I wonder if Chris Thomas is a real pilot? Anybody know?

:I'd settle for "what top 3 business school did you get your MBA from?"
:
:
:I have noticed that a majority of people seem to equate the smooth talking
of
:someone like Clinton with having superior intellect. My own experiece over
the
:last half century is just the opposite. Some of the smartest people I have
:ever met had great difficulty with public speaking. I remember one kid I
went
:to school with who had a severe stutter and was constantly being called
dummy
:by all the other kids. He graduated top of our class and went on to do the
:same at MIT.

I agree. Since my first degree is actually in public speaking (just an
AA) I won't say that intelligence and speaking ability are mutually
exclusive, but any relationship is coincidental.

The best public speakers around are actors. Some of the stupidest
people you've ever met are actors. A small percentage of actors are
actually brilliant people.

In my day job I've been working a lot with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter,
guitarist from the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan. Brilliant
musician, and a consultant on defense and homeland security. It's
hard to imagine Jeff Beck, Kieth Richards or Eddie Van Halen, giving
a brief to Condoleezza Rice, but Baxter has.

After 9/11 I realized one of the things that bugged me in our society
is how we confuse clever with intelligent. There were plenty of
snarky, snide writers around that would address an issue with clever
wordplay instead of an actual, supported, argued point of view. As if
alliteration, a few phrases of French and a pun about someone's name
was important.



That last part goes hand in hand with the people that will read some article by
some obscure author and suddenly it's the gospel. It doesn't matter if the
author is an expert or coming straight out of the local nut house. Most of the
crap that I have read over the last twenty years seems to be totally biased and
lacking of any logical analysis. They start with a predetermined point of view
and then construct the facts to support that view.


Bob Reed
www.kisbuild.r-a-reed-assoc.com (KIS Builders Site)
KIS Cruiser in progress...Slow but steady progress....

"Ladies and Gentlemen, take my advice,
pull down your pants and Slide on the Ice!"
(M.A.S.H. Sidney Freedman)