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Jan 12

12

New Year’s Resolutions

Posted by Mac on January 12, 2012
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Rants, Raves & Musings • Solar  | Tagged With: , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Lately I’ve been reading up on how to be a successful non-profit board member like Nonprofit Management 101 and How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization. In doing my homework, I came across this list of resolutions for nonprofit board members that I just had to share with all of you. I also sent this to the boardmembers I serve with on the Earthshare Oregon and Solar Oregon boards. Please indulge (and pardon) me … I don’t mean to preach and I do mean well. I hope you’ll take these ten things to heart and apply them so our non-profit organizations can be as successful as possible.

It’s that time again—for turning over a new leaf, for reexamining our work and lives, for refocusing on what we really want, and for refreshing our commitment to good works.

Here are some great New Year’s resolutions for nonprofit board members. If you do these, you’ll set an example and be a “spark plug” for your organization — and you’ll also help make the world a better place through your favorite nonprofit.

 1. Get more engaged. Your non-profit needs you to pay attention to your job as a nonprofit board member. We don’t need disengaged bosses.  And yes, you are the boss – you’re the legal fiduciary guardian of your nonprofit. The staff all report to us and they need us to lead, to question, and to act.

 2. Have a bias towards action. Do something. Non-profits need more than talk out of you. Don’t be one of those board members who thinks his or her job is to come to meetings and pontificate. Look for real actions you can take to help the cause. Ask the staff what they need you to do this month, this quarter, this new year. There’s too much at stake to just sit around and talk!

 3. Think big. You can make a huge difference if you think BIG! We’re not going to change the world, save the environment, feed the hungry, or change the community, by thinking small. There is great power in a big, wildly exciting vision. A big vision helps you attract people and resources  to your cause. Energy is everything when you are trying to create change.

 4. Be optimistic, no matter what. Be a board member who sees the glass half full. Ban the handwringing and nay-saying. Negativity is self-defeating , wipes out passion and deadens momentum.  Be the board member who has the point of view of abundance rather than scarcity. You’ll influence the rest.

 5. Go back to your vision over and over and over. It will keep you excited, focused, passionate, and results-oriented.  If you feel jaded or bored, ask yourself why you care about this cause and this organization. You’ll feel deep personal satisfaction when you see the results your organization is creating in people’s lives.

 6. Be the catalyst; be the provocateur. Challenge the status quo. Remember Jack Welch’s quote: “If the change is happening on the outside faster than it is on the inside, the end is near.”  Well, guess what – that goes for nonprofits too. Too many nonprofits plan for the future based firmly on the past. Be willing to ask, “Why are we doing this?”

 7. Make your own personal gift to support your organization. And … encourage the other board members to give generously. If you don’t put your money where your mouth is, you have absolutely no credibility. Set an example. Don’t be afraid to bring up the subject of board gifts in board meetings. Be willing to talk to other board
members about their annual contributions and commitments.

 8. Support the staff. Ask them what they need from you or how you can support them. The staff is carrying the weight of the organizational responsibility on their shoulders. Pay them competitive salaries. Don’t let them overwork in the name of the cause. Return their phone calls and respond to their emails. Tell them what a great job they’re doing. An acknowledged, self-confident staff is a higher-performing staff.

 9. Introduce ten of your friends to your cause. See if you can get them on your organization’s bandwagon. You’re not asking them for money, you’re trying to get them to join the cause. Have an open house and invite your friends to meet your Executive Director, or take a group on a tour out to the field to show them the good work your organization is doing.

 10. Spread your organization’s viral news wherever you go. Ideas are like viruses – they are contagious, spreading from person to person. You want to create an epidemic of good buzz about your organization all around. All your friends, family and business associates need to know about your passionate involvement in your cause.

 Bottom Line:

  • Don’t be a bystander.
  • Don’t waste your time in meaningless meetings
    and committees.
  • Make your service on the board meaningful. Make
    a difference.
  • Support your staff.
  • There’s way, way too much at stake.

I challenge us all to make it happen in 2012. Let’s put our ideas into ACTION!

Best Regards.

Reprinted from Gail Perry, January 2010
© 2010, Gail Perry

Gail Perry is the author of Fired Up Fundraising: Turn Board Passion into Action and founder of Gail Perry Associates, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based consulting and training firm.

Dec 11

31

Bye-Bye 2011

Posted by Mac on December 31, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Rants, Raves & Musings • Solar  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mt. Hood Oregon - December 2011

The renewable energy industries are under attack and for mostly political reasons. In solar, we are even at war with ourselves as stakeholders have turned against each other, while the powers-that-be sit on the sidelines. All of this is distracting our attention at a time when we should be creating great demand to balance this (over) supply, and get us off of fossil fuels as soon as possible. I urge you to join an ASES chapter, like NorCal Solar or Solar Oregon, because they work hard to create supportive policy for solar power, educate our citizens, and drive demand into the heartland of America – only $5 a month for a membership!

 

Nov 11

24

Hundredth Monkey Syndrome

Posted by Mac on November 24, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • About • naturehouse • Rants, Raves & Musings • Uncategorized  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving from Mac & Cap'n T

I’m thinking of changing the tag line of this blog to “on the path to a meaningful life”.

In an attempt to live more sustainably, I’ve morphed into someone with a better sense of purpose.

Along the way, I’ve met others just like me. Okay, I live in Portland Oregon which is a kind of lab for all things sustainable. [Would that make me a lab rat?] I also get that it isn’t so damn easy in the bread basket of America, or in the land of Dixie, but there’s a good chance the term “sustainability” will come to define the Pacific Northwest region of America.

Did you ever learn about the “Hundredth Monkey Syndrome” in high school or college? Or at a management seminar perhaps? Well, it has something to do with awareness, social learning, sweet potatoes, and Japanese monkeys on the island of Koshima.*  I liken this syndrome to how Americans are becoming aware of our cultural ills, especially as it relates to over-consumption and living more sustainably. I do see evidence that we’re (slowly) changing our behavior. One can see the results of what I’m talking about, if one looks for it. I’ve been (rightly) accused of being an amateur socialist, because I am looking for it, and I am learning from it, and I am doing it, and I am modeling this behavior on the blog for others to consider, follow, dispute, or whatever. I have a purpose to serve.

Call me monkey number 503.

This month marks two years that I’ve been writing this blog. It has become my conscious, my voice.

Since I started (Nov ’09) I’ve posted 167 articles. Some of the posts are quite personal, but most have to do with me trying to live more sustainably, including; my learnings, teachings, successes, and failures. I’d  suppose I’d have to put solarflareblog.com firmly in the success bucket. Working on this blog lifted my spirits and kept me going when times were hard. May sound weird, but it helped keep me focused and grounded. Yes, I’ve/we’ve had some difficult and challenging times here at naturehouse recently, but who hasn’t? That’s life. I know disappointment, but as my father used to say, ‘you gotta take the bad with the good.’

Although my blog is a journal of sorts, I rarely offer a peek too far behind the curtain. I realize that can make my content a bit too dry for some people’s taste, and it’s not like there’s a lack of this of subject matter available on the internet. It is literally everywhere. So, I feel blessed people have stopped by my blog to read something that I wrote.

Readership has grown from 25 visitors a month to over 3,000 a month (on average) – amounting to almost 40,000 post reads by 25,000 readers so far. In addition, solarflareblog.com readers are scattered across the globe.

According to my “count per day” software, the global readership top ten breaks down as

  1. USA
  2. China
  3. United Kingdom
  4. Ukraine
  5. Russian Federation
  6. Germany
  7. Canada
  8. Sweden
  9. Latvia (!)
  10. Romania

Runner-ups are France, Japan, Poland, India … and Brazil is coming on strong. That’s global, baby!

On the road in Southeast China – 2011

It never occurred to me this might happen when I set out to tell my story here in Oregon. I figured I might get a few looky-loos from outside America via the www, but I never counted on 25% of my readership coming from outside the United States! It is a small world indeed.

It makes sense about China, however, as I did visit there last Feb/March and met hundreds of people over a two-week period.  The Chinese want to live how we do here in America. The people there look to American living standards as a model for their future. [For both good and/or bad, I’m afraid.] I like that they’re reading my blog, ‘cuz if any place needs to embrace the notion of less polluting, sustainable solutions, it is China. I’m happy to see India and Brazil moving up on the list, for that matter.

In case you’re wondering … the top ten reads on this blog (in order) are:

1. A glimpse into the future                                           http://solarflareblog.com/?p=968

2. In every endeavor there is conflict                           http://solarflareblog.com/?p=929

3. Living with Solar – Winter is a time of doubt        http://solarflareblog.com/?p=1772

4. SolarCity                                                                         http://solarflareblog.com/?p=1150

5. The Landscape of My Dreams                                    http://solarflareblog.com/?p=1346

6. Put your money where your mouth is                      http://solarflareblog.com/?p=2369

7. Solarflare – News Flash  (BETC / RETC)                http://solarflareblog.com/?p=2136

8. Kevin Costner to the Rescue                                      http://solarflareblog.com/?p=871

9. DIY – Independence Day, indeed                              http://solarflareblog.com/?p=2316

10. Baby Boomer Boomerang                                         http://solarflareblog.com/?p=531

Out of this lot, the only post I’d like to edit is “In every endeavor there is conflict”. This is only because I felt I was a little too harsh in my criticism of a fellow solar advocate, Andrew Koyaanisqatsi. He had the gall to challenge the Portland Solarize campaigns and he called them unjust and some other things. I and others took exception to his point of view and his message. I’ve since gotten to know Mr. Koyaanisqatsi better and I think
he’s a good and principled man. We are both passionate about what we believe, and what we do, and that passion got the best of us. Hey, I’m Irish, what else can I say?!

Solar Beaverton Workshop presentation

My Akismet spam filter informs me it caught/ counted 4,426 messages during these two years. My assumption is the high number of visitors from the Ukraine, Russia and Romania might be responsible for this. I got nothing bad to say about those countries, but this is the result of an audit. Yep, I reviewed a sampling of the spam, and I ask you, how many fake passports, fake Gucci bags, fake Rolex watches, Ugg boats, Viagra, and porno movies does one person really need?

You know, the work to keep up a blog like this is a labor of love. However, the time and effort put into this blog has been equaled by what I’ve gotten out of it – or better. I hope you readers feel the same. Please let me know by making a comment on a post you like, or hate, or whatever. Okay?

#####

Lovely Noriko, my “bag lady”

Over the past couple of years, I’ve had an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do whatever I wanted. Think about that! As a full-grown adult, how many of us ever have this luxury?!  It wasn’t done with smoke ‘n mirrors, it was because I devoted myself to the cause, and to my passion and objectives. Mostly, it is because of my wife, Noriko.

This blog, like everything else I’ve done, or will do, is only possible because of Noriko’s love, dedication, and generousity. Whatever I accomplish, she gets much of the credit, because I couldn’t do this without her support.

So, today, Thanksgiving Day in America, I thank God for Noriko for being my love and my life.

And … may God bless you and your family too.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 * The story of “The Hundredth Monkey” has become popular in our culture as a strategy for social change. It is also referred to “Hundredth Monkey Effect” or the “Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon.

Want to know more …  see http://www.i-change.biz/100monkey.php

Nov 11

11

Veteran’s Day 11/11/11

Posted by Mac on November 11, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • About • Rants, Raves & Musings • Uncategorized  | Tagged With: , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

I was in the USAF and this was my home base (photo circa 1974)

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of our brave men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.   

I was digging through a box of old papers, books and stuff when I came across the list. It is a list of one man’s life rules printed on copy paper and I hadn’t seen it for years. This man was a military leader and he put this list together to help him deal with the responsibilities of leadership. I used to have it pinned on my cubicle wall at work and I must’ve read it a hundred times. I referred to it in times of doubt, conflict and/or failure, and it helped me get through some tough times. 

I took this list to show my wife and I asked her to read the rules and give her opinion on whether, or not, she thought I was applying these rules in my life. She humored me and read the thirteen rules out loud. 

  1. It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
  2. Get mad … then get over it!
  3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls (or changes), your ego goes with it.
  4. It can be done!
  5. Be careful what you want or choose. You may get it.
  6. Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
  7. You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
  8. Check the small things.
  9. Share credit.
  10. Remain calm. Be kind.
  11. Have a vision. Be demanding.
  12. Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
  13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

My wife, Noriko, knows me better than anyone in the world.  Before we were married, we had been co-workers and colleagues, so she has a well-rounded view.  Without hesitation, she told me I was good for at least 10 out of 13. That was kind, and that’s why I love her. 

When I told her who created this list she seemed surprised … General Colin Powell (ret).

I tell you this because it is Veteran’s Day and I figured I’d show appreciation to an American warrior who had impact on me personally outside the hot zone.  General Powell didn’t die on a foreign battlefield; he retired from the military eighteen years ago, and is still very much alive. He retired as a four-star general after serving as National Security Advisor and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

General Powell is a man who served our country for a long time and with great honor. Yes, he made an error in judgment regarding Iraq when he was Secretary of State under President GW Bush.  It wasn’t his finest moment, and he’s been duly criticized by both the political left and right ever since (myself included).  Clearly his clusters have been tarnished, but he’s human, and I look at his body of work.

Colin Powell rose up from modest beginnings to become a world leader. I really admire that. He was born during the Great Depression to immigrant parents in Harlem New York.  As a young man growing up in Queens, Powell wasn’t a great scholar or athlete, just wasn’t very accomplished, but he worked his way through college via the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and that led to a thirty-five year career in the U.S. Army.  Colin Powell became the first African-American to serve on the Joint Chiefs and as U.S. Secretary of State. This doesn’t happen to an ordinary man.

Gen. Powell explained …

“It was only once I was in college, about six months into college, when I found something that I liked, and that was ROTC, Reserve Officer Training Corps, in the military. And I not only liked it, but I was pretty good at it. That’s what you really have to look for in life, something that you like, and something that you think you’re pretty good at. And if you can put those two things together, then you’re on the right track, and just drive on.” 

It’s a simple message, but it’s practical advice for almost anyone who cares to listen. 

Airman Basic Mac McDowell - Age 18

So, today, a once-in-a-lifetime date of 11/11/11 …

I pay tribute to General Colin L. Powell and to all American soldiers – like Raleigh Carlson, Pete Irvin, and Pete Rooks  – and my fellow Veterans including my father, grandfather, brother, uncles, cousins, and friends.  

We should all be proud of our service.

I wrote a bit about my own military experience on Memorial Day 2010 see http://solarflareblog.com/?p=784

Nov 11

4

Electrified Revenge

Posted by Mac on November 4, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Electric Vehicles (EV) • Rants, Raves & Musings  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Opening night for the movie "Revenge of the Electric Car"

Tonight I joined other electric car enthusiasts at the opening of the newly released movie, “Revenge of the Electric Car.”  Written and directed by Chris Paine, this feature is the sequel to his earlier film, “Who Killed the Electric Car?”(2006), and it opened in major metropolitan areas this weekend, including the Hollywood Theater here in Portland Oregon.  The director himself was present to introduce his new movie and talk with the audience after the showing.  Why were we so lucky to have the film’s creator in Portland when larger markets were also showing the film?  Paine tells the audience, “There are so many folks interested in this topic here.” Besides, he has family in the area.

Chris Paine is correct about Portland, of course, and the first showings were all sell-outs. There was a buzz in the air and the opening night event included a display of vehicles coordinated by Drive Oregon, the state’s electric vehicle business association, and the Oregon Electric Vehicle Assoc. (OEVA).  This film spotlighted the birth of a new generation of electric cars including the Chevrolet Volt, the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Roadster and these cars were on display outside the theater for all to see.

Director Paine said this movie is about momentum.

Chris Payne presented his documentary and answered questions from the audience afterwards

Paine stated, “The last one was about being outside the system. This time, it’s about being inside the system and how hard it is to change things from within.” Indeed, Revenge of the Electric Car offers a glimpse of the brutal competitiveness of the mass produced car industry and features a look inside the minds of four EV innovators as they struggle to survive during a horrendous global recession.

Revenge tells the story of a disruptive technology on the brink of a major industrial paradigm shift, but in my opinion, this film is really more about people than it is about technology.

For three years (2007-2010) the filmmaker followed four champions of electric vehicles and revealed their personal stories and ordeals. Their stories are interwoven and the film is superbly narrated by actor Tim Robbins who is assisted by a greek chorus of industry journalists who comment on the action and provide some of the tension.  The four EV entrepreneurs spotlighted are:

  • Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of Renault-Nissan Alliance,
  • Elon Musk, Chairman, Product Architect and CEO of Tesla Motors,
  • Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of General Motors (now retired), and
  • Greg “Gadget” Abbott, a car mechanic who converts gas-run cars to battery power.

Of the four protagonists, my favorite character is not the glam wunderkind, Elon Musk, or the quintessential business visionary, Carlos Ghosn; it is the old-school car manufacturer Bob Lutz. The guy is classic Motor City. He is responsible for gas-guzzling SUVs like the Ford Explorer and Hummer, and he watched GM market share deteriorate as gasoline prices reached $4 a gallon at the pump and Toyota surpassed GM with sales of their Prius hybrid. 

It seems like long ago that GM shut down production of its EV1 and destroyed all of the evidence, doesn’t it? 

Bob Lutz admitted he didn’t see a business case for EVs in the past, but now sees electrification of the automobile as a foregone conclusion. Due to Lutz’s born-again enthusiasm for plug-in vehicles, director Paine was able to get inside GM to document its development of the Chevy Volt with Lutz acting as congenial host and escort. My laugh-out-loud moment in the movie was when Lutz referred to himself as an “environmentalist.” 

Another larger-than-life character is Elon Musk, who co-created PayPal then sold it before starting Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and pioneering his own private space-travel company called SpaceX. At one point, he dumped millions of his own money into Tesla as he struggled to learn the difficulties of trying to mass produce a new kind of car.  

Businessman Carlos Ghosn shared his vision of a mass produced, mass marketed electric car – the Nissan LEAF. While Gadget Abbott made all car lovers drool at the idea of electrifying a classic American sports car like the Corvette Stingray.

Director Chris Paine

Revenge lacks the ultimate outrage produced by Chris Paine’s first movie, but then it didn’t need to as these are different times. This film ends on a decidedly more optimistic note as we learn that the Chevy Volt wins car of the year, the Nissan LEAF wins European car of the year, and Tesla Motors gets the government loan they desperately needed to survive.  Even Paine’s buddy, Gadget, who struggles throughout the film, finally finds a new shop to continue his unique car conversions.  

In the end, this film portends the beginning of a gas-free future and this is good news, or bad, depending on the viewer’s point of view. That day can’t come soon enough for me and for many of the people in that theater tonight.  We can hardly wait for what comes next.

Documentaries are not for everyone. I think this movie will certainly stimulate anyone interested in technology, business, transportation and eco-entrepreneurs, but it may not appeal to a mass audience. 

Noriko & Hideko check out an EV on display outside Hollywood Theater

  

Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

This film is not rated.

The DVD will be released on January 24, 2012.

 

http://driveoregon.org/

http://www.oeva.org/

http://www.revengeoftheelectriccar.com/

 

Oct 11

31

Happy Halloween!

Posted by Mac on October 31, 2011
Posted in naturehouse • Rants, Raves & Musings • Uncategorized  | No Comments yet, please leave one

Hoping you have a fun and safe Halloween from solarflareblog.com! 

Solarflareblog.com "gang"

Sister Sun

Sunny Tomoko

Dylan's costume

"Butterfly Princess"

Taka

Lovely Noriko

Snoop(y) - Doggy- Dog

Lily says … “ Please don’t teepee my house! ”

Oct 11

17

When 3 Nines beat a Full House

Posted by Mac on October 17, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Rants, Raves & Musings  | Tagged With: , | No Comments yet, please leave one

“People don’t vote on the issues, they vote on attributes …” – Mark McKinnon, Campaign Strategist

I’ve got to admit, I’ve been watching the Republican Presidential Candidate Debates on TV (from Dartmouth College and Las Vegas) and I must say, I’ve found them pretty damn entertaining in a perverse way.  I may be one of very few people who tuned in.  Jay Leno was joking about these debates on the Tonight Show and asked his studio audience, “so, who watched the republican candidates debate last night?” … and not a single person clapped, coughed, or groaned, just dead silence. Leno giggled and responded with “I know, it was on the Bloomberg Channel … who watches that?!”   

It isn’t just that, Jay, it is way too early for most citizens to care about the 2012 race, and besides, we’re all busy trying to survive the results of the last three presidential campaigns, thank you very much.  

Jerry Springer show lives again!

Some people are watching now because the gloves are coming off and it is beginning to look like a MMA Cage Fight.  Governors Rick Perry (TX) and Mitt Romney (MA) are attacking one another personally and repeatedly. The last debate was the most contentious yet, with sharp attacks, finger pointing, frequent bickering, and one-upmanship. It was punch – counter punch all night. Gov Perry’s “Romney-care is like Obama-care” bitch-slap was a good one, but Romney hit back and pointed out there are over a million children in Texas without health care. (Ouch!)

I’m not sure what to think about Rick Perry yet. Granted, he’s not the smoothest debater and he comes off as brash, but that’s something many voters like, especially Texans. They cut the guy some slack, and say look, he wasn’t on the debate team, he was “most popular” in high school and a cheerleader in college.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN) attacked Gov. Perry’s past when he supported the devil himself –Senator Al Gore (gasp!).  Hmmm, I guess she’s mad at Perry for pulling away all of her voters. Bachmann’s campaign is fading fast and her blank stare throughout these debates is rather unnerving.  She really hates government regulations, huh!

One oddity is the campaign of Herman Cain which is on the raise at the moment. Cain has been gaining notoriety for his book tour and especially for his 9-9-9 simplified tax code plan. I’ve never heard of the guy before (he was CEO of Godfather’s Pizza) and I’d have to ask him … so, who’ll be your running mate, Papa John? (I stole that one from Jay Leno.) He exudes confidence and his story is compelling, he may be the only one who has gained from these debates.  Well, I hope his book tour is a big success, because not sure he’ll be around this time next year.

Rep. Ron Paul (TX), always the contrarian, said it is crazy to “blame all of America’s problems on the past two years” – going against the GOP’s ‘Obama is the reason for everything bad in America’ mantra – but then he blasted Allan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, TARP, Dodd-Frank legislation, and his fellow GOP candidates.

Newt Gingrich snoozed through the debates and blamed Jimmy Carter for the housing crash. Huh?!  [He must think it is still 1980 …. shhhhhh ….don’t anyone tell him any different.]

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (PA) comes off as edgy and pissed off, doesn’t he? He doesn’t trust Herman Cain and wants “morality to be included” in his economic plan. I guess he sees Cain’s 9-9-9 plan as a 6-6-6 plan. 

Jon Huntsman said Cain’s “9-9-9” sounds like a pizza deal (a veiled Godfather Pizza reference). I actually like Huntsman, the former Gov of Utah, mainly because he sounds most like an adult in this pack of fools. He skipped the Las Vegas smackdown to campaign in New Hampshire and reportedly said he was “completely embarrassed” and called the debate ”more game-show-like than anything else.”

To his credit, Ron Paul said he was “disgusted” by the atmosphere of the last debate and said he felt like walking off stage at one point. Former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, said the interaction between Romney and Perry made him “very uncomfortable” and they “hurt the entire Republican Party.” [Gee, ya think?!]

In the end, the real winner of these GOP presidential debates might be … President Obama.

I ask you my fellow citizens, is this leadership? 

If it is what leadership looks like today, is that what we want?  Don’t we the people deserve much better? How can one look seriously towards these candidates and find the leadership we need to move us forward. I dunno, not from what we’ve seen so far.

I’m not satisfied with President Obama and our dysfunctional and negligent Congress and I know I’m not alone. The next election might get down to the ‘devil you know versus the devil you don’t know’ kind of choice for many Americans. The idea of that is so disappointing.  (Sigh)

Ding … Ding … Ding … Round 3 commmmmming up … grab a beer … it’s fight night in America!

Oct 11

5

RIP Steve Jobs

Posted by Mac on October 5, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Rants, Raves & Musings  | Tagged With: , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Steve Jobs died today. 

This was not unexpected considering his health issues, but this one really hurts! 

Innovation … a core product of American ingenuity and export, took a blow when Steve Jobs left us here to fend for ourselves. He was someone I admired and a symbol of my generation’s imprint on the planet [for both good and bad consequences.]

Just think what the world would look like today without Steve Jobs? 

It would be different, that we do know, because there is no denying his impact on the planet. His dream-making companies like Apple, NeXT, and Pixar impacted the way everyone uses technology and consumer products. Today, Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world.

Jobs wasn’t a perfect person, who is?  He did better in life than anyone would ever have imagined given his start, and certainly better than most humans who’ve passed through before him. People called him an ego-maniac and a perfectionist, and that may well be true, but I’ll always remember the young Steve Jobs so full of himself after the Mac was launched. Man, he was a force to be reckoned with. 

I’ll never forget that picture of him sitting cross-legged on the floor with his shaggy hair and fiendish grin – just hugging that Mac.

I’ve never read his autobiography, or any book written about him (yet), but I heard the folk lore about him especially while working in high tech all of those years. After high school graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Portland’s Reed College, but dropped out after only one semester. He had his struggles, but always came out on top. In a speech Jobs gave at Stanford University in 2005, he said being fired from Apple was the best thing that could have happened to him. He said, “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”  I know what he meant.  

In the end, his death certificate listed his occupation simply as “entrepreneur in the high tech business”.  Indeed.

He left us with this … “There is no reason not to follow your heart” – Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Amen, brother.  RIP.

#####

In case you’re from another planet and don’t know who Steven Paul Jobs was, or you want to know more about the man … http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

Sep 11

23

Mom always wanted me to be a teacher

Posted by Mac on September 23, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • About • Rants, Raves & Musings  | Tagged With: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Leadership is a hallmark of the University of Portland *

My mom always wanted me to be a teacher.

I felt like one today. It took decades and thousands of miles of experience, but here I was, a visiting instructor at a major university teaching college business students about sustainability. Teaching is to impart knowledge or skill to someone by instruction or by example and this is exactly what I did for six classes at the University of Portland today.  http://www.up.edu/

This experience was different for me. It wasn’t a workshop or a lecture. I wasn’t facilitating, presiding, moderating, or giving a speech – I was teaching. I was invited to impart my particular wisdom upon undergraduate business students taking the Introduction to Leadership Skills course (BUS 100) at the Pamplin School of Business. The subject was ‘sustainable practices in business’ and I touched upon corporate social responsibility, triple bottom line, product life cycle/end of life and other externalities germane to the topic.

In short, I taught the next generation of business leaders how to integrate sustainability into business concepts and practices.  Mom would be proud.

With a nod to my mentors from the University of Oregon’s Sustainability Leadership Program, I took the challenge presented to me by Jim McKittrick, Assistant Professor at University of Portland’s Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. School of Business Administration.  Jim and his cohorts, Pete Rooks and Ray Becich, invited me, prepared me, and guided me through a rather tiring day of six classes full of teenage learners – certainly not the easiest group of people to teach - especially early in the morning. 

THANKS again to James McKittrick, Jr. for this special opportunity to talk to the next generation of business leaders.  I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The Pamplin School of Business

The Pamplin School of Business Administration offers undergraduate degrees in accounting, economics, finance, entrepreneurship and innovation management, marketing and sustainability, global business and operations and technology management. 

Graduate students may pursue an MBA, an executive MBA in nonprofit management, a combined BBA/MBA for accountants, a master of science in finance, a technology entrepreneurship certificate and a post MBA certificate.

*quote from their website http://business.up.edu/

Sep 11

19

Japan’s Three Mile Island moment

Posted by Mac on September 19, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Rants, Raves & Musings • Solar  | Tagged With: , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

A Lack of Faith

As Japan is getting back on its feet after the March 11th disaster, the faster than expected recovery of production levels and the reduction in overall electrical demand hasn’t given the population much confidence, and Japan’s recovery is under harsh scrutiny by its own citizens. Reports are pouring out of Japan about the people’s lack in faith in public officials and concerns about radiation. At public meetings, usually sedate and respectful residents are lashing out at their government and at Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) officials.  Against Japanese cultural dictates, people are showing their disdain by stating that “The Japanese government is no good” and “I worry that the Japanese government is still not telling the truth.” *

Image courtesy of Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images

Last month, 2,000 farmers and fishermen from the Fukushima district marched in Tokyo protesting and asking for compensation for their losses. This week, Kyodo News reported that 60,000 Japanese citizens came together in downtown Tokyo (Meiji Park) to protest nuclear power generation and calling for a shutdown of all nuclear power plants. *

A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that 55 percent of Japanese want to reduce the number of reactors in the country. Six out of 10 respondents to the poll said they had little or no confidence in the safety of Japan’s nuclear plants. Only 5 percent were very confident. Roughly a third said they want to keep the number of nuclear plants about the same, while 3 percent want to eliminate them completely.

That being said, in a society that frowns upon defiance of authority and government, many Japanese are still reluctant to join a protest movement that is often discredited as eccentric, even after the Fukushima disaster. This may allow Japan’s leaders to continue their support of a nuclear power industry that fueled the country’s prosperity for decades. Politicians and citizens alike are saying, “Japan is a resource-poor nation and we need electricity.”

Still … March 11th may prove to be Japan’s Three Mile Island moment.

In America, no new nuclear plants have been approved since the 1979 disaster, and Japan has canceled two new plants already and shelved plans to increase its future reliance on nuclear power from 30 to 50 percent. With a huge percentage of Japanese saying they want to phase out nuclear energy, legislators have passed a bill to subsidize wind and solar power. The measure requires power companies to buy solar and wind energy at inflated prices.

The idea is to make it worthwhile for companies to invest in expensive technology and speed up Japan’s shift toward renewable energy.

Renewables may have a future in Japan afterall

The country’s plan now is to reduce its reliance on nuclear power to zero by 2050. If that happens, it would be a stunning turnaround in a place where nuclear power accounts for 30% percent of Japan’s energy, while solar and wind power make up just 1%.

In the meantime, it seems that Japan’s government is sticking with nuclear power, unlike Germany which accelerated plans to phase out nuclear energy after Fukushima.

Change takes time in Japan regardless of the circumstances.

* See http://www.npr.org/2011/09/06/140219721/after-nuclear-mishap-japan-debates-energy-future

and an anti-nuclear protest in Japan – “Sayonara, nukes, but not yet” http://www.economist.com/node/21530147

 To be continued …

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