I missed this yesterday, but September 3 is a significant date in U.S. history. On that date in 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the American War of Independence and extending international recognition to "the said United States."
Article 1:
His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.
The Continental Congress sent its A Team to negotiate that treaty - John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay. They got everything they wanted. Have we ever done that well since?
On this date in 1945, representatives of the Japanese Emperor signed instruments of surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. A newsreel of the surrender ceremony is below.
The proceedings were so very unmodern. Which I mean in a good way.
First, they were brief. It was all over in twenty minutes. There were no keynote speakers, no introductions or formalities, no legions of lesser Generals getting into the act, no rigmarole of any kind.
Second, they were direct and pointed. General MacArthur begins his brief remarks by saying something I can't imagine coming from any contemporary American General:
"The issues involving divergent ideals and ideologies have been determined on the battlefields of the world, and hence, are not for our discussion or debate."
I like that. No warm fuzzies, no pouring out of concern or remorse, no existential angst, no grand vision for the future. Nothing but a plain statement: we beat you.
Third, they were utterly unsentimental. There was neither weeping nor chest-thumping. Now, there was plenty of emotion, but the restrained kind that used to be associated with manliness. MacArthur had two men stand behind him: General Wainwright, who had been forced to surrender United States forces in the Philippines in 1942, and General Percival, who had been forced to surrender British forces at Singapore. That was a gesture of triumph, sorrow, closure, satisfaction, symbolism, and I don't know what all, but it was more powerful for being unspoken.
Last but not least, not a single PowerPoint slide was needed. (How did the military ever get anything done without them?) The documents were printed on parchment, fountain pens were used for the signing, and the news media covered it all with just paper and pencils, wind-up movie cameras, and a microphone.
And it ends just this simply: "These proceedings are closed."
We shall probably never see any occasion of such moment handled with such purposefulness and dignity again.
The State Department got some criticism recently for not having included any of the several Taliban groups or individuals on it's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Today, it listed the largest Taliban umbrella group, the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, and two of its senior leaders, Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali Ur Rehmanwell.
Here's the announcement of TTP's designation, and here is a further announcement of the offer of rewards up to $5 million each for information leading to the location of Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali Ur Rehman.
It was Mehsud’s operatives who attacked the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, last April, using three vehicle-borne bombs, six attackers, RPGs, rifles, grenades, and explosive charges, and managed to kill at least six Pakistanis and wound 20 others.
The federal government's Best Places to Work survey results have been published, and now I can finally see whether or not the bosses at the Transportation Security Administration are really so awful as Kolbi says they are. "Soul sucking evil demons in the depths of hells" I think they were termed?
Employee Skills/Mission Match = 203 of 223 Strategic Management = 220 of 223 Teamwork = 219 of 223 Effective Leadership = 221 of 223 Effective Leadership - Empowerment = 220 of 223 Effective Leadership - Fairness = 222 of 223 Effective Leadership - Leaders = 219 of 223 Effective Leadership - Supervisors = 208 of 223 Performance Based Rewards and Advancement = 222 of 223 Training and Development = 188 of 223 Support for Diversity = 211 of 223 Pay = 223 of 223 Family Friendly Culture and Benefits = 223 of 223 Work/Life Balance = 208 of 223
Ouch. Dead last in pay and family-friendliness, next to last in performance-based rewards and fair leadership, and dragging close to the ground on all other categories.
It looks like "soul-sucking evil demons" is an understatement.
Employee Skills/Mission Match = 5 of 28 Strategic Management = 5 of 28 Teamwork = 4 of 28 Effective Leadership = 3 of 28 Effective Leadership - Empowerment = 4 of 28 Effective Leadership - Fairness = 3 of 28 Effective Leadership - Leaders = 3 of 28 Effective Leadership - Supervisors = 3 of 28 Performance Based Rewards and Advancement = 5 of 28 Training and Development = 4 of 28 Support for Diversity = 3 of 28 Pay = 7 of 28 Family Friendly Culture and Benefits = 25 of 28 Work/Life Balance = 17 of 28
State kept it in the single digits for all but the last two categories. That's better than TSA, but still shows room for improvement.
Foreign Policy magazine's blog posted today about "media machine and Libyan leader" Col. Muammar Qadaffi and his spectacular return to Rome, and asked the question:
"Can someone get this man on Twitter?"
Oh, yes, please. Please! If ever a man and a medium were made for each other, they were.
This is too perfect. I'm listening to an NPR program about medical marijuana. Diane Rehm is interviewing a distinguished panel of experts. And one of them, Dr. Lester Grinspoon, associate professor of psychiatry (emeritus) at Harvard Medical School, is calling in from his present location at the Burning Man festival.
Burning Man is the Labor Day weekend bacchanal that started out as a bonfire on San Francisco's Baker Beach in 1986, and then got so out of hand that it was moved to the Black Rock desert 100 miles north of Reno, Nevada. Imagine 1960s Haight Ashbury druggieness overlain with New Age shamanism and transported to an Anarcho-Libertarian utopian community. Not my cup of tea, but it's okay with me so long as they keep it in the desert. (Not all the participants are impressed by Burning Man. Here's an unfavorable review.)
But to get back to Dr. Grinspoon, after a quick Google search I am bowled over by his credentials. According to an impeccable journalistic source, Dr. Grinspoon has a special strain of gourmet cannabis named after him. A laid-back salute to his long advocacy on behalf of the weed's almost magical medicinal properties.
Spark up another J, Dr. G., the holiday weekend won't be over for another four days.
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