW yourself to imagine (without fear :)!

I commented about several things today but dear to my heart and soul is the following:

This video truly shows the amazing fusion of what bringing a collective "family" can do to together: art fueled by passion of the collective synergies (think creativity, design, engineering, technology and the ability to DREAM outside the box) of different talents through the conduit of open minds, hearts and brought together by some dust in the wind in the desert of NV.....It's a beautiful thing called Burning Man :





To Lynne~

Thanks for dreaming and being you! You are appreciated. Let me know the next place you drop in and the community will again come together and find the "right place to be, at the right time....Just where we are all supposed to be when we are supposed to be there"...Until then, be well my fellow BRC Citizen...Remember sometimes when we are alone we are stuck in the weeds, but gather all the weed wacker's around and look what beautiful paths we can create! "Be the change you wish to see in the world: ~Gandhi     Hugs to the world, NOW let's go WACK some WEEDS! ~S

"Thanks PDX 2 being AWESOME! "Portland rocks ETextile innovations at their local hackerspace The Brain Silo with physical therapy knee braces, RFID necklaces and some glow! I love you PDX!" ~Lynne Bruning!


And the post from the amazing: www.sparkfun.com/news/502

Home | News - 2010.12.10
E-Textile Meet-Up
by Emcee Grady | December 10, 2010 | 10 comments

Today we have a guest post from our friend Lynne Bruning, E-Textile master:

Last week I embarked on a hasty trip to Portland to see Rose City Vaudeville, visit a very pregnant girlfriend and size-up the Stump Town geek factor.

Within a couple of hours I found cheap airfare, called my friend and blindly emailed the Portland Dorkbot , home of the Teensy++. They agreed to host a free E-Textile meet-up at the BrainSilo hacker space on Friday night. With only a few days notice, very little planning and a rainy evening, I anticipated a few friends, a six pack of beer and a couple of curious inventors. If I had known it would be standing room only with about 30 artists, hackers and researchers I would have thought twice about speaking. Seriously, ‘this’ was my holiday? Fortunately - they brought PBR, a space heater, great projects and a sense of humor.

I brought samples of conductive fabric and threads, Lilypads and Aniomagic Schemers, shared sewing tricks and talked about e-textiles, adaptive technology and the best blogs to follow the wearable computing trends. Monty asked about the dangers of lithium batteries and we contemplated destroying one. Loki discussed the semantics of ‘eTextiles’, ‘wearable computers’, ‘smart clothing’ and ‘glamtronics’ yet none of us came to a conclusion for accurate terminology.


Shannon Henry brought her Skirt Full of Stars - a Lilypad, accelerometer and fiber optic confection.



Janna from Third Brain Studio shared her physical therapy LED project that motivates a patient to complete their physical therapy through LEDs.



Amy Johnston arrived fashionably late, however she offered up a fresh pomegranate and a project I was super excited to learn more about. Hidden Agendas is a necklace composed of 45 RFID tags that are programmed to display an image, quote, or question that address the topic of tracking, surveillance and identity. The necklace is currently on display at the Science of Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh.

And a special shout out to members of Makers Local 256 from Huntsville, Alabama who took time out of their busy travel schedule to attend the meeting and invite me to their hackerspace for some southern hospitality. I think that means moonshine and a pig roast!

Portland, you impress me with your desire to foster a community of creative thinkers. Your food carts, fashion and brew pubs. And most of all your ability to embrace innovation, especially on short notice. I’ll be back for more, until then please keep the beer cold and the BrainSilo warm.


Blogs Lynne follows (Me too but I'm just a "newbie without an awesome sewing machine and glue gun)....but I'm working on saving the world efficiently too, but until then...~COVETING these Blogs! :

Talk2MyShirt
http://www.talk2myshirt.com/blog/

Fashioning Technology
http://www.fashioningtech.com/

Computational Textiles
http://computationaltextiles.blogspot.com/

How To Get What You Want
http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/

Institute for Unstable Media
http://www.v2.nl/

Soft Circuit Saturdays - how to projects
http://softcircuitsaturdays.com/

LillyPond - craft project bb http://lilypond.media.mit.edu/projects

"Do you have one to add to the list?" Let the world know so we can HELP!


Thanks to all to cool people out there who listened to what the universe told them! ~S

ALL of US TOGETHER WILL do ANYTHING! Go 2 the END of the World!

I have hope: For the whole...~Thanks 2 DMB


And For Tonights Bedtime Music: Courtesy of Mr. Freewell of Palo Alto, CA: DMB ( I danced and sang with Soph before bed tonight with this one...An amazing compilation of artists...Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall hanging for this one! ~HUGE hugs to the WORLD, ~S



You And Me lyrics

want to pack your bags something small
take what you need & we disappear
without a trace, we'll be gone, gone
The moon & the stars follow the car
& then when we get to the ocean,
we're going to take a boat to the end of the world...
all the way to the end of the world
oh and when the kids are old enough
we gonna teach them to flyyyyyyy

you & me together we can do anything, baby
you & me together yes, yes
you & me together we can do anything, baby
You & me together yes, yes

You & I we're not tied to the ground,
not falling but rising like, rolling around
eyes closed above the roof tops
eyes closed we're gonna spin through the stars
our arms wide as the sky, we gonna ride the blue
all the way to the end of the world,
to the end of the world

oh and when the kids are old enough
we gonna teach them to flyyyyyyy

(chorus)
you & me together could do anything, baby
you & me together yes, yes
you & me together we can do anything baby
You & me toghter yes, yes

we can always look back at what we did
always remembering you & me baby
But right now it's you and me forever girl
you know we could do better than anything that we did
you know that you and me we could do anything

you & me together c' do anything, baby
you & me together yeah, yeah

two of us together we c' do anything, baby
you and me together, yeah yeah
the two of us together yeah, yeah
the two of us together, we can do anything baby


something small, told her at least, the end of the world,

Marble Sounds - The Time To Sleep (2010 Video & Lyrics)

<<<<I Need Sanctuary>>>>

To tune out the background chatter,  focus and breathe!!!

You're falling in a lower gear
A little rest is what you need
You're rolled up on the seat
Your arms around your knees

We met by chance, talked on the phone
We kept in touch
I took you home
Sure, it proves we get along
And it will only get better from now on

We found a place to which we drive
And i offer you the time
To sleep - to dream
To wake up when we arrive

We found a place to which we drive
And i offer you the time
To sleep - to dream
To wake up when we arrive

Right moments come out of the blue
But when there's one it's up to you
Even when the time was up I couldn't stop
I was floating all day long

We found a place to which we drive
And i offer you the time
To sleep - to dream
To wake up when we arrive

We found a place to which we drive
And i offer you the time
To sleep - to dream
To wake up when we arrive

What is really logical anyway? Other strangely thought provoking conversations...

As the obvious alchemy continues to rain down into my world (that is a positive thing not negative) and as the patterns emerge I see a common conversation continuing to surface in my head.  


Let me back up for a moment and explain: I met this gentleman (and yes, an actual gentleman) by random coincidence through a friend of mine. He had come to pick up my companion for the week....a fluffy little ball of barkie spunky love of a Maltese whom I adore to no end (that said I like almost any animal but especially loving ones).  He had come to take Mr. Fluffy to his house to watch for me while I went on travel. 


You see I didn't really want to leave my fabulous sun room, fluff ball of a friend and embark on an adventure, I was quite content working in the silence of the empty house with the ball of love at my side.  However, I had triple pinkie swore to do two things and I had already been delayed by 4 days do to other overwhelmingly emergent "stuff"!  


Just to note when/if I ever  triple pinkie swear it is serious business.  (I don't do crossie's or backsie's EVER) I would rather die trying than not give it everything I have.  Most serious of any type of commitment I will enter a contract about.  Kind of like having to see the family Vastu for a reading in India before signing a deal....I digress (a whole story for that one...remind me some day).


Just ask my kids.  Their father thinks that "pinkie swearing doesn't count" you just promise.  Nothing bad on his part (he's just very black and white) but for me a promise is a word and yes you promise with the word and you seal it with an action of trust a triple pinkie swear.  When I promise: I promise to do the best I can at making it happen and managing expectations if for some un foreseen reason I can not complete what I had said what I would do.  Now that said:  If I promise with a pinkie swear...watch out world...I'll be damned if something is going to get in my way to completion. 


So I triple pinkie swore I would help one of the most giving kind amazing women I have met in my lifetime move into her new place.  (I still am very excited for her as I sit here typing after finally finishing the computer re engineering in her new place.  She finally bought a place of her own.  I am thrilled beyond belief to have the opportunity to be a part of such a joyful occasion.  So I was 4 days late due to circumstances beyond my wildest imagination.  I never in my life would have thought my week would go as oddly as it did. 


I was able through friends to maintain my triple pinkie swear.  How from 5 hours North?  I called in my personal Calvary.  Without my personal Calvary I would not continue to exist on this planet.


So a huge shout out to the following members of my personal Calvary:  GC, JST, MK, G&PL, RIL, C, BRB, JMT, CA (too many to list if I don't do your initials you know you are loved I just have to get back to unpacking :) and my virtual cheering squad. As always I must thank you for your unwavering friendship and pinkie swearing commitment  from infinity in the universe.  


Now this was supposed to be about an entirely different subject but I need to get back to unpacking for my wonderful friend.


So just a thought until later regarding the next extended topic:


So the gentleman and I had a two and a half hour long discussion on "what really is reality or is this reality or are we just dreaming"


Which reminded me of one of my favorite songs in which I completely identified with the lyrics while "illegally" listening to them on my sister's 8 track tape Hi Fi Stereo of which I was NEVER allowed to breath on let alone touch!  Good thing she liked to go to the library :D


Well since I've outed myself for my serious indiscretions of violating her forbidden property, I suppose I won't be receiving a holiday card with the obligatory family picture and associated updates this year.....Oh well then, less tree's killed, less recycling it will all work out in the end :D 






The Logical Song lyrics
Songwriters: Davies, R; Hodgson, R;

When I was young
It seemed that life was so wonderful
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical
And all the birds in the trees
Well they'd be singing so happily
Joyfully, playfully watching me

But then they send me away
To teach me how to be sensible
Logical, responsible, practical
And then they showed me a world
Where I could be so dependable
Clinical, intellectual, cynical

There are times when all the world's asleep
The questions run too deep for such a simple man
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned?
I know it sounds absurd but please tell me who I am


I say, "Now what would you say for they calling you a radical
Liberal, fanatical, criminal?"
Won't you sign up your name? We'd like to feel you're
Acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable
Oh, ch-ch-check it out yeah

At night when all the world's asleep
The questions run so deep for such a simple man
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned?
I know it sounds absurd but please tell me who I am
Who I am, who I am, who I am

'Coz I'm feeling so illogical
D-d-digital
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Unbelievable
B-b-bloody marvelous

Beautiful......~Toni Childs

I was introduced to the music of Toni Childs at the right time and the right place.  1991 DVC Thanks to my amazing friends who broadened my scope of music and life.  Thank you Toni Childs for your music and work!

Beacuse You're Beautiful from Michael Shaun Conaway on Vimeo.

I see angels
i see devils in me too

and yes

i am angry and frustrated too
im no different, different than you

and I've been hurt
and wounded

and yes, I've been abused

now i can see you
holding out your hand
hoping that, someone will, finally understand

that you're beautiful
yes you're beautiful
you are beautiful
you are beautiful

deep in the silence, before the dawn
the wounded, the battle scarred
the nicks and the cut

don't let it define you, let it all blow away
reach for the stars, the moon please
find your way

don't you know you're beautiful
cause you're beautiful
cause you're beautiful

i see angels
i hear devils in me too

and yes, i am human
and i want nothing from you

don't you see you're beautiful
yes you're beautiful
we are beautiful
yes you're beautiful

its the time to choose, what you want now
its the time to declare, who you are now
its the time to, reach for the stars now
its the time to believe in yourself now

dream with me now
dream with me now
dream with me now
dream with me now
dream with me now
dream with me now

The Most Popular Question of the Month

I've been dwelling on this for a few weeks now....

I keep being asked the following question:

"So Susan, what do you want to do now?"

My reply several times when people inquired with that question:

"Well I can tell you what I am good at, finding diamonds in the rough, seeing patterns, the ability to filter background noise and simplify things.  I am good at getting people to play nice in the sandbox.  I am resilient and seasoned enough not to let the small stuff bug me.  I still smile at very simple things.  I can remind myself of how fortunate I am even in the worst situations.  I can manage a whole herd of people in the midst of chaos without losing my calming voice and smile....I can compartmentalize to survive..to stubborn to die.  I understand data it's black and white.  One's and Zero's.  On and Off.  It is logic in it's most pure form.  Don't tell me what can't be done.  Tell me what you can do first.  Tell me your end goal you seek.  Let's figure out in an unfettered way what hurdles we need to overcome, either perceived or actual.  Give me a white board, a cocktail napkin let me think outside the box with a development team, get them to stretch their imaginations.  Because nothing is impossible.  Sometimes,  I think so far outside the box people I have a hard time without a white board explaining things.  That and I am usually so passionate and excited about what I am thinking I talk at warp speed.  So excited I want to give every minute detail of the logic involved in my thought process.  I am so passionate I want to make sure I give you everything...Virtual Vomit to make sure I am presenting it in a way in which different factions of my audience can all understand.........WHEW!"

Response:  "But Susan I didn't ask you what you are good at, I asked you what do YOU WANT to do?"

I said:  "I'll have to get back to you on that one, I've never taken the time to truly contemplate what exactly I want to do."

So it started me stretching my own thoughts... A very good exercise in personal growth and an awesome reality check.

So let's see the patterns:  I love kids, I love animals, I love old people, I love puzzles, I love researching, I love learning, I love helping people who are in need of help.

Little known facts:  My first job (after babysitting) was I had a paper route, bought my first pair of ski's with my earnings.  Bought my second pair of ski's. Taught skiing to little kids.  Worked as a lifeguard, camp counselor, I was trained as a CNA in the Decca program in high school...worked at St. Mary's in the kitchen for the retired nun's...(Obviously they didn't talk me into being catholic a nun or nurse) I couldn't stand the way people were treated at the nursing home I was working at when I was 17...Gave up on medicine.  Knew it would kill me emotionally. I've made cookies, worked in a factory making wiring harnesses for washers and dryers.  I can change my own tire, oil, replace the regulator and take out my radiator and replace it with one I pulled out of another VW 1977 Rabbit at the junk yard.  Enough random facts about me.  I've worked my whole life and I'm never going to be embarrassed about it again.  (remind me to write about that one)

I've always wanted to be an explorer of sorts, hang with Jane Goodall and embrace all the diversity that exists in this wonderful journey of a life.

I feel most alive when I am pushing every personal limit to the edge (not just for the adrenaline)....I believe that is what LIVING is all about in every cell of my existence.  I could be among those who are just waiting to die....But to hell with that in a hand basket!  If I don't go get what I want no one else is going to do it for me....that I know for damn sure.

So I still don't know what the answer is...yes or maybe there is no definitive answer.  Perhaps, it is all about traveling, tasting, feeling, breathing, loving, helping, embracing chaos that is this life in which we live.

What's on my bucket list?:

• I'd love to write several books.  I have a lot to say.  It is just an overwhelming task that I can't do by myself right now.  I would love to help people through my stories.  I want to leave a legacy for my children.
• I want to go to Svalbard, Norway lie under a big furry blanket on a lawn chair and stair at the Aurora Borealis and dream of all the possibilities that exist in space and on earth.
• Along with that I'd love to dog sled across the tundra and live in an igloo.
• I COVET shoes.  That said I can never find ones that I like.  I have a design in my head.  I would love to make custom shoes and I will.  I've gone as far as how to make "lasts" when the holiday break settles me I will make my first pair of beautiful woman's shoes for myself.
• I would love to have more kids, adopt them whatever.  Im adopted.  I think I turned out fairly well.  Why not give a child a home...
• Ride a horse across India with Relief Riders International and bring school, medical supplies to villages in Rajasthan
• Help people in poor parts of the USA. Reintroduce responsible agriculture, citizenship.
• My goodness this is just off the top of my head.
• Children are our hope for peace. We need to invest in them...Not just make factory workers.  Teach them how to learn for themselves.

But all of this takes money (the necessary evil) so now I have to figure out how to profit from what I want to do and do the other things for the rest of humanity.

Happy Friday!

Managing Chaos With A Smile!

“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow”~ Thomas Paine  Thank you Mr. Paine! 

Why Projects Fail: Are you listening? The beginning

Why Projects Fail:  Reason #1 Plus a HUGE "fictional" rant! #1 :D

Someday's I want to scream at the top of my Executive Management/Klingon Translator/Psychotherapist/Sociologist GEEK lungs:

STOP the HEMMORGAGING! NOW!  

I have seen this so many times in my professional career I can't count...People seem to forget the most basic principles of having a successful on time, budget project:  

Listen to your CLIENT!

You are not making this uber cool flashy gadget that doesn't meet the fit, form and function of what is desired by the CLIENT! Turbo Geek!( That's what being a game designer is about!) YOU are creating this product with the CLIENT's FIT, FORM, FUNCTION and PRICE POINT for the CLIENT! (Remember, the guy who is paying your bills)

Cut the project until you realize what your client (internal or external) actually wants AND needs!  What does the end product, the tool/infrastructure/process need to accomplish?  Fit, form, function with price point in mind. 

The ideas for the intended solution are usually well formed in someones head and spot on to solve a REAL NEED.  So idealistically this would both translated clearly by the analyst and executed, and implemented by the assigned team.  Now back to reality:  Pragmatically speaking, during the meetings, which are about upcoming meetings preparing for meetings everything is garbled and lost in translation.  The original intent, fit, form and function have been molded into something entirely different than what was actually the business need in the first place. 

Nine times out of ten, when I walk into an organization (usually to resolve something no one else wants to deal with A.K.A. they are going for a Executive Director promotion or incentive bonus and don't want to ruffle feathers or say the things that are usually hard for someone in that position to say.  Like we are #FAILING to produce a product you actually need...Or we look like we are on budget because we have been cutting corners...

So "we" continue building something that meets some "check in the box" for a milestone (but really doesn't actually because we just skewed the statistics a bit) and looks like a nice shade of Green on the C-Level dashboard for the morning meeting.  

The fact that the C Levels usually are so hands off or don't understand what is under the hood is is a good thing for this type of manager.  They will most likely get the promotion. The user will be frustrated.  The "profit center" will continue to think of the IT Shop as a "cost center" that looks like a bunch of pocket protector douche bags. 

Hence, the vicious cycle continues...Economic downturn "profit center" who rules the house says cut "the cost centers" the COO says darn "IT" they are a huge "cost center" look at all that "stuff" they keep buying and OH the care and feeding costs!   The CIO is now running around trying to figure out how to strategically keep the business running without people or equipment.

<<<Begin "fictional" rant>>>:

Then, as I like to say: Sooner or later they have a moment of clarity when things start failing and/or falling apart the guy they hired to be the "IT Manager" is now supposed to not only be a manager but SME in Networking, Security, Help Desk, Telecommunications, Fix the BES the CFO's Blackberry crashed.  Then you run frantically to try to restore the CEO's hard drive which failed (usually because they were surfing something they shouldn't have been (if only they were security savvy). Of course this all happened while he was travelling.  It couldn't possibly be the CEO's fault! CEO get back to the office jet lagged from traveling and starts yelling! Now all of the sudden you are both an A+ tech and a forensics expert.  It needed to be done NOW!  You now barely audibly whisper "Do you know when you last backed up your hard drive, or plugged it into the network?"  RAGE ensues you worthless IT minion!

Back in your office (maybe just a cube now)  You begin to try to surf and figure out what is wrong and how to fix it.  Is the hard drive spinning at all?  Is it the blue screen of death?  You call  "insert whichever laptop vendor" and pray either it is still under warranty or we have a service contract with vendor X......you sit waiting on the phone for 4 hours listening to elevator music and AHAAAA! you figure it out!  Thank goodness!  

However, while looking at the log files as to why they failed you realize your has a virus which he successfully installed while traveling in China.  The CEO most likely bought a DVD from the "Ubuy DVD Man" on the side of the street in Shanghai bored of watching the only English news station recycle the censored stories for the 50th time.  The CEO inserts the DVD which boots up (the embedded exe takes off and viola, phone home to Mao Tse Tung's Momma with all that corporate intelligence) Your "pristine church going" CEO's computer is infected because he watched porn.  (How do you look at the CEO the same way without giggling silently under your breath?) You drop a hint he got a virus and VIOLA miraculously the CEO realizes you are NOT an IT GOD/GODDESS  that is an SME of everything that plugs in the wall.  AND FINALLY they realize they can't function without both the Equipment and IT staff to run it.  Sometimes they get away with a "band aid approach of outsourcing for awhile.  So everyone is unhappy and nothing useful has been accomplished. 

So you wonder how long your job will last.. at the company because the CEO can not have you potentially exposing the secret. Tick Tock Starts the clock....Here we go again.

 <<< End of fictional RANT>>> 

So my main point is:

It is not technology that solves the problem! It is understanding the people and the processes they use to try to reach the goal! Technology just enables! Understand the people, the processes and the goal and you will WIN! Not the other way around!

More later....I'm tired!

Pretty Little Boxes ( A continuation rant for Veterans)

The Private Sector Steps up for Vets: Well Done Microsoft

Currently HR and employers have been looking for a specific criteria to fill positions. I call it "checking the boxes". When resume's come into your system's inbox the hiring formula is spun around and spits out what it considers to be viable candidates. Then they are filtered through HR (if they make it that far to a hiring manager) who unless she/he are prior service has not been trained to make the translation from military experience into the traditional "check the box" skill set.

So with the lack of translation there is no "special value" attached to a military skill set. However, if you dig deeper what you will find that what doesn't quite articulate into the traditional box is exactly what you are looking for in an efficient, productive and loyal employee to augment the organization.

So while veterans may not look "good" on traditional paper or check the boxes it certainly doesn't mean they don't have the experience. A majority of service members have not had the time nor propensity to pay attention to water cooler gossip. They have seen and experienced and shown or driven more team work than most management teams. They have done it while in intensely stressful environments, constantly adapting and overcoming on the fly. They know how to deliver. While in service to their country no matter what their designation, most likely someone's life was or is on the line if they didn't deliver.

How does this translate into a win/win for a veteran and private sector business? Quite simply you are hiring a proven individual who is highly trained to be disciplined, flexible, focused with stamina and loyalty.

They born ready to deliver the results necessary to drive the business.

I have great hope that like Microsoft other private sector employers AND DC will understand the "lost in translation" and begin to embrace transitioning service members who don't fit into the BA, MBA, PHD, internship, Big 4 traditional Resumix algorithm. Where results oriented actually translates into Hooyah!

(Hey CodeforAmerica.org can you help with the algorithm redesign?)

Pretty Little Boxes: Why Open Source Labs @ OSU Will Not ONLY Succeed But Thrive In Portland, OR

The winning inspiration from my 9yr old.

As I was sitting mulling over all of the potential titles for this blog, as so many "labels" come to mind:

Here are a few of the non winning titles:

1. Cultural Disconnect: Government in Action (reminded me too much of what Habermas would have written about in the "public sphere" way too mind numbing)
2. Trained to Fail
3. Why Wilbur & Orville Wright were able to succeed where others failed.
4. And my personal favorite:  Tales from the Island of Misfit Toys : AKA: Portland

I'm going to stop procrastinating now and get on with it.  I have had so many thoughts about what I was exposed to it has overwhelmed my synapses and made the squirrels in my head wind the yarn into a big fat ball of permutations and combinations.  I hope at least they are using a nice soft angora multicolored yarn with hues of periwinkle, blues, yellows and deep lavender :D

Enter the thought of all of the check boxes you need to be able to check to be accepted in the real world.  Whether that be for school (yes, Billy was able to identify the shape as a hexagon....CHECK..Does Susie have the ability to color with the "appropriate colors" when given the picture of the elephant.  NO!  She colored the elephant with purple and pink dots with blue tusks ....and OH SO UN CHECK!), for a job, (to even have your resume put into consideration with the 5 billion others applying for a job), e-harmony for a potential mate, or when voting someone into office....CHECK the appropriate Box.

 So here we all are Generation X, Y, Z etc.  realizing the jobs of yesteryear IE the ones where you worked for 25 years and were delighted to be a well paid factory worker at Singer Sewing Machine Co. or some other large factory with your pension about to be paid. You are ready to get the RV started up for you and your high school sweetheart so you can finally start living the good life and throw care to the wind....and then ooops!  Singer goes bankrupt, your pension disappears and your American Dream becomes Foreclosed.  You now have a Government Pension Guarantee taking it's place and your upper limit wasn't exactly(far from it in some cases) the amount you had paid into the pension and expected for "the golden years" when living begins .....

Reality strikes!  The benefit of the Generation "whichever letter you wish to identify yourself with, insert here X" is that the majority of us know that we are not guaranteed ANYTHING in job security, social security, any kind of "urity".  It is now the norm no matter what industry you are in to switch jobs every 18 months or so...

UNLESS!!!! Eureka!!!

You do what your (depression era) parent's tell you to do:  Find a nice safe job, one with benefits, a pension etc..

Enter the LAST BASTION of job security.... A job with the Government. (I am not meaning to generalize here as I know a ton of really cool forward thinking people who are public servants)

However, when sitting in Portland with the "Open Government Standards" group the NUMBER ONE hurdle to adoption was without a shadow of a doubt:  Cultural Change.  I don't get it!  How could you NOT want to change something SO BROKEN!  It is absolutely obvious that I have no qualms about challenging the public norm by any means.  As I always say, I am data driven.  So my squirrels start spinning...trying to put the puzzle pieces into place, where is the logic in this mess?  It does not compute <<<Said like a machine>>> .

Then the patterns began to emerge.  What do we know data wise about the demographics?

• You have a majority of public servants who are close or at retirement age.
• They are the majority of upper and middle management.
• They have lived by the codes, regulations that have been an institution for their entire gov lives.
• Their world has not had to change much in their tenure.  
• They have learned to use PC's but don't really see them as tools because they still have to fill things out in triplicate.  
• We have another "new greater, faster, prettier" application that someone has developed....But they forgot to do a business case and actually talk to the Users About What they ACTUALLY NEED! (That will be another blog in entirety) So it sucks and is much easier just to fill in the paperwork, get it signed up the routing list, fax it, scan it, put it in some file share where it will get lost with 50 other versions of the same variation of document...then file the paper copies in a big white binder and stash it in one of the gazillion filing cabinets where it will proceed to sit for time and all eternity.  But it's certainly much more simple than using this POORLY designed software....Now which one of the 50 gov websites do I need to go to in order to get training for hours on end on this software that really sucks.  How do I get my day job done when I am constantly having to certify, do paper work...MAN all I want to do is...RETIRE!
• The supervisor above them does NOT want to change either.  Embracing difference is not our way!  We need to make sure you dot your i's and CHECK THE PRETTY LITTLE BOXES!!!!!!!!

ENTER HOPE!  I went to Open Standards West with absolutely NO expectations.  I entered the Government Open Source Conference with the same....No expectations.  I really didn't want to listen to a bunch of people pontificating anymore about how they plan on changing government....I want ACTION!  Well hell, I've been looking for it for a long darn time now and I got smacked upside the head with people ACTUALLY DOING something...Not just talking about it!  Wow! Deep breath.

I also have to admit, I had no idea who any of the other presenters, speakers etc.  were.  I wanted to enter into it with a completely blank slate.  Well I did....and what I found was an amazing cross section of individuals who may or may NOT fit and check into Pretty Little Boxes.  But they all want to do something to help our cities, states and governments locally and around the world embrace something that is a strategic game changing adaptation to reduce costs, spillages, over budget, over time....Transparency, Teamwork, Empower the people to Participate!

Why was Portland absolutely perfect for this event?  People in Portland are well....different.  It is not only ok to be different but it is embraced whole heartedly.  As I always tell anyone that works for/with me:  I don't care if you are a one eyed, purple tattooed, alien from mars that works the best between the hours of 0130am and 0700am.  Ok so you may or may NOT have had the option of going to college but given that kids now days have grow up with a computer.....If you want to wear clothing that would be preferable since we do have to meet health codes....If you want to bring your dog fido or your iguana max to work as long as they play well with others and you do too I don't mind at all if it makes you happy to be at work or doing work.  My main concern is:

"WHAT CAN YOU PRODUCE"?  Show me what you can do and I will plow the road for you and your iguana.....and maybe give you a ride to your tattoo parlor on the back of my bike.




I'm exhausted now and have a conference call at 0815 tomorrow.  Have to polish up 3 presentations....

But I wanted to thank all of the amazing people who I met in Portland.  You gave me HOPE!

Risk Rewards a Personal Cost Benefit Model

I continually remind myself (especially today):


 If I want to recognize amazing love and goals in my short time on this earth. 


It will involve the following:

1. Huge amounts of risk
2. Crap loads of work
3. Endurance beyond my current knowledge
4. Tremendous amounts of PAIN!

 What have I learned in this life thus far?

1. Most times than not when I give it everything I have (Which is 99.9999% of the time), I stretch and mold into something more than I ever thought possible.
2. Even though it hurts, leaves wounds and makes me question myself being after I digest the pain.  I realize once again that it was not only worth it....It was the right thing to do.
3. I make tons of mistakes every day, I'll never be perfect but as long as I remain aware historically and don't recreate them it's all good....I do the best I can.
4. When I keep my mind and heart open even when recovering the alchemy of life never ceases to amaze me.  I learn more than I ever thought possible and even more when I am completely raw.
5. I don't expect anyone to understand my "mosaic way of thinking" Where most people see nothing....I see a neural network of universal connectivity....Simply, you may see only a white wall but I see thousands of patterns...the anomaly in the matrix.  I am quite pleased at my progress of being able to some what communicate my thoughts on a myriad of things professionally and personally.  (I'm just a mad scientist in the body of some blonde chick :)
6. Dream BIG and DREAM OFTEN!  Mostly the people who try to tear my dreams down are ones that have no dreams outside of there small circle of reality.  I don't expect anyone to understand my dreams or my version of reality.  I am unique, I dream unique, the way I choose to live isn't right for anyone else but me and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  It's a matter of finding compromise through transparency and management of expectations through language barriers. (Which is why I love the computer language so perfectly entitled BLISS) I digress...
7. I walk into every moment with a blank slate when I meet people.   I have no expectations, no judgments, no preconceived notions based on your appearance. (Ive met a lot of what most people would consider scary looking people in my life and have found that more time than not the tattoos, the piercings, the green Mohawk, the Marilyn Manson look are usually because they want one of two things:  People to notice them as unique in the land of Planned Urban Developments and strip malls (I had half a shaved head a blue tail and ripped jeans in my Sr. Yr of HS LOL Cyndi Lauper wanna be I was) or they want people to fear them because they actually fear people.  So it is easier to push them away than to try to fit in...Just my 2 cents.)  But whatever the reason it doesn't really matter I put it into the back of my knowledge bank for a potential birthday gift :D  and give everyone the same blank slate until they prove me wrong for doing so...A painful lesson for me many times over but that said....I can't stand when people judge me, my life, sex religion etc...it is ugly and not very loving...I am passionate about living and loving life. 

So what am I doing today?  I'm picking up my passionately living butt once again scars and all  and choosing to embrace whatever today might have in store for me.  I never know which moment might be my last AND I WANT everything the universe has to present to me! 


Unleash the Furies! 


NOTE: If it was easy everyone would do it instead of living through TV :D

Today is a day of infinate sadness for me...September 11th

Today I remember my friends , NYPD, EMT, NYFD NYC Union Workers and all those who have lost and fought with everything they had for America.

It is never excusable to murder the innocent on behalf of anyones's beliefs!

Today I hope for the world to accept and live in tolerance. Please I beg of you evolve beyond your own beliefs. Live and let live. Know that murder on behalf of all the innocent that have died and continue to die in the name of someone's "righteous" and "just" god can not continue to exist today.

This is my hope for humanity.

For all of the atrocities that occour over "differences" in race, religion, creed, sex I wish for your healing as I wish for mine.

Random laughs out loud from an exhausted blonde

My flight was delayed from ORD 2 BWI (good thing I got to hang at the airport with Christian and Sophia got upgraded 2 first life is good).

Nice flight, short haul (remember anything less than 33 hours is a short haul in my world) nice stewardess named Tonya made me smile.

Late arrival in BWI like 2345 got on long term parking bus to pick up rental car #3 LOL.....Guy in uniform got on wrong bus....He was coming home from Afghanistan....He walked me to my car and I gave him a ride to Long Term Area B (I'd forget after all that time too) and drove around searching for his car :D found it safe and sound, dropped him off and headed for Carolyn's.

So exhausted...Excited to hit my bed in my home away from home away from home away from home...

Took a wrong turn ended up in Upper Marlboro (cute little town been coming here for years never been into the actual town center till 130 am last night) felt my car sputter and engine died....I coasted into the United Methodist Church Parking Lot in between handicapped and middle of parking lot. ( NOT middle of the road ITS ALL GOOD :)D

See lights on in church...late night cleaning man walks out: I ask do you know where the nearest gas station (with my weary brain!) He says yep, just walk down a ways that a way and about .5 miles you will find a gas station.

I decide at this point....PUT A FORK IN ME!!! I'M DONE! Put my seat back curl into a ball and go to sleep....but the entire time I am afraid Im going to sleep 2 late (Sunday School starts at 0830) Last thing I want to do is block the church goes from getting to Sunday School...Can you say I'd really be going to hell for sure LOL)!

Get up to watch the sunrise...roll out of the drivers seat out of the car...beautiful Sunday morning birds tweeting (not with mobile devices )and flowers and begin my journey to get gas.

I really am laughing at myself the entire walk. I'm actually amazed that in my entire life I have never run out of gas before...Feeling fortunate: At least it wasn't in the middle of one of my mad dash 13 hour road trips in college to ski in Utah getting stuck in the middle of Bumfreaking Nevada somewhere...or teaching snow treking survival skills through 125 inches of snow to my college roommates (hiking into into Wasatch National Forest a few miles to Heidi's remote family cabin after skiing the entire day at Alta and then dancing into the weee hours of the night in a SLC club...(that wasn't petrol but required so much stamina and teaching them to spread their weight I thought perhaps it was note worthy in the column of stupid stuff I've done and still managed to survive for all these years) I digress...

Tired but happy to still be alive to see the birds, feel the damp morning dew on my toes in the grass, breathing fresh air and feeling the rising sun on my face....

I make it to the gas station, stumble in and look around....Iced coffee would be nice...locate a little 2 gal red plastic gas can...the WALK of shame (my camp fire girl clan, fellow veterans and various outdoor endurance freaks like me were looking at me in disgust: How could I possibly run out of gas! Poor Prior Planning) Get a Grapefruit Perrier, iced coffee, red plastic portable (just put a sign on me : #FAIL) container of shame...The gas station guy asks what happened...as my face turns bright red I tell him what happened. No big deal it was a nice walk and thanks for being open...I'll be on my way...Have a wonderful day :D

I turn around to walk out of the store with the horrid little can to fill outside....and I notice that the entire store is now filled with people who are on their way to work....Um and should I mention they are all in uniforms I feel exceptionally ashamed) They are SOF Officers from the Prince George's correctional facility. (DDEEEELIGHTFUL so now I realize I had been sleeping near the correctional institution in my car and I feel even more great ful I am still here and not 6 ft under) I feel like 1 inch tall. I manage a smile anyway (ABSOLUTELY no eye contact but a smile)

I go to the pump to fill my can of shame and as I am filling a nice man (handsome, rugged guy in correctional uniform) says I heard what happened where are you parked? I tell him not far up the road @ Church. He says Hop in....The universe conspires to help you if you allow it. Cost benefit analysis says: Dude in uniform from jail better than walking in sketchy neighborhood! He drives me to the car drops me off, fills my tank and says his name is Steve. Thanks Steve! (definately not cause I looked cute: Note traveling, non showered, sweaty yucky girl with no gas...NOT attractive!!!)

So I blackberry Carolyn and get there around oh 7ish...I sit on the bench outside the front door and wait for SUPER CODY and NALA to notice my presence...Both are professionally trained protection German Shepherds... Glad they love and adore me would hate to bee a BAD Guy!

After 45 minutes I hear Super Cody start barking...not a mean doggie bad ass bark just a HEY MOM, HEY MOM Susie is here bark. Nobody is up I wait until I hear Alvin turn on the TV then ring the bell....

Sooooooo excited to see them...I am totally out of batteries in my head. Been brain dead all day and liking it....very rare for me to be a completely empty energizer bunny...but it was today. So glad to see Carolyn, Al and Mom...Warm hugs of love are spoken here.

Thank you universe! For keeping me safe another day....Random Acts of Silliness, Kindness and stupidity are what make this journey so fun every day!

Why I use social media (as of today) and other random tidbits

Lots of people ask me why I tweet/use social media (facebook). (I could write a thesis on this one but the article below articulates a portion of why I do what I do better than I ever could).

So THE short answer: Social media for me provides a platform of interconnectivity that enables innovation through technology. Brilliant people with amazing ideas that I would have never known existed and never have never met in person (maybe never will) however, I am given the opportunity to not only keep in touch with family but participate in driving the way we evolve as a society.

Ideas are no longer developed and fostered in a vacuum or lay buried until some archaeologist discovers them long after the author is dead.

I usually get dinner on my way home from work. Over the past few months I have had the chance to develop another "Greek family". (Another topic for a blog when I don't have 2 presentations give in the morning!)So here we are and I start talking to the line cook. I see a sparkle in his eyes when he looks at my evening reading material. So I ask him the question I ask everyone I work with: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

His response: "A brilliant scientist like Tesla." I respond "What fascinates you in particular about Nikola Tesla? Is it a particular part of his work or his person overall?" He proceeds to pull out his pen and explain, draw and write formulas on a cocktail napkin about alternative power generation, parity and scribbles the address of his video's he has made and posted on YouTube.

So I tell him I will have a look and give him some feedback.

What I find astonishes me: This guy without a high school diploma is building advanced physics projects made out of junk(old microwave oven parts, bicycle wheels whatever he can salvage. He is looking for an Oscilloscope on EBay currently, If you know of a "realllllly" inexpensive one give me a shout)!

So we start exchanging emails while I am traveling.

They start with these:

S,

I'll make this short . I know you are tired and worn out.

If you know anyone who may enjoy some wild stuff

I've found a connection between falling electric fields and
time collapse fields.

I know it sounds crazy.
As Einstein said if it's not crazy it probably won't work.
It's probably the end of your work day now.

Thank you for listening
Get some rest

T**

S

Here are a few web sites to give you an idea about remote viewing.

Take a quick look , Let me know what you think.
Good, bad, whatever.
I enjoy your feedback.

http://www.technicalremoteviewing.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_viewing

http://www.remoteviewing.com/

I have a great time talking with you

Thank you so much.

T**

And that how it all started...

A brilliant man working 24yrs in a diner cooking and never given the opportunity to excel. With social media he not only has a platform for discovery but a voice to participate and collaborate.

I hope to be able to give him the opportunity that he has needed all of these years. I'm trying to figure out a way to get T** an internship or someone who would like to mentor him better than the stressed out CIO who's brain is dead when she lands in the seat at the diner at 930pm after work.

So back to the topic at hand:

Why am I so passionate about social media: Simple I have a voice, I can participate and I can enable change for evolution forward not backward. So why do I do what I do? I do it to repair the damage previously done by either lack of knowledge, greed or just plain stupidity...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/magazine/18web2-0-t.html?_r=2

How to keep a girl motivated: Thanks Mr. Gates (not Bill)

Forrestal Lecture -- United States Naval Academy (Leadership/Character)
Remarks as Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Annapolis, MD, Wednesday, April 07, 2010

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you. Please have a seat.

First of all, I would like to thank all of you all for not passing out at the parade this afternoon. You did a great job.

It is a pleasure to be back at the Naval Academy – it’s my third visit since becoming secretary of defense.

Now in a normal speech I would thank you all for coming, but I know that this evening is not exactly optional for you midshipmen. I am also keenly aware that this address is strategically placed between a high-calorie dinner and some well-deserved rack time.

So I’ll do my best to keep you all awake – and I’m mindful of those of you all in the cheap seats and keeping you awake as well.

Now of course, falling asleep in class or here is one thing. Falling asleep in a small meeting with the President of the United States is quite another. But it happens. I was in one Cabinet meeting with President Reagan where he and six members of the cabinet all fell asleep.
The first President Bush even created an honor, to award the American official who most obviously fell asleep in a meeting with the president of the United States. This was not a frivolous event.

The president evaluated candidates according to three criteria: first, duration – how long did they sleep during the meeting? Second, the depth of the sleep; snoring always got you extra points. And third, the quality of recovery – did you just quietly open your eyes and return to consciousness, or did you jolt awake – and maybe knock over something hot in the process?

Well, the award was named for Air Force Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft,who was the President’s national security adviser. He was, as you might suspect, the first awardee, and, I might add, won many stars.

But I should also say that the Secretary of Defense at the time Dick Cheney, was an occasion honorable mention.Of course, much has changed since those days, when our consuming national security problem was dealing with either the problem posed by the Soviet Union or the aftermath of its implosion. The world is become much more complex, unpredictable, and, I would say, arguably more dangerous – from global terrorism to ethnic conflicts; from rogue nations to rising powers.

So this evening I want to talk about the implications of these changes and these challenges for you, the next generation of Navy and Marine Corps officers – and above all, I want to talk about the qualities, I believe are necessary for you to be successful as military leaders in the 21st century.

Above all, I want to talk to you tonight:

About learning from the experiences and the setbacks of the past;

About being open to ideas and inspiration from wherever they come;

About overcoming conventional wisdom and the bureaucratic obstacles thrown in your path;

and About candor and speaking truth to power.

So consider first the story of Victor Krulak, Class of 1934.
In the late 1930s, the Marine Corps was still grappling with how to move troops from ship to shore under hostile fire. At the time, and after the disastrous Gallipoli campaign of the First World War, such a campaign maneuver was considered foolhardy at best, and suicidal at worst. In 1937, Marine 1st Lieutenant Krulak was stationed in China and observed the Japanese amphibious assault on Shanghai using a new kind of landing craft with a ramp.

Lieutenant Krulak sent some photos and an accompanying report back to Washington. The report gathered dust in a cabinet with a note that read: “the work of some nut in China.” Krulak eventually returned to Washington, doggedly pursued his idea and finally was put in touch by a Marine general with an eccentric New Orleans boatmaker named Higgins. The result was the landing craft used to carry Allied forces to liberate Europe and much of Asia.

Krulak would go on to win the Navy Cross in World War II, became a leading counterinsurgency expert, and later commander of Marine Pacific forces during the Vietnam War. Some choice words to Lyndon Johnson about his
Vietnam strategy arguably cost Krulak his fourth star and the post of Marine commandant.

You’ve presumably studied the exploits of Chester Nimitz, Class of 1905, hero of the Pacific. Less known about his early career – which was hardly by the book. Three years after being commissioned, Nimitz ran his ship
aground in Manila Bay. His career survived what would be a death sentence today and he was later tasked with building a submarine base at Pearl Harbor. The problem was that he was given no building material. So
then-Lieutenant Commander Nimitz led nighttime raiding parties on other units’ surplus materials to get what was needed – and successfully finished the base. I wouldn’t advise that today.

During the 1920s, the American Navy was caught between aviation enthusiasts convinced that aircraft carriers would negate the need for all other ships, and traditionalists devoted to the battleship. Eschewing these dogmatic and parochial positions, Nimitz had the vision to recognize and promote the potential of the circular formation – carriers protected by battleships – for integrating the two capabilities. This insight was largely ignored for 20 years, but was later employed to great effect in World War II, and remained the basic template for carrier formations for decades afterward.

Few graduates of this institution were as brilliant, iconoclastic, and as, difficult as Hyman Rickover. He demanded efficiency and he hated waste in all forms, he was a person who first pilfered and then horded the
little bars of soap from airline and hotel bathrooms. When interviewing young officers, he used to cut the legs of chairs short to see whether or not the interviewee could remain seated – not a technique that will endear you to your future subordinates.

In the 1950s the conventional wisdom was the nuclear reactors were too bulky and dangerous to put on submarines – diesel would have to do. It was through Rickover’s genius and tenacity that these objections were overcome, producing a submarine fleet that included the most stealthy and feared leg of America’s nuclear triad. Rickover was a stickler for safety in all phases of submarine production and operations – and because of that he was even accused letting us fall behind the Soviets. But he had the vision to see that even one nuclear disaster might well kill the program altogether. And his legacy is that to this day, there has never been a nuclear failure in an American submarine.

My final example didn’t attend this institution, or attend any college for that matter. Roy Boehm enlisted as a diver at age 17. He was in just about every major battle of the Pacific theater during the Second World War –from retrieving the fallen at Pearl Harbor to surviving 13 hours in shark infested waters to ferrying supplies to guerrillas in the Philippines. And drawing on those experiences, he would later design and lead a commando
unit that became the Navy SEALs. In his efforts to get his men the equipment they needed, Boehm was nearly court-martialed at one point for modifying official gear and buying the weapons from commercial sources. White House intervention helped keep him out of jail. In 1962, Boehm was called to Washington to brief President Kennedy on the progress of the Navy’s new commando unit. When Kennedy walked in, the first thing Boehm said was, “Well, Mr. President, I didn’t vote for you, but I’d die for you.” And after a long pause, Kennedy said “Well,we need more guys like that.”

Boehm sent his SEALs into prisons to learn lock-picking, safecracking and hotwiring cars – which could become handy behind enemy lines. In Vietnam, the price on his head rose from $50 when he first arrived to more than
$400,000 when he left. He never made it higher than Lieutenant Commander, but his legacy is at work every night, tracking down our country’s most lethal enemies in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world.

The qualities these legends embody have been important and decisive throughout the history of warfare. But I would contend that they are more necessary than ever in the first decades of this century, given the pace of technological changes, and the agile and adaptive nature of our most likely and lethal adversaries – from modern militaries using asymmetric tactics to terrorist groups with advanced weapons. As a result, America’s military will need the maximum flexibility to deal with the widest possible range of scenarios and adversaries. And our military leaders – like the great men I just talked about – will have to be as flexible and as agile, as resilient and determined, and, I will say will have to have the similar moral courage.

What strikes me about figures like Krulak and Nimitz, and Rickover and Boehm, is not that they were always right, nor that they should be emulated in every way – to put it mildly. What is compelling about these leaders is that they had the vision and insight to see that the world and technology was changing, they understood the implications of these shifts, and then pressed ahead in the face of often fierce institutional resistance.

Indeed, one of the key reasons they were successful was because they were willing to speak truth to power – they were willing to tell superiors what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear.

So at this point I hope you’ll forgive me for citing a towering figure from another service: General George Marshall Army Chief of Staff and architect of Victory in World War II. In late 1917, during World War I, was on military staff in France conducting an exercise for the American Expeditionary Force. General “Black Jack” Pershing was in a foul mood. He dismissed critiques from one subordinate after another and stalked off. But then-Captain Marshall, imagine this, Captain Marshall dealing with four-star General Pershing, took the arm of the four-star general, spun him around and told him how the problems they were having resulted from not receiving a necessary manual from the American headquarters – Pershing’s headquarters. And the commander said, “Well, you know, we have our problems.” And Marshall said, “Yes, I know you do, General . . . but ours are immediate and everyday and have to be solved before night.” And after the meeting, Marshall was approached by other officers offering condolences for the fact he was sure to be fired and sent to the front lines. But instead Marshall became a valued adviser to Pershing, and Pershing a valued mentor to Marshall.

Twenty years later, then-General Marshall was sitting in the White House with President Roosevelt and all of his top advisors and cabinet secretaries. War in Europe was looming, but still a distant possibility for America.

And in that meeting, Roosevelt proposed that the U.S. Army – which at that time ranked in size somewhere between that of Switzerland and Portugal – should be of lowest priority for funding and industry. FDR’s advisors nodded.

Building an army could wait. Then FDR, looking for the military’s imprimatur for his decision said: “Don’t you think so George?” Marshall,
who hated being called by his first name, said: “I’m sorry, Mr. President, but I don’t agree with that at all.”

The room went silent. The treasury secretary told Marshall afterwards: “Well, it’s been nice knowing you.” But it was not too much later that Marshall became chief of staff of the Army.

There are other, more recent examples of senior officers speaking frankly to their civilian seniors. Just before the ground war started against Iraq in 1991 General Colin Powell, then-chairman of the joint chiefs, met with
the first President Bush. And I was there in the Oval Office. And Colin looked the President in the eye and he said words to this effect: “We are about to go to war. We may suffer thousands of casualties. If we do, are you prepared to drive on to victory?” General Powell wanted the president to face reality. The president gave the right answer.

I can say that a similar spirit of candor suffused discussions about major troop increases with the second President Bush in Iraq, and then with President Obama in Afghanistan – discussions shaped importantly by
independent military advice from General Peter Pace and Admiral Mike Mullen – from the Classes of ‘67 and ‘68 respectively. Both presidents, again, in my view at least, gave the right answer.

In addition to speaking hard truths to your superiors, as a leader you must create a climate that encourages candor among your subordinates, especially in difficult situations.

During World War II, Nimitz was in a plane that had crashed, and found himself caught in the middle of sailors swarming to the scene to rescue the wounded. Finally, an exasperated 18-year old crewman yelled, “Commander, if you would only get the hell out of the way,
maybe we could get something done.” When the crewman realized he had just chewed out a four star admiral, he tried to apologize. But Nimitz’s response was: “Stick to your guns, sailor, you were quite right.”

Even in less urgent situations, all those in senior positions would be well-advised to listen to enlisted troops, NCOs, and junior officers. They are the ones on the front line, and will often know the real story –
whether the issue is equipment needed for the mission, or stress on families back home. A story that is often different from what’s on the power point slide back at flag headquarters or the Pentagon. Being open to advice, and even criticism, will take some confidence and self-assurance.

On trips to the front lines, I have made it a priority to meet with and hear from small groups of troops ranging from junior enlisted to field-grade officers. Their candid observations have been invaluable and helped shape my thinking and my decisions.

I recall having lunch a few weeks ago in a combat post in Afghanistan with a dozen young enlisted guys—mostly E-2s and E-3s. Among other things they told me that the crotch of the Army field uniform pants is ill-equipped to deal with climbing over walls and fences--they tore out easily. As one of the specialists helpfully explained, it’s a welcome feature in the summer –but, he added, it gets pretty chilly in the winter. Now that’s a piece of information perspective I would never get in my conference room in the
Pentagon.

I should add that, in most of the cases that I’ve cited this evening – from the highest ranking to the lowest –straight talk, integrity and courage were usually rewarded. And in a perfect world, that should always happen.

Sadly, it does not, and I will not pretend there is not risk.
At some point in your career each of you will surely work for a jackass, we all have. But that does not make taking a stand any less necessary for the sake of our country.

I say this because on the larger, strategic scale, the need for candor is not just an abstract notion. It has very real effects on the perception of the military and of the wars themselves – as well as an operational
impact. World War II was America’s last straightforward conventional war that ended in a regular surrender of the enemy. The military campaigns since – from Korea to Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan – have all been
frustrated, controversial efforts for the American public and our American armed forces.

Each conflict has produced debates over whether the senior military officers were too deferential or not deferential enough to
civilians, and whether civilians, in turn, were too receptive or not receptive enough to military advice.

Here, again, I’d reference Marshall, who has been recognized as a textbook model for the way military officers should handle disagreements with superiors and in particular with the civilians vested with control of the armed forces under our Constitution.

Consider the situation in mid-1940. The Germans had just overrun France and the battle of Britain was about to begin. President Roosevelt believed that rushing arms and equipment to Britain, including half of America’s
bomber production, should be the top priority in order to save our ally. Marshall believed that rearming America should come first. Roosevelt overruled Marshall and others, and made what most historians believe was the right decision – to do what was necessary to keep England alive.

The significant thing is what did not happen next. There was a powerful domestic constituency for Marshall’s position among a whole host of newspapers and congressmen and lobbies, and yet Marshall did not exploit or use them. There were no overtures to friendly congressional committee, no leaks to sympathetic reporters, no ghostwritten editorials in newspapers, no coalition-building with advocacy groups. Marshall and his colleagues simply made the president policy work and saved England.

In the ensuing decades, a large permanent military establishment emerged as a result of the Cold War – an establishment that forged deep ties to the Congress and to industry. This is not completely new in the history
of our republic. Henry Knox, the first secretary of war, an artillery guy of all things, was charged with building the first American fleet to help combat pirates. To get the necessary support from the Congress, Knox
eventually ended up with six frigates being built in six different shipyards in six different states. Some things never change.

Over the years, senior officers have from time to time been tempted to use these ties to do end runs around the civilian leadership, particularly involving disputes over purchase of large weapons systems. The first secretary of defense, for whom this lecture is named, after World War II had to contend with a navy that didn’t even want to work for him – preferring to stay an independent cabinet department, despite the National Security Act of 1947. In the “Revolt of the Admirals” that followed, the Navy and the Air Force went at each other – first in private, then in public – over which service was better suited to deliver the new atom bomb.

These parochial tendencies must be avoided. They are also in this day and age outdated, evidenced by the fact that there are more sailors ashore than on ships in the Central Command, all in support of our ground forces and the overall war effort.

Just over 50 years ago, Admiral Arleigh Burke wrote of his beloved service: “The Navy believes in putting a man – [and, today, we would add “woman” –] in a position with a job to do, and let him do it – and give him hell if he doesn’t perform. We capitalize on the capabilities of our individual people rather than make automatons out of them. This builds the essential pride of service and sense of accomplishment. [And] if it results in a certain amount of cockiness, I am [all] for it.” Looking to the challenges America’s sea services will face in the years ahead, you have reason to be confident – in your own abilities and in the traditions of leadership and excellence of this great institution.

Here at the Naval Academy, as at every university and company in America, there is a focus on teamwork,consensus-building, and collaboration. But mark my words and make no mistake, the time will come for each one of
you when you must stand alone in making an unpopular difficult decision; when you must challenge the opinion of superiors or tell them that you can’t get the job done with the time and resources available; or when you will know that what superiors are telling the press or the Congress or the American people is inaccurate. These will be moments when your entire career is at risk.

To be ready for that moment, you must have the discipline to cultivate integrity and moral courage here at the Academy, and then from your earliest days as a commissioned officer. Those qualities do not suddenly emerge fully developed overnight or as a revelation after you have assumed important responsibilities. These qualities have their roots in the small decisions you will make here and early in your career and must be strengthened all along the way to allow you to resist the temptation of self before service. And you must always ensure that your moral courage serves the greater good: that it serves what’s best for the nation and our highest values – not a particular program nor pride nor parochialism.

For the good of the Navy, and the Marine Corps, for the good of the armed services, and for the good of our country, I urge you to reject convention and careerism. I urge you instead to be principled, creative, and reform-minded – leaders of integrity.

A final thought. All of you entered military service in a time of war, knowing that you would be at war.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The trumpet call is the most inspiring of all sounds, because it summons men to spurn all ease and self-indulgence and bids them forth to the field where they must dare and do and die at
need.” You have answered the trumpet call, and the whole of America is grateful and filled with admiration.

I salute you and I thank you for your service. For my part, I consider myself personally responsible for each and every one of you as though you were my own sons and daughters. And when I send you in harm’s way, as I will, I will do everything in my power to see that you have what you need to accomplish your mission – and come home safely.