Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Giant crocodile photo surfaces
A snapshot of tourists next to an animal estimated at 17 feet long seems incredible.
Also: 
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:Today your imagination, dreams and fantasies will provide other people with entertainment.
After you perform for these folks, you should reach out to them for advice.
You've been in a thick fog about how you feel about someone else, and a conversation with a close mutual friend will bring some clarity.
Plus, you are likely to pick up on facts that you didn't quite pick up on before.
You'll know what to say to the source of confusion by the end of the day.
Some of our readers today have been in:
London, England, United Kingdom
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
London, Ontario, Canada
Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Dorking, England, United Kingdom
Cork, Cork, Ireland
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
London, Ontario, Canada
Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Dorking, England, United Kingdom
Cork, Cork, Ireland
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Amstrdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Berne, Bern, Switzerland
as well as Slovakia, Malta, Bulgaria, Israel, Finland, Austria, Norway, Georgia, Mexico, Peru, Kuwait, Serbia, Bangladesh, Latvia, Greece, Scotland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Wales, Iran, Singapore, Poland, Taiwan, Sweden, Afghanistan, Belgium, Tibet, Croatia, Pakistan, Romania, Paraguay, Sudan, Vietnam, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Maldives, Qatar, Brazil, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, China, Iraq, Ecuador, Nigeria, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Paupa New Guinea, Moldova, Venezuela, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Norway, Finland
and in cities across the United States such as Athens, Utica, Sparta, Lake Forest and more.
and in cities across the United States such as Athens, Utica, Sparta, Lake Forest and more.
Today is:
Today is Tuesday, July 12, the 193rd day of 2011.
There are 172 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:
There isn't one.
Don't forget to visit our sister blog!
Sikhs battle against bias
A recent shooting of two elderly Sikhs fuels existing concerns about hate crimes.
Also: Tug-of-war over Jewish trove
Iraqi officials accuse the U.S. of delaying the return of a valuable collection of books and photos.
Also: Four men sentenced to 240 years in Juarez massacre
Mexican judges have sentenced four men to 240 years in prison each for killing 15 people in a birthday party attack that provoked a national outcry.
He's baaaaaaaaack!
(and the wingnuts are shitting bricks!)
I’m in. I’m running for congress.
I’m running because I promised Charlaina and Rick that I would. Charlaina called me a few weeks ago, from the hospital. she told me that her husband, Rick, was suffering from multiple organ failure – lungs, kidneys and liver.
Rick was 56 years old. that’s three years older than me.
Rick was a veteran. but the veterans administration wasn’t covering his hospital bills.
Rick had had a bad liver since he was 30, when he contracted hepatitis. No insurance company would go near him.
Every day Rick survived, his family owed several thousand dollars more to hospitals and doctors. And they had no way to pay it.
I told Charlaina how sorry I was. And I told her that I wasn’t in congress anymore, so I wasn’t sure how I could help.
She said: “You can run again.”
“You are the only person who ever cared about people like us. Rick wants people in congress who can’t be bought and sold. Rick wants you to run again.”
A dying man wants me to run for congress. What exactly could I say?
I promised that I would run.
Rick died on June 30, 2011, at 5:55 p.m.
I’m keeping my promise. I’m in.
***
Now, when we have more people with cajones like Mr. Grayson in congress we will get what needs to be done, done!
I welcome their hatred ...
FDR spoke these words in 1936 and they were true then and they are never more true than they are today!
Lawmaker aims gun at reporter
A reporter says Lori Klein aimed a loaded, raspberry-pink handgun at his chest during an interview.
Also: 
Multiple Murdoch news entities broke the law - it’s fair to ask whether Faux News was involved as well
You bet your sweet bippy they were involved!
We now know that it wasn't just News of the World, but three of Rupert Murdoch's "news" organizations that allegedly broke the law in order to gather information on the British Prime Minister, the Queen, 9/11 victims, and more. Since this problem was not just isolated to one paper, but rather to the Murdoch empire, it's fair to ask whether other properties in the Murdoch media empire also were in any way involved with this alleged behavior. Did anyone at Faux News, for instance, know about this? Did anyone at Faux ever engage in similar behavior?
In other words, what did Faux News know and when did they know it?
An investigation by the Guardian has found that:
• Scotland Yard has discovered references to both Brown and his wife, Sarah, in paperwork seized from Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who specialized in phone hacking for the News of the World;
• Abbey National bank found evidence suggesting that a "blagger" acting for the Sunday Times on six occasions posed as Brown and gained details from his account;
• London lawyers, Allen & Overy, were tricked into handing over details from his file by a conman working for the Sunday Times;
• Details from his infant son's medical records were obtained by the Sun, who published a story about the child's serious illness.
We now know that it wasn't just News of the World, but three of Rupert Murdoch's "news" organizations that allegedly broke the law in order to gather information on the British Prime Minister, the Queen, 9/11 victims, and more. Since this problem was not just isolated to one paper, but rather to the Murdoch empire, it's fair to ask whether other properties in the Murdoch media empire also were in any way involved with this alleged behavior. Did anyone at Faux News, for instance, know about this? Did anyone at Faux ever engage in similar behavior?
In other words, what did Faux News know and when did they know it?
An investigation by the Guardian has found that:
• Scotland Yard has discovered references to both Brown and his wife, Sarah, in paperwork seized from Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who specialized in phone hacking for the News of the World;
• Abbey National bank found evidence suggesting that a "blagger" acting for the Sunday Times on six occasions posed as Brown and gained details from his account;
• London lawyers, Allen & Overy, were tricked into handing over details from his file by a conman working for the Sunday Times;
• Details from his infant son's medical records were obtained by the Sun, who published a story about the child's serious illness.
Lack of Vitamin D May Have Killed Mozart
If he had spent more time in the sun, it might have forestalled Mozart's untimely death at 35.
First double leg transplant surgery
Absolutely amazing.
Spanish surgeons on Monday carried out the world's first-ever double leg transplant, authorities in the eastern city of Valencia said.And to think such progress can occur in a so-called socialist health care country. And here I thought that such programs would destroy innovation, like the wingnuts love to squeal about at the top of their lungs. Imagine that.
The operation lasted all night and was completed on Monday morning in the city's La Fe hospital, the regional health authority said in a statement.
"It is the first time in the world that such a transplant has been carried out," it said.
It's a Blond World
A blond left her car out in a hail storm. When the storm was over, she checked her car and discovered it was covered with hundreds of small dents. Having no insurance and very little money, she went to the local garage and asked the mechanic how she might fix the problem herself.
The mechanic told her that if she blew real hard, directly into the tailpipe, most of the dents would disappear within a few minutes.
Armed with this free advice, she drove home, parked her car and proceeded to blow into the tailpipe with all her might.
Another blond just happened to be jogging by and stopped to ask what she was doing.
Gasping for air, the first blonde explained that she was blowing into the tailpipe to remove the dents.
Surveying the situation, the second blond responded, “Duuhhhhhh! That’s not going to work. You gotta roll up all your windows first.”
The mechanic told her that if she blew real hard, directly into the tailpipe, most of the dents would disappear within a few minutes.
Armed with this free advice, she drove home, parked her car and proceeded to blow into the tailpipe with all her might.
Another blond just happened to be jogging by and stopped to ask what she was doing.
Gasping for air, the first blonde explained that she was blowing into the tailpipe to remove the dents.
Surveying the situation, the second blond responded, “Duuhhhhhh! That’s not going to work. You gotta roll up all your windows first.”
U.S. muscle cars' comeback
Ford, Chevy, and Dodge once again all offer models with in-your-face styling and tons of horsepower.
Who's buying
Also: Who's buying
Town Can’t Sell Souvenirs
In South Dakota: Vendors say Sturgis trademark hurts business.
Black Hills shop owners who usually carry Sturgis motorcycle rally paraphernalia have seen a drop in business since Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Inc. trademarked such words as "Sturgis" and "Black Hills" in February.Can you trademark the name of a town? Apparently so.
But fear keeps most of them from speaking out. "Everyone is scared," one business owner said Friday, declining to give his name.
Five business owners contacted Friday by the Rapid City Journal declined to comment about the trademark issue, citing a fear that Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Inc., known as SMRi, will "go after us."
In February, SMRi obtained trademarks on several labels, including Sturgis, Black Hills, Sturgis Bike Week, Sturgis Rally & Races and Take the Ride to Sturgis.Some say the trademark was obtained fraudulently.
SMRi then sued Rushmore Photo & Gifts, a distributing firm that designs Sturgis souvenir products, for infringement on use, arguing that SMRi has exclusive rights to use the word Sturgis.
Rushmore Photo & Gifts' attorney Aaron Davis of Minneapolis said the trademark registration appears to be "based on a lie." By law, he said, names that are geographically descriptive of a place cannot be trademarked. One exception: If a trademark applicant can prove it was the exclusive user of a geographic name for five years, a trademark could be filed.That sign is probably a trademark violation.
That's never been the case in Sturgis, he said. "There is no way that anyone could legitimately swear they were the exclusive user of Sturgis for five years," he said. "How can this not be a fraudulently obtained registration?"
Chase Bank declared Florida woman dead
A central Florida woman says she's having numerous financial troubles because of a bank error that caused Chase Bank USA to declare her dead last November.
The best day to save money
You’ll find the biggest deals on groceries and gasoline on one day of the week.
Also: Benefits checks running out
Much government assistance, including jobless pay and the payroll tax cut, will go away soon.
Also: Toughest job interviews
One firm asks candidates: How many ping pong balls can fit in the overhead compartment of a 747?
Also: Who's hiring and who's not
Employment is down sharply in fields like housing, but other businesses are on a hiring tear.
Also: Next big U.S. boomtowns
See which cities are best positioned to grow and prosper in the coming decade.
Also: Success with a tasty twist
Kim Oster Holstein's pretzels with a purpose exploded into a $10 million business.
Also: Culinary DeLites
Try out a new pizza with tasty chicken strips, flavorful herbs, and crunchy corn.
Also: Should fancy restaurants ban kids?
Yes
Moms can be charged with criminal neglect for sleeping
From the "This is seriously fucked up" Department:
Taking a nap while your child is napping is not a crime!
Father's heroic act saves son
Jake McCoy can't wait for firefighters to arrive when he learns young Dylan has fallen down a well.
Also: 
Bargain-priced lighthouses
You can own an historic lighthouse for a surprisingly low price — or even get one for free.
Also: Homeowner fights get ugly
Many are shocked to learn the neighborhood groups can foreclose on their houses.
Also: 
A 400-Meter-Wide Asteroid Poses No Threat To Earth
The third near-earth asteroid of 2011 will pass between the moon and earth later this year, NASA has confirmed. The 400-meter wide asteroid, named 2005 YU55, will pass within 0.85 lunar distances of the Earth on November 8, 2011.
Scale Model of the Mississippi River Basin
What do you do when you are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and you want to learn how to control flooding? You recreate the Mississippi River to simulate floods. See the gallery of photos at the link of this amazing project constructed in the 1930’s.
In 1936, after nearly two decades of devastating floods in the Mississippi River Basin, Congress passed the Flood Control Act, which funneled over $300 million into dams and other projects that engineers hoped would prevent millions from losing their homes in the next flood. But even this dramatic injection of cash left people vulnerable to floods in Ohio. That’s when a visionary with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pitched a crazy idea: Why not create a vast, scale model of the Mississippi River, as an entire river system, and use a huge system of hydraulic pumps to simulate floods and flood prevention techniques? The result, in the mid-1940s, was one of the most incredible — and most successful — experiments in hydraulic engineering ever constructed. It was called the Mississippi River Basin Model, and you can still see its remains in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The Valley of the Moon
Valle de la Luna means Valley of the Moon, an area you’ll find near the village of Mallasa in Bolivia. The towering cliffs and the dark valleys in between them honestly resemble something you might find in a science fiction novel!
Read about this unique valley, and see more pictures at For 91 Days.
One Year of Neptune
Once Neptune was discovered, it took just seventeen days for William Lassell to find its moon Triton. None of its other 12 moons were found until the 20th century. Neptune is the fourth-largest planet in diameter and the third largest in terms of mass — 17 times that of Earth — in the solar system. It is also the farthest planet from the Sun since Pluto’s demotion in 2006.So, although Neptune is a rather inhospitable place, we wish the planet a happy birthday.
The gas giant is often lumped together with Uranus under the label “ice giants” due to the fact that they are smaller and have a higher proportion of “ices” (such as water, ammonia and methane) then Jupiter and Saturn. Its atmosphere is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium and it’s pretty chilly, with temperatures approaching -218 degrees C. It’s also pretty windy, with gusts reaching speeds of up to 1,200 miles per hour.
Tough Turtle Survived What Dinosaurs Couldn't
Alligator bites boy at Indiana park
Police say an 11-year-old North Carolina boy was bitten on the hand by an alligator at a northern Indiana amusement park after a man invited nearby children to pet the 2-foot-long reptile.
Are some dogs hypoallergenic?
Pet lovers with allergies often think picking the right type of pooch will solve the problem.
Also: Owl crashes into window leaving imprint
An owl was left in a flap after crashing into a window, leaving a near perfect print of himself on the glass. Sally Arnold returned home to Kendal, Cumbria, and found the huge imprint complete with eyes, beak and feathers on her bedroom window.
She said: "Our first concern was for the welfare of what we suspected was an owl and we opened up the window to check if it was still around. Fortunately, there was no sign of the bird and we can only assume that it had flown away probably suffering from a headache."
The silhouette was left by the bird's "powder down" - a substance protecting growing feathers. Experts from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) confirmed the bird was most likely a tawny owl because of its size and shape and the fact that they appear in gardens more regularly than others.
Val Osborne, head of the RSPB's wildlife inquiries team, said: "We don't very often see an imprint of a bird that's flown into a window that's this clear and where it's pretty obvious exactly what kind of birds it is. This would have been very uncomfortable for the bird but thankfully it looks like it survived as Mr and Mrs Arnold couldn't find it anywhere close by. Sadly, many birds aren't so lucky."
She said: "Our first concern was for the welfare of what we suspected was an owl and we opened up the window to check if it was still around. Fortunately, there was no sign of the bird and we can only assume that it had flown away probably suffering from a headache."
The silhouette was left by the bird's "powder down" - a substance protecting growing feathers. Experts from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) confirmed the bird was most likely a tawny owl because of its size and shape and the fact that they appear in gardens more regularly than others.
Val Osborne, head of the RSPB's wildlife inquiries team, said: "We don't very often see an imprint of a bird that's flown into a window that's this clear and where it's pretty obvious exactly what kind of birds it is. This would have been very uncomfortable for the bird but thankfully it looks like it survived as Mr and Mrs Arnold couldn't find it anywhere close by. Sadly, many birds aren't so lucky."
Tool Using Fish
Professional diver Scott Gardner has captured what are believed to be the first images of a wild fish using a tool. The picture above, captured in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, shows a foot-long blackspot tuskfish smashing a clam on a rock until it cracks open, so the fish can gobble up the bivalve inside.
Dolphins maintained vigil for drowned Irishman in Australia
A grieving mother has said that she drew comfort at her son’s funeral after learning that a pod of dolphins had kept a vigil on his body after his fatal accident in Australia. Shaun McBride, from Co Donegal, died in a tragic accident less than two weeks ago in Dampier, Western Australia, when scaffolding collapsed into the water beneath him.
He was buried after a funeral Mass in St Columba’s church in Burtonport. His mother, Sylvia, said the remarkably affectionate scene which rescuers witnessed had a special poignancy as her son had a huge attachment to dolphins as a young child.
He had only arrived in Western Australia six weeks before his death. Speaking ahead of the funeral, Perth-based priest Fr Joe Walsh said the family had found comfort when he told them about the dolphins’ remarkable vigil. Fr Walsh said: “We’ve learnt that a few hours after the accident when divers went to retrieve his body, they saw a big pod of dolphins swimming around him.
“And there was one dolphin that was using its nose to try to lift the body up to the surface. But it wasn’t able to do so because the body was caught up in the scaffolding.”
He was buried after a funeral Mass in St Columba’s church in Burtonport. His mother, Sylvia, said the remarkably affectionate scene which rescuers witnessed had a special poignancy as her son had a huge attachment to dolphins as a young child.
He had only arrived in Western Australia six weeks before his death. Speaking ahead of the funeral, Perth-based priest Fr Joe Walsh said the family had found comfort when he told them about the dolphins’ remarkable vigil. Fr Walsh said: “We’ve learnt that a few hours after the accident when divers went to retrieve his body, they saw a big pod of dolphins swimming around him.
“And there was one dolphin that was using its nose to try to lift the body up to the surface. But it wasn’t able to do so because the body was caught up in the scaffolding.”
Monday, July 11, 2011
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:You are very insightful right now, and your front door is a likely stop along the way for people who are looking for answers.
You'll be quite in demand today, by folks who simply want to compare notes and by folks who need major life help.
Yet the tone of your day will not be filled with hopelessness, crisis or sadness.
It will be all about connecting with other people.
There will be a lot of laughter and bonding.
Realize that life is a crazy ride.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Florence, Toscana, Italy
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Izmir, Izmir, Turkey
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Zagreb, Grad Zagreb, Croatia
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
London, England, United Kingdom
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Izmir, Izmir, Turkey
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Zagreb, Grad Zagreb, Croatia
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
London, England, United Kingdom
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
as well as Slovakia, Malta, Bulgaria, Israel, Finland, Austria, Norway, Georgia, Mexico, Peru, Kuwait, Serbia, Bangladesh, Latvia, Greece, Scotland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Wales, Iran, Singapore, Poland, Taiwan, Sweden, Afghanistan, Belgium, Tibet, Croatia, Pakistan, Romania, Paraguay, Sudan, Vietnam, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Maldives, Qatar, Brazil, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, China, Iraq, Ecuador, Nigeria, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Paupa New Guinea, Moldova, Venezuela, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Norway, Finland
and in cities across the United States such as Cambridge, Stuart, Lexington, Monroe and more.
and in cities across the United States such as Cambridge, Stuart, Lexington, Monroe and more.
Today is:
Today is Monday, July 11, the 192nd day of 2011.
There are 173 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:
International Town Criers Day.
Don't forget to visit our sister blog!
Stunning win for U.S. team
The women's team overcomes a few controversial calls to beat Brazil and advance to the semis.
Also: 
The earthquake you might have missed
Lunatic wingnut Russell pierce, the Arizona senate president and architect of sb1070 anti-immigrant law, has been recalled.
Score one for the Good Guys!
Score one for the Good Guys!
Anger over new burqa law
A new Australian bill targeting Muslim women is slammed for being "culturally insensitive."
Also: U.S. cuts aid to Pakistan
There is no way the relationship could continue as it did in recent years. The blank check had to stop. Now if only the blank check to the US military can be stopped.
Al Jazeera:
Al Jazeera:
The US is withholding some $800 million in aid to Pakistan, almost a third of the $2.7bn in security assistance it provides each year to the South Asian nation, Barack Obama's chief of staff has confirmed.
Relations between the key allies, always tricky, have drastically deteriorated since US commandos shot and killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 2 in a Pakistani garrison town, sowing distrust on both sides.
Last month, Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, warned that the US would slow down military aid to Pakistan unless it took unspecified steps to help the US.
Now, it appears, it has, as William Daley, the president's chief of staff, confirmed a New York Times report that the administration was suspending and, in certain cases, cancelling some $800m of military aid.
Dozens of students killed in Bangladesh accident
A vehicle packed with schoolchildren returning home from a soccer tournament crashed into a canal in southeastern Bangladesh on Monday, killing at least 40, a police official said.
Drunk 15-year-old caught driving car with drunk mom in backseat
An underage, intoxicated and unlicensed teenager has been caught driving a car full of drunks, including his mother, in country Victoria, Australia.
Astonished police say they detected the 15-year-old, who is not old enough to hold even a learner's permit, driving his three intoxicated passengers in an unregistered Ford station wagon traveling along McDonell St, Nathalia, near Shepparton.
But after pulling the teen up late at night on July 6, their shock turned to dismay when they found an inebriated woman in the backseat of the car was the boy's mother. The teen, who blew .107, more than twice the limit for a fully licensed adult driver, is set to be charged on summons.
Senior Constable Kerry-Anne Rappell said the actions of the driver and the passengers were "dangerous and irresponsible''. "These people are lucky they weren't involved in a serious collision,'' she said. "This is totally unacceptable. People need to start thinking about actions and consequences on the road.''
Astonished police say they detected the 15-year-old, who is not old enough to hold even a learner's permit, driving his three intoxicated passengers in an unregistered Ford station wagon traveling along McDonell St, Nathalia, near Shepparton.
But after pulling the teen up late at night on July 6, their shock turned to dismay when they found an inebriated woman in the backseat of the car was the boy's mother. The teen, who blew .107, more than twice the limit for a fully licensed adult driver, is set to be charged on summons.
Senior Constable Kerry-Anne Rappell said the actions of the driver and the passengers were "dangerous and irresponsible''. "These people are lucky they weren't involved in a serious collision,'' she said. "This is totally unacceptable. People need to start thinking about actions and consequences on the road.''
Coheed and Cambria Bassist Arrested in Bizarre Walgreens Robbery
The bassist for progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria was arrested Sunday for walking into a Massachusetts Walgreens and telling a worker he had a bomb, and would detonate it if he wasn't given Oxycontin.
How to Resolve Office Conflict
7 Dance-Battle Moves You Should Know
While office conflict can lead to delinquency, substance abuse, and gang involvement, conflict can also have positive results by increasing productivity and helping everyone understand each other better. Learn to dance battle instead of argue.Business cards—a lasting impression
Like your American Express card, you should never leave home without your business cards. Business opportunities can pop up at any time — it could be at the grocery store, in line at the movies or at Starbucks.
When a business opportunity presents itself, you need to take advantage by having a business card available.
The business card is a lasting impression that is left behind after you are gone. You need to make it work for you. The appearance of your business card says as much about you as your physical appearance.
Degrees worth the investment
Focusing your education on these fields can lead to rock-solid careers.
Also: How to re-grow the U.S. economy
Fire All the MBAs
What do we need to do to grow the US economy again? Fire the MBAs, and let engineers run the show.That’s what Bob Lutz, the former Vice Chairman of General Motors, suggested. He noted that American companies started to lose its way when the MBAs took over from the engineers:
The auto industry is actually a terrific proxy for a trend toward short-term, myopically balance-sheet-driven management that has infected American business. In the first half of the 20th century, industrial giants like Ford, General Electric, AT&T and many others were extremely consumer-focused. They spent most of their time and money using new technologies to create the best possible products and services, regardless of development cost. The idea was, if you build it better, the customers will come. And they did.
The pendulum began to swing in the postwar era, when Harvard Business School grad Robert McNamara and his "whiz kids" became famous for using mathematical modeling, game theory and complex statistical analysis for the Army Air Corps, doing things like improving fuel-transport times and scheduling more-efficient bombing raids. McNamara, who later became president of Ford, brought extreme number crunching to the business world, and soon the idea that "if you can measure it, you can manage it" took hold — and no wonder. By the late 1970s, M.B.A.s were flourishing, and engineers were relegated to the geek back rooms.
This is not to say that the Whiz Kidding of American business yielded no positives; things like the hyperefficient FedEx logistical hubs and the entire consulting industry were born out of it. But ultimately, moving numbers around can do only so much. Over the long haul, you’ve got to invent or improve real products and services to grow.
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