Both Sides of the Fence
A Tosa resident since 1991, Christine walks the dog, cooks but avoids housework, writes and reads, and enjoys the company of friends and strangers. Her job takes her around the state, learning about people's health. A Quaker (no, they don't wear blue hats or sell oatmeal or motor oil), she has been known to stand on both sides of the political and philosophic fence at the same time, which is very uncomfortable when you think about it. She writes about pretty much whatever stops in to visit her busy mind at the moment. One reader described her as "incredibly opinionated but not judgmental." That sounds like a good thing to strive for!
Say WHO? Said WHAT?
The email from a dog park friend starts like this:
One of Bob Oster's CEO friends wrote this. Bob respects him highly. . .
I have no idea who Bob Oster is. But with the title "My 6 month evaluation of the Obama presidency," I know what to expect. It's a scary negative performance review, with a long list of failures, disapointments, and worse.
I'll only share one:
21. Failing to support the freedom-loving citizens in Honduras and Iran (and instead, giving comfort to their dictators) to say nothing of his ineffectiveness with North Korea and anti-Israeli pronouncements.
If anything makes me crazy, it's written information people circulate without attributing the writer. It took about 30 seconds to find the name of this "anonymous" author: Jimmy V. Adams.
Adams is a principal in L3 Communications. If you didn't know he was a retired 4-star general, you might think that's a public relations firm. Knowing that, you're not surprised to find out that it's a defense contractor, supplying command, control, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Not just any contractor: with 66,000 employees, it's the 6th largest defense contractor in the US, with revenues in the range of $15 billion last year.
As the company's annual report states, rather dryly, "The defense industry has been a steady performer through all economic climates." Like any publicly traded company, its goal is growth. I don't much like to think about what steady growth in the defense industry means, but there you go.
Anyway, I'd never heard of L3 Communications. Though I have heard of Lehman Brothers, the third L in the name, and some of the companies L3 has swallowed whole or in part: Lockheed, Martin Marietta, Titan, and a chunk of Raytheon. Having a name that's not especially memorable helps when you get sued for letting your employees abuse prisoners at Abu Gharaib. Nobody makes the connection.
When you start peeling these onions, one layer leads to the next. I could go on and on and on. But this time I'll spare you.
The point is, check the source of your information. What somebody's smart friend thinks might be a little colored by his circumstances. You may agree with Jimmy V, but you should know who he is and why he might be saying what he's saying.
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