I was reminded this morning of the two finest management stories passed from father to son (or from an uncle) that transformed my life at a very young age and figured there’d be no better time to share it than right now.

These two have been guideposts for me when it comes to how to excel in management.  And they reveal three cornerstone lessons in effective management.

The Cheese Sandwich Story

Pappy was a fire (*alarm office) dispatcher during WW II at Pearl Harbor.  It wasn’t the most exciting part of the war effort, with other relatives cat-skinning in the Aleutians to build airfields, getting destroyers shot out from under them, or fighting at places like Guadalcanal.  Pappy’s workplace was a concrete bunker, all but impenetrable, but Universe seems to favor our family in odd ways.  Air conditioned office in wartime Hawaii?  Who’d have thought?

Seems  his boss in the bunker was a salty old Chief.  Every day the Chief would come to work, run the finest, fastest, most accurate dispatch office in the Navy and then he’d sit down and have his lunch:  A cheese sandwich with mayo.

And every day he would  complain about how absolutely awful “…these  G…D…cheese sandwiches are…” or “:….G-d I hate these damn cheese sandwiches, day after day…”

This went on week after week, until finally Pappy finally had his fill  of the whining and could stand it no longer.

“Chief, why don‘t you have your wife or whoever is making your sandwiches just make something else for a change?  You know, like bologna or something like that?”

Came the unexpected answer:  “Why, I make these sandwiches myself, George!”

Pappy reportedly shook his head in disbelief, shocked at how people would  rather complain rather than fix the most obvious points of discomfort or dissatisfaction in their lives.  And, near as I can figure it, the world hasn’t changed in the 70-years since.

LESSON #1: Manage yourself or you’ll be seen the fool.

The “What About Today?” Story

Back in the 1960’s or early 1970’s, there was a national gathering of fire chiefs in Seattle and the late Gordon F. Vickery, who was then chief of the Seattle Fire Department had been called upon to give a presentation at the old Olympic Hotel about his department’s Marine Division which included the city’s fireboats and such.

It happens my late uncle, John Philbin, was assistant chief of department at the time and while Vickery was looking for some reference material, he asked John if he knew of a good citation about how fighting a oil tanker fire since this was “like fighting a high-rise fire where the building had fallen over into the water, had no windows, and there wasn’t any ground around it…”

As always, John said yes, he had exactly the right the reference material in his basement home office over near the hydroplane pits in Seattle.

“It’s in what everyone calls Philbin’s Fantastic Filing System.” John offered.  Instantly, Vickery bit.

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I am not expecting the stock market to end the week on a positive note.  In fact, I would not be surprised to see the past couple of days of gains evaporate before the closing bell because of the rising odds of war breaking out in Syria this weekend.  Worse?  I’m not the only one who sees it this way.  Reader Randy H sent this late last night:

A reporter with Israel’s most widely read newspaper has been told by defense establishment officials that a US-led attack on Syria will begin on Saturday and end when Barack Obama meets Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

I suppose you’d like to know why – by end of the day tomorrow – there could be a second vote by the British and a green light for an attack, right?

Well, one theory which is getting legs on internet conspiracy sites is that Saturday will mark the 16th anniversary of the death (conspiracy theory calls it “assassination”) of Princes Diana who died 16-years ago tomorrow.  With ugly questions and charges still flying, some attention diverting might be in order.

OK, it’s a far-out theory, I’ll grant you that.  But, as a note from Nostradamus researcher G.A. Stewart notes, tomorrow’s Diana anniversary would certainly fit well with a lot of prophecy on topic:

THE ARAB PRINCE OF WAR APPEARS ON SCENE

Nostradamus Quatrain V-25
The Arab prince of Mars [war], Sun, Venus, Lyon [ Leo/August].
The rule of the church will succumb at sea:
Towards Persia (Iran) very near a million men,
Byzantium (Turkey), Egypt, the true serpent will invade.
AUGUST 29, 2013

Saudis offer Russia secret oil deal if it drops Syria
Saudi Arabia has secretly offered Russia a sweeping deal to control the global oil market and safeguard Russia’s gas contracts, if the Kremlin backs away from the Assad regime in Syria.

WHY BANDAR BIN SULTAN’S THREATS TO RUSSIA AND PUTIN WILL CAUSE SAUDI ARABIA TO BURN
AUGUST 29, 2013
… As an example, I can give you a guarantee to protect the Winter Olympics in the city of Sochi on the Black Sea next year. The Chechen groups that threaten the security of the games are controlled by us, and they will not move in the Syrian territory’s direction without coordinating with us. These groups do not scare us.

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The big story of the morning is that the US intel supporting a strike on Iran is on the weak side. So now, the WH is considering the option of going to plan B – War Show Lite.  The devil is always in the details…so here we go:

What could pending hostilities do to the price of oil – and hence gasoline?  The CNBC piece over here addresses some of that.

The RT story out Thursday about how Iran is pondering the possibility of suing the US for the CIA-backed violent overthrow of its democratic government in the country way back in 1953 is being considered.  It’s no secret that the US was behind the regime change there, and what most people don’t know (we weren’t old enough, eh?) was that the Shah of Iran (installed into that position by the US/West) was also a poster-boy for the the nuclear power lobby in the USA.  Check out the graphic over here.

Not only has the US decided that only “authorized/friendly” governments will get to move ahead on nuclear power projects, but now we’re on the verge of a lightning strike on Syria, which – in case you’d forgotten – would remove a major ground defense operator from Israel’s path to an air strike on Iran.

Clearly, the administration would not be pleased with such an open  affront to the US but that is what courts are for and if would certainly give the US public an opportunity to see what’s going on.  Ooops…that awful word transparency comes to mind.

Meantime, the speculation this morning over whether the perps of the alleged nerve gas attack were the rebel forces, backed by the US and West, or was it the Assad government? continues unabated and unresolved.  Articles like this one may be taken seriously, or not…

Still, if you look at the 3D theater model, you can see that a lightning strike on Damascus would provide a convenient distraction  and an open window for the Israelis to zip over to Iran for a surgical strike on Iranian nuclear installations.

Impossible!!  Well, not quite:  As an indicator that this may be in the wings, we noted with interest the article in The Aviationist that “U.S. WC-135C nuclear radiation sniffing plane spotted over Europe. En-route to Syria?”

All of which might be understandable, except the Syrians aren’t believed to have nuclear weapons.  So what nearby country, which could be overflown by Israel enroute to, say, the Iranian Bushehr nuclear complex?  Such a strike could result in after-effects where the use of a WC-135C sniffer plane would be useful in order to reassure downwinders (like Russia)  that it was just a “clean” surgical strike and “No harm done…”  They hope…

It strikes a lot of readers, like this fellow Bill up in Idaho, that the US is acting a lot like a schoolyard bully:

Aho George,

The United States reminds me more and more of the schoolyard bully, that desperately wants to be looked up to and have friends, but thinks the way to do it is to beat the shit out of everyone. Makes me think also of the reality that if you keep poking someone in the chest because you are bigger and tougher….someday the recipient is going to get a 2X4 and even the score. The horrors of war seem to keep creating more whores of war. When will we ever learn.

No worries, Bill.  the 2 by 4 would be an attack on the US homeland and that would do marvels for police state trends and justify the further destruction of the Constitution.  Why, being in Idaho, I would have thought you’d have seen this.

But, in the meantime, you’re onto one thing:  Faced with declining revenues, all levels of government are facing crisis in coming months and years because of the damned unstoppable effects of compound interest.  And we need a scapegoat and Syria/Iran would be fine right up to lighting off a regional war.

A Note About War Costs

Whether we (as a nation) can afford to lob off a fleet of cruise missiles is certainly an issue.  Seeing as we’re broke and maxed out on borrowing to the point we have to borrow from ourselves with QE Infinitum.  As Steve Chapman notes in an OpEd this morning in the Chicago Trib, “Missile strikes won’t accomplish a thing…”

Obviously, although this is speculative on my part, I bet Steve Chapman’s retirement funds are not concentrated in holdings of large defense contractors like  Raytheon, as they make the Tomahawks.

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A couple of buddies of mine from down in Houston (long term Peoplenomics subscribers)  were up here in the hinterlands this week looking at property near us.  Believe me when I tell you these are 24 kt. solid guys who have nice professional situations and high incomes down in oil patch country, but they’re also super bright and looking at backup plans

For them, that means looking at areas which are able to build local self-sufficiency and (no surprise here) they ended up looking at one parcel just up the street (goat path?) from us.

As often happens, another reader email popped in which gets to the same kind of strategic planning decision-making processes and it says in part:

“I have asked you before but I fear I may have asked you the wrong question.  And before I clarify let me say thy I know that nothing you write can/will/or should be construed as financial advice, yadda yadda, and all that.

Regarding the potential upcoming crash, I asked you what I should do with some cash I had on hand, and you replied via one of your posts, in so many words, continue investing in prepping.  This I know and agree is excellent advice, but here’s where I’m unsure.

You see, I already have a good deal of food stored – almost as much food/water/first aid/prepping items/books as my 875 sq. ft. Jacksonville Beach (I know, I know – ocean front property) attic can hold.  I am formally studying permaculture design and am already trying to become a better gardener, learning about sowing and saving seeds, harvesting, etc.  I have been actively learning about herbal remedies and plants, and am learning to do as many things ‘old school’ as I can.

So prepping I am, as much as I can do outside of my corporate, fulltime tech job.

I do have some cash available (about 75k), and my house and all my possessions are already paid off.  The only thing I am trying to find now is a reputable place where I can buy bullion, as currently I have none.  Do you know where I can safely purchase a single gold and silver coin?  I sure hope you have some ideas…

But, my real question is about my cash.  I am doing all that I can and buying all I have space for, and using some of my cash to purchase training.  Since I have some left over, what would you do with your cash if you found yourself in a very similar position, given the potential upcoming tank-pocalypse? 

Hypothetically of course.

Fortunately, this is a hypothetical answer:  If someone came to me and said “I know how to do permaculture and I’m looking for where to park some cash, I would sure hit the www.unitedcountry.com website.  I clicked on their “nationwide” search tool and put in one bedroom and $75,000 for a top price and 20 acres of land and came up with way more than 200 properties to choose from.

Now, I don’t usually do free commercials for folks, but here’s a search hint:  Put in a minimum price of $25,000 because that will weed out all the listings which don’t have a price (and some of a gazillion or more).  In fact, for giggles, I put in a nationwide search for 20 acres, minimum one bedroom, and $50,000 and under and still came up with five properties including a few that looked promising.

What they have in common is this:   they are generally rural, generally mobile homes, but if you’re serious about really “doing it” then this is one place to consider parking your money.

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Further to this morning’s subscriber report, where we found some interesting archival data regarding past allegations of a “false flag “ nature regarding nerve gas use by parties in Syria, we have continued to dig around and (helped by a tip from reader DC) came across an article that seems to paint the “nerve gas” story buried in web archives as being an errant report on the part of a British media report.

As our reader put it:

I’m hopeful that this whole thing — chemical weaponry, impending invasion, and all — will also prove to be “completely fabricated”.  However, I’m not ready to apply the test of “hope in one hand, and … in the other…”

Sound judgment that, so we correct/append with this further data as we come across it in our best faith efforts to keep the story of what’s going on straight.

Nevertheless, it is troubling to see reports of how the administration is preparing “…to bypass UN on Syria response…” since they’ve already been hard at work bypassing due process here in the USA by so far keeping Congress from its constitutional role as the body that is charged with declaring war on behalf of the American people.

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This morning’s cheery thought (and discussion of the Blame Game) from your favorite East Texas nutter out in the boonies centers on the idea that as the approaching breakdown of economic order sneaks up on the Cyprus-like public, the more desperate officialdom will become for something, hell anything, to take the blame for economic collapse.  And pull off a massive bail-in.

So I thought it would be instructive this morning to look at some of the data which suggest Syria and Iran warfare could shortly be blamed for such outcomes, even though they really have nothing to do with it.

The first is the turnaround in interest rates.  As you can see in the long-term view of the US bond yields here, the Bond yields have been coming down since 1981.  When they bottom out (between now and 2018) there will likely be a financial panic as markets figure out that the lousy earnings and yields of today (and ghost of Christmas’ past) are gone.  But since the consumer class has been beggared, no one will have pricing power, and so stocks will crater along with bonds.

Then there’s the little matter of how long can the Fed keep buying up its own paper?  Surely, at some point, that little shenanigan will blow up.  When it does, the US dollar would naturally collapse in a heap.  By collapse what we mean is the dollar would drop precipitously in value which would cause bond yields to reverse course and head moonward, at just the worst possible moment.

What to do, oh what to do?

Bring on war!  Any war!  Big war!  Scary, frightening BIG war and toss in plenty of threats against the Homeland, too, since that would give us a reason to have martial law to keep a lid on things here at home.  Stifle dissent, ban gatherings…

Just to keep things in perspective, the US has always had a double-standard when it comes to nerve agents.  As the Monday issue of Foreign Policy reported, “CIA files prove American helped Saddam as he Gassed Iran.”  Yes, but he was working for US then….

But, now that the “foe is on the other shoot” we are acting all self-righteous and indignant about nerve gas.  Let’s kill some people and show them bastards.   Expediency is, deep down, what makes the geopolitical world go around.  Say, have you seen our moral high ground around anywhere?  We seem to have lost it…

In yesterday’s column, I explained to you how the identity of the sniper fire at the UN inspectors would be a key mediawar prelim round.  So far, because so many people are onto the game, the two sides of the conflict are simply charging one another as being the perps.

Over here, in this Boston Globe story, we find “The rebel coalition said the sniper shots occurred near the final checkpoint between rebel and regime-controlled areas, calling it an attempt by the [Assad] regime ‘‘to intimidate the UN team and prevent it from discovering the truth about Assad’s chemical weapons attack against civilians.’’”

On the other side, in this UPI dispatch, we read that “Friday the Syrian government accused the United States of manufacturing stories about chemical weapons use to justify support for the rebels. The Russian government made similar charges, CNN reported.”

The global financial mess is quickly picking up speed, meanwhile, so look for the war moves to come largely and quickly as we settle down toward S&P 1,540.  Dow futures are down a hundred and something.  Subject to revision as the Housing data comes in.

In overnight trading, Japan and China were both down half a percent and more, while in the early going in Europe France was down almost 1 1/2%, German down more than that and the British market was down 2/3rd’s of a percent, but it ain’t over yet.

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