Sunday, October 22, 2006
Roch Smith Jr. Steps Up
Roch Smith Jr., founder and administrator of Greensboro101, has issued a public statement about the posting of the RMA report at GSO101 and the resulting fall out with his editorial board. In his statement, Roch thanks the departed board members for their contributions and apologizes for mistakes surrounding the posting.
Four board members resigned during a meeting last Monday evening. All four took issue with allowing the RMA report to be posted at GSO101 without discussion and consultation with the board. Each has posted about his/her resignation at his/her blog.
I am a member of that board, but I reserved judgment about resigning or staying on the board. As it turned out, I was the only board member other than Roch at the meeting who did not resign (Joe Guarino could not make it to the meeting and has not resigned, as far as I know).
I will post more about my reasons for staying on the board later.
Four board members resigned during a meeting last Monday evening. All four took issue with allowing the RMA report to be posted at GSO101 without discussion and consultation with the board. Each has posted about his/her resignation at his/her blog.
I am a member of that board, but I reserved judgment about resigning or staying on the board. As it turned out, I was the only board member other than Roch at the meeting who did not resign (Joe Guarino could not make it to the meeting and has not resigned, as far as I know).
I will post more about my reasons for staying on the board later.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Strange Liquidation
I attended the auction of my maternal grandparents' home and possessions this morning.
As I walked past piles of auction items in their yard, it was like a warped version of This Is Your Life. I saw Christmas ornaments from my childhood, dinner plates that served so many holiday and birthday meals, and a 30-year old Monopoly game.
My grandfather was the sole provider as a Methodist minister during an era when ministers were paid very low wages. With their poverty line pay and Depression era childhoods, my grandmother lived her entire life in fear of financial ruin. As a result, she threw away nothing. And I mean nothing.
My family spent several hundred hours cleaning out their house. I actually found bags of yarn with receipts that placed their age at just shy of 50 years. Even so, all the auction items found a new home by mid-afternoon.
Watching strangers pick through my grandparent's possessions was strange and surreal. I'm glad it's over.
As I walked past piles of auction items in their yard, it was like a warped version of This Is Your Life. I saw Christmas ornaments from my childhood, dinner plates that served so many holiday and birthday meals, and a 30-year old Monopoly game.
My grandfather was the sole provider as a Methodist minister during an era when ministers were paid very low wages. With their poverty line pay and Depression era childhoods, my grandmother lived her entire life in fear of financial ruin. As a result, she threw away nothing. And I mean nothing.
My family spent several hundred hours cleaning out their house. I actually found bags of yarn with receipts that placed their age at just shy of 50 years. Even so, all the auction items found a new home by mid-afternoon.
Watching strangers pick through my grandparent's possessions was strange and surreal. I'm glad it's over.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Rumsfeld The Great...Or Not
“Get it right this time.” - Dick Cheney to Donald Rumsfeld immediately after the Defense Secretary was sworn in.
Whoops!
A Newsweek excerpt from Bob Woodward's upcoming State of Denial provides a fascinating view of the fatal mix of arrogance, incompetence, and insolence so characteristic of Don Rumsfeld.
'“I’m the secretary of defense,” Rumsfeld insisted repeatedly in his first months in 2001. “I’m in the chain of command.” He—not the generals, not the Joint Chiefs of Staff—would deal with the White House and the president on operational matters. Rumsfeld micromanaged daily Pentagon life and rode roughshod over people. In one public confrontation at a hearing with Senator Susan Collins, the earnest Maine Republican, Rumsfeld had put her down in a manner that was stunning even for him.'
(Nod to Charles Eakes for this excerpt)
Whoops!
A Newsweek excerpt from Bob Woodward's upcoming State of Denial provides a fascinating view of the fatal mix of arrogance, incompetence, and insolence so characteristic of Don Rumsfeld.
'“I’m the secretary of defense,” Rumsfeld insisted repeatedly in his first months in 2001. “I’m in the chain of command.” He—not the generals, not the Joint Chiefs of Staff—would deal with the White House and the president on operational matters. Rumsfeld micromanaged daily Pentagon life and rode roughshod over people. In one public confrontation at a hearing with Senator Susan Collins, the earnest Maine Republican, Rumsfeld had put her down in a manner that was stunning even for him.'
(Nod to Charles Eakes for this excerpt)
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