The coddled "terrorists" of South Florida

Anti-Castro Cuban exiles who have been linked to bombings and assassinations are living free in Miami. Does the U.S. government have a double standard when it comes to terror?

Plans to attack Cuba are constantly being hatched in South Florida. Over the years militant exiles have been linked to everything from downing airliners to hit-and-run commando raids on the Cuban coast to hotel bombings in Havana. They've killed Cuban diplomats and made numerous attempts on Castro's life.

But, other than an occasional federal gun charge, nothing much seems to happen to most of these would-be revolutionaries. They are allowed to train nearly unimpeded despite making explicit plans to violate the 70-year-old U.S. Neutrality Act and overthrow a sovereign country's government. Though separate anti-terror laws passed in 1994 and 1996 would seem to apply directly to their activities, no one has ever been charged for anti-Cuban terrorism under those laws. And 9/11 seems to have changed nothing. In the past few years in South Florida, a newly created local terrorism task force has investigated Jose Padilla and the hapless Seas of David cult, and juries have delivered mixed reviews, but no terrorism charges have been brought against anti-Castro militants. The federal government has even failed to extradite to other countries militants who are credibly accused of acts of murder. Among the most notorious is Luis Posada Carriles, wanted for bombing a Cuban jet in 1976 and Havana hotels in 1997. It is, perhaps, a testament to the power of South Florida's crucial Cuban-American voting bloc -- and the political allegiances of the current president.

In Greater Miami, home to the majority of the nation's 1.5 million Cuban-Americans, the presence of what could credibly be described as a terrorist training camp has become an accepted norm during the half-century of the anti-Castro Cuban diaspora. Alpha 66 and numerous other paramilitary groups -- Comandos F4, Brigade 2506, Accion Cubana -- are so common they've taken on the benign patina of Rotary Clubs with weapons.

Adult Ethics Programs Can They Do Any Good?

Lots of companies are focusing serious attention on the issues of ethics and values -- and lots of people think it’s a waste of time.

The skeptics argue that you can’t teach ethics to adults. By the time they’re in the workplace, they’re either ethical or not.

It’s a plausible argument, but it misses the point.

The purpose of a corporate ethics program is not to make people ethical but to increase the likelihood that they’ll act ethically. This is definitely achievable. In today’s environment, failing to do what can be done to protect a company from employee misconduct is irresponsible.

The objective of a corporate ethics program is to establish a business culture in which it’s easier to do the right thing than the wrong thing and where concerned coworkers and vigilant supervisors repress illegal or improper conduct that can potentially endanger or embarrass the company.

An organization can further improve its ethical track record by assuring it has clear and credible statements of values and standards of conduct. When supplemented with quality training, those values and standards can clarify expectations and reduce misconduct resulting from ignorance or misinterpretations of laws or company policies.

A firm that wants to strengthen its ethical culture hires for character and trains for skills. It takes background checks seriously, screening out employees who lack the moral compass or strength to resist temptations and weeding out those who lack moral commitment or judgment during probation. And during performance reviews and promotions, it assesses ethical attributes like trustworthiness, responsibility, and respectfulness. Only people who are comfortable living up to high ethical standards are retained or promoted.

Time.

Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course! Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the records of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against "tomorrow." You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today... To realize the value of ONE YEAR ask a student who has failed his exam. To realize the value of ONE MONTH ask a mother who has given birth to a pre-mature baby. To realize the value of ONE WEEK ask an editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of ONE DAY ask a daily wage laborer who has ten kids to feed. To realize the value of ONE HOUR ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of ONE MINUTE ask a person who has missed a train. To realize the value of ONE SECOND as a person who has survived an accident. To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND ask a person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics. Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special... special enough to have your time... and remember time waits for no one.

Commitment; Risk and Reward

Commitment means to "Bind Together for Strength".

COMMITMENT....
is what transforms a promise into reality.
It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions
and the actions which speak louder than the words.
It is making the time when there is none.
Coming through time after time after time.
Year after year after year.

Commitment is the stuff character is made of;
the power to change the face of things.

FROM INVOLVEMENT TO COMMITMENT:
THE RISK AND THE REWARD

THE RISK
Committing to take risks to help build your team will also enhance your personal growth. But risks must be taken, because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing. People who risk nothing, do nothing, have nothing, are nothing, become nothing. They may, for a while, avoid suffering and sorrow - maybe- but they simply cannot learn and feel and change, in order to grow and get all there is to be gotten from a sport or any phase of life.

THE REWARD
Personal Satisfaction
The reward is to become part of a dynamic, continuously improving team where you, as a player, are accepted, challenged, recognized, respected, and appreciated. You belong to a team where you are the difference. It is the glue that allows new seniors to take on important leadership roles and all others to ask, "What can I do for this team?"

- COMMITMENT -
- Will cost you.

- Counts the most in the toughest of times.

- You will know -- if you're really committed -- on decisions you make while all alone.
- The rewards for total commitment do not come instantaneously, but the rewards come after a lot of sacrifice, effort, disappoint, and heartache. However, the real rewards for total commitment will last a lifetime.

-- "Earning the Right to WIN" --

Personal Anecdotes: Commitment To Your Team.

Hold the Rope!

Every year a professional football team wins the championship. Every year a college football team wins the NCAA title. Every year the best high school team in Division A on down wins the state crown. All these teams have one thing in common. No matter how tough it became throughout their season, they did one thing -- they held the rope!

What is "holding the rope?" Imagine that you are hanging from the edge of a cliff with a drop of twenty thousand feet. The only thing between you and an fall to your death is a rope, with the person of your choice on the other end. Who do you know that has the guts to pull you to safety? Who will hold the rope? Who do you know that is going to let that rope burn their hand and not let go? How many people that you know are going to withstand the burning pain and watch the blood drip from their hands for you?

If you can name two people, that's not good enough, because those two people might not be around. The next time your team is together, look around and ask yourself, "Who could I trust to hold the rope? Who is going to let their hands bleed for me?" When you can look at every member on your team and say to yourself that they all would hold the rope, you are destined to win a lot of ball games. You see, the team that holds the rope when the going gets tough are winners. When you are down by four points with thirty seconds to go, don't give up. Yell at your teammates to "hold the rope -- let it burn but don't let go!"

Every year there are winners and losers in all sports. Every year the winners hold the rope. You don't have to have the best team on the field to win the game. If you play with poise and do what your coaches ask of you, and most of all -- hold the rope -- you will be successful.

No matter what sport you play, in order to win, you have to have a commitment to your team. If you are supposed to run three times per week, do it. If you have to lift weights three times per week, don't miss. Once you start letting up at practice or start missing your workouts, you've killed the team because you didn't hold the rope! Don't let your team down! You've got to hold the rope!

Personal Anecdotes of Choosing

As the presidential campaign heats up, lots of people I talk to express dismay that none of the current candidates meet all of their hopes and expectations. Often the discussion turns to what they don’t like about one person or another. This has been true in every national election I’ve seen, but I don’t remember a time when dissatisfaction with the choices was higher and the temptation to stand on the sidelines was stronger.

Well, that’s not a viable option. In a democracy, the highest public office is a citizen with the right to vote. Our privileges come with civic responsibilities, including the moral duty to participate.

But how can we sort through the rhetoric, rumors, and allegations to make a wise and responsible choice?

First, we have to become informed.

Claims that “I really don’t know much about candidate X” are not acceptable. We can’t hide behind a veil of ignorance, especially in the era of the Internet where it’s so easy to learn all we need to know. Surely, we should put as much effort into choosing our next president as we would in choosing our next car.

The harder challenge is weighing and balancing the factors we think are important and making a comparative judgment among the contenders.

It helps me to be systematic and assess each candidate’s strengths and deficiencies in three areas:

• Convictions. What is his or her ideology and beliefs about issues of consequence?
• Competence. What is his or her ability to effectively implement stated strategies and to deal with the crisis potential of unanticipated events, from natural disasters to foreign assassinations?
• Character. Can this person be trusted to represent the country with honor, integrity, courage, and dignity?

My Boys Did WELL!

Tonight we beat a team that has dominated us for that last few years. Damn, it felt GOOD!
Us - 69 Them - 24

It's easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you're a winner, when you're number one.

What you've got to have is faith and discipline when you're not yet a winner.