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Happy New Year. May 2025 be a better year, one filled with invention, discovery and forward thinking, thinking that lifts people rather than dashing them. I know that changing White House leadership is a change jarring to some, it does not spell upheaval to all. Our form of government is designed to thwart those who would upend the government’s structure and safety. The government will be challenged by ‘leaders’ who think they have power to do whatever, but they don’t. That is a simple point of fact. There will be pushback on most efforts to change government policy. Tariffs is only one area of massive disagreement. International relations are another. Canada and Mexico are our largest training partners. They will not easily yield to policies that are unfair and unfriendly. Their pushback will threaten America’s economic stability and cost us much too much. Power partnerships with these two nations are also threatened. I doubt we will feel comfortable with how Mexico and Canada’s U...

We are getting a glimpse of American governance under Trump. It is predictably chaotic. That is his signature. Also, bold statements that upset whatever given standards currently being followed. This is a key method of introducing chaos. Attacking favorite public programs is another signature move on his part. Social Security is one of those favored programs. Also, Medicare. Medicaid is included on this list as well. A common move is a lawsuit. That and employing any delay tactic possible on the forward motion of the lawsuit. This ties up both the opponent, the government and attorneys. Government attorneys, however, are paid by the government, not the President from personal funds. The defendants, however, pay for their own attorneys. Scan Trump’s personal and business record regarding lawsuits. They are plentiful and usually long lasting. And costly to the opponent. Debt ceiling issues will arise. If they are caused by Trump programs, he will do everything to raise the ceiling ...

Before it is too late, I just wanted to express my thanks to Kamala Harris and her running mate for their efforts to be elected President and Vice President of the United States. I appreciate your efforts to counter the negative horrors of the Trump MAGA people. Their every utterance was to create fear, loathing and chaos among the public. Such is the stuff of wacky elections. The chaos confuses many people and gets them off topic. They identify with shallow issues that will amount to little; these are not promises, just distractions designed to win elections. The strategy worked for far too many people. Rather than arguing or defending against such tripe, Kamala presented a forward vision of what she stood for, what the nation stands for, and the values to be used going forward. All of those statements are true and defensible. They are, however, not the strategies that work in the environment of this election. No, manipulation, chaos and dishonesty were the bywords of this election....

There are always people looking for work. Low unemployment data does not mean we are at full employment. People are always switching jobs – retiring, promotions, death and disability, shifting career profiles, and much more – hence creating empty jobs for others to claim. There is other work to do as well. Volunteering is always with us and many ‘jobs’ go begging for willing people. And then there are duties we all are asked to do. Governance is one of those duty areas. Democracy is not automatic. It doesn’t require us to vote occasionally. It demands much more attention – and work – than we usually give. And that’s just the point of this posting. Trump didn’t win because a hoard of knowledgeable people voted for him. No, he won because another hoard did not do enough to understand the issues and likely personalities that would join trump to ‘govern’ our nation. Millions of citizens did not vote at all, millions more simply voted uninformed. Many more millions voted as though the...

Of course we are shocked the holiday is very near. Every year we say the same thing. We look forward to it. We prepare for it. We shop for it. We travel for it as well. The date remains the same yet we seem to fight to delay it; just a little more time, please! As we grow older, our expectations shift, and time pressures seem less. Certainly, for ourselves, we need so little as gifts. The important things are gatherings of loved ones, just being in the noisy rooms with them, observing their expectations and joy of the season. These are the rewards for living long lives. Those long lives come at an expense, though. Elders have financial pressures as living costs continue their ever upward shift while incomes stagnate naturally. Participation in season’s activities shift from old norms of gift giving. The season takes on another flavor, one with togetherness as its theme. It takes time to adopt the new theme. Lower participation is the root of the unease. Time does cancel these fee...

The food chain of corporate leadership is Board Chairs, President/Chief Executive Officers, and competition of leadership on the board and executive teams. That’s two teams: board and executive management teams. Executive management is very competitive as individuals of importance due to their areas of expertise in the company, press their knowledge edge to strategic significance within the company. Vice President of Finance is one such player for advancement to CEO, but so are the Vice Presidents of Operations or Manufacturing highly competitive for leadership of the company. Whatever the position, it is the management team that is responsible for daily operations of the organization. Primary policy and strategy matters are supposed to come from the Board of Directors but are often voiced and created by the management team. Thus, how a corporation functions in the marketplace is an outgrowth of executive team leadership. That focuses squarely on the President/CEO of the firm. Of...

When I studied this topic 60 years ago in college, it wasn’t difficult to understand. But then political talking points entered the picture and totally distorted the meaning of tariffs. Here’s the true story. During America’s early years, nearly every little thing needed in the colonies was imported from England and France. The colonies grew their own food stuffs, but not everything. So, some foodstuffs were imported as well. Tools needed to settle our new nation were imported until we learned how to make rudimentary tools locally. It soon became apparent that colonists needed to make their own products instead of importing them. Why? Because local goods were cheaper, avoided all shipping costs, and were available nearly instantly in local markets if supplies were sufficient. Avoiding importation instructed the colonies that producing their own goods would lead to more independence from other nations, especially England. So, tariffs were used to discourage imports by making them ...

I know I’m not alone in this. Noise is ugly and intrusive. Clashing, banging, or booming, most of it is unwanted. Worse, it is unexpected. Surprising and utterly discombobulating. I know there are noise ordinances in local areas. Municipalities have heralded such for decades. Loud and disturbing noise is simply not legal. In hospital and school areas, especially. Over the years, it was illegal to allow your car to drive with a bad muffler. Now it seems manufacturers are building in noise, rumbles and roars of exhaust systems to simulate or magnify horsepower and sexy, macho cars. It is a form of macho announcement that the driver has a manhood of delight. See me, hear me, sleep with me. Really? And then there are the motorcycles roaring at all times and places. Drivers evidently think their noise is proof of their manliness and sex appeal. Again, really? Must noise be proof of such nonsense? Then again, where are the police in such happenings? Don’t they respect their own laws en...

I’m writing a book about this topic. Its title is Becoming You . There are many topics to explore in the book. One is doing things that expand your understanding of the world around you. This means taking risks that are worthy. Risks that help you explore who you are in a world vastly diverse and uncontrollable by any one person. Our nation was founded on the belief that all people are created equal and have inalienable rights that are not to be manhandled by anyone else. The diversity of our opinions and viewpoints are what give us breadth of knowledge, accuracy of observations, and the very soul of our creativity. We strengthen our society. Others strengthen our society. Just by being, you and I and them. Together we form the We the People our nation stands for. We do not act alone. We do not stand alone. We are not alone. That is what makes us a We , and not a Them . In fact, we and them make wholeness from our diversity. These concepts are difficult to grasp at times. Seemin...

Got a problem? Study it to determine the cause and contributing factors. Understand the drivers of the operations in which the problem affects outcomes. Examine options that may fix the problem completely, or at least minimize its damage in the meanwhile. Decide which is best and affordable now. Then implement the fix. Study results to improve the fix as needed. Like your house but want improvements? Which change will maximize your satisfaction and yet be successful? Study options you could do with funds available. Prioritize those options for effecting future changes and yet are fundable at this time. Is this improvement structural? Does it change the traffic flow in the spaces affected? Or is this decorative only? What about textual surface changes? What rocks your boat the most? Decisions need pondering and then the best made. Then implement. Study results; did they do what you wanted them to do? Do they need further alteration? Should we just live with it for a while before makin...

Many of you know I resigned volunteering for SCORE. There are some reasons for this, but the main one is to gain 30 hours per week to write a book. That effort, however, takes time, discipline and a clear understanding of what you want to write about. I have made a good start. Have a title – Becoming You – and wrote a good introduction. I followed that with a table of contents that actually serves as an outline for the book. I named ten chapters and have written six. I am working on Chapter 7. I know more chapters will happen as the writing progresses. Holidays have distracted me from writing lately, but then, writing a few pages a day should not be a problem. Originally, I hoped to write 5 pages daily for a few months to produce the first working draft of the manuscript. With editing and polishing, I should be ready for publishing work inside of five months. That simply is not happening. The title still works for me. The outline is working just fine. The introduction mainly wor...

Keeping a nation safe relies on several large policy arenas. First is military strength to protect the borders of the nation from invasion. Second is international trade policy that builds markets and cooperation among nations for economic good, for all such nations. Third is domestic economics that strives to build an economy that creates and maintains jobs, produces goods and services needed by billions of consumers. The latter relies on consumers. Consumption of goods and services is the cornerstone of all economies. Without that, domestic economies fail. Failed domestic economies are not players in international economics, and that means the nation is not a player in the global community. There you have it. Three policy arenas that spell success or failure for a nation and for the global community. It can be argued that military might relies on economic strengths to afford the military development in the first place. So, economics is the core of a nation’s wellbeing. And economic...

Entering this month, we have recently experienced Halloween and then Thanksgiving. All that while we were reminded that Christmas approaches. Of course, New Year’s follows closely making this season the holiday trifecta. Celebrating the close of one year and the beginning of yet another seems appropriate. Yet this season is anchored by Christmas whether you are Christian or not. The season is a celebration of life and its meaning. Whatever religious belief you practice, or not, we all are reminded of life, love, future and death. It is the cycle that matters. We are reminded of this throughout the year, yet we seem surprised by the recall each time. When a family experiences death of a loved one, there is inevitable sorrow. Sometimes anger. Grief at any rate, we live through shock and ponder of death. Yet it is automatic. Life begins with birth and ends with death. It is the in-between time that matters most. Birth is a promise of life developing, death is the end of that developme...