Being Drawn Into Anger? Understand the Downside First

Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy. – Aristotle

When anger rises, think of the consequences. – Confucius

With the final remnants of the most recent snowfall behind us, I took some time from a crazy schedule today to conduct some business with my local bank branch.  While the snowmelt is upon us, the parking lot was still snow-covered and so with no visible parking spot lines visible, I parked next to the line of vehicles and proceeded towards the door.

As I approached the door of the bank, a man approached me and said “Hey a-hole”.

I turned to see who was speaking and he said “Yeah, you f*ing a-hole, do you know how to f*ing park inside a f*ing parking space?”

I indicated that the parking lot was snow covered, that actual parking spaces could not be easily located and so I had parked next to the line of cars where in fact, none of the cars were likely in “official” parking spaces.

“Well aren’t you a f*ing stupid a-hole”, he replied and he advanced towards me with a string of foul-mouthed phrases.

I replied as I maintained space between us that if he could have politely pointed out an actual parking space, I would have been happy to park in said space.  I also indicated that I didn’t appreciate being spoken to as I was being addressed and that calmly speaking to people is an easier, better way to address problems, whether real or perceived.

He told me that he was trying to teach me a lesson (using colorful metaphors as he told me this), I ignored him, recorded his plate # in case it mattered later and went into the bank.  As I left him, he continued his litany of profanity behind me.

Technically the odds were stacked against him.  I stand at 6’3”, I’m physically active and I have a martial arts background.  He was perhaps 10-15 years older and was grossly out of shape and so his best option should something physical ensue was the bottle of Windex he was using to clean his windshield.

He was taking a  big chance.  If I had a temper easily tipped over the edge, if I was being treated for issues such as anger management, if I was having a bad day or if I was one of those people who liked finding trouble when it was presented to me, his day (and mine) may have ended differently.

That’s the problem with unrestrained, unnecessary anger - things can get out of hand quickly and the results can be problematic or even catastrophic.

As one person present noted during the incident, my being calm and speaking to him calmly and respectfully seemed to anger him more until he seemed ready to lose control altogether.  They also pointed out to me that he was parked in the one spot that was cleared of snow, a parking spot designated for drivers with disabilities, but he had no such tag that allowed him to park in that spot.  Righteousness, when applied inconsistently, can create complexity.  Let he who is without sin …. well …. you know.

What he doesn’t realize is that by walking away from him, I may have saved his Life or mine.  I doubt if he would thank me though – he likely would have found something else to be angry over or may have been angered by the fact that he could not induce me into a more complex situation (there are people in the world who intentionally create drama for too many reasons to discuss here).

As an aside, the woman in front of me inside the bank, who later left with him when she had finished her business, seemed genuinely nice and gentle with bank staff.  I hope for her sake that she doesn’t suffer abuse at the hands of this individual although statistics suggest otherwise.

Anger is never the answer.

However ….

People writing op-eds in Berkeley newspapers this week indicated that the violent, damaging riots on campus in the last week were justified, even if people were hurt and private property was destroyed.

Russia and the US continue to believe that continued sabre rattling and troop build-ups in Europe will produce what they desire (whatever that is).

People tearing each other up in the streets and in social media over differences of political color are not solving any problems either but they continue to do it unabated just in case a solution manifests by accident.

The list goes on.

That’s the problem with anger – it converts us into irrational, illogical animals who are focused on power, superiority and winning at any cost, having lost sight of the potential downside should things escalate beyond the point which we anticipated and for which we are not prepared to handle.

We must also be careful when others attempt to induce us into “battle mode”.  A person induced into becoming angry is vulnerable to being manipulated, controlled or directed, allowing that person to become an agent for someone else’s agenda.

And when that happens, nobody wins.

The Bottom Line

Intentionally creating a hostile situation or allowing someone to draw us into one invites us into a potential escalation that may have unforeseen, irrevocable effects that hurt a lot of innocent people.

Unless your Life is in trouble, count to ten first and keep talking (not shouting).  It matters - you may save a relationship, a business or a Life in doing so.

As for the owner of plate R*R-5*0, you owe me a deep debt of gratitude.

But don’t push your luck – some day, someone may give you the trouble you seek and will speak to you with their fists (or a weapon) instead of trying to calm you down.

And if that happens, everyone loses.

Demand and give respect – stay calm in the face of anxiety and anger.  Fact-filled, respectful dialog solves most problems.

That is the only way we will solve the problems that the world faces today.

If you believe you have another way and can prove it works, I’m all ears.

But don’t shout at me – I am tone-deaf to the ignorant.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS It is always interesting to observe the reaction of an aggressive individual who expects their target to cower in fear or to respond in anger.  When neither happens, it often freezes them in place or causes them to get even more angry.  In my many years in NYC, we assume that the other person we are interacting with is either crazier than we are or has a gun (or both), providing additional impetus to keep our wits about us.

Vladimir Putin: The Useful Puppet

The hardest part about playing chicken is knowing when to flinch. - Scott Glenn as Captain Bart Mancuso - The Hunt For Red October

The #1206 “fiction” series continues …

---

In a well-lit, expansive boardroom, a group of agitated men and women argued around the boardroom table in the JFK Conference Room.  The meeting facilitator standing at the head of the table pleaded for order.  This was not an uncommon sight in this room these days, a room better known to the outside world as the White House Situation Room.

“Can we have one conversation here?”, the facilitator yelled above the din.

He waited patiently for about a minute as people gradually returned to their seats before clearing his throat and beginning to speak.

“Thank you”, he said. 

Turning towards the large screen behind him, he pointed to the presentation displayed before them.  “Now as you can see”, he continued, “In our effort to distract the people from the reality that we are unable to solve our education, healthcare, law enforcement, military and infrastructure needs, we have pretty much exhausted the list of deflections.”

He paused and then continued.

“The Black Lives Matter movement was useful but turned more violent than we anticipated”, he said, “The promotion of gender equality was useful but we allowed it to get too complicated to be useful.  I mean, who in the hell thought of 31 allowable genders for a driver’s licence in New York City?  Our leverage of folks in Hollywood has produced a backlash claiming hypocrisy since many of the people we have tapped to step up for us have become mired in their own personal shit about their own demons and indefensible positions.”

He advanced to the next slide in his presentation.  It showed lyrics from a Beyoncé song and photos of Miley Cyrus.

“Can you lick my skittles, that's the sweetest in the middle, pink that's the flavor, solve the riddle”, he read. “These are lyrics by someone the First Lady is calling a role model for young women?”, he asked.

“And this picture of Cyrus at a concert riding a giant ….”, he paused again and shook his head.

He advanced to the next slide.

“And this stuff about Trump”, he said, “It seemed effective at first but his band of dedicated idiots seem unswayable.  Even leveraging storms and telling people that this one is the one that will kill all their families and make parts of the country uninhabitable didn’t frighten too many people.  Running political commercials on the weather channels as people were trying to get updates probably didn’t help us either.”

“Anyway”, he said, “This stuff with Putin had better be working.  We need something to take people’s mind off of our lack of effectiveness.  Putin’s a hot head and it shouldn’t be that difficult to get him riled up and rattling the war sabres.  The key that I must stress to you is that while we publicly threaten to bomb places like Iran and Aleppo, we must constantly keep in contract with the Kremlin to assure them there is no real threat.  That way the people fear a war is imminent while it really isn’t.  Fear and anger, my friends, is the way to manipulate people the best.”

A voice from the back of the room spoke up.

“And where does this take us?”, she asked.

“Excellent question”, replied the facilitator, “It provides us with two useful options.  Either we get Hillary elected to the White House as planned or things go off the rails with Trump and we use Putin’s war cries to justify the invocation of Executive Directive 51 and we retain power.  For those of you not familiar with the directive, here is the brief summary.”

He advanced the presentation to the next slide and waited for the participants to read it.  It read:

The Presidential Directive defines the power to execute procedures for continuity of the federal government in the event of a catastrophic emergency. Such an emergency is construed as any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions. 

The Directive gives full executive, judicial and legislative power to the President of the United States, with full control over food, water, energy distribution, transportation and communication mechanisms in the country, including the Internet.  It also provides for the dissolution of Congress and the Senate if required as well as the waiving of any elections until such time as the President believes the nation to be safe.

After waiting for a minute or so, the facilitator broke the silence.

“Fully legal as defined under the law”, he said, smiling, “We just need our puppet in the Kremlin to play along.”

“But aren’t tensions between us and the Russians getting extraordinarily high?”, the same voice asked from the back of the room.

“Absolutely”, the facilitator replied, “But we need to take Russia to the very edge to make ED 51 look like the only legitimate option.  We’ve played chicken many times in the past and it always works.”

He started to speak again when the phone in the middle of the conference room table rang, interrupting him.

The facilitator nodded to someone sitting closer to the phone and the person pressed the speakerphone button.

The entire room listened quietly as the voice on the other end of the phone, in a quick, breathless, nervous voice, explained how an accident had occurred and the Volgodonsk, a Russian warship deployed off the coast of Yemen, had just been sunk by a nuclear-tipped Tomahawk missile.

“How did this happen?”, asked the facilitator as the color drained away from his face.

“We don’t know”, replied the voice on the phone, “Some idiot over there made a mistake on our side and let it fly.  There’s almost too much chatter to keep up with what’s happening.”

The voice paused for a moment.  “I gotta go”, it said, “There’s too much going on here.  Someone will call you when we have more information.”

The phone line was cut and the person next to the phone turned it off.  The room buzzed with nervous tension as multiple conversations exploded simultaneously.

“People, people”, the facilitator yelled once more, “Please, may we have one meeting at a time here?  This is probably a minor incident.  Cooler heads will prevail.”

He was still trying to get control of the meeting when one of the Presidential aides burst into the room.

He bent over and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

“The President …….. taken to PEOC”, he said in broken sentences, “Bogies approaching over the pole ….. more on Atlantic and Pacific coasts ……”

A thousand questions for the aide came from all directions.

He didn’t have much time to answer.

It didn’t matter anyway.

To be continued.

---

© 2016 – Harry Tucker – All Rights Reserved

Background

The PEOC, or Presidential Emergency Operations Center, is one of many bunkers where the President can go in times of emergency.  While it is not the ideal location, it is the best one if you have less than two minutes before a catastrophic event.

Executive Directive 51 is real and perfectly legal.  It would be politically unpopular but desperate times call for desperate measures from desperate people.

People who say that there are too many checks and balances in place that would prevent an accidental launch of a missile should recall what happened with the USS Vincenees when it shot down an Iranian commercial jet liner.

The other stuff is conjecture.  As a long-time Wall Street strategy guy, I and people I work with know that anger and fear are the most powerful tools available.  Feel-good moments can inspire others but if you want someone to act quickly without thinking, it is best to make them feel afraid or angry.  Both emotions cloud logical thinking and people will do things against their better judgement and character as long as others don’t give them time to stop and think rationally. 

As for distractions and deflections used by politicians, ask almost any politician any difficult question, even repeatedly and notice how the question is answered …. and is not.  The intention is that you will eventually give up and walk away. “Mission accomplished”, thinks the politician when this happens.

By the way, there is an interesting treatment of this subject in the 1984 movie “Countdown to Looking Glass” where things go from routine to out of control very quickly.  Thirty two years later, it is still an interesting, relevant and disturbing movie.

I’m not a pessimist.  I’m an optimistic realist, who believes that a better world is within our grasp only when we acknowledge the difficulties and imperfections around us.  We must neutralize difficulty in order to realize a better world that we are capable of creating.

As a strategy guy, it is my role to identify all plausible scenarios, including the unlikely, the unpopular, the unsavory and the unpalatable.

Risk mitigation requires people to understand all the risks, otherwise it is often the risk ignored, played down or hidden that proves to be the problematic one in the end.

We need to call out the people who put us at risk and hold them accountable for if such risk becomes reality, we die and they live.

I don’t think that’s a fair exchange.

What do you think?

You may now return to worrying about what color your next iPhone or Android phone will be or what the latest memes are on Facebook.

That is all that matters, after all.

Isn’t it?

Series Origin

This series, a departure from my usual musings, is inspired as a result of conversations with former senior advisors to multiple Presidents of the United States, senior officers in the US Military and other interesting folks as well as my own professional background as a Wall St. / Fortune 25 strategy advisor and large-scale technology architect.

While this musing is just “fiction” (note the quotes) and a departure from my musings on technology, strategy, politics and society, as a strategy guy, I do everything for a reason and with a measurable outcome in mind. :-)

This “fictional” musing is a continuation of the #1206 series noted here.

The Vulnerability of a Knight Without Armor

The past speaks to us in a thousand voices, warning and comforting, animating and stirring to action. - Felix Adler

History is a vast early warning system. - Norman Cousins

The #1206 “fiction” series continues …

---

The President of the United States, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense and numerous technology and business advisors sat around a boardroom deep within the White House, listening intently to the presenter who stood at the head of the table.

“And so it is our conclusion”, the presenter said as he nervously spoke to the powerful audience before him, “That the numerous outages we are experiencing in the telecom industry, in the banking industry and in our infrastructure, including electricity generation, appear to be coming as a result of cyber attack efforts emanating from a single country.”

“And why do these things keep happening?”, asked the President, “Why can’t we prevent such attacks?”

“Well, Mr. President”, the presenter said, “No matter what security defences we create, including air gaps between our technology and the outside world and various other technology implementations that are too complex to be described here, we keep being undermined by the weakest link of all ….. ourselves.”

“What is that supposed to mean”, snapped the President.  He often got frustrated by people who spoke in riddles or in vague terms without getting straight to the point.

“Well, sir”, stammered the presenter, “While we have lockdowns against people bringing unsecure items into our environment, many employees and contractors continue to either ignore our recommendations for securing our technology, including laptops and tablets, or they bring in devices like USB sticks and other things that are often compromised with viruses and worms designed to attack our technology.”

He paused for a moment before continuing.  “In fact, Mr. President”, he said, “We believe that there is a concerted effort to target our people specifically, with intent to contaminate their personal technology, including phones, laptops and such, so that the contamination will ultimately bypass our security measures and undermine our own equipment.  Such contamination puts our infrastructure at risk, with the risk ranging from occasional difficulties to complete failure.”

“Is that all?”, asked the President.

“No sir”, replied the presenter, “We believe the attacks are accelerating both in frequency and intensity.  The intended outcome of the attacks is clear although the reason for them is unknown.”

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs cleared his throat and interrupted the presenter.  “Cyber attacks against the Pentagon are also escalating, Mr. President.  I had some of my people check into these attacks and we have discovered serious vulnerabilities within our defence systems that we will need to neutralize as soon as we can.”

“Vulnerabilities?”, asked the President as his brow furrowed in concern.

“Yes, sir”, replied the Chairman, “I don’t want to get into them in mixed company but will make sure that the salient points are in your briefing notes for tomorrow morning.”

“And why aren’t you fixing them now?”, asked the President, “I take little comfort hearing the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs tell me so lackadaisically that we have serious vulnerabilities in our defense system that we need to fix.  I would hope that we are addressing them immediately.”

“That is true, Mr. President”, replied the Chairman, “However, Congress seems intent on holding up the funding that we need to put the changes in place.  We appear to have become distracted by anti terror measures while other areas of risk to the nation are being downgraded to secondary in risk potential.”

“And what could happen if those vulnerabilities are exploited?”, asked the President, starting to feel a sense of annoyance, anger and apprehension growing within him.

“I’d rather discuss that in private, Mr. President”, replied the Chairman.

“If I may”, interjected the presenter, “For as bad as all of these things sound, we believe that such attacks are a red herring or a distraction from something more significant when it comes to our national security.  In fact, we believe that our greatest vulnerability is ……”

The Secretary of Defense cut him off.  “We will decide where we believe our vulnerabilities are and what the risks are”, he snapped, “You may sit down now.”

The presenter hung his head, mumbled “yes sir” and sat down at the end of the table.

The President looked down the table at the men and women seated before him.

“So what should we do now?”, he asked.

A cacophony of voices erupted in the meeting room.

The President raised his hands to calm the explosion of opinions.

---

Thousands of miles away, in a control center lit only by the plethora of computer monitors, two military officers stared at the screens before them.

“Our intelligence indicates that we were able to disable the military defense systems on several American bases this month”, said the junior officer.

“Good”, smiled the senior officer, “While the Americans get distracted with our cyber attacks on their infrastructure and banking systems, our focus on the primary target remains undeterred.”

“And the American consulting firm that has caught on to our intention?”, asked the junior officer, “I understand that one of their representatives is briefing the President today.”

“I believe that he and his family are about to experience a devastating fire in their home”, said the senior officer tersely, “A terrible accident.  Such a shame when smart people meet a tragic end.”

“I see”, said the junior officer,  “And when will we be ready to launch?”

“Very soon”, replied the senior officer, “The Americans are months if not years away from hardening their infrastructure thanks to an ineffective Congress, politicians who are unwilling to admit the truth to their own people for fear of inciting panic and an ego that says “we are invulnerable”.  Their war on terror has gripped them while causing them to lose sight of other national security concerns.  Meanwhile, greed has proven to be a powerful Trojan horse for us as we continue to get our components in place within their own secure installations.”

“What would our leaders think of this?”, asked the junior officer, “We do not have their permission.”

The senior officer grunted and turned to face his junior officer.  “We are restoring the glory to our nation that our leaders talk a lot about but do very little to implement”, he said, “It is up to us to restore the dream of greatness for our nation.”

“And when it is time to deploy”, asked the junior officer, “what happens then?”

“On that great day”, replied the senior officer, “Our missiles will soar and the Americans will discover that for some reason, their defense systems will not work as designed.”

He smiled as he paused.

“On that day”, he continued, “Our glory as the greatest nation on earth will be manifest to all.”

He turned and looked back at the monitors before him as the conversation turned to silence.

To be continued.

---

© 2015 – Harry Tucker – All Rights Reserved

Background

There is so much information that I could write here but for most people it would be too intense, too dry, too academic or too frightening.

Our government and military installations are routinely probed, attacked and yes, compromised by foreign government agencies.  Such compromises have occurred many times.

Senior US government officials publicly refer to the inevitability of a successful cyber attack against our infrastructure and potentially against our defense systems as a “when” and not an “if”.

If such things are a “when” and not an “if”, what are we doing to demand better accountability and transparency from our elected officials as well as better efforts to secure our technology?

Because if we don’t secure it soon, it won’t matter.

Humans have their weaknesses after all and included in those weaknesses are ego that tells us that we are untouchable, greed that undermines the most advanced security arrangements, complacence that tells us that we always have plenty of time to address issues and fear of what the populace would do should such truths be revealed to them.

A nuclear arsenal that exists gets used eventually by one side or the other … either by the nations that own them or by rogue elements within them.  Advisors and senior military officials that I have spoken to describe events that have brought us close to nuclear annihilation more times than the public are aware of.  Not only is there a threat of our defence systems being disabled as described here, there is also the threat that our own defence systems may be used against us.  Meanwhile, our war on terror has proven to be a great distraction from other important areas of national defence in terms of fear propagation, difficulties in balancing civilian freedom versus security, alleged solutions and the cost of implementing such solutions.

Whether the existence of such weapons acts as a deterrent or not depends on whether or not the deterrent is actually working.  After all, a knight without armor is just as vulnerable as any man.

So is it better to have a deterrent to such a threat or to remove the threat itself from all sides?

The question becomes:

Are we capable of doing the right thing by destroying such weapons once and for all or do we insist on living in the land of make believe, with the belief that we can have such weapons without ever being tempted to use them?

While people say that it is impossible to “go first” when it comes to dismantling such arsenals, that is merely an excuse to not begin.  If it mattered enough to people, we would find a way.

Meanwhile the safety of you and your family is threatened by the mere existence of such weapons and the decisions of a select few who play Russian roulette with our very existence every day.

I think we can and must demand better of ourselves and the officials who allegedly work in our best interests.

What do you think?

What do you want to do about it?

What should you do about it?

What are you waiting for?

Series Origin

This series, a departure from my usual musings, is inspired as a result of conversations with former senior advisors to multiple Presidents of the United States, senior officers in the US Military and other interesting folks as well as my own professional background as a Wall St. / Fortune 25 strategy and large-scale technology architect.

While this musing is just “fiction” and a departure from my musings on technology, strategy, politics and society, as a strategy guy, I do everything for a reason and with a measurable outcome in mind. :-)

This “fictional” musing is a continuation of the #1206 series noted here.

Mental Health–The Power to Destroy Humanity

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. – Revelation 19:11 (NIV)

The #1206 “fiction” series continues …

---

US Army Major Grant Franklin stared at the stack of files piled high on his desk.  He sighed in exhaustion as he realized that after 6 months of effort, the stack had actually grown larger instead of smaller.  Had someone told him 25 years ago that life as a military psychologist would have been this complex, he would have taken an easier job.

“Maybe minefield clearing”, he thought to himself sarcastically.

Leaning forward, he reached into the pile and randomly pulled out several files.

His eyes scanned the files lightly.  A fighter pilot, two GIs and a couple of Marines – all struggling with the same classic post traumatic stress disorder that was so common amongst the brave men and women fighting in the Middle East.

He tossed the files back on his desk, rubbed his eyes wearily, stood up and stretched and then headed for his office door.

“This batch is going to need a double espresso”, he thought as he walked out of his office.

---

“The bears have returned, sir”, a radar technician shouted over his shoulder.  He was referring to two TU-95 long-range, nuclear-missile-equipped bombers from the Russian military command that were encroaching upon US airspace near Alaska.

His commanding officer leaned over the technician’s shoulder.  “What do you have there, son?”, he asked as he studied the screens before him.

“Confirmed, sir”, came another voice from across the room.

Striding across the room, the commanding officer picked up a phone.  He waited for the other side to answer before speaking.  “This is Colonel Steuben over at Peterson.  Get me Lieutenant General Robinson in Elmendorf and make it pronto”, he snapped.

After a brief wait, he began to speak.  “General Robinson, Colonel Steuben at Peterson.  Two bears headed your way”, he said quickly.  He paused as he heard the General shouting instructions to someone on his end and then acknowledged the General’s goodbye with a sharp “yes, sir”.

---

Lieutenant General Robinson watched as the two F22-A Raptors flew off into the sunlight. 

“Another routine day with these clowns flying into our airspace”, he thought.  “Jablonski and Kettering will have fun with these guys.  They always give the Russkies a ride for their money”, he grunted.

He turned back to address the technician standing at attention at his side.

---

Major Franklin rubbed his eyes and pulled the next file out of the pile.  “Captain Jordan Jablonski”, he thought to himself.

He opened the file and stopped cold a few pages into it.

He grabbed his phone, dialled a number quickly and impatiently waited for an answer.  “I need to speak to Lieutenant General Robinson at Elmendorf immediately”, he barked.

As he waited for the General to come on the line, he looked at the file before him.  Jablonski had been treated for PTSD several times before being recommended for early discharge.  What bothered him the most were the references from several officers who had flown with him.  They had expressed concern about his suicidal thoughts and his beliefs that the world needed an awakening to “straighten it up” as he was often heard to say.

“Why is this man still flying?  He is a menace to everyone including himself”, he thought.

Suddenly he snapped out of his reverie when he heard the General’s voice on the phone.  “General”, he began, “This is Major Franklin over at Wright-Patt.  We’ve got a problem with one of your airmen ……”

---

Captain Jablonski closed in on the pair of TU-95’s rumbling on the edge of US airspace.  Occasional tears of gratitude obscured his vision as he realized that the scrambling of his jet this morning had been a gift from God. He had felt when he got up this morning that this would be HIS day and for that reason, he had left a goodbye note stuck to the bathroom mirror.

His mission to reset the world on behalf of God was about to be achieved.

As he closed in behind the two bombers, he prepared to arm his missiles.

---

General Robinson slammed the phone down and shouted to his second-in-command.  “Get Jablonski on the ground NOW”, he yelled.  “No questions.  Just do it NOW.  Shoot him down if you have to.”

“Yes, sir”, came the order acknowledgement.

“Jablonski is preparing to fire his Aim-9, General”, shouted another voice.

“Sir”, shouted someone in the back of the room, “Captain Jablonski’s wife is on the line and needs to speak to you ASAP.”

“Christ”, muttered Robinson.

---

Jablonski armed his AIM-9 Sidewinder missile and prepared to fire.

---

Deep in the bowels of Russia, word spread quickly as its great military machine sprang to life, preparing to accomplish the sole objective for which it had been designed.

The United States of America had declared war by shooting down one of its nuclear bombers.

To be continued.

---

© 2015 – Harry Tucker – All Rights Reserved

Background:

Watching recent news about renewed Russian incursions into our airspace, including this video, made me wonder what would happen if the wrong person went up to escort the Russians out of our airspace.

Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado is the center for NORAD/NORTHCOMM command center operations.

Wright-Patt refers to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and provides services in the areas of medical assessment in addition to many other services.

Elmendorf (or more precisely Elmendorf-Richardson) is a US military facility in Alaska with F-22 Raptor interceptors based there in addition to many other aircraft.

If you think mental illness can’t catch the military by surprise, consider the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in which a US Army Major and psychiatrist shot and killed 13 people and injured 30 others.

In regards to mental health concerns in the military, there are many brave men and women who have suffered the scourge of post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the incredible stress they have been placed under on the battlefield.

Some are still serving, having not been diagnosed at all or whose diagnosis has been downplayed or misread.

It was the latter idea coupled with the increased Russian incursion frequency that fuelled my imagination.

Series Origin:

This series, a departure from my usual musings, is inspired as a result of conversations with former senior advisors to multiple Presidents of the United States, senior officers in the US Military and other interesting folks as well as my own professional background as a Wall St. / Fortune 25 strategy and large-scale technology architect.

While this musing is just “fiction” and a departure from my musings on technology, strategy, politics and society, as a strategy guy, I do everything for a reason and with a measurable outcome in mind. :-)

This “fictional” musing is a continuation of the #1206 series noted here.

Lest We Forget–Has McDonald’s Forgotten?

The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment. - Judd Gregg

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them. - Laurence Binyon (Ode of Remembrance)

I was surprised and disappointed in speaking with a member of the Royal Canadian Legion 285 in Calgary yesterday when he expressed a mix of disappointment and anger that the McDonald’s restaurant in the area would not allow the distribution of poppies in support of November 11th.

In exploring this a little further, I found other McDonald’s restaurants that also did not provide poppies in their restaurants and so I reached out to McDonald’s on Twitter to ask why.

Here was their response:

Not only was I surprised by this but others were as well as evidenced by tweets like this one:

There were some other responses that I can’t even put here.

The men and women who serve and who have served do so to protect our freedom, including the freedom of choice.  They serve so that we may be blessed with the freedom to choose what we want to have or not have in our lives and in doing so, they have made sacrifices so that corporations like McDonald’s can make choices like this.

But on the topic of choices, the owner of a McDonald’s franchise cannot opt out of selling Big Macs, McFlurries and the other stuff that serve the corporate brand but can opt out of that which honors the brave men and women who serve in our military, in our reserves and as first responders.

If I owned such a restaurant, one of the things that I would feel blessed by is the fact that the sacrifice of others provides me with the opportunity to make a good living and to create a good living for those who work with me.  In recognition of this fact, I would sure as heck want to honor those who have enabled such a Life for me.

And this causes me to wonder, having earned the freedom of choice by way of the sacrifice of others, if we have the wisdom to make the right choices.

Maybe having made their choice that honoring those who serve is optional, that I should make a choice regarding the support of McDonald’s.

The Bottom Line

People we will never know offer their lives, their health, their freedom and yes, even their families, so that we may have our health, our happiness and our freedom.

The gift of freedom of choice is only of value when we know how to honor it wisely.

The least we can do is to say thank you from our heart and show our support whenever we can.

Lest we forget.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

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Addendum – McDonald’s Responds – November 6, 2014

John Gibson of McDonald’s Corporation was kind enough to supply a response which is outlined below.

With apologies for posting my response before his (I needed to do so in order to post a photo that I took), I have the following items to note in response to his response.

In regards to Mr. Gibson’s comment “Since we cannot place a collection box on the front counter for food safety reasons ….”, I offer three items of note:

1. Many other restaurants in Canada do not have such a restriction for safety reasons and I am not aware of any significant cases of customer injury stemming from a poppy box.  I was in a competitor restaurant today and their poppy boxes were on the counter where my food was presented.
2. The guy standing next to me at a McDonald’s counter could easily have his poppy fall into my food as we wait, therefore I would like to ask other customers to stand back from my food (sorry – I am a literalist and couldn’t resist).
3. I took this photo in a McDonald’s restaurant in Calgary today, which would thus appear to be in violation of the policy Mr. Gibson states or prove the fact that McDonald’s can indeed place poppy collection boxes on food counters.

In regards to this comment

All McDonald’s restaurants have the option of providing a location inside or outside the restaurant where Royal Canadian Legion veterans and other authorized volunteers can distribute poppies in person.

it still provides the restaurant with the option to opt out entirely (by not providing a location) or by making it virtually impossible for the Legion to offer poppies (with the need for an excessive number of volunteers), thus allowing a restaurant to say “no” to them without actually saying no, bringing me back to my original blog comments.

In addition, in response to Mr. Gibson’s assertion of a misunderstanding, it is not helpful if their corporate Twitter account points out that restaurants can opt out without further explanation of the opt out process.  The 140 character limit on Twitter is not a rationale to explain why a vague response was provided either.

And so while I appreciate Mr. Gibson’s quick and kind response, there appears to be some corporate embellishment contained within that I couldn’t resist responding to. 

A Final Thought

I stopped by a McDonald’s in Calgary today and for fun, I asked the manager why there were no poppies available.  She informed me that they don’t offer poppies because people steal the donation cans.  That may have been a valid reason had she not followed up with the next comment: “And besides, I don’t have a number for the Royal Canadian Legion so I can’t find them to have poppies brought over.”

I don’t think they are too hard to find.

I salute McDonald’s for their support of the men and women in service to our nation as explained by Mr. Gibson but perhaps the misunderstanding Mr. Gibson refers to stems more from inconsistent execution on their part than anything else.

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9/11, Conspiracies and Communication Failure

As I write this today, I am wearing a yellow shirt.  It is, after all, Yellow Shirt Day for me, something a group of us co-created with a colleague who was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the media is rich with various forms of documentaries including the obligatory set of suggestions of conspiracy.  Apparently people “in the know” know for certain, without releasing their secret sources, that 9/11 occurred because of government conspiracies, aliens, an angry God (or gods for someone), etc.  One guy in a documentary on CBC in Canada said that he believed that WTC 7 was constructed in the 1980’s with the demolition charges already installed in preparation for such an event.

There is no limit to how deep they will dig to find something that resonates with their misfiring mind.

There is, however, ONE thing that does bother me about 9/11.

In 1993, after the bombing of the World Trade Center, I was talking to my former father-in-law (now deceased) about the security threats facing the United States.  As a USAF colonel and former staffer at the Strategic Air Command (before it was folded into another entity), I felt he might have some insight.

He indicated that one of the US military’s greatest concerns at that time was the use of commercial aircraft against buildings and significant landmarks on US soil.  It was a concern, he said, because it was difficult to prevent and would be incredibly disruptive to the American psyche (creating fear that terrorists wish to induce).  There was also a great concern amongst military planners that should the need to shoot down an American commercial aircraft arise, would a USAF pilot be able to do it without hesitation and if he/she did it, what would the ramifications be that an American pilot was forced to kill Americans to protect other Americans?

Eight years later, the US was rocked by 9/11 and a number of us lost treasured friends, family members and colleagues.  President Bush, Vice President Cheney and others claimed we were caught by surprise – that no one could have predicted an attack in this fashion.

And yet I was told eight years prior that this was one of the greatest concerns of the US military and that they were trying to come up with mitigation strategies to prevent it or minimize its impact.

Now ten years later, former leaders are still saying that this attack and the techniques used caught everyone by surprise.

I don’t buy it.  If a civilian (and a non US citizen at that) was told by a senior military officer in 1993 that defending against such an attack was one of the highest priorities of the US military in 1993, then many people knew this was coming.

Maybe the leaders who claim they didn’t know truly didn’t know.  I leave that to conspiracy theorists to toss back and forth.

The fact that some people possibly didn’t know reflects how poorly our communications get when we have too complex a network to communicate across.  Too many people with too many opinions and too many conflicting agendas create too much noise and when this noise is created, important information doesn’t get communicated to the people who need it.  I see this level of confusion in many large organizations that I have helped over the years.  In their desire to over-communicate, they have instead over-inundated and failure of some type becomes inevitable.

Sometimes, such poor communication creates an inconvenience.

Sometimes it may create catastrophic business unit results or total organization failure.

However, there are times it has the potential to produce fatal results.

Such as the day when my friends Narender Nath, Eric Bennett, Stephen Fiorelli and 12 others were 15 of the thousands killed on the morning of 9/11.

I’m not a conspiracy guy.  But if a lowly civilian knew about the probability of these attacks in 1993, then I have to look at the poor communications and the billions spent on intel-gathering leading up to 9/11 as a huge failure in the intelligence community.

That’s not a charge of conspiracy.

It’s one of incompetence.

There is a huge difference.

Thomas Jefferson said it best LONG before 9/11.

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS For an excellent analysis debunking traditional 9/11/ conspiracy myths, please go here.