Entrepreneurial Whistleblowing

Subtitle: A tale of two gentlemen

First lets think about entrepreneurism. Some examples:

* A small CD-ROM publishing company comes up with a nifty idea for putting medical journals on CD-ROM for doctors. Since, as the founder explained to me, in Saudi Arabia back in the 80's you could just not get current medical information. There was a time, Little Theorem, before the internet, nope, no google either. CD-ROMs were massive! 650Meg of data! So this was nifty but along came the internet and the web and well, you can tell the rest. That company was swallowed (drat missed my opportunity for some stock gains, will never ever make that mistake again, if I can help it).

* A trio (do startups always require a trio? I used to think so - the perfect triefecta of general manager/CEO, finance & sales guy, and technical genius). They escaped from the big corporate world of ATT to found their own tiny software company. Yes in fact we sold compilers under the Micrsoft label, once upon a time. I even saw Bill Gates walk across a crowded floor one time at one of those private high tech parties around Comdex (which used to be a big technical conference), and even heard he was a good dancer. This was before Melinda. Well I never did get to dance with him. Alas, that company was also swallowed, by a very-large-customer-headquartered-in-Cary-NC who still exists too!

So entrepreurial companies - people with vision, passion, and a desire to break with the big bad corporate world. No meetings allowed! Popsicles for everyone! Ping pong or may be laser tag on occasion! OK you get the picture: not held back from tradition, and in fact too impatient to wait on tradition. The desire to make-things-happen-right-now.

So lets see how entrepreneurialism can apply to whistleblowing, and the two gentlemen so subtitled: Mr. Drake and Mr. Manning.
One gentleman, Mr. Drake, took the prescribed route, reporting what he saw as un-lawful things (spying on people without getting official warrants) going on at the NSA through appropriate channels. The chain of command, congressional inquiry hearings. Years go by. Inaction results.

One gentleman, Mr. Manning, took the entrepreneurial road. Contacting Wikileaks about what he saw in Iraq as an Army Private First Class, as the un-lawful abuses of war. Prisoner abuse, with Americans complicit. Innocent civilians killed outright.

Both may serve jail time. One got his message across, and Wikileaks now has published over 300,000 documents which detail field reports on the abuses of war in Iraq. The other got lost in the bureaucracy (and eventually got his message across).

It is interesting that existing whistleblower laws, which aim to protect federal employees who report abuses within their federal systems from retaliation, exempt people in intelligence agencies. There is (was?) pending federal legislation to enhance whistleblower protection to cover intelligence employees as well. Write your congressperson about that, assuming they recover from lame duck November without being cooked or boiled..

The Horrors of War

War is horrible. It is meant to be.
Somehow we are not made aware of this, but we should think about it every day. Does it take close to 400,000 field reports to be released by Wikileaks to make it real and up close?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/world/iraq-war-logs.html

The New York Times is one of the newspapers Wikileaks gave these field reports from Iraq to (also German, British, and French newspapers).

Read them and think about - attacks on the Green Zone (the safe place for U.S. inside Bagdad), human rights abuses by Iraqi police as U.S. military watched on. Iraqis fighting Iraqis as we watched on. Prisoner abuses, attacks by contractors.

I have never been inside a war, and didn't even watch the Vietnam War on TV like many people did. Which exposed them to horrors. I didn't have anyone I know drafted, but I've known people who have come back from Vietnam and other wars, and never quite felt right about life after that.

If it takes Julian Assange hiding from couch to couch around the world to avoid being shut down. If it takes him as the trusted outlet for field reports to be released. If it takes this kind of operation to expose what is really happening in Iraq to the American public, to the European public, and to the world.. Well thank you Mr Assange.

We all, especially us U.S. citizens, need to see this. We need to be outraged. We need to have our eyes opened. We all need to express our outrage.

Intel Inside (tm)

Announcement to the world today - Intel will be building a new fab, right here in Hillsboro. What was I babbling about yesterday - how the economy needs people with bonuses to spend, this will spur the economy.

Our prayers are answered. As Jean-Luc Picard would say in his definitive way, "make it so."

A $6-8 Billion dollar investment, 6,000 construction jobs, and 800 long-term manufacturing jobs. That would be $2,000 for every man, woman, and child living in Oregon. And for every Intelite, both blue badge and green badge, lets have shiny new laptops for each member of their family. So they can tape their favorite fortunes from Chinese restaurants until the tape gets so old it is glued to the case.

Thank you Intel.

Not Your Mother's Park Blocks

Back in the day, when I was a technical dweeb, there was Powell's Technical Bookstore. There was the resident cat "Fup", who had his own (her own?) business cards. A spiral staircase that went... up, someplace.

The dusty stacks, the only place in Portland to find technical books. It is gone from the Park Blocks, moved over towards "regular" Powell's. Have not been there, yet.

But the North Park blocks, that used to seem somewhat seedy. Then the Sister City gift from China arrived, for kids to check out in the park. The play structure. Alas, Daisy Kingdom moved out. So too the sheet music store.

Now, there are trendy urban spaces along the west side of the blocks. Large barely furniture-populated urban spaces. Very well lit. No people, but warnings of security cameras.

But, true to history, there is still something seedy about these blocks. Still homeless people in the park. So look like you know where you're going. Still people who are no longer institutionalized talking and swearing and making strange gestures. Ignore them.

I wonder what will move into the old Powell's Tech store. Alas, the few software types I run into of late have turned to (chose one): {telecommuting, home remodeling, teaching high school math}. Yes, there really was a time when you could drive into a new parking lot and find yourself a new job. There really was a time when you could count on those bonuses to upgrade your standard of living.

A new couch this year! A new TV next year! A new car! Hey, now I realize what is wrong with the economy. Do I get bonuses? No, which severely limits my ability to contribute to the economy.

This morning I recommended performance bonuses if technical projects hit their projected budget. Hmm, maybe this can help the economy after all.

Lowell Mill Girl

Back in Lowell, Mass, the first planned industrial city, they recruited farm girls to work in the textile mills.

To encourage the girls to stay out of trouble (not sure what trouble lurked in Lowell back in the early 1800's) and to give them opportunities to improve their mind and their character, they offered lectures that the girls could attend in their non-work hours.

Keeping up this tradition, the Oregon State Library offers lectures at the noon hour to those who happen to be around the capitol mall during the day. Which ends up being a lot of state employees. Today the Oregon Humanities offered us a "conversation" (their new style, instead of calling it a lecture as in the old days) about the Initiative Process in Oregon.

Factoids from today:
* Oregon ranks #1 in the number of initiatives over time (since 1904). Thanks Bill Sizemore!
* A book written in 1912 called out the good and the bad about initiatives, most of which is still relevant today: On the positive side, it allows citizens to influence our legal system, and provides for "direct democracy". On the negative side, it can allow a minority to influence and change the state constitution, can allow buying and selling of names and issues
* One-third of the initiatives have passed, cumulatively (so, 2/3 get defeated)
* Voter turnout is 3-8% higher in the 24 states that have an initiative system
* Womens suffrage - due to the initiative process (1912, a banner year)
* New this year - a Citizens Review panel (look for their comments in a Voters' Pamphlet near you)
* Oregon has the most open of any state initiative process. In other states crafty lawyers have to vet and review them. We allow an open process by the citizenry. Just like the western pioneering state we still think we are sometimes..

The process itself is interesting. The "ballot title" (what it is listed as in the Voters' Pamphlet and on your ballot) is written by the Attorney General. The Secretary of State is responsible for validity of signatures collected (by random sample, they don't check every name, and they work with the county elections offices). Interesting that both these positions are elected partisan positions. (Is this fair?)

Some initiatives of note:
Measure 60 (1998) - vote by mail
Measure in 1914 sponsored by the Socialist Party - would have guaranteed a job to anyone who wanted one. An actual third party got an initiative on the ballot!

I can hear TV Highway from my front porch

Today on c-span I learned some new phrases, and no it was not foreign language instruction (not Russian, for instance, and no I cannot see Russia or even Washington from my porch). Things like "D-Triple-C", or "NRCC", or "Mississippi 4", or "knock her out".

For a moment I might have thought it was ESPN, but why would that be one of my presets? Unless my husband had surreptitiously stolen into my car, now that it is nice and clean and not disgusting, amazing that Windex can clean absolutely any plastic surface! Even the champagne that was not supposed to open when placed in a bag in the back seat, or the multitudes of snack crackers that had fallen next to the seats, or the melted candy canes (who would know that a satellite radio receiver would generate heat?!)

Oh! It is campaign season, and they had the national executive directors from each of the 2 primary parties (Dem, Republican, not anyone from the national Progressive party, if there is such a thing, actually they should be international lets not stop with petty country politics).

How is campaigning like sports? I was starting to space out. Sort of like basketball - watching it live is fun, but on satellite radio, not so much. Do politics have more of an impact on my life than sports? Hmm. It depends on where you live.

In Oregon there is not much in the way of sports to chose from (marching band doesn't count anymore, sorry Em). No afternoon watching the Cubs with a good friend and a brewskie at Wrigley Park. Defining your identity as a north-sider (Cubs fan) or south-sider (Sox fan). Not to mention da Bears, Blackhawks, and of course the Bulls.

Maybe politics are more interesting in Oregon cause there are precious few other sporting teams to route for.

Sigh, we need major league soccer. The Timbers will be ours come 2011! I read on a sister blog that they already have a shirt sponsor (Alaska Airlines), which only half the major league soccer teams have. This will propel them to winning-hood for sure! Rah! Time to be a soccer fan (next year, for this year, there is still politics).

Remember Puzzle Rings?

I am, today, a victim of fashion (or, lack thereof).

It is October in Oregon, it is raining, and it is time to wear boots. Every year I buy a new pair of boots, well mostly since the pair from last year is literally worn out, leaking, shabby. Cause I wear them every single day, lacking any originality, they must suffice for 180 days till the start of spring, which I will call March 1. The day the blanket comes down off our attic (also known as bedroom) windows, the day the space heater can be retired. Oh to have a bedroom with heat, and without drafts - sigh, some day..

I secretly (not so secretly, I just like that word of late) bought a copy of Lucky magazine. Just like old times. From this I have learned that there are spas now in places like Chicago, where you can, for $100, get yourself pampered in a spacious establishment with bright hardwood floors, cushy couches, even a wine bar. Along the gold coast in Chicago.

My one experience along the gold coast in Chicago, was when we trekked there from Evanston, college kids that we were, to see a movie. OK lacking money for popcorn or pop, we brought out own. Even our own pop, that was fun. Even our own ice. So before the movie we got out our plastic cups, put a couple ice cubes into each one, and opened the liter of coke (hiss!), pouring our own. And some snacks (well that will be a perennial tradition - bringing my own snacks, as in for-ever). Not exactly up to gold coast standards but hey.

What else I noticed in Lucky magazine, the magazine dedicated to shopping! Which you can do, even if you don't have daughters at home (you can read it, but can't afford to shop, really). I noticed the new Nine West look, "vintage", but what they mean is a distressed western look. Yuck, who would want that? Do I want to look like I live in Eastern Oregon? Why would I want that? I'm not trying to run as a Republican candidate or anything (though I may vote for one for governor, which has some people I know up-in-arms, and others happy, so I guess its a no win no matter what. Alas there is no Progressive party candidate, which would piss absolutely everyone off, then they would all just let me be).

So what do I find at the mall in terms of boots. The tall (long tall lady in a black dress) type, can't wear those - my calves are too fat (muscular, as I would like to say, from those bike rides up Rolling Hill Drive back when I was in high school - isn't it possible this muscle has stayed with me all these years??) The other choices were either the distressed western look, or the biker gal look with chains. Oh and the (you know what me now) boots with spikey heals. Nope, not looking for that type of look at work either.

I did succomb to the distressed western look, if only cause it will save me buying yet another pair of boots that will wear out in exactly 180 days, or less. I told my husband last time I paid $99 for boots (and, they were Nine West too, cosmic!) I had left them in my car. My car was broken into, the boots stolen. Since then (that was 23 years ago, which is also cosmic as it is my favorite number, and no this has nothing to do with Michael Jordan, that is merely coincidence). Since then its been cheap boots all the way.

But the real benefit of these boots is their weird lace up styling. The laces go up, then they wrap around, them come back in front to tie. So, since I tend to whine about not having "spatial reasoning" or "mechanical ability", I figured if nothing else these boots would give me, on a daily basis, a spatial/mechanical exercise to strengthen these skills. And I promise I will not leave them in an unattended car next to a vacant lot in a marginal section of Chicago.

Puzzle rings promised mechanical (or was it puzzle solving?) ability back in the day. The Indian shop in Morristown sold puzzle rings. You could wear them, if you took them off the 4 rings would come apart, and you couldn't wear them again unless you solved the puzzle and learned how to re-assemble them.

Executive Order alert: no more snack food!

Should all state taxpayers pay for me to exercise my first amendment rights to eat cheetos on the way home?

Our governor, in his wisdom, has issued an Executive Order to ban unhealthy snack food from vending machines. Oh and also hamburgers, fries, and other unhealthy foods from the delis sequestered in state buildings around the state.

This has resulted in alarm and discontent among the vendors (the delis are run by the State association for the blind) who say they will lose money if state employees have to eat healthy and miss out on their favorite comfort food.

Have you tried working a state job without some comfort food? My favorite is soup in the morning. Which, come to think of it, is probably not on the banned list.

But my little secret, web friends, is to safely drive home requires me to consume an entire bag of crunchy snacks on the way home. Do you want me to fall asleep? No, so crunching something is a requirement, and sorry I just cannot get it together to neatly cut up healthy and low calorie celery in the morning, not at 5am.

Is this how our Gov is spending his waning days? Should he be thinking about world peace or something? Ok how about bipartisan peace? How about actually talking to the Legislature, well I guess its too late for that. How about coming around to talk with state employees? That would be novel. I've seen him a time or two, surrounded by an entourage. Never in my building though, only over by the capitol.

If you follow the thread of high calorie junk food to people who gain extra pounds, and not all of us work on road crews, some of us sit and stare at spreadsheets to earn tuition dollars for our offspring. If you follow the health hazards of being overweight, maybe this is his parting gift to reduce health care expenses and hence the state budget.

Grain of the Day: Rice

Why am I thinking about rice today? Cause I love rice. Cause 50% of the planet lives on rice. Cause rice is a staple.

Today, cosmically, I heard on BBC that we (the US of A) are a significant exporter of rice. Well, must be those rice paddies in the "Cadillac desert" of California. Didn't see any, but they are probably further south (with that nice, overallocated Colorado River water perhaps?).

Rice producers receive major subsidies. The statistic on BBC was that our federal government (our tax dollars) spends more subsidizing rice producers than we send to Haiti in foreign aid.

Why is this important? Haiti *used* to be able to produce its own rice crop. To feed its people. Then, in part due to US subsidies to make rice cheap ("cheap food to feed the world" may have been a good intention..) this no longer allowed Haiti to produce a profitable crop. It was cheaper to just buy it from the US.

However, the price, as agricultural prices do, fluctuated, got higher. No longer very affordable. Meanwhile, the land and techniques for growing rice had already been lost in Haiti.

Food is a national security issue.
I also heard today (possibly from a political candidate, since it is, after all, the season) how manufacturing was a national security issue. Indeed. If we do have to go to war, are we going to import tanks from China? I believe military equipment, including uniforms, boots, etc. - are required to be manufactured in the US. But it is also important to maintain a manufacturing base, so we have enough people, understanding, processes, etc. to be able to spin up a war machine if we need to (and, if peace fails).

I am not planning to grow rice in the backyard. Maybe some other grain, that would be fun. Honey, now that we are staying here - lets grow golden fields of grain on the side yard, and water them with our well! That would be fun (really!)

Meanwhile, write your congress person and tell them to stop subsidizing rice production in this country. As I've said 10 times daily, we live in a global world. Lets act like it.

Number of the day: 22
The one time I was in the World Trade Center, I was 22 years old. I visited the 22nd floor. Those days are gone, but something reminded me of that riding an elevator today...

It really Is all about New Jersey

A tragedy occurred in New Jersey. Good things happen there too, but this is not one of them.

Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi, harassed by his roommate and another person. It is very easy to webcam someone, very easy to post it to YouTube. But does anyone think about the consequences? Will they now?

Tyler's roommate thought it would be "fun", I guess, to video his roommate doing it with another guy. I know college kids do weird and unusual things to each other, I know that they don't always think through the consequences. But when it leads to someone taking their own life, it is time for everyone to literally stop dead in their tracks and pause.

Tyler committed suicide, leaving even a text behind that he would be jumping off the George Washington bridge, and apologized.

I don't know his reasons. Maybe he was humiliated to be "outed". I'm sure embedded gay/lesbian constituencies will seek out this as the reason. Maybe it was that his intimate life was no one's business. I'm sure the embedded privacy community will attest to that and seek this out as the reason. Maybe he felt the public exposure would not allow him to show his face again on the New Brunswick campus, with his family, with his friends, with his teachers. Ouch, anyone can latch onto that as the reason.

All of these are good reasons. I just hope that, despite the embedded constituencies that will try to claim him, and use this to their political advantage, that every college student everywhere stops to think. What harm will happen if I post this on YouTube. Cute cats are fun to watch, so too unicorns that say outrageous things. Maybe that is harmless, though it does seem to suck a lot of time away (wasted? enjoyed? you decide).

But to publicly humiliate someone, to the point of suicide, that is not ok. Should the two perpetrators be prosecuted to the full extent of the law? Put in prison for 5 years to set an example for the world?

Not sure. The brave new online world continues to evolve, and continues to have consequences. We can't use that as an excuse. As with everything, "people before things". Just cause its fun or cool doesn't mean there aren't people underneath all that cool instant technology. Stop to think about people. Stop and say a silent prayer for Tyler.