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blahblah
Gym climber
Boulder
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Apr 19, 2011 - 04:32pm PT
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Crimpergirl:
For me it was the browser.
I first tired Firefox, and couldn't see it.
I then tried Chrome, and could see it, but some of the text was garbled.
Then I tried Explorer, and it worked perfectly.
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graniteclimber
Trad climber
The Illuminati -- S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Division
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Apr 19, 2011 - 04:48pm PT
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I first tired Firefox, and couldn't see it.
I then tried Chrome, and could see it, but some of the text was garbled.
Then I tried Explorer, and it worked perfectly.
Same thing for me. Firefox didn't work at all, but Internet Explorer worked perfectly.
The link is http://byliner.com/
Also, it asks you to enter an email address but it doesn't have to be valid for you to get the article. You can enter dontspamme@dontspamme.com if you want.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Apr 19, 2011 - 05:00pm PT
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You guys rock. Thanks!! Off to explorer I go...
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Apr 19, 2011 - 06:04pm PT
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Gene, the comments after the opinion piece are very interesting. Those Pakistani posters would feel right at home on this thread.
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Apr 19, 2011 - 06:52pm PT
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this comment in the above article was especially poignant:
Posted by Saleem Ali:
"This is an utterly absurd argument about philanthropy. With limited resources you are simply content with anyone who has opened schools — no matter how much money is wasted?
It is precisely this kind off self-congratulation which the Pakistani elite comfort themselves with by throwing crumbs to their servants and thinking they are helping the poor. Yes, they will come and say Shukriya Bibji but is that the kind of society we want? Where precious philanthropic resources are wasted in perpetuating an elite glamorized class? Mortenson’s case is particularly troubling because there are plenty of competing organizations which are doing the same work and doing it better –Citizens Foundation, Aga Khan Foundation to name two. Valorizing one organization which is wasting resources compared to others simply so our elite get to brush shoulders with Bill Clinton et al at Mortenson fundraisers is really sad. Wake up elite Pakistanis and make sure charity is used constructively and efficiently by all."
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WBraun
climber
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Apr 19, 2011 - 08:00pm PT
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I read the pdf 3 cups of deceit and everything starts becoming pretty clear .....
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Apr 19, 2011 - 08:03pm PT
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Sadly, one side-effect of all this is that it may harm organizations like the Hillary Foundation, which has been doing sterling work of a similar nature in Khumbu for 50 years.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Apr 19, 2011 - 08:20pm PT
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Interesting.
The State attorney general of Montana smells blood, and or political gain:
HELENA, Mont. — Montana's attorney general has launched an inquiry into the charity run by "Three Cups of Tea" co-author Greg Mortenson. Attorney General Steve Bullock's statement Tuesday to The Associated Press follows investigations by "60 Minutes" and author Jon Krakauer into inaccuracies in the book.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42671433/ns/us_news/
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Gal
Trad climber
a semi lucid consciousness
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Apr 19, 2011 - 08:28pm PT
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How much has JK given to the Pat Till. Foundation? How much profit did HE make off that book? Did he gather his story justly? Apparently not.
What are the answers to those questions?
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nutjob
Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
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Apr 19, 2011 - 10:16pm PT
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I have an urge to apply my own life narrative to Greg's situation and this makes me very open to his perspective...
I spent 3 crazy years trying to build a business (phone systems for small businesses), and finding myself unable to effectively manage all the things required to do it well: sales, marketing, finance, legal, accounting, facilities, engineering research for software and systems development, evaluating 3rd-party hardware components, overseeing staff outsourced in India for development projects, daily operations and drop-everything troubleshooting and smoothing over customer fiascos (companies get pretty upset when their phones stop working on days they are bidding for the projects that will keep them afloat), all while I did other hourly contract work as an individual to keep money pouring into the business while it was growing.
It was just too much, I slept a few hours per night with regular (at least once per week) work-through-the-night sessions. I was not good at delegating or creating a situation where I had people I could delegate stuff to. During a brief period when I did have partners, I was very defensive about questions they raised that pointed to things I was not doing well. I was probably irrational from sleep deprivation as well as feeling personally attacked for the things I objectively wasn't doing well. To be fair, I was accomplishing an extraordinary amount but a single person's extraordinary efforts just can't replace an organization of moderately committed and competent people with healthy communication and processes. My emotions were a roller-coaster that bucked with the random events of software glitches, moments of customer appreciation for heroics, moments of customer righteous anger when our systems failed... all of these things accelerated my own inability to accept feedback on how to make things better. And ultimately I needed to preserve space to be "unaccountable" so I could hide in my shell and have mini-meltdowns when it was all just too much. I reached a point where I wanted to leave but felt trapped by the obligations I had created. I didn't see a clean way out without jeopardizing my customers' businesses. Ultimately this problem was solved for me when my main customers pulled the plug after 3 years because of a small price undercut that I could not match, while they lost a lot of features. They switched because a new company president was drinking buddies with the president of one of my competitors. I could have doubled-down and rode it out, figuring out how to attract outside investment with a more realistic and accurate financial model and business plan, but I was ready for an excuse to end it. I had really given it my best and found myself not able or willing to do the required tasks. But my passion for the parts of it I liked had driven me to super-human lengths in the effort to be something I was not. Accepting my business failure was a key part of defining my identity much less in terms of my career.
I think it's a common thing for successful businesses to have growing pains, where the type of personality and values needed to get something started and grow to a certain point, ultimately become the wrong things to grow beyond that point. That transition from cowboy / "brilliant leader" to a mature organization with proper governance and processes is difficult, is often the place where businesses fail, and in cases of dramatic success it often results in dramatic leadership changes and power struggles.
I hope this is what the CAI situation amounts to, i.e. a transformation in governance to something that can scale to handle the success it has generated.
And I hope the media dust settles in a way that ultimately pays respect to what Greg has created, even if he turns out to not be the right person to keep it going. I'll keep my mind open until more perspectives emerge.
Edit: I have a personal interest because I tend to be very skeptical, but after reading Three Cups of Tea I was totally moved and set up a substantial (for me) recurring donation to CAI. Prior to this, I had substantially no charitable giving in my life.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Apr 20, 2011 - 12:24am PT
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That was a good interview with GM.
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graniteclimber
Trad climber
The Illuminati -- S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Division
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Apr 20, 2011 - 01:47am PT
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How much has JK given to the Pat Till. Foundation? How much profit did HE make off that book? Did he gather his story justly? Apparently not.
I'm still waiting for you to post links or other substantiation for your accusations. If you think Jon Krakauer did anything wrong in writing his pook about Patrick Tillman, why don't you tell us what you think he did was wrong?
It appears that you are angry at him because he made money on the book. I don't know why. That is what journalists and professional writers do. They write books for money.
Krakauer never pretended to be operating a charity.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Apr 20, 2011 - 01:52am PT
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How much do the heads of public Unions make? Do they get to fly around in jets paid for by others?
How much did the people in charge of Acorn make from "donations?" What kind of perks do they get? One, even stole millions of dollars.
BTW, how much does the head of Media Matters make?
And, on and on it goes ....
Greg M. is a drop in the bucket but should be a wake up call to everyone.
Skip
Skip, none of these are CHARITIES.
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sempervirens
climber
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Apr 20, 2011 - 02:09am PT
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Has anyone read "Little Princes", by Conor Grennan? He's a young American guy who started a childrens home in Kathmandu for trafficked children. His non-fiction (yeah, I said non-fiction) book is light reading and ... heart warming. It's not nearly as dramatic as Three Cups of Tea. And you can donate to his organization. It's all on-line. He's been on some lame American TV talk shows. It seems believable, there are photos and he names plenty of people who could either corroborate or deny his story. Maybe Krakauer could go interview them for us.
I wonder if anybody on ST might have an opinion. ha, ha.
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Gal
Trad climber
a semi lucid consciousness
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Apr 20, 2011 - 02:25am PT
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Never read it, sempervirens, but I'll give it a whirl. Always looking for good reads.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Apr 20, 2011 - 02:30am PT
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One very positive effect Mortensen has had is on the U.S. military and its policies. Currently, the military networks worldwide are advertising for women volunteers from within the army to be part of special women's teams in Afghanistan to promote health and education among women. I am certain this would not have occured without the example of Greg and his work.
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