YOU’VE PROBABLY NOTICED THE LONG LAPSE BETWEEN EDITIONS OF THE ENTERPRISE
Or maybe you haven’t, since it spans the Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year holidays. I’ve been busy doing a lot of writing and editing (Ugh—it’s not fun editing what you wrote!) and volunteering too. Details for those who are interested are posted below.
HERE ARE THE ONE-TWO LINERS MANY READERS SEEM TO LIKE:
AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH ONE, WITH ??? IS A QUESTION ASKING YOU TO WEIGH IN WITH YOUR OPINIONS.
PLEASE SEND ANSWERS VIA EMAIL, BUT WITHOUT SENDING THIS ENTIRE NEWSLETTER.
—What do you make of “Fake News?” It isn’t all “fake,” just some of it. How do we know what is, and what isn’t. What can we believe and rely on? This is a perilous sign of our times, in which lies and distortions can be spread like wildfire on the Internet and Mainstream Media until they seem to be true—whether they are or not.
???What news sources do you believe?
—We need younger presidents, says David Von Drehle in the Washington Post. I agree: Lincoln was 52, Teddy Roosevelt was 42, FDR was 51, Truman was 50, JFK was 43. Most Congressional leaders serve until they are far too old. Pelosi 77, McConnell 76, Schumer 67, Hoyer 78, Ditto Supreme Court Justices—see ages https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-supreme-court-justice-tenure/.
—Whether you like them or not, consider our future choices and ages they will be in 2020: Trump 74, Sanders 79, Biden 78, Warren 71. I can tell you that with age comes wisdom, but also a loss of stamina, and in some cases, failing mental faculties (See my book in progress noted below). In recent past, Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton were in mid-late 60’s. Only Barack Obama was noticeably younger—and we all have opinions on how his lack of experience impacted his presidency.
The presidency of the USA is a grueling, demanding job. Not good for someone with too little experience or too much age.
???Is it time to balance age-based wisdom with a bit more youthful vigor?
How’s Trump been doing? Two persons opinions:
BASED THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA, YOU’D NEVER REALIZE WHAT PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS ACCOMPLISHED IN HIS FIRST YEAR
???How do you think Trump has been doing? On—Domestic Policy? Foreign Policy? Personal Leadership? Behavior?
—Entitlements are bursting the American budget: Nobody will touch them! The quest for more spending control and trying to limit deficits (now in the $600,000,000,000/year range) and the national debit, (now over $20,000,000,000,000!)—this is a losing battle when more than 2/3 of the annual Federal spending goes to just a few places: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Defense, and Interest (which has been unusually low due to low interest rates—which is changing now). The only way to rein these in is to change the rules. Social Security—keep edging the retirement age up toward age 70. Medicare—attack fraud vigorously—billions are bilked out of it. Medicaid—stop escalating the income level that people can earn and still qualify for it—and put it into the states’ to control based on local needs. Defense—wrong out the bureaucracy doing anything but protecting our defense.
???Do you agree with these solutions? Is there a way to get Congress and the President to take action?
—Gerrymandering will continue—albeit get modified a bit. This is largely in the hands of the states and the SCOTUS. I don’t expect big changes. One way to stop it is to require every congressional district to be made up of four straight lines and four 90 degree corners, unless the edge of a state is one of the sides (usually a river, etc.). That will infuriate everyone as traditionally political and local issues set the boundaries. The only requirement is that there be a population parity applied to reduce the influence of large concentrated cities.
???What should be done? How?
—Bring CFPB under some authority…Congress most likely. Now that Richard Cordray is out, and Trump is president, expect this to be brought under some reasonable level of reporting authority—and not the Fed as it is now.
???Should this be done? How?
—Getting deeply involved with politics is bad for your blood pressure—take my word for that. Just watching cable news or network news will often do it.
The new thresholds are lower: Was 140/90 and above was too high. Now 130/80 is the number. I’m not sure who sets these and with what level of scientific analysis. Remember that for a couple of centuries "normal” body temperature was 98.6 until we found that the measurement done way back then was wrong, and it’s really more like 98.2.
???Can you trust medical guidance, when it changes so often?
—Facts or mistakes? Fats made you fat, Carbs made you healthy. Wrong. Fats largely don’t hurt so much. Complex carbs are not so bad, but simple carbs convert right to sugar. Sugar has always been bad…but the industry hoodwinked us into not knowing that. Sugar now is the villain. Salt was always bad for you, but now the levels are disputed. Americans are overweight. Too much of too rich food. But what do the metrics tell us. (At last check Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Bruce Willis were all technically “obese.” So much for our movie heroes health.)
???What else can you think of that was one way, and now the other?
—Tesla—how long can it keep burning through cash and raising more and more money. Most of Elon Musk’s ideas are great. Simpler and more flexible platforms for cars and trucks, that run on electricity (but it is still largely generated by fossil fuels—so maybe they are not so clean after all.) His ideas like Semi-trucks seem great, but the capital required, and figuring how much weight the huge batteries will be of the total vehicle weight remains to be calculated and revealed. Making Tesla cars and small trucks, SUVs, etc. seems simple but making vehicles is anything but simple—and it’s very capital intensive. However, anyone who can send a rocket into orbit and bring it back and land it on its tail, might just be able to do all of this stuff—it investors will provide the money and wait for the returns…a long time.
???Is Tesla over—rated? How so?
—We need to get American head of household males in prime working ages back to work. How? Welfare is so lucrative that it is killing the work ethic of Americans.
What should be done that isn’t already being done?
???How about a return to WORKFARE… no welfare unless recipient work for it—doing something productive.
The Stock market is going up, up and up. Eurozone companies are doing better too. China—nobody really knows. Africa still a cauldron of turmoil, as is the Middle East. Russia is fragile but dangerous. North Korea is economically and morally bankrupt and dangerous as hell. Homegrown terrorism is a new, serious threat.
???Are things getting too overheated with false optimism? Will some global event cause a big correction? Soon?
New shingles shot is 90% effective vs. old one at 50%.
Shingles is awful and its impact can continue for years afterward.
???GET THE NEW SHOT—EVEN IF YOU HAD THE OLD ONE. I INTEND TO.
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I’M GOING TO CONTINUE THE ENTERPRISE—BUT INTERVALS WILL BE ERRATIC BASED ON CURRENT EVENTS.
HERE’S WHAT KEPT ME FROM PUBLISHING IT MORE REGULARLY IN THE 4TH QUARTER OF 2017.
1) Getting one little book published and launched: HANDS UP!—It’s not about boxing; it’s about improving your life. It’s a fun, fast read for everyone who wants to improve their life (and learn a little about boxing.) You will enjoy it! It’s on amazon.com in both paperback ($9.95) and Kindle ($2.99).
2) Working on completion of a more powerful book—working title is: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why— (subtitle is still pending) Due out in 1Q 2018—I hope!
This book follows my life from at 16 to 76, and lists 300 Lessons I learned—some good & rewarding—some bad & painful, but all of them instructive. The premise was to write a “memoirs” book to help others learn from my life, and what I learned. It was all written from memories, not documentation. Only a couple of times did I need to reach out to former colleagues to recall names and verify that I recalled events correctly. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to recall my life so well, so I’m writing down what I learned and how I learned it so others can make new, different and hopefully better decisions.
Premise "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” —George Santayana.
Or, in its broadly translated form: "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”
George Santayana.was born 1863 in Madrid, Spain & died 1952 in Rome, Italy. He was a philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist.
FYI— I’LL LET READERS OF THE ENTERPRISE KNOW WHEN ITS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER ON AMAZON.COM
3) Still working monthly with a couple of advisory clients, and one small private equity board
4) Columbus Rotary as a member/volunteer,...leading two committees,
—Chair: The Veteran Student Mentoring and Coaching in cooperation with Ohio State Veterans Affairs,
—Chair: Columbus Rotary Promotion Committee, gaining public awareness of Columbus Rotary good works, to attract donors and new members...sitting on a couple more committees:
—Member: Scholarships, which awards $125,000+/- each year; (in small—$500 to medium—$2,500 to large—$25,000 amounts) Rotarians interview & select of recipients.
—Member: Enterprise Academy—a 9 week course on life & work after school, for 30+/- Columbus High School Seniors) with Franklin University—for 1 credit hour)...and working on two others:
—Participant: Dictionary Project (distribute about 5000 dictionaries, one hand delivered by Rotarians to every third grader in their classroom at Columbus City elementary schools, and
—Participant: SSASP—Student Service Above Self Project—which involves hundreds of Columbus City School students—middle school and high school students doing over 100 community service projects, and being rewarded and recognized at a couple fo “Fairs” (think like a Science Fair but community service.
Rotary is a great club to belong to. Lots of great people, working together to do good works, help others just because it feels too. The motto: Service Above Self, says it all. I encourage anyone reading this to join a local Rotary Club and get involved. If you live near Columbus, we will welcome you.
FINALLY, THE DARWIN AWARDS posted below —KEEP US ALL HUMBLE—AND GRINNING AT TIMES…
HAPPY NEW YEAR,
JOHN
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The 2017 Darwin Awards are out...
Yes, it's that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.
Here is the glorious winner:
When his .38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach , California would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.
The honorable mentions:
The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping round, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger.. The chef's claim was approved.
A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space.. Understandably, he shot her.
After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride.
He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.
An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.
A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer... $15.
Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly... He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.
As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her That's the lady I stole the purse from."
The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash..
The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast... The frustrated gunman walked away.
[*A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]
When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street by sucking on a hose, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had and the perp had been punished enough!
In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and family....unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain lost.
Remember...
They walk among us and they can reproduce and, they VOTE!
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