Charlie Fleetham's Unrational Leadership

I am reading a compelling report entitled “The Blue Peace, Rethinking Middle East Water.”

Authored by the Strategic Foresight Group and sponsored by the governments of Sweden and Switzerland, the report attempts to “redefine the water paradigm in the Middle East, so that water can be harnessed in a way that satisfies the social and economic needs of the people.”  The report’s Big Hairy Audacious Goal is to turn water into an instrument for peace in this war torn region.

It examines the current water situation in the Middle East and concludes that the nation states are about to walk off a cliff without a parachute. Nations have been making decisions about water as if it belongs to them, when in fact, rivers, lakes, aquifers, and rain have no consciousness of maps.

For example, the Jordan River supplies five nations: Lebanon,  Syria, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories and as each entity tries to optimize its own supply, the  Law of Unintended Consequences asserts itself and the overall supply declines. During many periods of the year, the river doesn’t have any flow.

What is the solution? Collaboration amongst national actors who haven’t played nice for a long time.

The collaboration strategy is named, “Circles of Cooperation,” a concept first introduced by Prince Talal of Jordan in May, 2010 at a regional conference, and it draws two initial circles, one around Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan, and the other around Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

The report is chock full of interesting information, much of it bleak.

• The  Dead Sea is dropping one meter a year due to lack of water and could be reduced to a lake in 20 years.
• The West Bank has five wastewater treatment plants and only one is operational.
• The Palestinian Territories need almost 100% more water then their current supplies.
• One of the biggest challenges in Damascus is unlicensed wells (estimated at over fifty thousand) which are draining the aquifer underneath the city.
• In Lebanon, 40% of the water in its pipes never reaches customers due to damaged or destroyed infrastructure (from the 2006 War with Israel).
• In Iraq, since the 2003 War, over 300,000 tons of raw sewage is dumped into the Tigris River DAILY.

I think there are two major takeaways from this report:

1. Michigan is unbelievably blessed with freshwater compared to Middle Eastern countries and
2. If the authors can seriously propose a collaborative process to help Middle Eastern countries treat water as a regional resource, why can’t we do the same thing in Michigan, when we don’t suffer from war, religious strife, or long standing drought?

I would encourage anyone interested in our Blue Economy to read “The Blue Peace.”

Last night, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was yanked off a plane in New York City and arrested on sexual assault charges.

(One has to consider the possibility that Strauss-Kahn was set up as it would be impossible to imagine a similar arrest of a US banker, like Jamie Dimon, the CEO of Chase, or Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman, but it’s too early in this news cycle for a conspiracy theory to emerge despite the fact that Strauss-Kahn was setting himself up for a presidential run in France against Nicolas Sarkozy who is running the war against Libya, etc. etc.)

Strauss-Kahn was traveling back to Europe to attend a yet another critical meeting with German leader Angela Merkel on Greece.  Last year, Greece accepted IMF supervision of its financial matters in return for a $150 billion bailout package and Strauss-Kahn was the Big Man in the deal.

As you may have heard, the IMF forced Greece to make drastic budget cuts in return for the loan, which has created a recession, but the recession has not reduced the deficit. (I wonder why.)  Now, the IMF wants Greece to fully privatize its utilities:

EU and IMF inspectors are pushing Greece to fully privatize public utilities in exchange for the release of its next tranche of aid and a possible extra loan, Greek newspapers wrote on Saturday without naming sources … According to the daily Eleftherotypia newspaper, inspectors currently in Athens have said the government should fully privatize the Public Power Corporation and two water companies, Thessaloniki Water EYATH and Athens Water company EYDAP.

Back on the home front, cities across our state are struggling financially, especially Detroit, which is trying to get rid of a $200 million deficit.   Recently, Governor Snyder spearheaded the passage of a new legislation which empowers emergency financial managers (EFM) to right the sinking ships of our cities.

Would-be EFMs are flocking to training sessions and are licking their lips for a chance to trim pension plans, modify union contracts, sideline elected officials, and more than likely, to sell public infrastructure on the cheap to private corporations.  Is it merely coincidence that in 2010  the Michigan Citizens Research Council published a report on Detroit’s financial condition and concluded that Detroit  has only one asset that could be “monetized”at a rate sufficient to make a major contribution to resolving the accumulated deficit: the Water and Sewerage Department, which wholesales services to suburban communities?

Now it appears the idea of a state bank in Michigan has been buried with the Republican landslide, as  our new leaders roll out their formulas for creating prosperity. But a state bank could give Michigan citizens a backstop to privatization.  For one thing, it’s getting tougher and tougher for Michigan cities to get credit as they face downgrades from rating agencies and interest rate hikes. For example, in April, Romulus was downgraded by Fitch and given a negative credit outlook.

The core idea of a state bank is that citizens empower the government to create money. States have that power but they don’t use it because private corporations and their political accomplices have convinced us that money creation is too dangerous to put in the hands of the citizens. Only the smartest and wisest people should have that power and needless to say, these are business people (and don’t be confused, the Federal Reserve is federal in name only).  Never mind the conflict between civic duty and maximizing shareholder value. Our regulations will solve this problem. Yep. It’s worked pretty good so far, but tell this to the half a million Michiganders whose homes are worth less than their mortgage.

It’s time for the people to take back their power given to them by the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. It is helpful to recall that Thomas Jefferson opposed the creation of the First Bank of the United States (which was privately funded by the way) as unconstitutional. Here is what he had to say about  allowing private corporations to control the power of making public money:

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.

Does anyone remember Spiro Agnew?  He was the only vice president in the history to resign under criminal charges.   Ironically, he worked for another crook, Richard Nixon, the only president to resign.  Agnew, who was Richard Nixon’s hatchet man, was infamous for attacking liberals and Vietnam war critics, especially journalists and intellectuals.  Some of his most famous thrusts include: pusillanimous pussyfooters,  an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals, hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history, and my favorite, nattering nabobs of negativism.

This wonder alliteration is (actually authored by speechwriter William Safire) is a suitable platform for one of my pet peeves: narcissism. As almost everyone knows, narcissists love themselves to a fault and feel entitled to things without reason, including  your undying admiration. They are first rate charmers (that’s how they get what they want) and manipulators. But what most people don’t know is that they hate everyone else. Secretly. And with a vengeance. The vengeance comes out of their closet when you reject their charms, when you see the snakes in their baskets, when you don’t treat them as if they are the only person that matters in the entire world. And you can forget the psychotropic meds or the couch. Narcissism is almost incurable.

And in our time it seems to be endemic. Everywhere you turn another narcissist leaps out to throttle you.  In TV Land, we have the Real Housewives of Orange County, Real Housewives of New York City, Real Housewives of New Jersey, blah blah.

If you haven’t watched any of these shows, the REAL role of housewife is not applicable to any of these bitchez.  Unlike my mom, who spent her days cooking, doing laundry, caring for sick kids, and worrying about healthy kids, these housewives spend their days betraying each other, shopping for stuff they don’t need, complaining about their husband’s bellies and admiring their cleavage in the mirror.

In Political Land, we have our own president, who has morphed this week into a war hero after ordering the murder of Osama Bin Laden.  Am I the only one who thinks it’s strange that we killed Osama instead of capturing him and interrogating him for information about terrorism?  And didn’t that picture of our leaders watching the assassination in the situation room seem a bit narcissistic, especially after the White House  revealed that the there was no video link to the “operation.”  I thought operations were medical procedures and isn’t it like even more strange that no computers are turned on in the picture?  If it’s so cool and therapeutic to whack the world’s most wanted terrorist, why not let us all in on the action?

Think I’m alone in my skepticism?  Jesse Ventura, the former independent Governor of Minnesota and a Navy Seal, has his doubts, too.

But narcissists don’t play only at the bottoms and at the tops, you can find them everywhere. At school board meetings. Coaching youth sports teams. Or dating your daughter. They are storming us like hungry zombies.

Here is how you can spot them:

• They have absolutely no interest in what you think because they only care what they think.
• When you are around them, you know in your gut that you could keel over and they wouldn’t bat an eye.
• They befriend you in the morning and betray you in the evening.
• To them, life is a drama and they always have the lead.
• And if you confront them, even once with their immorality or their duplicity, they will slit your throat, one way or another.

So, gird your loins and polish your breastplates.  The narcissists are on the rampage and they won’t stop until everyone is looking at them.

The real president of our nation, Federal Reserve Chief, Ben Bernanke, hosted a press conference last week, the first one in the history of the Federal Reserve, which was founded in 1914.

At the start of the press conference, Bernanke sat like a sphinx in a dark paneled room, flanked by the U.S. flag and the flag of the Federal Reserve. (One has to wonder when schools and post offices will be forced to fly the Fed’s banner.)  In front of the President sat the reporters, mostly white males in grey suits with blue shirts and rep ties. First, Bernanke read a prepared statement and then the reporters were allowed to ask questions.

Wow, what an honor!

Bernanke said that economic growth had slowed in the first quarter but that the “Committee” (the banker’s politburo that comprises the Federal Open Market Committee) believed the economy would recover through 2011 and accelerate its growth in 2012 and 2013.  He also said that we have subdued inflation trends and stable inflation expectations.  Apparently, he doesn’t buy his own gas or shop for food. According to rumor, President George H. W. Bush, had the same blind spot, but it won’t cost Bernanke. No Federal Chief has ever been fired by Congress. But which one of us can fire our boss?

As for the obvious problem of skyrocketing gas prices, the fastest in history, Bernanke deigned to acknowledge them, but said that the Federal Reserve couldn’t do anything about gas prices.

Most of know that politicians are experts at lying with straight faces, and Bernanke goes it one better: he lies with very straight, intelligent face, as one would expect from a Princeton professor of economics. Last fall, Bernanke initiated Quantitative Easing II (QE2), which by this June will amount to the purchase of $600 billion of U.S. Treasury Notes. So Bernanke funds $100 billion of federal debt a month, which makes absolutely ludicrous any arguments about cutting $30 billion off the trillion plus federal deficit by eliminating Planned Parenthood or National Public Radio.

Since QE2 all commodity prices have gone parabolic. THIS IS NO COINCIDENCE.  The Federal Reserve is pumping money into the big banks, who are turning around and buying oil, silver, rubber, corn, etc.  As the below charts show, commodity prices began rising in the fall upon the onset of QE2 and haven’t stopped yet.  Silver, all time high.  Cotton, all time high. Corn, all time high. Oil, nearing another all time high. The Fed’s move has caused food riots and disruptions around the world as the people who don’t work in bank struggle to buy food and gas.

As we are awash in oil in the country (more supplies than ever before), gas prices are going up because of speculation, but the speculators aren’t the traders.  It’s our presidents! President Bernanke could drop gas by a dollar in one week if he stopped QE2. And he knows it.

Does anyone remember the Edwins Hawkins singers?  In 1967 they had a hit song, “Oh Happy Day,” and I remember it not only because I liked the song, but also because my dad bought the album, one of the few Top 40 songs he’d ever appreciated.

The song came to mind while reading an article about SUV sales – “High Prices can’t stifle SUV sales.”

The article focuses on GM’s Arlington, Texas plant:

“Despite gas prices that guarantee $95 fill-ups on the SUVs, the plant — GM’s only manufacturer of full-size sport utility vehicles — works overtime every week and expects extra hours for at least the next two months.”

Even though gas prices have risen 80% since 2009 and 25% this year alone AND food prices have risen almost 7% since January,  auto sales are still rising according to autoinformed.com. Auto sales are off to a strong start during the first two weeks of April and are expected to hit 950,000.  The industry is 16% ahead of last year’s pace and might sell 13 million vehicles this year.  Autoinformed devotes  almost 700 words to the story and the word “gas” is never mentioned.

The good news reminds me of NY Fed Chief Bill Dudley’s speech in March in which he wisely reminded us that in the face of rising prices at the grocery store we need to look at the bigger picture—for instance, iPad prices have not risen this year and the current model is more powerful than the last.  Although a listener in the audience needlessly reminded Mr. Dudley that he couldn’t eat an iPad, maybe Mr. Dudley is right. The economy is getting stronger, prices are stable and auto sales will continue to rise as homo consumerous spends us all back to the happy days.

Yesterday, in a MS Money article entitled “Why You Should Love $5 Gas,” Lynn Mucken argued that rising gas prices are good for us and our country.

Some of her reasons included: fewer people will die on the road, demand for high mileage cars will grow,  shorter security lines at airports,  less pollution, less congestion, and the end of wars!

Okay.  Let me get this straight.  Currently, we are fighting wars in  Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan (which coincidentally happens to be on Iran’s eastern flank) and we have bases in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and one hundred plus other countries and we are doing this so we can end all war?

Yes, Ms. Mucken.  Sales for high-mileage cars will grow until no one can qualify for credit after our rulers crash the economy to save the dollar (which they crashed to save the “too big to fail” banks).  Check out what happened in 2008 after gas got over $4 if you don’t believe me.  Yes, there will be shorter lines at airports and in fact there will no lines at some airports, especially smaller ones that will have to be closed because airlines won’t be able to service them.

As for less congestion, absolutely.  Many of the small businesses that depend on cars and trucks, like florists, taxis, messenger services, plumbers, caterers, etc. will get further and further stretched.  And don’t forget the people who have to drive 50 or miles to work because they can’t get jobs near home. They will have to pay a few hundred more a month and many will have to quit because they can’t afford to drive.

If we actually had an oil shortage, it wouldn’t feel so bad paying high prices, up almost $1.40 a gallon in a couple of months.  But, we have a glut of oil in our country right now.

Gas prices have skyrocketed because our rulers have consciously decided to increase them to jack up the stock market for their bosses, the guys in charge of Exxon, Chevron, etc. Election season is coming up and the boys in band need some spare change.  I heard that President Obama wants a billion dollars for the 2012 campaign and he’s not getting that money from people who worry about gas prices.

We’re too busy trying to find the cheapest gas in town, and Obama can always count on his pals in the mass media, like Ms. Mucken, to make us feel that our suffering is worthy and our own damned fault besides.

An elite group gathered this weekend in Detroit at the Westin Book Cadillac to brainstorm ideas to help Detroit reinvent itself.  The four day meeting was sponsored by the American Assembly, a Columbia University think tank, founded by President Dwight Eisenhower.   According to the Free Press, demographers, economists, government officials, social scientists and urban planners would be in attendance.  You wouldn’t want to screw up this much brainpower with the public, so the organizers excluded the hoi polloi from the festivities. Quite right.

The scheduled key note speaker was former Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Henry Cisneros.  As the former mayor and rescuer of San Antonio, one would have hoped he could work his magic in Detroit. But not this year. According to the Detroit News, his $258 million project to build 3,000 houses  on Detroit’s border with Grosse Pointe Park has fallen through. The city spent millions tearing down houses and rebuilding roads for the project, but the land has become a dumping ground for trash.

On Saturday, thousands of Christians walked through Detroit, praying for heavenly rescue.  One of the faithful captured the essence of the exercise: “This city is God’s city. We will see God turn this city around. He is the only one who can do it.”

Presumably the policy wonks at the Westin don’t share the same faith in God or else they would have abandoned their fine wine and cheese for the prayer circle on Woodward.

At the turn of the month, a group of students from Minnesota (Normandale Community College) left for Detroit on a mission to renew the city.  Filled with passion from a class exercise on urban renewal, they wanted an audience with Mayor Bing to tell him about their central idea:  expand Wayne State to fill the territory between downtown and midtown and create an education epicenter.

Ironically, the parents of the young missionaries insisted they stay in Farmington Hills, for obvious reasons.  Although they didn’t get to meet the Mayor, they did talk with a deputy mayor, Wayne State officials and an emergency financial manager.  Good job, kids!

Only God knows whether or not the students were welcomed into the American Assembly Policy Forum.

And finally, Glenn Beck, the 21st Century’s ultimate Man of the New Apocalpyse, ran a show in late February comparing Detroit to Hiroshima.  Needless to say, the Detroit team loses in the comparison.  Bombed to oblivion, the Japanese rebuilt their city on the backs of their entrepreneurial, cooperative spirit, whilst Detroit squandered its Motor City domination: the fault of labor unions, the too big to fail automakers who had to be rescued by the government, corrupt politicians, and pointy-headed progressives like the attendees at the American Assembly Policy Forum.

Sunday’s  Free Press had two articles and two editorials on  Mayor Dave Bing’s upcoming presentation on  his proposed 2011-12 Financial Plan for Detroit.  The headline blared that “Workers face big blow to benefits.”

Both the Free Press and the News believe that Bing is not going far enough fix the budget.  In an editorial entitled “No Time to Tinker,” the Freep suggests that Bing “take a cue” from Gov. Rick Snyder and “build radical change into Detroit’s budget plan.” And the News says that “the real savings will come by privatizing many of the services now provided by the city.”

I couldn’t agree more with our local rags.  Radical change is needed, but not the phony radical change they are promoting.  Since when is cutting benefits, laying off workers and privatizing municipal services a radical idea?  The Indiana Turnpike was leased for $3.8 Billion by an Australian/Spanish partnership. Now, that’s radical!

Seriously, read the articles and look for the word “debt.”  The article are seasoned with the ugliest of words, “deficit,” but I don’t think you will find any talk about “debt.”  I wonder why?

Ignoring the debt is certainly not related to the amount of debt.  According to Detroit’s 2010 Finanical Audit, citizens of Detroit are currently responsible for $9.3 Billion dollars of long term debt. (This amount includes the school system’s $1.5 Billion debt.)  If you divide  $9.3 Billion by 730,000 souls you get a per capita debt of almost $13,000. According to the audit, the per capita income for Detroit is only $15,042!  And, the city’s debt has increased three-fold from 2001, adding over six billion dollars in debt, while the population was falling by 200,000.

For contrast, the city of Farmington Hills, a middle class suburb located about 10 miles northwest of Detroit, has $24 Million in long term debt. With a population of 78,000, the per capita debt is $305.

Do you see the problem?  $305 versus $15,042.  How can Detroit cut its way to positive cash flow, with a such a debt burden?  But it is not surprising that the major mass media in this region doesn’t want to address this challenge, because the solutions would be TRULY radical: either restructure the debt or open a state bank to relieve the debt.

On Monday of next week (April 11), the Michigan Strategic Fund Board (MSF Board) will hold a public hearing that may result in the end of new early stage funding for Michigan’s nascent water technology program.

The MSF intends to award a total of $13 Million to non-profit organizations that invest seed money in companies that need support to transition from the research phase to commercialization. Obviously, the MSF goal is to diversify the economy and increase jobs by hopefully finding a pony in the barn of the Michigan hi-tech start-ups. And true to the Governor’s word, the state won’t be picking the winners and losers—some non-profits with will be the Great Deciders. Unfortunately, the state has rigged the game by restricting the choices to four sectors: Advanced Automotive, Manufacturing, and Materials Technology; Alternative Energy Technology; Homeland Security and Defense Technology; and Life Sciences Technology.

The MSF Water Technology Sector, which has supported a series of projects, will be shut out. Recently, I attended a conference on water technology projects that had been created in partnership with Israel and was pleased to hear of the progress. As a Michigan business owner, optimally I would like to attend a conference featuring Michigan water technology businesses, but we have to start somewhere. Snyder’s decision will make it much more difficult for water technology start ups to get important support.

Let the Michigan Strategic Fund know how you feel about this proposal at 21stCenturyJobs@michigan.org.

Last night the Partnership for a Better Redford received a presentation on Governor Rick Snyder’s  new Dashboard.

The presenter was Fred Gohsman, one of the facilitators of the partnership.  Fred, a young and energetic resident of Redford, said that the Governor’s scorecard would give the partnership a tool to identify new projects and to help the township become more prosperous.  After the presentation, the members of the partnership gathered in a circle of chairs in the upstairs of the Redford Township Library and one by one they pledged their support for creating a visionary scorecard.

In September 2010 Redford Township, Redford Union School District and South Redford School District engaged Project Innovations to help build an innovative partnership between the township and the school districts that would identify areas of cooperation, improved communication, and efficiency enhancements. The effort started with the creation of a Partnering Agreement which was signed by 24 citizens and defined a Vision Statement, Rules of Collaboration, and 17 different goals.

Since then the partnership has conducted a series of meetings, engaging almost 100 citizens in grass roots efforts that have produced exceptional results.

• A Flag Football Program has been established and will kick off in the Fall of 2011
• A Summer Meal Program will be launched this summer to provide free meals to any township child under 18.
• The Neighborhood Watch Program was successfully revived!

• A New Resident Orientation Program will be implemented this summer, including a new brochure for all township residents.
• A Tutoring Program has been established in partnership with Detroit Diesel.  The first program was held this week with 11 volunteers from Detroit Diesel and 13 students.

• An Arts Summit, the first of its kind, was held between local artists and the two school districts to spread the word about creating great art!
• And, the partnership is sponsoring the State of the State Township address by Supervisor Tracey Schultz Kobylarz on April 13th at the Presbyterian Village.

Needless to say, my opinion of the partnership is colored by the fact that I helped to create it, but I am nonetheless proud of the partners.  As far as I know, it is one of the few active partnerships in our region between the school districts and the local government.  Township Supervisor Kobylarz, and School Superintendents Brian Galdes and Ron Stoneman deserve a lot of credit for having the courage to form the partnership. Now, Project Innovations is exiting the scene and township leadership  is taking over.  I wish these brave new leaders, Fred Gohsman, Jay Johnson and Jeff Roth, lots of energy and success!