GOOD-BAD PLANNING: June 13, 2010
Woe is sometimes the result of poor planning, aka 'stinking thinking' or worse "thinking without consequence". People hate when you question their thinking and all my life I made a few friends and lots more enemies with my devils advocate approach to things. In some cases these decisions or looking at the picture from both sides probably saved my life and their asses. Being the advocate didn't make enemies, it's the part "I told you so that did".
COLLECTIVE THINKING
In his book, former military Joint Chiefs of Staff Commander, and Secretary of State, Colin Powell speaks and welcomed his junior officers comments allowing them to question his judgement.
As long as it was open and pertinent to the mission at hand. He wanted to know the adverse consequence of his actions so he could balance his thinking. Maybe they had some intel he was not aware of.
Maybe a hunch, maybe some better insight, whatever it was it took the "what-ifs" out of the equation and put all on the same page. It works. You make less mistakes that way. Open lines of accurate information are essential to good choices. The last administration had no clue of that type of thinking. De-regulate, and let capitalism have it's way. Wild west thinking and consequence, may be the root cause of most of the problems in the US.
Great men have great approaches to management and control. They build coalitions, partnerships and trusts. Trust is built not by a chain of command but a chain of participation. We call it teamwork, some call it "being on the same page". That is not the case in this catastrophe.
This is about bottom lines, money, greed, and some big players who only thought about themselves and it will surface when the digging begins. I saw some of it during the Coast Guard Horizon inquiry which has already started. And well it should. This is not so much about violations of safety as it is a corporate mentality and government complicity. Very similar to the mining accidents.. and the Wall street crisis, andthe Mortgage crisis, the Auto industry, and the destruction of the middle class due to offshore treaties and open doors.
INSANITY, THE COCKPIT, ACCIDENTS
Again I invoke Einstein's Theory of Insanity. Do the same thing over and over again the same way and expect a different conclusion. Nothing happens that isn't planned... sometimes it's good planning, sometimes it's bad. Doing the same things over and over again that are wrong sooner or later catch up with you at the wrong time.
I learned in aviations test bed, the cockpit, that bad ideas and bad habits don't just go away. Bad happens often enough but bad habits accelerate things, then you realize you are part of that chain of events. In some cases mortally, I could have been killed by a flashlight. A simple tool that either got dismissed or overlooked.
I flew with a fellow for years. He was a sloppy, light the fires, kick the tires, and lets go kind of pilot. After a couple days of rain, I needed the airplane. He and his son had been up that morning. I asked, "how did she run", he replied, "great".
I rechecked the fuel tanks for water contamination because that was my responsibility as Pilot in Command. I trust nothing, by nature. I drew samples with the gas tester and pulled more than a quart of water out of both wing tanks. Water and gas are clear, but you can pour the sample on concrete to see if it bubbles, and you smell it in the tester. He did neither. We drained the fuel tank sumps of all water, added gas, duck taped the caps and took off. I ordered and fitted new gaskets for the fuel tank fillers the next day.
He maintained a sloppy cockpit, and one day it bit us. A $3.95 all metal Eveready Flashlight was loose between the seats. We were landing in St. Augustine in a Piper Comanche 250, an Eveready metal flashlight got caught between the metal pump down landing lever on the floor, and the green switches that indicated gear down. We had three green.
But the mains and nose gear were partially displaced blocked by the flashlight. He didn't need the brakes to stop, the propeller did a nice job of carving the runway as he slid to a perfect belly landing. At todays repair costs about $24-28,000. 100% pilot error. But had we cartwheeled or nosed over and had a fire, it would of been all over by the time we could of gotten out.
THE PERFECT STORM
Somehow I have a gut feeling this chain of events with the Deepwater Horizon will be the result of the "perfect storm". I know I use this phrase a lot. Just like a simple flashlight could cause a catastrophe, so could a chain of minor events bury a Gulf, the environment for decades and the livelihood and lives of thousands.
Ever since I read the book and saw the movie "The Perfect Storm", I agree totally with assessments that a large percentage of these catastrophes are a chain of these smaller events mixed into one place in time and space together, combined with poor assessment and decision making, caused this spill. Note:Time and space are connected according to Einstein which may allows time travel eventually.
The melding, the "perfect storm" is going to become very prevalent in the search for 'why... and the resulting who" was involved. It really breaks down evidentiary wise as:
• Regulatory - "Regulations dropped by secret Cheney Panel" 2001
• Procedural - Failure to follow existing safety codes - "Many violations"
• Federal safety oversight - "Examiners working for the examined".
• Human Error - "Failure to note disturbances in the dark side" "aka Vader Syndrome"
• Communication - "If we ignore it , it will go away".
• BP Management oversight - "Shortcuts for the glory of Oil, which replaced God'.
• Usual greed, bribes, money and power players. "Who should be fired, shot or thrown down a well hole but I realize that will not happen".
WE WILL BE SCREWED
Bottom line, some big names will be involved and they will walk away as usual. Some of them are too big to fail. They will be publicly chastised for the effect, and when, not if, they get the hatchet, and blamed for the losses, they will probably wind up with a 50 million dollar severance package. (see Tony Haywood and others)
Thus, they are fixed for life and could care less. I keep thinking of those 11 men and their families. And I keep thinking of those families of the 29 coal miners and kids growing up without a daddy because safety regulations were ignored in favor of production. The similarities between the two tragedies are uncanny. Same list could be used for both in context.
I think of all those who Katrina ruined and the last administration never kept the heat on to help those folks, just photo ops, more great words, and their remarkable comeback if even only about 60% only to get hit again. That's the problem, I can't stop thinking.
Add all this up and you get the common denominator... DEREGULATION and a lack of impartial over-site with clout. When I was last asked who I thought could fix this broken chain of events which has led to all these disasters and fraud, I replied no one. We don't have a government we have a cartel. This mess is an entanglement of both the government, big business, money, greed, politics and bribes, graft, payoffs, stupidity, neglect, carelessness and recklessness, and when the time comes, possibly manslaughter.
BIG BUSINESS RUNS THE US
Does the Oil Spill Scenario sound familiar. "BP too big to fail", all the lobbyists and those in Congress who are bribed by this consortium of black death are suddenly very quiet. Including the former Vice President who is involved. More on that later. And someone ought to take that reckless idiot with a mouth and shove her down that well.
Hmm, sounds all to familiar like the Housing failure, and the Bank failures, all over again and say what they will, the US taxpayer will be the one to suffer either in higher gas bills, somehow BP cutting off their payments, moving offshore (moving?, they are already offshore) like Halliburton did to avoid US taxes, or stalling and beating the rap. Regardless of what their public relations department spills out. They have as many leaks in their stories as that well head.
SCREWED AGAIN
The consumer got screwed in all of these too big corporate scenarios. They (the corporations will) will kill the country. A government is supposed to protect the people. During the Bush Administration a lot of regulation involving Wall Street, Mortgages and Mine and Oil Drilling Safety were pulled.
Thank McCain while you are at it. His crew helped The 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which broke down barriers between banks, securities firms, mortgage lenders and insurance companies. That deregulation repealed Great Depression-era bank regulations with the approval of former President Bill Clinton. That explained the mortgage crisis.
Obama has also faulted McCain, the Bush administration and Republicans for a tendency to favor deregulation instead of oversight. So they retort with words like Obama's Katrina, etc. Deregulation and lack of over site which vanishes with deregulation is good for two things. Votes and profits. The downside is destruction and possibly death. Oil spills have now proven that theory.
WAKE UP AMERICA
Someone needs to really go after the crew that cut the corners. BP, Halliburton, the MMS administration for starters. I got a bundle bet they will squirm. And get away with it. You are being BS'd again. You are not in Disneyland. No tooth fairy will make it better. And they also have to look into the other issues that prevailed during the last administration. De-regulation and letting Big Business run and ruin the country.
Let me simplify the "deregulation" theory. You have a henhouse. There are foxes nearby. So you hire a wolf who tells you he has your best interests in hand to protect the henhouse from the Foxes who are afraid of wolves. Next week you check on the hens and the henhouse is empty, the Wolf is gone and you are screwed. Moral of the story, a hen in the hand is safer then any hen around a Bush.