A few days after my previous update, we received word from work that we are allowed to work from home, which was kind of expected considering most of our stakeholders either already had gone into that mode or where about to do so.
This is going to be challenging as managing a portfolio of over 50 projects remotely with no face time with both your coworkers and clients, is something we at the office have never done before. I believe that with the current advancements in technology, we have plenty of resources to make everything work out. However I will definitely have to step up my game in terms of productivity and efficiency in order to prove that it is possible and that me and my team can bring successful results.
Today I went into the city for work as usual and it was quite breathtaking to see the streets of Manhattan almost empty.
It seems like Covid-19 has arrived and we may have major stay at home policies implemented in the upcoming hours. I have yet to digest the situation as I have honestly not been following its development.
This last weekend, I re-watched Star Wars (the original 1977 film) for the 4395th time, and what a wonderful movie it is. Is it a masterpiece comparable to Godfather, Citizen Kane or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest in terms of script, acting, and directing? No, and not by a long shot. But it’s an extremely competent movie that has been able to stand the test of time thanks to the fantasy world it created and its memorable characters. After watching it, I was so in awe that I decided to watch the entire original trilogy and came up with the same conclusion. Then, I decided to re-watch the prequel trilogy, you know… to give them sort of like a second chance, and oh my…
I remember that back in 1997 when word was out that George Lucas was doing a prequel trilogy, the first thought that came up in my mind was: “This sounds like a great idea… financially speaking. Now from an artistic point of view… I’m not quite sure.” I never wasted any money watching Episode I or II on theaters, because I pretty much realized that by me spending any money on them would be complying and condoning the production of these terrible movies, a logic that was confirmed after I would eventually see them. I’ve never really cared for George Lucas as a filmmaker and I never really understood the need of playing with the Star Wars universe other than to milk the franchise for everything that is worth it and more, and of course, dividing the Star Wars fan base even further. You see, before the prequels, there were two types of people: 1) people who liked Star Wars, and 2) people who didn’t care about Star Wars. Now there are four types of people: 1) people who like the original Star Wars and dislike the prequels, 2) people who still don’t care about Star Wars, 3) people who don’t care about Star Wars but still go see it in theaters because they didn’t have anything else to do or because their sons made them go see it, and… 4) people who blindly follow Star Wars and believe everything produced about Star Wars is the best thing ever since the invention of the printed press. What caused this? Sadly, mediocrity.
People who criticize the prequels (and now the sequel trilogy) argue that money destroyed the magic of Star Wars, because of the millions of Dollars these movies make. Their logic is that Star Wars went from being a product that came out from a group of rogue rebels in the 70s who were against the system, to becoming this new product from those same people who became part of the system. I disagree with this logic, because there are several examples of blockbusters that have made millions, while still being great movies, including the original Star Wars. A poor choice for the director’s seat, a sloppy script and terrible casting and acting performances are to blame for Star Wars falling from grace in terms of quality, not of revenue. An extremely efficient marketing plan that realized loyalty plus consumerism equals hundreds of millions in profits are to point for Star Wars’ unbelievable success at the box office. Why? Because as long as people keep paying money for movie tickets and toys, this movies will keep on going. It’s simple math: Star Wars’ success comes from the regular movie goers + the faithful cult-loving Star Wars hardcore fans. Simply add the numbers of people who go see Black Panther with the number people who are loyal to Star Wars. Financially, it’s a no-brainer recipe for success.
Artistically, the result is a considerable percentage of the population receiving constant political and social indoctrination from a universe that isn’t even close to our reality. Nowadays Star Wars has become an outlet to voice political problems, social injustices and dozens of topics that shouldn’t be part of a fantasy science fiction film. People are taught to repeat and follow, rather than being taught to think and create, period.
That’s is why I now refer to Star Wars as The Indoctrinating Cult.
I’ve been reading the recent news about this virus that is currently spreading fairly quickly across a few provinces in China, the Corona Virus 19. One of my co-workers has family in one of the cities that is under a lock down policy and from what he mentioned, the restrictions regarding travelling and even commuting in the city are pretty tight.
I’ve always talked with my friends who work in the healthcare industry about how humanity has gone to great lengths to evolve industries and technology, still has been lagging -if I may- in healthcare development. It kind of reminds me of how much money and resources were invested into the fraudulent company Theranos, and their useless technology. I wonder how much advancement could physicians and biologists make in their field, had that money absorbed by Theranos, been invested into true scientific research laboratories in order to develop vaccines and treatments for aggressive viruses such as this Covid-19 one.
Instead, what I’m wondering is what will happen to us living in the United States if a pandemic of similar proportions to the one currently spreading in China, would hit us, especially in such a highly-populated area as New York. Would be face similar lock downs and quarantine procedures as they do? Who knows.
I came across this wonderful series on a recent flight I took and since the seat’s TV screen is not quite the most comfortable way to watch audiovisual material, I decided to re-watch it at home to have a better appreciation of the series.
Without jumping in the political discussion of left vs. right, democrats vs. republicans, Team Jen vs. Team Angelina, this is a series that everyone should see in order to understand how poor leadership and how unqualified people in high positions can cause major disasters in society. This is something that has happened throughout the entire history of the human race and sadly I must say, that most likely it will keep happening for quite some time. I hope that one day, someone will finally realize the tremendous negative consequences that having a bad leader, a bad CEO, a bad General Manager, a bad Governor or a bad President, has to a company or a country. I really hope that playing politics as a professional skill one day finally ends, and connections and butt-kissing will finally come to an end, and that mediocre leaders managing capable smart employees realize they should step down and let somebody else who actually is qualified, run the business or the country.
I have been lucky that during my professional career I haven’t really ran into these type of corporate profiles. It has only happened twice when I was working in Venezuela. Fortunately, it has never happened to me in the US, Spain, Mexico, Czech Republic or Colombia, though I’m quite sure there may be a lot of people who have had this issue. Anyway, what I always wondered when I saw those people was the fact that they really, truly believed they were good managers. I remember thinking: “Geez, this guy really thinks he’s good at what he does. How disconnected is he from reality?” Something similar must have gone through the minds of the workers at Chernobyl during the failed safety procedure test they were running that led to the explosion, and through the mind of Professor Legasov, when he met the Soviet Cabinet in Moscow. The series also shows the deep corruption of the communist system in the USSR, as well as the unbelievable brainwash that took place in the soviet society.
There is a bit of fiction in the series as it’s pretty much the norm in most productions, but they don’t take anything away from the reality of the situation, the management of the crisis, and the factors that took place during the accident and in the days that followed.
Today July 21st I am officially launching my marketing for the upcoming release of my first book, the Instruction Manual to learn How to Destroy a Country.
In the upcoming weeks I will be post updates related to the book launch, its cover, pre-order status, advanced reviews, a few excerpts, and of course the official launch date, as well as continue to write as I have been doing about current news, sports, movies and other themes. I will also share a few of my personal ideas related to the book and a couple of personal experiences which I consider should be fair for the reader to get to know me and learn a bit about me.
HBO’s WWII miniseries “Band of Brothers” is one of the best miniseries of all time. It’s the story of one of the paratrooper companies of the 506th Infantry Regiment that made the invasion of Normandy (D-Day), told in the perspective of several of its members and leaders, one of them being Richard “Dick” Winters.
Winters is first seen as 2nd Lt in the miniseries, under the orders of 1st Lt Herbert Sobel (who makes Captain in the very first episide, before D-Day). Winters is respected by the entire company (and even the other companies of the batallion), whereas Sobel authority is largely questioned. Due to reasons not relevant to this entry (and avoiding spoilers as well), Captain Sobel is transferred from the company and with a few exceptions, is not seen again until the end of the series. At that point, he is still a Captain, however Winters is now a Major and outranks him, which is quite amazing considering he was below Sobel at the beginning of the series. In one of the final and most memorable scenes of Band of Brothers, Sobel and Winters coincidentally meet at a German field. By this time, Sobel is clearly resentful of Winters, and his resent is even bigger when he sees Winters’ golden oak leaves. Sobel walks by Winters and instead of saluting him, he simply says “Major Winters”, which is known as an offense to a superior officer. Winters knows Sobel is resentful of him, but he also knows respect of authority goes beyond feelings towards the person, and what he does next is nothing short of amazing:
Winters couldn’t be more right: you salute (hence respect) the rank, not the man. This rules applies in several situations and contexts, including the Chain of Command of the United States Executive Government.
The reason why I bring this up is because it was brought to my attention today, an incident that occurred in the Press room of the White House, where a reporter stood up and asked President Trump to give him the right to ask a question. Trump quickly dismissed him and gave the right to speak to another reporter. The reporter -still standing and with no right to speak- insisted having the right to a question and proceeded to make several statements I am assuming he wanted to inquire about. Trump then ordered the security personal to remove the reporter from the room.
No matter how much against people can be about Trump being our President, I can’t condone the behavior of the reporter who wants and demands to ask a question. Like it or not, Trump is the President of the United States, and like it or not, people have to respect the rank (even if they do not respect the man). If the President doesn’t give you permission to speak, you cannot keep talking at him, because that is more disrespecful and doesn’t improve the situation.
We can make fun of President Trump, disagree on his views and actions, and even go as far as not respect him as a person. What we definitely cannot do, is not show respect for the figure of the President of the United States of America.
This country has a lot of freedom and a lot of liberties, but one thing that we really have to keep in place at all times, is respect.
In this new era of social media, tweeting and deleting tweets, one can be grateful for these huge tools that keep your word recorded on stone, like the ten commandments that were handed to Moses, or like Hamurabi’s code written in 1750 BC. You’ll probably be wondering, what does my linking of social media with the ten commandments have to do with anything, and especially with Theranos.
Over one year and two months ago, I shared this thought with some of my friends:
Today, Elizabeth Holmes -Theranos’ CEO-, faces a fate that so far looks quite similar to the road Jeff Skilling went back in 2001-2002.
Elizabeth Holmes dropped Stanford in 2003 to start up Theranos, a company that was supposedly able to to hundreds of blood tests using just a sample taken from the tip of your finger. 13 years later, it looks like that sentence I just wrote should have the word “supposedly” replaced by “not”.
My issue in all of this, is how come investors and stakeholders put up with this for so long? It has been discovered that Holmes lured investors with preferred stock, in exchange of keeping privacy and confidenciality with the internal procedures of Theranos, that is, confidentiality of how did the testing worked… or, whether if the testing actually worked.
If you watch this video, you’ll probably have similar conclussions than mine:
The most important one is that Holmes is a psycopath. This woman has lost complete sense of reality and is in total denial of her situation, her company’s situation and the huge problems she’s creating to her employees and her clients. It’s the exact same behavior that another psycopath had: Jeff Skilling.
The irony is that she idolized Steve Jobs. The thing is, that Steve Jobs didn’t go around telling people he had this little gadget thing that fit in your pants that was able to carry 1,000 songs, but kept it hidden from the public for 13 years, kept promising to show it but never showed it. Steve didn’t even mention that he was working on his products when they were on development stage. He just launched the product once it was ready for public release. That’s why Apple is one of the most valued companies in the world. Theranos on the other hand, was valued at Nine Billion Dollars last year by Forbes. Now it’s valued at $0, also by Forbes.
You know, just because someone’s blonde, gorgeously beautiful, has a baritone deep intimidating voice and is really smart, doesn’t mean that person is able to do what he/she claims he/she can do.
