SR-71 Blackbird

The SR-71 is one of the most impressive airplanes the US has ever built. A friend sent me this flash video - it is very well done. Take a few minutes and watch.

What Do We Know About Barack Obama?

I just completed reading "The Case Against Barack Obama" by David Freddoso. To say the least it raises some very important questions on Obama's judgment. It also says a lot about the man that wants to be President of the United States when he votes "present" over 130 times in the state senate on controversial issues instead of taking a position. I find it amazing that I actually agree with Hillary Clinton on something - the mainstream media has given Obama a complete pass. When Obama can't even support the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, one needs to ask yourself what do we really know about this man.

It is not mean-spirited or divisive to ask ligitimate questions about Obama's past. His ties to the corrupt Chicago political machine, a radical minister, and an unrepentent terrorist are starters. I for one would like to know when the mainstream media is going to start asking him the tough questions that every American has the right to know the answer to before voting in November.

Pickens Plan

I'm sure by now most of you have seen T. Boone Pickens on TV with his commercials or on news shows. He offers a very no nonsense approach to using the resources in the USA and reducing our dependence on foreign oil - which is currently $700 billion a year on the way to $1 trillion a year. I've spent several hours watching his testimony in front of two Senate committees. If you haven't spent any time researching his plan, I'd recommend spending a few minutes on his website - it's very educational at the least. I found a 10 minute video that describes the plan very well.

Recession or No Recession?

I know that by the technical definition the US economy is not in recession. Yes, I know that there are parts of the country that are hurting - for instance Michigan. From my perspective there are only pockets of the country that are hurting and in general things are in pretty good shape. Now before everyone thinks I'm crazy, let me share some of my observations.

Most of you know from previous posts I travel extensively for my job. I have never seen airports more crowded than I have this year. I am rarely on an airplane that has more than 1 or 2 seats unfilled. In New York City this week one can hardly walk on the sidewalks because there are so many tourists. By the way you can hardly get a hotel room near Times Square and if you do they are going for a mere $500 to $700 per night. If the economy was in dire straights would people really be spending lavishly on discretionary items?

Let me go back to May of this year. I spent a week in Las Vegas for a conference. Again an off-peak time in Vegas and it was packed. I could hardly get in and out of the airport due to the lines, the gaming tables were very busy even on week nights, show prices are astronomical, and food prices reminded me of the Miller High Life commercial where their privileges are revoked due to ludicrous prices. If the economy was in dire straights would people really be throwing money away in Vegas?

I admit I feel the pain at the pump just like everyone else, however I've adjusted spending in other places to compensate for that increased expense.

Is it possible Phil Gramm is right that we have become a nation of whiners?

The Looming Crisis the Media is Ignoring

The world is currently consuming about 85 billion barrels of oil a day. Approximately 40% of the world's oil supply is transported through the Strait of Hormuz. As we all observed this week the tyrannical country of Iran is flexing it's muscle to discourage Israel and the US from attacking it's nuclear facilities. It is becoming clearer and clearer that Iran can disrupt if not shut down the Strait of Hormuz. The devastation to the US and world economies would be unimaginable.

The US is currently spending about $700 billion per year on imported oil. Some have said that a disruption in the Strait of Hormuz would double if not triple the cost of oil overnight. If the prices do not decline, the US would now spend $1.4 to $2.1 trillion dollars a year for imported oil Clearly this is not affordable and would cripple the US economy. To put the $700 billion of annual oil spend in perspective, that is 4 times the annual cost of the Iraq war.

What happens if the US can not reduce its dependence on imported oil? For starters the US military presence in the Middle East would have to be massive to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and to protect the oil fields in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait. The price at the pump could easily reach $8 to $12 per gallon.

The US needs a comprehensive plan to solve this problem. Domestic sources of energy need to be put into production as soon as possible. Diplomatically and militarily the Middle East must remain "stable" to minimize the disruption of the oil supply while domestic sources are brought online.

If Iran attacks the US or Israel, we may see economic conditions not seen since the Great Depression. Isn't it about time the media starts asking our elected leaders and want to be elected leaders some tough questions that affect all of us? If not we'll continue to get 24 hour coverage of mental recessions and Jesse Jackson wanting to castrate Obama.

Heathrow Airport

In late May I made my first trip through London's Heathrow airport. Heathrow is a world famous airport and I expected to see a first class airport. Shocked would best describe what I thought when I arrived at terminal 3. If I didn't know I was at Heathrow I would have guessed I was in a third world country. When I went to work the next day, I was talking to my colleagues about my first impression of Heathrow was shocking to say the least. We discussed how it should be torn down - basically it was a dump. A couple of days later my colleague handed me a newspaper in which a government official was quoted as saying "Heathrow is a national embarrassment".

I didn't get to see terminal 5, but was told that it was modern and state-of-the-art. There is another terminal under renovation, but it won't be completed until 2012.

Good and Bad Service in London

When you travel a significant amount of time you quickly notice good service and more importantly come to really appreciate it. I had never been to London so didn't know what to expect in terms of taxi, restaurant, or hotel service.

My first impression was not good. I arrived at Heathrow around 11 pm on a Tuesday night - there were very few people at the airport. After quickly clearing customs and immigration, I made my way to the taxi line to head to my hotel. I was surprised to see the taxi starter ASK the next driver in line if he'd take me to my destination. After agreeing, the driver did not get out the taxi and load my bag - no big deal I'm more than capable of doing it. It was a short drive to the hotel and to my surprise when we arrived he sat in the car and waited for me to exit and unload my bags. The whole time acting agitated that I was taking to long to get out of the car. Needless to say I did not feel real welcome in London. Later in the week I needed another ride from Heathrow to my hotel - this time it was late afternoon. I was dumbfounded when the taxi driver refused to drive me to the hotel and emphatically told me to take the bus. In all my travels I've never seen anything like this.

Luckily my experience at the Heathrow Raddison Edwardian hotel was exactly the opposite of the taxi experience. The staff there was fantastic. After getting to my room I received a phone call to see if the room was ok. Whenever I needed transportation or directions to restaurants, the bellmen were incredible. One bellman, John, provided some of the best service I've ever received at a hotel. On Friday night he spent 20-25 minutes mapping out a day trip for me to London. He also provided excellent restaurant recommendations in the area.

One of the restaurant recommendations was the Pheasant Restaurant and Lounge. The menu offered a wide variety of food. I ended up eating there 3 times over the week. The fish and chips were great and the fillet mignon was some of the best I've ever eaten. Best of all the service was excellent and the staff was very friendly.

My experience with the Raddison and the Pheasant made up for the less than stellar service received in other parts of London. If you are traveling to London be prepared for service an all parts of the spectrum.

NBA Games Fixed?

I read Marc Stein's article "NBA has no quick fix for Donaghy's fixing charges" today. While I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I must say the NBA has a real image problem. I lost a lot of interest in the NBA after Magic and Bird retired and now found myself only occasionally watching the playoffs. I have seen many questionable calls - that get made and that don't get made - that really raise questions about the fairness of the game. After reading about the Donaghy scandal, I thought I remembered that NBA referees had a scandal about 10 years ago involving false tax claims involving airline tickets. After doing some Googling, indeed that was the case. David Stern has to put on the best face for his league, however when the referees keep making the news it's easy to question how legitimate the games really are. If I watch any of the remaining games, I know I will be looking at each call made much more closely than in the past.

Great Airline Service

Yes, I'm sure you reread the title of this post at least twice. My customer meeting for today got canceled so I decided to fly standby and get home this morning instead of late tonight. I got up at 4 am EDT and made my way to Logan airport to catch an earlier Northwest flight back to Minneapolis. I was able to get on the 6 am EDT flight. Northwest offered me a complimentary upgrade to first class which of course I accepted. On the flight back it became obvious that our flight attendant, Carmen, was no ordinary flight attendant. She provided our cabin the best service I've ever received on an airplane! She called everyone of us by name when she asked if we wanted anything. My coffee cup was never empty and after the first cup she never asked how I wanted my coffee. Others sitting near me also noticed this incredible personalized service. In the days of airlines cutting back on just about everything and charging for what they haven't discontinued, this was greatly appreciated and did not go unnoticed. I hope to be on another flight where Carmen is the flight attendant - this really made my day.

My Day in London

On my recent trip to London, I had an off day and spent last Saturday in London. All I can say is one day is not enough to see all of London. I took the Heathrow Express into Paddington station and from there jumped onto the Big Bus Company tour. This open top bus tour takes you around all the major attractions in London. I'd recommend this for those that want to get a lay of the land and then pick things to go see. This was a hop-off and hop-on tour so if you did see anything you liked it was very easy to do that and then catch a later bus. I discovered that some tours offered a recorded message and others offered a live tour guide - I'd recommend the live guide. My tour lasted nearly 3 hours has the traffic became very heavy about half way through the tour. If traffic is light the tour takes a little over 2 hours. I chose to do the complete loop so I wouldn't run out of time. At the end of the tour I spent an hour or so walking through Hyde Park. Hyde Park is very large and many activities going on simultaneously. Here is the link to my pictures from my day in London.

Democratic Presidential Race

I have been in London and Madrid this past week. When I left the US I thought I'd be able to escape the 24x7 coverage of the Democratic primary race. In London there was no escape from this hotly contested race. The newspapers and the British news carry coverage of this race as if it was their own. It doesn't even end with coverage of Hillary and Barack. At dinner tonight there was multi-page (that's right not multi-column) story of how Bill Clinton has fallen out of the graces of the American people. It was harder for me to gauge the coverage in Madrid as everything was in Spanish. However several of my Spanish IBM colleagues were very aware of the race for the White House.

I happened to be in Europe at the same time the primaries are wrapping up. My home state of South Dakota is receiving a lot of press on this side of the pond. I enjoyed reading stories written in Yankton, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, and Mt. Rushmore. It's not everyday South Dakota gets international coverage.

To Blog or Not to Blog

I started a blog in late 2005 - didn't really stick with it and it was somewhat of a new technology at the time. After Brian Reese graduated from the Air Force Academy last year, I noticed that he was very diligent about blogging - the link to his blog is on the left. To make a long story short, I hosted Brian when he played Junior Hockey in Rochester, MN. We stayed friends over the years and I enjoy reading his blog - in fact I get it delivered to my email so I don't have to go to the web everyday. So now several months later I decided to throw out my observations.

About 3 years ago I accepted a new position at IBM that required me to do extensive travel. I meet with customers that my team supports from many different cities and countries. After spending many hours on planes, in airports, in hotels, and in restaurants one gets the chance to observe many "unique" things. Now that my mental list is exceeding my memory capacity, it's time to document them for all the world.

Those that know me won't be surprised to see some post thoughts on politics. While I have zero desire to run for public office, I've followed politics since I was in grade school. On that note I am an avid ice hockey fan, but I've never played the game - I'm starting to see a pattern here.