Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/myles-spicer/page/4/)
OK, it has now been 10 years that we have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why? It makes no sense at all. It is, frankly, nuts. What am I missing? What goal. What strategy. Continue Reading
I’m not really given to sentimental moments, but an event about two years ago brought me to tears. No, it was not what you might expect: a death or tragedy in the family, or some sort of cataclysmic personal misfortune. It was something far simpler, and actually even mundane. We have a son who was living in Duluth, and we went to visit him from our home in Minnetonka. The route carries us up I-35. When I was young, say 10 or 11, I went to Camp Miller for several summers, the Duluth YMCA camp. The camp is located in Sturgeon Lake, just a short hop from the freeway. Continue Reading
In her recent trek into Iowa to explore her possibilities for a presidential run in 2012, and later as a responder to President Obama’s State of the Union message, Michele Bachmann reaffirmed two of her most consistent positions. The first was: “that our nation is under a threat as never before”. And the second: “we must take back our country”. On both scores, I agree. Only problem is, we have a 180 degree difference on what this means…and how to do it. I too want to “take my country back”. And, I too firmly believe our country is under a threat as never before. Let us count the ways (at least some of them). Continue Reading
I admit I get somewhat frustrated when I see these innocuous little bumper stickers: “Support our Troops”. It’s not that I am anti-military (actually I am an honorably discharged veteran myself, Capt, USAF) – the point is that the raging war in Afghanistan, and the Iraqi action (which is now mostly in our rear view mirror) are hardly “wars” at all to most Americans. So, putting on a bumper sticker is just about the most involvement most of us have on these tragic, expensive, and possibly specious ventures. And that has a number of downsides worth discussing. Deficits First among these are the horrendous deficits created by these two wars since 2003, now estimated to be well over $1 Trillion, and continuing at a rate of about $140 Billion annually going forward. Of the $1 Trillion, about ¾ has been expended in Iraq, and a quarter in Afghanistan, but war funding for fiscal 2010, included $72.3 billion for Afghanistan and $64.5 billion for Iraq, making this the first year that Afghanistan was more expensive, the National Priorities Project said. This does not include a one time added $33 Billion for Obama’s “surge”, for adding 30,000 more troops to the 68,000 already there. Altogether, the war(s) are costing about $135 Billion annually, making a huge impact on our already weakened revenues…crowding out other essential funding… Continue Reading
So much has already been written, vetted, and discussed about the Giffords tragedy, that there would appear to be little else to add. But there is one thing that can use some clarity. That is the perverse and transparent attempt on the part of conservatives to somehow blame liberals and the Democrats for the events that happened in Tucson. They have done this before, but this time they could not and should not be allowed to get away with such a bizarre conclusion. The day after the shooting, Rush Limbaugh stated that the Democrats were using the event “to further their agenda”. John Kyl, Arizona Senator, blasted Pima County Sheriff Dupnik for “inappropriate comments” even though they were relevant to the situation (Dupnik is a Democrat). And most blatant of all was conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg who synthesized the conservative strategy with a column in the LA Times headed The exploitive rhetoric of tragedy. Continue Reading
Objections to the Obama tax compromise has been thoroughly vetted, chewed, and debated by my liberal colleagues, and adding to that dialogue offers nothing new or of special value, so I will not reprise it here.
Recently on TV there was a rerun of a popular movie produced in 2000: What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. Very briefly, Gibson has “shocking” experience (literally) and is able to get into the “heads” of women and read their thoughts. Not a great movie, but high grossing and of interest to me because it involved an advertising agency – my core profession for over 40 years. It also coincided with the continuing claims by many members of Congress about what needs to be done to assist small business, who will be the drivers of our economy to get us out of this funk. Frankly their comments are inane, fictional, silly and inept. Why? Because virtually none of them really know the dynamics of small business challenges, and consequently do not or can not get “into the heads” of true small business people. Frankly, their statements are politically based, and have little to do with reality or an intelligent analytical basis of small business needs. The current Senate (where most of the nonsense resides) is made up of about 60% lawyers. Only 9% (9 Senators) list their former occupation as “businessmen” and of those 9, several are suspect, and several others had experiences in businesses that would not be described as “small”. Of the suspect ones, Jim DeMint (R. Continue Reading
What a grand idea. There are just two problems: take it back from whom; and give to whom? It is astounding that after all the shouting, sloganeering, cajoling, speeches, and Tea Partying…no one seems to have asked these questions. And if they did, what would be the answers? Starting with taking it back from whom – presumably they mean President Obama. But, he was duly elected, by a majority of Americans, and they have no right to demand that this government be given to them. The government already is in the hands of the people. It already “belongs” to the people Constitutionally, democratically, and in exactly the proper electoral way these same folks want America to be run and governed. So if the government is to be “taken back”, then to whom? Continue Reading
You’ve heard it over and over again: “if only government would get out of the way, and let the private sector operate as is should all would be right with the American economy”. The recession could be ended; folks would be back to work; and our nation would once again prosper. A nice thought…but patently untrue! Indeed, it has been the private sector (not government) which has brought us to this fiscal malaise, if not crisis; and it is the private sector which is not helping us out of it, especially with job creation. First, a brief disclaimer. If you think this is some left wing rant from an anti-captialist ideologue, you would be dead wrong. I have spent over 50 years of my professional life as owner of several of my own businesses. I understand Capitalism, flawed as it might be, is the best system we have. I am entrepreneurial to the core. I have put my own money at risk numerous times to develop and build businesses. But it is my interest in seeing this economic system work that brings me to this conclusion. The private sector has brought down our economy, and it must be called out on this failure – especially if we are to make things better going forward. Continue Reading
In the Sept 27th Star Trib Sports pages, Phil Miller notes that Gopher football coach Tim Brewster is “in a survival mode”. Miller has the right idea – just the wrong person. All Brewster has done is taken the largess offered him by a flawed and failing Minnesota Athletic Department. He’s probably the smartest one of all involved, in this sad tale. A number of years ago, a friend and I were discussing a mutual acquaintance who had inherited a highly successful insurance company founded by the man’s father. My friend had worked for this man in a management role, and was not complimentary in his description of the son’s ability and acumen. “What he did”, my friend stated, “was to manage to turn a gold mine into a silver mine”. A perfect description of the state of University of Minnesota Athletic Department today. As a third generation Minnesotan, and loyal alum (Class of 1954), I am old enough and nostalgic enough to recall the magnificent football teams of the past – the glory years of the 20’s (Bronko Nagurski), 30’s (Pug Lund et al), and championship team of 1941 (with the great Bruce Smith). So the tarnish on the “gold” of the Gophers has caused much dismay, and some considerable ire at the way athletics are now run at our tradition-blessed university. In short, the current athletic programs at the “U” have underachieved, been overpaid, and have disappointed in a variety of other ways. In terms of achievement, few U of M athletic teams in any major sport has won any titles in the Big Ten in years. Continue Reading