Telling It Like It Is

THE ENTERPRISE: THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE SEEN, BUT NEED TO READ

MANY OF YOU KNOW I WROTE THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY  TO EXPOSE THE LOOMING THREAT OF CYBER ATTACKS.
There attacks continue today, using many of the same techniques I described in the novel almost a decade ago. For those who have not read the book, here’s the amazon link to it.  

https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Conspiracy-John-Mariotti-ebook/dp/B07932Z9YC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550679264&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Chinese+Conspiracy+++mariotti 

WE WORRY ABOUT CONVENTIONAL TERRORIST ATTACKS—SHOOTING, BOMBING, CHEMICAL WEAPONS, ETC. BUT IMAGINE THIS SCENARIO:
What Happens When Nothing Works? That was the theme line I used for THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY  . Imagine that none of our computer-based systems work at all: no email, no cell phone, no Internet, no GPS, no WiFi, no TV or radio, no Planes, no Uber, no Wall Street, no Stock Exchanges, no ATMS or bank account access, then add NO ELECTRICITY!  

CAN YOU IMAGINE A RETURN TO THE TECHNOLOGY OF A CENTURY OR MORE AGO?
This is all too possible. It is more than scary. What good would hospitals be without power or computer technology? The absolute worst event would be a low level nuke, causing an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) which essential kills all but “hardened” electrical devices, including the Power Grid.  If you want to worry about Nukes, that’s their ugliest use. Once an EMP has destroyed electrical devices, they are dead forever—unrecoverable.


THIS FROM WSJ EXPLAINS WHY AMERICA’S GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSE TO CYBER ATTACKS IS SO IMPORTANT

Download Strike Back Against Every Cyberattack - WSJ

THIS IS A LONG, BUT VERY INSIGHTFUL ARTICLE ABOUT THE RISK OF AMERICA’S POWER GRID TO BEING ATTACKED BY NATION STATES’ HACKERS. IT’S ALMOST LIKE READING A WORK OF FICTION

HERE IS THE LINK 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-electric-grid-has-a-vulnerable-back-doorand-russia-walked-through-it-11547137112

America’s Electric Grid Has a Vulnerable Back Door—and Russia Walked Through It

A Wall Street Journal reconstruction of the worst known hack into the nation’s power system reveals attacks on hundreds of small contractors 

By Rebecca Smith and Rob Barry

Jan. 10, 2019 11:18 a.m. ET

 

One morning in March 2017, Mike Vitello’s work phone lighted up. Customers wanted to know about an odd email they had just received. What was the agreement he wanted signed? Where was the attachment?

 

Mr. Vitello had no idea what they were talking about. The Oregon construction company where he works, All-Ways Excavating USA, checked it out. The email was bogus, they told Mr. Vitello’s contacts. Ignore it.

 

Then, a few months later, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security dispatched a team to examine the company’s computers. You’ve been attacked, a government agent told Mr. Vitello’s colleague, Dawn Cox. Maybe by Russians. They were trying to hack into the power grid.

 

“They were intercepting my every email,” Mr. Vitello says. “What the hell? I’m nobody.”

 

“It’s not you. It’s who you know,” says Ms. Cox.

 

The cyberattack on the 15-person company near Salem, Ore., which works with utilities and government agencies, was an early thrust in the worst known hack by a foreign government into the nation’s electric grid. It set off so many alarms that U.S. officials took the unusual step in early 2018 of publicly blaming the Russian government.

 

A reconstruction of the hack reveals a glaring vulnerability at the heart of the country’s electric system. Rather than strike the utilities head on, the hackers went after the system’s unprotected underbelly—hundreds of contractors and subcontractors like All-Ways who had no reason to be on high alert against foreign agents. From these tiny footholds, the hackers worked their way up the supply chain. Some experts believe two dozen or more utilities ultimately were breached.

 

The scheme’s success came less from its technical prowess—though the attackers did use some clever tactics—than in how it exploited trusted business relationships using impersonation and trickery.

 

The hackers planted malware on sites of online publications frequently read by utility engineers. They sent out fake résumés with tainted attachments, pretending to be job seekers. Once they had computer-network credentials, they slipped through hidden portals used by utility technicians, in some cases getting into computer systems that monitor and control electricity flows.

 

The Wall Street Journal pieced together this account of how the attack unfolded through documents, computer records and interviews with people at the affected companies, current and former government officials and security-industry investigators.

 

The U.S. government hasn’t named the utilities or other companies that were targeted. The Journal identified small businesses such as Commercial Contractors Inc., in Ridgefield, Wash., and Carlson Testing Inc., in Tigard, Ore., along with big utilities such as the federally owned Bonneville Power Administration and Berkshire Hathaway ’s PacifiCorp. Two of the energy companies targeted build systems that supply emergency power to Army bases.

 

The Russian campaign triggered an effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security to retrace the steps of the attackers and notify possible victims. Some companies were unaware they had been compromised until government investigators came calling, and others didn’t know they had been targeted until contacted by the Journal.

 

“What Russia has done is prepare the battlefield without pulling the trigger,” says Robert P. Silvers, former assistant secretary for cyber policy at Homeland Security and now a law partner at Paul Hastings LLP.

 

The press office at the Russian Embassy in Washington didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. Russia has previously denied targeting critical infrastructure.

 

Early victims

In the summer of 2016, U.S. intelligence officials saw signs of a campaign to hack American utilities, says Jeanette Manfra, assistant secretary of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity and communications program. The tools and tactics suggested the perpetrators were Russian. Intelligence agencies notified Homeland Security, Ms. Manfra says.

 

In December 2016, an FBI agent showed up at a low-rise office in Downers Grove, Ill., less than an hour west of Chicago. It was home to CFE Media LLC, a small, privately held company that publishes trade journals with titles such as “Control Engineering” and “Consulting-Specifying Engineer.”

 

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

 

In cyberattacks against U.S. power utilities, Russian hackers stole employee credentials to gain access to corporate systems, U.S. officials say.

 

Source: Department of Homeland Security

According to a CFE email, the agent told employees that “highly sophisticated individuals” had uploaded a malicious file onto the website for Control Engineering. The agent warned it could be used to launch hostile actions against others.

 

Steve Rourke, CFE Media’s co-founder, says his company took steps to fix the infected site. Before long, though, attackers laced other CFE Media trade publications with malicious content, according to security researchers at Accenture ’siDefense unit and RiskIQ, a San Francisco cybersecurity company, who later analyzed details of the attack.

 

Like lions pursuing prey at a watering hole, the hackers stalked visitors to these and other trade websites, hoping to catch engineers and others and penetrate the companies where they worked. The Russians could potentially take down “anybody in the industry,” says RiskIQ researcher Yonathan Klijnsma.

 

By planting a few lines of code on the websites, the attackers invisibly plucked computer usernames and passwords from unsuspecting visitors, according to government briefings on the attack and security experts who have reviewed the malicious code. That tactic enabled the Russians to gain access to ever more sensitive systems, said Homeland Security officials in industry briefings last year.

 

Mr. Vitello of All-Ways Excavating has no idea how the hackers got into his email account. He doesn’t recall reading CFE’s websites or clicking on tainted email attachments. Nonetheless, the intrusion was part of the Russian campaign, according to the security companies that studied the hack.

 

On March 2, 2017, the attackers used Mr. Vitello’s account to send the mass email to customers, which was intended to herd recipients to a website secretly taken over by the hackers.

 

The email promised recipients that a document would download immediately, but nothing happened. Viewers were invited to click a link that said they could “download the file directly.” That sprang the trap and took them to a website called imageliners.com.

 

The site, registered at the time to Matt Hudson, a web developer in Columbia, S.C., was originally intended to allow people to find contract work doing broadcast voice-overs but was dormant at the time. Mr. Hudson says he had no idea Russians had commandeered his site.

 

 

The day the email went out—the same day Mr. Vitello’s office phone lighted up in Oregon—activity on the voice-over site surged, with computers from more than 300 IP addresses reaching out to it, up from only a handful a day during the prior month. Many were potential victims for the hackers. About 90 of the IP addresses—the codes that help computers find each other on the internet—were registered in Oregon, a Journal analysis found.

 

SNEAK ATTACK

Hackers sent bogus emails from the account of Oregon construction contractor Mike Vitello to herd recipients to a website they had secretly taken over, called imageliners.com. Hackers then used the site to seek access to contractors that do business with U.S. power utilities.

 

 

 unique IP addresses

400

Visits to imageliners.com on March 2, 2017 

From IP addresses registered in Oregon

300

200

Several contractors receive Mr. Vitello's emailIt isn’t clear what the victims saw when they landed on the hacked voice-over site. Files on the server reviewed by the Journal indicate they could have been shown a forged login page for Dropbox, a cloud-based service that allows people to share documents and photos, designed to trick them into turning over usernames and passwords. It also is possible the hackers used the site to open a back door into visitors’ systems, giving them control over their victims’ computers.

Once Mr. Vitello realized his email had been hijacked, he tried to warn his contacts not to open any email attachments from him. The hackers blocked the message.

 

Malicious link to imageliners.com created

100

0

11

2

1

12 p.m.

11

10

9 a.m.

10

9

3

4

5

6

8

7

EST

 

All-Ways Excavating is a government contractor and bids for jobs with agencies including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates dozens of federally owned hydroelectric facilities.

 

Some two weeks later, the attackers again used Mr. Vitello’s account to send a barrage of emails.

 

One went to Dan Kauffman Excavating Inc., in Lincoln City, Ore., with the subject line: “Please DocuSign Signed Agreement—Funding Project.”

 

HACKING THE GRID

 

RUSSIAN HACKERS

DAN KAUFFMAN EXCAVATING

2 OREGON POWER COMPANIES

Sources: documents; interviews with people at the affected companies, government officials and security-industry investigators

Office manager Corinna Sawyer thought the wording was strange and emailed Mr. Vitello: “Just received this from your email, I assume you have been hacked.”

 

Back came a response from the intruders who controlled Mr. Vitello’s account: “I did send it.”

 

Ms. Sawyer, still suspicious, called Mr. Vitello, who told her the email, like the earlier one, was fake.

 

The attack spreads

One company that got one of the bogus emails was a small professional-services firm in Corvallis, Ore. That July, FBI agents showed up there, telling employees their system had been compromised in a “widespread campaign” targeting energy companies, according to the company owner.

 

After receiving Mr. Vitello’s first bogus email on March 2, a subsequent Homeland Security investigative report says, an employee at the Corvallis firm clicked on the link leading to the hacked voice-over site. She was prompted to enter a username and password. By day’s end, the cyberoperatives were in her company’s network, according to the report, which hasn’t been made public but was reviewed by the Journal.

 

They then cracked open a portal in the company’s firewall, which separates sensitive internal networks from the internet, and created a new account with broad, administrative access, which they hid from view.

 

“We didn’t know about it or catch it,” says the company’s owner.

 

HACKING THE GRID

 

 

RUSSIAN HACKERS

CORVALLIS, ORE.-BASED FIRM

3 U.K. COMPANIES

2 U.S. COMPANIES

MASSACHUSETTS POWER COMPANY

Sources: documents; interviews with people at the affected companies, government officials and security-industry investigators

In June 2017, the hackers used the Corvallis company’s systems to go hunting. Over the next month, they accessed the Oregon company’s network dozens of times from computers with IP addresses registered in countries including Turkey, France and the Netherlands, targeting at least six energy firms.

 

In some cases, the attackers simply studied the new targets’ websites, possibly as reconnaissance for future strikes. In other instances, the investigative report indicates, they may have gained footholds inside their victims’ systems.

 

Two of the targeted companies had helped the Army create independent supplies of electricity for domestic bases. 

 

On June 15, hackers visited the website of ReEnergy Holdings LLC. The renewable-energy company had built a small power plant that allows Fort Drum in western New York to operate even if the civilian power grid collapses. Fort Drum is the home of one of the Army’s most frequently deployed divisions and is under consideration to be the site of a $3.6 billion interceptor system to defend the East Coast from intercontinental ballistic missiles.

 

ReEnergy, owned by private-equity investor Riverstone Holdings LLC, suffered an intrusion but its generating facilities weren’t affected, says one person familiar with the matter. The Army was aware of the incident, said a spokesman, who declined to provide additional details.

 

That same day, the hackers began hitting the website of Atlantic Power Corp. , an independent power producer that sells electricity to more than a dozen utilities in eight states and two Canadian provinces. In addition to downloading files from the site, the attackers visited the company’s virtual private network login page, or VPN, a gateway to the firm’s computer systems for people working remotely, the report says.

 

Atlantic Power said in a written statement it regularly encounters malicious acts but doesn’t comment on specifics. “To our knowledge, there has never been a successful breach of any of the company’s systems,” it said.

 

Around midnight that June 28, the hackers used the Corvallis company’s network to exchange emails with a 20-person carpentry company in Michigan called DeVange Construction Inc. The emails appeared to come from an employee called Rick Harris—a persona fabricated by the attackers.

 

HACKING THE GRID

 

RUSSIAN HACKERS

DEVANGE CONSTRUCTION

POWER COMPANIES IN NEW YORK AND WISCONSIN

Sources: documents; interviews with people at the affected companies, government officials and security-industry investigators

DeVange Construction’s systems already may have been compromised. Applications to energy companies from nonexistent people seeking industrial-control systems jobs came from DeVange email addresses, according to security experts and emails reviewed by the Journal. Bogus résumés were attached—tweaked to trick recipients’ computers into sending login information to hacked servers.

 

The Journal identified at least three utilities that received the emails: Washington-based Franklin PUD, Wisconsin-based Dairyland Power Cooperative and New York State Electric & Gas Corp. All three say they were aware of the hacking campaign but don’t believe they fell victim to it.

 

A DeVange employee says federal agents visited the company. The company’s owner, Jim Bell, declined to discuss the incident.

 

That June 30, the hackers sought remote access to an Indiana company that, like ReEnergy, installs equipment to allow government facilities to operate if the civilian grid loses power. That company, Energy Systems Group Ltd. of Newburgh, Ind., a unit of Vectren Corp. , declines to say whether it was hacked but says it has a robust focus on cybersecurity.

 

The company’s website says one of its customers is Fort Detrick, an Army base in Maryland with a complex of laboratories that defend the nation against biological weapons. Fort Detrick referred questions to Army officials, who said they take cybersecurity seriously but declined to comment further.

 

As the summer of 2017 wore on, the attackers took aim at companies that help utilities manage their computer control systems. On July 1, the attackers used the Corvallis company to attack two English companies, Severn Controls Ltd. and Oakmount Control Systems Ltd. Next, they attacked Simkiss Control Systems Ltd. also in England, and accessed “account and control system information,” according to the government report.

 

Simkiss’s website says it markets tools that allow technicians to have remote access to industrial control networks. Among its customers are big electrical equipment makers and utilities including National Grid , which runs electric transmission lines in Britain and parts of the U.S., where it owns utilities in New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

 

Oakmount, Severn and Simkiss declined to comment, and National Grid says its cybersecurity processes are “aligned with industry best practice.”

 

By that fall, the hackers returned to Dan Kauffman Excavating in Oregon, breaching its network on Sept. 18, according to the firm. They appeared to lurk quietly for a month. Then, on the night of Oct. 18, emails blasted out to roughly 2,300 of the company’s contacts. The message said, “Hi, Dan used Dropbox to share a folder with you!” and contained a link that said, “View folder.”

 

Among the recipients: employees of PacifiCorp, a multistate utility; the Portland, Ore.-based Bonneville Power Administration, which runs 75% of the Pacific Northwest’s high-voltage transmission lines, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

 

Federal officials say the attackers looked for ways to bridge the divide between the utilities’ corporate networks, which are connected to the internet, and their critical-control networks, which are walled off from the web for security purposes.

 

The bridges sometimes come in the form of “jump boxes,” computers that give technicians a way to move between the two systems. If not well defended, these junctions could allow operatives to tunnel under the moat and pop up inside the castle walls.

 

In briefings to utilities last summer, Jonathan Homer, industrial-control systems cybersecurity chief for Homeland Security, said the Russians had penetrated the control-system area of utilities through poorly protected jump boxes. The attackers had “legitimate access, the same as a technician,” he said in one briefing, and were positioned to take actions that could have temporarily knocked out power.

 

 

PacifiCorp says it takes a multilayered approach to risk management and that it wasn’t compromised by any attack campaigns.

 

Gary Dodd, Bonneville’s chief information security officer, says he doesn’t believe his utility was breached, though it appears to have received suspicious emails from both All-Ways Excavating and Dan Kauffman Excavating. “It’s possible something got in, but I really don’t think so,” he says.

 

The Army Corps says it doesn’t comment on cybersecurity matters.

 

Going public

The U.S. government warned the public about the hacking campaign in an October 2017 advisory. It attributed it to a shadowy group, sometimes called Dragonfly or Energetic Bear, that security researchers have tied to the Russian government.

 

In March 2018, the U.S. went further, releasing a report that pinned responsibility for the hostile activities on “cyber actors” working for the Russian government, saying they had been active since at least March 2016. Governments generally have shied away from naming countries involved in cyberattacks, not wanting divulge what they know.

 

SHORT CIRCUIT

 

Russian hackers targeted utilities' control-system computers.

 

Sources: Department of Homeland Security (hacking); Department of Energy (Scada network) 

 

In April 2018, the FBI notified at least two companies by letter that they appeared to have received malicious emails from All-Ways Excavating’s Mr. Vitello. 

 

One was Commercial Contractors of Ridgefield, Wash., which helped renovate an office for the Bonneville Power Administration. Eric Money, the company’s president, says employees thought they had resisted the tainted emails. But the Journal found that a computer with an IP address linked to the company visited Mr. Hudson’s hacked voice-over site the day of the attack.

 

The other company notified by the FBI, Carlson Testing of Tigard, Ore., has done work for utilities including Portland General Electric, PacifiCorp, Northwest Natural Gas and the Bonneville Power Administration.

 

Vikram Thakur, technical director of security response for SymantecCorp. , a California-based cybersecurity firm, says his company knows from its utility clients and from other security firms it works with that at least 60 utilities were targeted, including some outside the U.S. About two dozen were breached, he says, adding that hackers penetrated far enough to reach the industrial-control systems at eight or more utilities. He declined to name them.

 

The government isn’t sure how many utilities and vendors in all were compromised in the Russian assault.

 

Vello Koiv, president of VAK Construction Engineering Services in Beaverton, Ore., which does subcontracting for the Army Corps, PacifiCorp, Bonneville and Avista Corp. , a utility in Spokane, Wash., says someone at his company took the bait from one of the tainted emails, but his computer technicians caught the problem, so “it was never a full-blown event.” Avista says it doesn’t comment on cyberattacks.

 

Mr. Koiv says he continued to get tainted emails in 2018. “Whether they’re Russian or not, I don’t know. But someone is still trying to infiltrate our server.”

 

Last fall, All-Ways Excavating was again hacked.

 

Industry experts say Russian government hackers likely remain inside some systems, undetected and awaiting further orders.

 

—Lisa Schwartz contributed to this article.
—Graphics by Joel Eastwood and Angela Calderon
Write to Rebecca Smith at [email protected] and Rob Barry at [email protected]
Appeared in the January 11, 2019, print edition as 'Russian Hack Exposes Weakness in U.S. Power Grid.’

 

AS SOCIALISTS DOMINATE THE DEMOCRAT PARTY, WANTING TO TAX THE RICH, READ THIS

Download Here's how much wealthy Americans pay in taxes | Fox Business

 

TO FINISH WITH SOMETHING POSITIVE 

READ ON…

 

BEST, JOHN

      

 

HERE'S A BONUS TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT PRO ATHLETE

 

 

Aaron Rodgers

GREEN BAY PACKERS

 

JAN 15 2019

Sharpie and The Players’ Tribune have partnered to create a series around Uncap the Possibilities, which shows how a Sharpie gives people the power to unleash their imaginations — and to express how they’d like the world to be. Here, Aaron Rodgers explains the origins of his passion for working with veterans, which led him to team up with the Wounded Warrior Project.

---

A few years ago, I was in Carlsbad, California, getting fitted for new golf clubs. Just before I went out to the driving range, somebody told me that I would be sharing the range that day.

“Great,” I said. “Who’s coming?”

“The Wounded Warriors.”

I’ve always had an appreciation for the men and women who serve in our military. My grandfather, Edward Rodgers, was active duty in the Air Force in the Second World War. His plane was shot down and he was a prisoner of war for nine months. He came home with a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.

He passed away in 1996. I had just turned 13, so I never really got a chance to spend time with him on an intellectual level, when I would have been able to understand the gravity of the stories he told or the sacrifices he and others had made while they served. But from what I know, I think that in his opinion, serving was one of the greatest achievements of his life. And I know that my family has always had a strong sense of pride about his service. 

So as far back as I can remember, an appreciation for the military is something that’s always been part of me.

It’s one of the reasons why I was so excited when I found out I would be sharing the range with the Wounded Warriors that day, and it turned out to be an incredible experience. 

I remember standing there, watching them hit balls. One warrior was a double-leg amputee. Others had lost an arm, or an eye, or were overcoming various other disabilities and challenges. And while I found myself marveling at their ability to hit the ball, what really struck me was the joy that these men and women took in getting back to doing something they had loved to do before they were in the service — before their injuries. 

 

What I took from that experience was the idea of perspective. How special the little things are — simple things, like the ability to hit a golf ball. 

Things many of us take for granted.

There are a lot of folks out there who have given their lives or their livelihood for a cause that they believe is bigger than they are. 

I think back to 2004, when I was still playing at Cal. We were in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl and some of my teammates and I visited a military hospital there and met with men and women who had been injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some had suffered gunshot wounds. Others had been caught in grenade explosions.

I obviously admired them for their courage and sacrifice. But what really struck me was that despite their injuries, some of them couldn’t wait to get back to active duty. They were pleading with their doctors to help them so they could rejoin their units and continue fighting.

The strength of the bond they had with their fellow soldiers was something that really stuck with me. I was just amazed by the selflessness they displayed and their complete devotion to — once again — something bigger than themselves.

---

The idea of being a part of something much bigger than yourself is something I have always gravitated toward. Football is the ultimate team sport. That’s one of the things I love most about it. And I think that everybody — regardless of their faith, background or whatever — is searching for something like that.

Something bigger than themselves that they can give themselves completely to.

When the opportunity presented itself to partner with the Wounded Warrior Project, for me it was a no-brainer.

 

What the WWP tries to do for veterans is give them the opportunity to live life on their own terms, take control of the narrative of their lives and allow them to get back to doing the things they enjoy doing. With all the stuff some of these veterans have to deal with — from injuries, to post-traumatic stress disorder, to potential disability, to getting back on their feet and getting a job and getting assimilated back into society — the WWP helps them achieve it.

I play in a celebrity golf tournament in Tahoe every year, and a couple of years ago I had the opportunity to play with Chad Pfeifer, a veteran who had his left leg amputated above the knee after the vehicle he was driving hit a roadside bomb in Iraq. He learned how to play golf in 2007 while he was rehabbing at an Army hospital.

Today, he’s a three-time Warrior Open champion, which is an annual tournament for veterans who have been injured in combat.

Getting to play golf with Chad for a round was fantastic. He’s a great golfer and an even better human being. Just sharing the course with him was truly inspiring.

There are a lot of Chad Pfeifers out there, I think — people who have gone through a terrible trauma, who have made such an incredible sacrifice for our country, and now they’re back out in the world doing something they love and enjoying life.

I saw a number of them that day on the driving range in Carlsbad.

But there are countless others who are struggling to assimilate back into society. They’re having difficulty finding jobs, or they’re suffering from debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder.

To me, when it comes to taking care of our veterans and helping them not just assimilate back into society, but to actually thrive, I don’t think there’s any limit to what we can and should do. 

Veterans make the ultimate sacrifice so the rest of us can enjoy the freedoms we so often take for granted. The least we can do is work to create an environment in which they can come back after serving and experience those same freedoms to the fullest and live their lives on their own terms.

I think that’s a great way to show our appreciation.

THE ENTERPRISE: INFORMATION YOU NEED, INSIGHTS YOU CAN USE

THE ENTERPRISE: INFORMATION YOU NEED, INSIGHTS YOU CAN USE 

NEWS FLASH: CHINA’S GROWTH RATE CONTINUES TO SLOW, NOW HEADING UNDER 6.5% AND LIKELY TO DROP FURTHER
Bad news for the global economy? Probably so. The real question is what it does to trade with the US and vice versa. When an economy this large has slow growth, it impacts every other trading partner—somehow.

THE US GOV’T SHUTDOWN IS COSTING AMERICA A TENTH OF A PERCENTAGE POINT IN GDP GROWTH EVERY MONTH
Will it throw American into recession? Probably not by itself, but with help from the meddling Fed—raising interest rates so they can then ride to the rescue, and lower them, hoping to prevent a recession they helped cause (too late?). Maybe.
"To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer." —Paul R. Ehrlich

TWO STEPS TO HELP YOURSELF AND OTHERS
1)Buy a copy (or two or more) of ROCKETSHIPS & PARACHUTES and READ SOME OF IT—It’s available on amazon.com. Here is a link to order: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-P —and please post a review if you like it. (If you have already read some of it and like it, please post a brief review too. Thanks. 

2) Read this edition of THE ENTERPRISE and share it with your contacts.

=====================

This lead article is not mine.It appeared in the WSJ. The main point is that while we are arguing like schoolyard kids about whether Climate Change is real, and how bad it is, we are “fouling the planet.” Of course India, China and other less developed countries are doing it worse, but no matter. 

IT’S TIME TO TAKE ACTION, SHUT DOWN THE PANICKY ANTI-NUCLEAR CROWD, AND QUIT ARGUING ABOUT FOSSIL FUELS FOULING THE CLIMATE—SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME

Only Nuclear Energy Can Save the Planet

Do the math on replacing fossil fuels: To move fast enough, the world needs to build lots of reactors

 

By Joshua S. Goldstein and Staffan A. Qvist

Jan. 11, 2019 11:57 a.m. ET

Climate scientists tell us that the world must drastically cut its fossil fuel use in the next 30 years to stave off a potentially catastrophic tipping point for the planet. Confronting this challenge is a moral issue, but it’s also a math problem—and a big part of the solution has to be nuclear power.

 

Today, more than 80% of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels, which are used to generate electricity, to heat buildings and to power car and airplane engines. Worse for the planet, the consumption of fossil fuels is growing quickly as poorer countries climb out of poverty and increase their energy use. Improving energy efficiency can reduce some of the burden, but it’s not nearly enough to offset growing demand. 

 

Any serious effort to decarbonize the world economy will require, then, a great deal more clean energy, on the order of 100 trillion kilowatt-hours per year, by our calculations—roughly equivalent to today’s entire annual fossil-fuel usage. A key variable is speed. To reach the target within three decades, the world would have to add about 3.3 trillion more kilowatt-hours of clean energy every year.

 

Solar and wind power alone can’t scale up fast enough to generate the vast amounts of electricity that will be needed by midcentury, especially as we convert car engines and the like from fossil fuels to carbon-free energy sources. Even Germany’s concerted recent effort to add renewables—the most ambitious national effort so far—was nowhere near fast enough. A global increase in renewables at a rate matching Germany’s peak success would add about 0.7 trillion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity every year. That’s just over a fifth of the necessary 3.3 trillion annual target. 

 

To put it another way, even if the world were as enthusiastic and technically capable as Germany at the height of its renewables buildup—and neither of these is even close to true in the great majority of countries—decarbonizing the world at that rate would take nearly 150 years. 

 

Even if we could develop renewables much faster, huge problems would remain. Although costs have dropped dramatically for solar and wind energy, they are not a direct, reliable replacement for coal and gas. When the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow, little or no energy is collected. And when nature does cooperate, the energy is sometimes wasted because it can’t be stored affordably. Bill Gates, who has invested $1 billion in renewables, notes that “there’s no battery technology that’s even close to allowing us to take all of our energy from renewables.” If substantially expanded, wind, solar and hydropower also would destroy vast tracts of farmland and forest.

 

What the world needs is a carbon-free source of electricity that can be ramped up to massive scale very quickly and provide power reliably around the clock, regardless of weather conditions—all without expanding the total acreage devoted to electric generation. Nuclear power meets all of those requirements. 

 

When Sweden and France built nuclear reactors to replace fossil fuel in the 1970s and 1980s, they were able to add new electricity production relative to their GDPs at five times Germany’s speed for renewables. Sweden’s carbon emissions dropped in half even as its electricity production doubled. Electricity prices in nuclear-powered France today are 55% of those in Germany.

 

So why isn’t everyone who is concerned about climate change getting behind nuclear power? Why isn’t the nuclear power industry in the U.S. and the world expanding to meet the rising demand for clean electricity? The key reason is that most countries’ policies are shaped not by hard facts but by long-standing and widely shared phobias about radiation.

 

Nuclear power is the safest form of energy by far, especially compared with coal, which continues to cause hundreds of thousands of premature deaths a year from air pollution in addition to contributing to climate change. 

 

Over six decades, nuclear power has experienced only one fatal accident, Chernobyl in 1986, which directly caused about 60 deaths and is blamed for thousands more over time from low-level radiation. That’s a serious accident, but other nonnuclear industrial accidents have been worse. A hydroelectric dam failure in China in 1975 killed tens of thousands, and the 1984 Bhopal gas leak at a Union Carbide plant in India killed 4,000 initially and an estimated 15,000 more over time. We don’t stigmatize those entire industries as a result. 

 

The 1979 accident at Three Mile Island killed no one. In Japan in 2011, the fourth largest earthquake in recorded history and a 50-foot tsunami together took almost 20,000 lives—and damaged the Fukushima nuclear facility, which leaked radiation. Exposure during the incident contributed to one worker’s 2016 death, according to the Japanese government; the badly handled evacuation of the area, by contrast, is blamed for much hardship and many deaths. 

 

Nuclear power is regulated as though any amount of radiation is extremely dangerous. Yet we all walk around in a soup of background radiation, giving us an average of about 3 millisieverts (mSv) per year but ranging up to 200 in some places, with no demonstrated harm. The occupational and medical recommendations are to stay below 50 per year. At Fukushima, only 12 individuals at the plant received more than 200 mSv, and nobody outside the plant exceeded 50. It’s possible to measure and track very low levels of radiation, but those levels are harmless. 

 

Nor is nuclear waste the insurmountable problem that the public has been led to believe. The volumes are tiny, unlike the vast quantities of equally toxic waste from coal and other fuels. An American’s entire lifetime of electricity use powered by nuclear energy would produce an amount of long-term waste that fits in a soda can. All spent fuel from U.S. reactors over the past 60 years would fit on a football field, stacked 20 feet high. Today we store spent fuel at reactor sites in concrete casks (radiation does not escape the concrete) that will be safe for a hundred years. After that, the waste can be burned in reactors that are currently being designed, or it can be buried permanently.

 

All the reasons put forward to oppose nuclear power amount to over-hyped fears that in no way stack up to the real dangers facing humanity from climate change.

 

Nuclear power, if scaled up in a way that has already been shown possible, would easily compete on price with fuels that pollute far more. South Korea, which has built 10 of its reactors based on the same design, already produces nuclear power at or below fossil-fuel prices. Recent American and European efforts to build first-of-a-kind reactor designs in a hyper-regulated environment have led to large cost overruns and delays. But in the coming years, the world can build reactors centrally, at factories or shipyards, using standardized designs, and achieve costs below other fuels. We can create hundreds of reactors per year world-wide and meet the world’s enormous need for clean energy. 

 

It is a win-win strategy, giving humanity its only viable path to stop a climate catastrophe while providing poorer countries with the energy they need to grow. It’s the only strategy that adds up.

 

—This essay is adapted from the authors’ new book, “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow,” published by PublicAffairs. Mr. Goldstein is a professor emeritus of international relations at American University; Mr. Qvist is an energy engineer and consultant.

 

=====================

APPLE HAS TROUBLE SELLING THE iPhone XR. 

IT’S THE IDEAL COMBINATION OF FEATURES AND TECHNOLOGY

And its the cheapest of the new iPhone releases. It’s battery lasts longer.It’s functionality is all there. And did I say, it’s cheaper? Why is it not selling best of all. Nobody seems to know. It’s a no-brainer best buy of current models. Apparently, Apple users who blindly follow and buy the latest and most expensive model don’t care.

 

NEW, INDEFENSIBLE ADDON FEES TO EVERYTHING YOU BUY

Caveat Emptor—Latin for “buyer beware” applies when you look at your cable TV bill, your phone bill, your airline ticket price detail, your rental car contract, your hotel bill, and almost anything else you are buying. Hotels may have taken the award with their “Destination Fee.” a $25-50 feel because you got to your destination—What? Find these bogus fees. Challenge them. Maybe even make a scene. Some are negotiable. Some are not. You won’t know until you complain.

 

A SECOND WSJ PIECE—AN EDITORIAL—SHOULD FRIGHTEN ALL AMERICANS

Stealing votes is a long standing tradition in America dating back to the old days in Chicago where the motto was “vote early and vote often,” as the Richard Daley the elder Democratic party would flood ballot boxes with votes for people long deceased, and name found in many other places.

 

SHOULD WOMEN SERVE IN COMBAT UNITS? NO MATTER HOW TOUGH OR WELL TRAINED CAN A 130 LB. WOMEN RESCUE A 220 LB. FELLOW SOLDIER WHO IS INJURED OR INCAPACITATED?

 

A WSJ OpEd piece written by a woman, says NO. The response has been immediate. Here’s a link to the counterpoint to this statement about women not serving in combat units. I guess it depends on what they are asked to do. Genetically, men are stronger, have stronger more dense bones (other than in their heads!), men are more muscular, designed by nature to hunt and fight and protect families. So if women (know as the weaker sex for years) want to be part of Army combat units—shouldn’t they have to pass all the same tests? Even those that “discriminate against them” because of their gender.

 

https://taskandpurpose.com/veterans-women-combat-units

 

Here’s a link to the original article. Read it and form your own opinions.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/women-dont-belong-in-combat-units-11547411638

=====================

 

THIS IS SCARY, AND CAN CHANGE THE ENTIRE DEMOCRATIC VOTING PROCESS IN THE USA

 

Harvesting Democratic Votes

Liberals want to impose the California voting model on all 50 states.

 

By The WSJ Editorial Board Jan. 18, 2019 7:09 p.m. ET

 

Democrats in Congress are making election reform their top legislative priority, and we’ve criticized it as a majority protection act. To understand why, consider that Democrats are trying to do for the country what they’ve done with election laws in California. 

 

The Golden State is where Republican candidates went to bed on election night in November with leads in most of their competitive House races, only to lose in the ensuing weeks of vote counting. In Orange County, Young Kim was poised to become the first Korean-American woman in Congress, with a sizable lead on Election Day over her Democratic opponent. She lost by three percentage points. Republican Rep. Mimi Walters’s 6,074-vote lead on Nov. 6 turned into an 11,866-vote loss to Democrat Katie Porter.

 

 

The GOP wipeout came after the Democrats who dominate Sacramento passed laws aimed at greasing their voting machine. The project started in 2015 when California became the second state after Oregon to move to automatic voter registration. 

 

Can’t be bothered to register? California does it for you, automatically adding to its rolls any person who has any interaction with its Department of Motor Vehicles. The system is already a threat to ballot integrity, with the DMV acknowledging in September it had incorrectly registered 23,000 voters.

 

In 2016 California passed the Voter’s Choice Act, which allows counties to mail every voter a ballot. Lots of Californians use mail voting, though previously they had to request it. Now ballots arrive automatically, whether voters want one or not. Thirteen million California voters received ballots in the mail last year, compared to about nine million in 2014.

 

The biggest score for Democrats is a separate 2016 law pushed heavily by unions that legalized what’s known as ballot harvesting. This allows any person—union activists, canvassers, community organizers, campaign staff—to show up at homes and collect mail ballots on behalf of voters. 

 

California law also allows counting mail ballots postmarked or delivered on Election Day, as well as same-day registration and liberal use of provisional ballots. This year the Democratic vote totals piled up long after the polls closed. Fred Whitaker, chairman of the Orange County GOP, has estimated that an extraordinary 250,000 mail-votes were dropped off on Election Day thanks to harvesting.

 

All of this is carefully designed to enhance Democratic turnout. Media stories have detailed a sophisticated operation that pinpointed Democratic voters and deployed volunteers to harvest door-to-door. Republicans struggled to get conservatives to hand ballots over to strangers, and Democrats can’t be blamed for better organization.

 

But California law also creates opportunity for fraud and coercion. Voters in a 2017 special election for an open seat in the California state Assembly reported activists harassed them at their doors to fill out ballots for specific candidates and hand them over. 

 

This creates opportunities for harvesters to “help” voters complete their ballots, or even pay to finish them, and it’s easy for the unscrupulous to lose ballots they think may go for the wrong candidate. This is why ballot harvesting is illegal in many states, or at least limited to drop-offs by family members.

 

House Democrats are now moving to impose much of this on the other 49 states. Their For the People Act, or H.R.1, would require all states to adopt automatic voter registration based on names in state and federal agency databases. This means anyone receiving federal food stamps in, say, Ohio, would be automatically registered to vote. 

 

The bill also requires states to allow same-day and online voter registration. It mandates looser rules on provisional ballots, requires every state to provide two weeks of early voting, prohibits restrictions on mail voting, and limits states’ ability to remove voters from rolls. Oh, and it will require that the United States Postal Service deliver ballots for free. Vote harvesting isn’t in H.R.1 but give Democrats time.

 

All this is an affront to the American tradition of letting states set their own election rules. Few states have automatic registration, on the principle that voting is voluntary. Even liberal Slate magazine, in suggesting that the House bill would “Save American Democracy,” acknowledged that some of the bill might not survive Supreme Court scrutiny.

 

California has become a one-party state, and Democrats have used their dominance to make it even harder for Republicans to compete. Now they want to use their new House majority to do the same for the rest of America. The Senate can stop them for now, but look out in 2021.

 

Appeared in the January 19, 2019, print edition

TO ROBOT OR NOT TO ROBOT?

What country has the most robots power 10,000 manufacturing workers? USA? NO WAY…it is 7th. South Korea with 710, followed by Singapore with 658, Germany with 322, Japan with 308 and after Sweden and Denmark, the USA with 200. This from the International Federation of Robotics. Do robots cost people jobs? At first YES, while the displace workers. Later, NO, as they improve quality and lower costs. Replacing workers with robots and automation in general is a good idea when people costs (wages and benefits) are high. Watch for more robots in the future—some where you least expect them—in your grocery stores—checking for safety hazards (slip, trip and stumble) and checking stock to see that the right things are in the right places with the right prices on them. Coming soon to a store near you.

 

LONELINESS—THE NEXT EPIDEMIC?

People don’t join clubs like they used to. Then don’t congregate and talk to each other as much either. Now their noses are in their cell phone or tablet or streaming TV set. Loneliness causes many sed effects. it gets worse with older folks too—but it isn’t limited to the elderly. Young people are getting lonelier too. Loneliness and shorten a person’s life by as much as 15 years!So get out there and join a club, meet some people, do some good, gather and interact. You’ll be happy you did.

 

All the best

JOHN

 

 

 

 

THE ENTERPRISE--THE NEW YEAR 2019...ARE YOU READY FOR WHAT IT BRINGS?

STOCK MARKET VOLATILITY AND DEMOCRATS TAKING OVER THE HOUSE (PELOSI IS BACK)

2019 started out not with a bang, but with a whimper. If you are invested in the stock market, you have at least 10% less wealth than you did just a month ago. Depending on which stocks you held, it might be 20% less wealth. If you are on fixed income from investments, or no longer are earning much money, this is big hit. The natural reaction is SELL…which is exactly the wrong reaction. 

 

THE STOCK MARKET CONTINUES TO FLUCTUATE WILDLY, DRIVEN BY ECONOMIC NEWS AND ELECTRONIC PROGRAM TRADING

The US economy is still doing OK. Christmas was a good one. Consumers were confident and spending—wisely, but aggressively. However, the huge decline in the stock market, driven by myopic Fed policy, and computer driven program trading, has and will further dampen optimism.  When will it bottom? Will it rebound, or will it trigger and consumer pullback and threaten the long postponed recession.  The next few months will tell that story. The recession alarms are wailing, but business conditions are too good for them to overcome—for now!

 

FOLLOW THE BUFFETT RULE:

Warren Buffett had it right:buy low and sell high(in stocks and investments that is). Selling after the market plummets is doing just the opposite. Selling low locks in your decline in value and gives you less money to buy back when you think the market is beginning to rise again. When will it begin to rise? Nobody knows. Sooner or later it will, because the value underpinning these stocks didn’t evaporate. It was just believed to be overstated. Maybe it was; maybe it wasn’t. Like driving through bad weather, rain or snow, a steady hand on the wheel will more likely get you through safely—but it’s very hard to sit there and do nothing.

 

ONE INVESTMENT IS A SURE THING: BOOKS, FOR YOURSELF AND ESPECIALLY AS GIFTS—THEY JUST KEEP ON GIVING!

ROCKETSHIPS & PARACHUTESCAN CHANGE THE LIVES AND CAREERS OF EVERYONE YOU GIVE A COPY.

Order multiple copies now: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-PA gift for that hard to buy for person—or for all those you care about. When the Christmas cookies or wine or fruit baskets are all gone, a good book will remain, and be even more valuable as time goes on. Spend 30 minutes with a cup of coffee or tea and read pieces of ROCKETSHIPS & PARACHUTES—You will find idea after idea to help you in your career, business and life.

 

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE ALREADY READ ROCKETSHIPS & PARACHUTES,PLEASE POST A BRIEF REVIEW ONAMAZON.COM

Reviews matter, and the more good ones (5-star), the more likely the book will move up the popularity charts.

https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_wr_but_top?ie=UTF8&channel=glance-detail&asin=1545316406

 

THIS YEAR SIGNALED THE DEPARTURE OF TWO LEGENDARY AMERICAN RETAILERS: TOYS R US & SEARS. 

Sears has been declining for years. When the stores are all be gone Sears will join other legendary retailers as a chapter in America’s development as a consumer society. A trip to the now deserted stores will tell you all you need to know. It is the classic story of “creative destruction” written large, and strung out for a decade while Eddie Lampert’s ESL “picks the bones clean.” Everyone in retail is scrambling for pieces of the toy business. Walmart and amazon.com are likely winning that one based on their sheer size and scope.

 

WALMART AND AMAZON ARE BATTLING IT OUT EVERYWHERE

In case you haven’t noticed, Walmart is acquiring boutique store chains (Bonobos, Eliquis, ModCloth, et. al. and some larger product lines (most recentlyArt.com, the largest seller of framed art in America). While Walmart's iconic stores remain much the same, an upgrading is occurring—and faster than would be expected. In e-commerce, Walmart.comis still far behindamazon.comas thefirst choicefor on-line shoppers, butWalmart is now the dominant second choice and growingeveryday. While concentrating on keeping its stores and merchandise appealing to customers, Walmart is barreling into e-commerce going after the digital realm, and growing fast—maybe faster than amazon.com would like.

 

BIG BOX STORES ARE GETTING SMALLER—AND SO ARE MANY OTHERS.

Macy’s is rolling out smaller stores within stores. The amount of space needed to display goods is shrinking, because the other display—on the Internet—takes no real estate and offers a nearly infinite assortment, with competitive prices. One of these days, retailers will reinvent retail again, so the stores don’t need to be so large and full of merchandise that may or may not sell.

 

WORKERS CONTINUE TO BE IN SHORT SUPPLY (Especially truck drivers)

It seems that many recent graduates are still “underemployed,” but given their choices of what to study in college and their helicopter-parent coddled upbringing, they are learning that they are not “owed an opulent lifestyle.” Gen Z workers will have a disruptive effect on employers too. To save space I have included only the link to this article.It is a must read for anyone concerned about how this new generation will change so much in the American landscape. READ IT NOW! https://www.wsj.com/graphics/genz-is-coming-to-your-office/

 

DO YOU KNOW WHAT “GHOSTING” MEANS—IT WILL SOON BE MORE WIDELY DEFINED

Ghosting was a term invented to describe “no shows” on the dating scene. Now it is also becoming the term to describe missed interviews, or unannounced disappearing from jobs, work and even careers. People just don’t show up for their job. (or interviews), no contact, no warning, no notice—poof! They are just gone. Frustration is one cause. Failure to live up to (inflated) expectations is another. Restlessness due to any number of other causes (roommate “ghosted" on them and they can’t afford the rent alone) including thereal world expectation that workers must show up, on time for work, all the time, and actually work once they get there. Shocker!

 

WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF AN ERA WHEN RADICAL, DISRUPTIVE INNOVATIONS ARE EMERGING FASTER AND FASTER

Companies how fail to keep up or lead in the use of Artificial Intelligence, predictive analytics forecasting, and a endless variety of on-line, mobile devices to access, shop, and order and track goods. Soon a visit to the Dr. will be replaced by a virtual visit, on line, enhanced video visit with diagnostics done on smart phones and medications ordered electronically and delivered the next day. Full service Doctors will be in short supply, but Physician’s Assistants and Nurse Practitioners will be more numerous, and work under the direction (perhaps on-line, not in person) of a Doctor to consult on more complex cases and patients.

 

REMEMBER ROADMAPS? AND CARDBOARD BOARDING PASSES FOR AIRPLANES, AND MOVIE TICKETS, AND A HOST OF OTHER OLDER WAYS

Count how many people show their cell phone screen to the scanner to get into movies or board planes. Card swipes have morphed into insert or bump or scan.

 

LET’S GO GLOBAL TO DISCOVER STILL MORE 2019 ISSUES:

1) The US National Debt is headed for $20+ Trillionandand nobody in any position of importance is doing anything about it. Entitlements are eating the US budget alive. Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid (fastest growing one, full of waste and fraud), Pension promised that cannot be funded or fulfills, and someday soon, Interest on the debt which will double from $500 billion to $1 trillion/year if interest rates jump to historic levels like 5%!Nobody in elected office dares suggest that there are only two solutions: 1) lower the costs by tightening and reducing benefits and changing the qualifying age and income levels and 2) raise taxes to pay for it all, which will have a dampening effect on the economy overall.WHILE TRUMP AND CONGRESS ARGUE OVER A FEW BILLION FOR “THE WALL,” THE ECONOMY IS “BURNING.”

 

Download ‘Means Tested’ Welfare Means Nothing in Practice - WSJ

 

2) CHINA WILL MISS IT’S ECONOMIC TARGET (+6.5% GROWTH) AGAIN. It is becoming serious about continuing to raise levels of debt to prop up economy that simply is running out of room to grow. Twenty percent (20%) of those big apartment buildings you see in pictures of Chinese cities are VACANT!The threat OF US-CHINA trade conflicts will further worsen China’s challenges. As it spends to clean up its air, water and land pollution that is killing its people, it struggles with more and more problems of developing countries. China’s is also continuing to be found culpable in hacking cyber-crimes, the latest involving chips & circuits hidden in products it makes to sell around the world. This is the latest insult piled on China’s theft of Intellectual Property for the US and other trading partners.

 

Yet China continues to spend on military and expansionist efforts to become the dominant country in the world—claiming vast swaths of the South China sea, dredging up and building islands fo military bases, building the “Great New Silk Road” (see map), and vying for routes across the Arctic, clears of ice by global warming (caused by China & India’s continued pollution). 

 

 

3) A 2000 year old religious institution is rocked to its foundation: The Catholic Church.The granddaddy of religions (which spawned most of the Protestant religions) has a moral problem of epic proportions—clergy, priests and even higher ranks, in huge numbers who are being found guilty of sex abuse of young males going back decades. Church hierarchy buried this problem by moving priests around, concealing their transgressions. Even Cardinals and Bishops, the church’s upper levels were guilty themselves of hiding or committing these heinous acts. This is especially troubling to the millions of Catholics around the world who were subject to some of the harshest rules and restrictions about their religious and personal lives. They now are leaning that the forced celibacy on members—priests and higher—and terrible unintended consequences. No simply solution is in sight and even the Pope and Cardinals, the Church top leaders, cannot agree on what to do next. Meanwhile Catholics leave the church in disgust. Sad.

 

ON A POSITIVE NOTE: TRUMP IS REVILED AND HATED BY MEDIA AND OPPONENTS, HIS ACTIONS HAVE HELPED AMERICA COMPETE AGAIN.

 

Download America Is Competitive Again - WSJ

 

OK, THAT’S PLENTY FOR NOW. 

I WANT TO WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

 

NO MATTER HOW MANY OUR ISSUES AND PROBLEMS,THE USA IS WHERE EVERYONE WANTS TO COME,TO ENJOY THE FRUITS OF THEIR LABOR AND HAVE A GOOD LIFE.APPRECIATE WHAT WE HAVE. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

 

JOHN

 

THE ENTERPRISE--THE NEW YEAR 2019...ARE YOU READY FOR WHAT IT BRINGS?

STOCK MARKET VOLATILITY AND DEMOCRATS TAKING OVER THE HOUSE (PELOSI IS BACK)

2019 started out not with a bang, but with a whimper. If you are invested in the stock market, you have at least 10% less wealth than you did just a month ago. Depending on which stocks you held, it might be 20% less wealth. If you are on fixed income from investments, or no longer are earning much money, this is big hit. The natural reaction is SELL…which is exactly the wrong reaction. 

 

THE STOCK MARKET CONTINUES TO FLUCTUATE WILDLY, DRIVEN BY ECONOMIC NEWS AND ELECTRONIC PROGRAM TRADING

The US economy is still doing OK. Christmas was a good one. Consumers were confident and spending—wisely, but aggressively. However, the huge decline in the stock market, driven by myopic Fed policy, and computer driven program trading, has and will further dampen optimism.  When will it bottom? Will it rebound, or will it trigger and consumer pullback and threaten the long postponed recession.  The next few months will tell that story. The recession alarms are wailing, but business conditions are too good for them to overcome—for now!

 

FOLLOW THE BUFFETT RULE:

Warren Buffett had it right:buy low and sell high(in stocks and investments that is). Selling after the market plummets is doing just the opposite. Selling low locks in your decline in value and gives you less money to buy back when you think the market is beginning to rise again. When will it begin to rise? Nobody knows. Sooner or later it will, because the value underpinning these stocks didn’t evaporate. It was just believed to be overstated. Maybe it was; maybe it wasn’t. Like driving through bad weather, rain or snow, a steady hand on the wheel will more likely get you through safely—but it’s very hard to sit there and do nothing.

 

ONE INVESTMENT IS A SURE THING: BOOKS, FOR YOURSELF AND ESPECIALLY AS GIFTS—THEY JUST KEEP ON GIVING!

ROCKETSHIPS & PARACHUTESCAN CHANGE THE LIVES AND CAREERS OF EVERYONE YOU GIVE A COPY.

Order multiple copies now: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-PA gift for that hard to buy for person—or for all those you care about. When the Christmas cookies or wine or fruit baskets are all gone, a good book will remain, and be even more valuable as time goes on. Spend 30 minutes with a cup of coffee or tea and read pieces of ROCKETSHIPS & PARACHUTES—You will find idea after idea to help you in your career, business and life.

 

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE ALREADY READ ROCKETSHIPS & PARACHUTES,PLEASE POST A BRIEF REVIEW ONAMAZON.COM

Reviews matter, and the more good ones (5-star), the more likely the book will move up the popularity charts.

https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_wr_but_top?ie=UTF8&channel=glance-detail&asin=1545316406

 

THIS YEAR SIGNALED THE DEPARTURE OF TWO LEGENDARY AMERICAN RETAILERS: TOYS R US & SEARS. 

Sears has been declining for years. When the stores are all be gone Sears will join other legendary retailers as a chapter in America’s development as a consumer society. A trip to the now deserted stores will tell you all you need to know. It is the classic story of “creative destruction” written large, and strung out for a decade while Eddie Lampert’s ESL “picks the bones clean.” Everyone in retail is scrambling for pieces of the toy business. Walmart and amazon.com are likely winning that one based on their sheer size and scope.

 

WALMART AND AMAZON ARE BATTLING IT OUT EVERYWHERE

In case you haven’t noticed, Walmart is acquiring boutique store chains (Bonobos, Eliquis, ModCloth, et. al. and some larger product lines (most recentlyArt.com, the largest seller of framed art in America). While Walmart's iconic stores remain much the same, an upgrading is occurring—and faster than would be expected. In e-commerce, Walmart.comis still far behindamazon.comas thefirst choicefor on-line shoppers, butWalmart is now the dominant second choice and growingeveryday. While concentrating on keeping its stores and merchandise appealing to customers, Walmart is barreling into e-commerce going after the digital realm, and growing fast—maybe faster than amazon.com would like.

 

BIG BOX STORES ARE GETTING SMALLER—AND SO ARE MANY OTHERS.

Macy’s is rolling out smaller stores within stores. The amount of space needed to display goods is shrinking, because the other display—on the Internet—takes no real estate and offers a nearly infinite assortment, with competitive prices. One of these days, retailers will reinvent retail again, so the stores don’t need to be so large and full of merchandise that may or may not sell.

 

WORKERS CONTINUE TO BE IN SHORT SUPPLY (Especially truck drivers)

It seems that many recent graduates are still “underemployed,” but given their choices of what to study in college and their helicopter-parent coddled upbringing, they are learning that they are not “owed an opulent lifestyle.” Gen Z workers will have a disruptive effect on employers too. To save space I have included only the link to this article.It is a must read for anyone concerned about how this new generation will change so much in the American landscape. READ IT NOW! https://www.wsj.com/graphics/genz-is-coming-to-your-office/

 

DO YOU KNOW WHAT “GHOSTING” MEANS—IT WILL SOON BE MORE WIDELY DEFINED

Ghosting was a term invented to describe “no shows” on the dating scene. Now it is also becoming the term to describe missed interviews, or unannounced disappearing from jobs, work and even careers. People just don’t show up for their job. (or interviews), no contact, no warning, no notice—poof! They are just gone. Frustration is one cause. Failure to live up to (inflated) expectations is another. Restlessness due to any number of other causes (roommate “ghosted" on them and they can’t afford the rent alone) including thereal world expectation that workers must show up, on time for work, all the time, and actually work once they get there. Shocker!

 

WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF AN ERA WHEN RADICAL, DISRUPTIVE INNOVATIONS ARE EMERGING FASTER AND FASTER

Companies how fail to keep up or lead in the use of Artificial Intelligence, predictive analytics forecasting, and a endless variety of on-line, mobile devices to access, shop, and order and track goods. Soon a visit to the Dr. will be replaced by a virtual visit, on line, enhanced video visit with diagnostics done on smart phones and medications ordered electronically and delivered the next day. Full service Doctors will be in short supply, but Physician’s Assistants and Nurse Practitioners will be more numerous, and work under the direction (perhaps on-line, not in person) of a Doctor to consult on more complex cases and patients.

 

REMEMBER ROADMAPS? AND CARDBOARD BOARDING PASSES FOR AIRPLANES, AND MOVIE TICKETS, AND A HOST OF OTHER OLDER WAYS

Count how many people show their cell phone screen to the scanner to get into movies or board planes. Card swipes have morphed into insert or bump or scan.

 

LET’S GO GLOBAL TO DISCOVER STILL MORE 2019 ISSUES:

1) The US National Debt is headed for $20+ Trillionandand nobody in any position of importance is doing anything about it. Entitlements are eating the US budget alive. Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid (fastest growing one, full of waste and fraud), Pension promised that cannot be funded or fulfills, and someday soon, Interest on the debt which will double from $500 billion to $1 trillion/year if interest rates jump to historic levels like 5%!Nobody in elected office dares suggest that there are only two solutions: 1) lower the costs by tightening and reducing benefits and changing the qualifying age and income levels and 2) raise taxes to pay for it all, which will have a dampening effect on the economy overall.WHILE TRUMP AND CONGRESS ARGUE OVER A FEW BILLION FOR “THE WALL,” THE ECONOMY IS “BURNING.”

 

Download ‘Means Tested’ Welfare Means Nothing in Practice - WSJ

 

2) CHINA WILL MISS IT’S ECONOMIC TARGET (+6.5% GROWTH) AGAIN. It is becoming serious about continuing to raise levels of debt to prop up economy that simply is running out of room to grow. Twenty percent (20%) of those big apartment buildings you see in pictures of Chinese cities are VACANT!The threat OF US-CHINA trade conflicts will further worsen China’s challenges. As it spends to clean up its air, water and land pollution that is killing its people, it struggles with more and more problems of developing countries. China’s is also continuing to be found culpable in hacking cyber-crimes, the latest involving chips & circuits hidden in products it makes to sell around the world. This is the latest insult piled on China’s theft of Intellectual Property for the US and other trading partners.

 

Yet China continues to spend on military and expansionist efforts to become the dominant country in the world—claiming vast swaths of the South China sea, dredging up and building islands fo military bases, building the “Great New Silk Road” (see map), and vying for routes across the Arctic, clears of ice by global warming (caused by China & India’s continued pollution). 

 

 

3) A 2000 year old religious institution is rocked to its foundation: The Catholic Church.The granddaddy of religions (which spawned most of the Protestant religions) has a moral problem of epic proportions—clergy, priests and even higher ranks, in huge numbers who are being found guilty of sex abuse of young males going back decades. Church hierarchy buried this problem by moving priests around, concealing their transgressions. Even Cardinals and Bishops, the church’s upper levels were guilty themselves of hiding or committing these heinous acts. This is especially troubling to the millions of Catholics around the world who were subject to some of the harshest rules and restrictions about their religious and personal lives. They now are leaning that the forced celibacy on members—priests and higher—and terrible unintended consequences. No simply solution is in sight and even the Pope and Cardinals, the Church top leaders, cannot agree on what to do next. Meanwhile Catholics leave the church in disgust. Sad.

 

ON A POSITIVE NOTE: TRUMP IS REVILED AND HATED BY MEDIA AND OPPONENTS, HIS ACTIONS HAVE HELPED AMERICA COMPETE AGAIN.

 

OK, THAT’S PLENTY FOR NOW. 

I WANT TO WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

 

NO MATTER HOW MANY OUR ISSUES AND PROBLEMS,THE USA IS WHERE EVERYONE WANTS TO COME,TO ENJOY THE FRUITS OF THEIR LABOR AND HAVE A GOOD LIFE.APPRECIATE WHAT WE HAVE. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

 

JOHN

 

THE ENTERPRISE 1.0—WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? COMMON SENSE MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA

Clearly the future holds a divided Congress and the likely resulting gridlock: A GOP Senate and a House Democratic majority (who are determined to do anything possible to stop, punish and get rid of President Donald Trump by any means necessary). 

Another election/voting debacle continues in Florida as Democrats  ignore the rules of legal voting and try to “steal” the Senatorial seat from Rick Scott and the Governor spot from Ron DeSantis. The term "legitimate elections” is an oxymoron to Democrats—unless they are the winners. Where will this stop? Nowhere unless new laws with the teeth of criminal sentences are passed—and enforced rigidly.

 

HERE’S A COMMON SENSE IDEA TO LEGITIMIZE US ELECTIONS: A SECURE VOTER PHOTO ID CARD.

I just went in to get my new secure Driver’s License. I had to show a Passport, my old Driver’s license, a document to verify my Social Security number and a document showing my current address—that would go on my license, take an eye test, and have my picture taken. Now consider the ridiculous argument that many (mostly Democrats make) that requiring a photo ID is a form of voter suppression. 

 

"COMMON SENSE PART 1” MAKE AND/OR ENFORCE LAWS ON VOTING, IMMIGRATION, GUN CONTROL  AND MORE…

Make the laws, then enforce the  laws. If laws exist, there’s no need to make more. Just strict enforcement of what’s already in place.

 

COMMON SENSE PART 2: MAKE SURE VOTERS ARE WHO THEY CLAIM TO BE AND ARE LEGALLY QUALIFIED TO VOTE.

Listed below are 25 things that currently require a photo ID (in the USA). Can anyone seriously tell me that people who meet these, cannot get a photo-voter ID needed to vote? (The same partisans who drive many of them to the polls and help  tell them how to vote, can do the same to get their photo ID.

 

The food stamps and welfare and Medicaid requirements along with the citizenship requirement would cover the vast majority of those "poor people" whose votes would (supposedly) be suppressed by the requirement for a photo-voter ID. Voting is a right, but it’s also a privilege, and along with it comes the responsibility to follow the rules—register, identify your self, have your vote in by deadlines, etc. 

 

25 things that currently require a photo ID (in the US) 

1. buy alcohol, 
2. buy cigarettes, 
3. open a bank account, 
4. apply for food stamps,
5. apply for welfare
6. apply for Medicaid/Social Security
7. apply for unemployment and/or a job
8. rent of buy a house and get a mortgage
9. drive, buy and/or rent a car
10. get on an airplane
11. get married
12. buy a gun
13. adopt a pet
14. rent a hotel room
15. apply for a hunting license
16. apply for a fishing license
17. buy a cell phone
18. visit a casino
19. pick up a prescription
20. hold a rally or protest
21. donate blood
22. buy an M rated video game
23. buy nail polish at CVS
24. buy certain cold medicines
25. apply to and become a citizen of the US

It's time to legitimize our voting process and get rid of ballot tampering? In my life, when Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (the elder) was in charge, the Democrat motto was “Vote early; Vote often!” It’s time for that kind of nonsense to be put into the dark days of the past.

 

For that matter, it's time for a national secure photo ID to help control our immigration processes? 

People who argue that it would compromise privacy, are simply alarmists (or people who should be ID’d). 

If amazon.com can track me and millions of packages, and suggest what else I might want to buy, we know the technology exists to track immigrants that enter our country—before, and during legalization.

 

ONE OF MANY ENCOURAGING COMMENTS TO MY THE ENTERPRISE 1.0 AND 2.0 RECENT EDITION

 

This is especially rewarding to me since the person who wrote it is a retired CIA Station Chief, one of whose posts was oversight for Weapons of Mass Destruction for the CIA in Russia in the 1990’s (I think, exact timing was classified.) He provided valuable feedback when The Chinese Conspiracy was just being released (He had retired but also had a posting in SE Asia before retiring.)

 

"Excellent.  Keep the faith and continue to blot out any self doubt.  You are a man for all seasons possessed of exceptional experience and business acumen. No need to get approval of your subscribers at this point.  I would assume that individuals on your address lists know and appreciate you for who you are and that you are a man of integrity and values.  Enough said.  Semper Fi.  Warm regards…"

 

This man is one of two retired CIA officials I got to know personally. The other one, Herb Meyer, was the first person in the Reagan CIA organization to predict the fall of the Berlin Wall. He is still actively writing and sharing some of his work. His latest (2016) is available on amazon.com— at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Why-World-Dangerous-Herb-Meyer/dp/0935166106?ie=UTF8&keywords=why

 

 

IF THIS DOESN’T FRIGHTEN YOU, IT SHOULD

Download Hillary Will Run Again - WSJ

History has proven that there is no extent to which this woman—Hillary Clinton—and her husband Bill, and their many Democrat supporters, will not go to further their causes and personal prominence and wealth. She is dangerous. Remember the quote: "Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury, like a woman scorned.” —William Congreve 1697

 

Peggy Noonan is one of the voices of reason in our media full of biases, fake news, and outright publicity hounds.

This column is worth reading and passing on. I hope you will.

 

Download America Could Use Some Deals - WSJ

 

 

Opinion: Democrats hate our constitutional system

 

David HarsanyiPublished 10:07 p.m. ET Nov. 14, 2018

 

In liberals' imaginations, there are only four ways to lose elections -- and none has to do with their leftist turn, their hysterics or their one-dimensional identity politics. Democrats say they lose because of gerrymandering, voter suppression (sometimes known as asking for ID), Russian mind-control rays deployed by social media, and our antiquated and unfair Constitution.

That last excuse is becoming increasingly popular among pundits who continue to invent new crises to freak out about.

Take Vox's Ezra Klein, a longtime champion of direct democracy: "I don't think people are ready for the crisis that will follow if Democrats win the House popular vote but not the majority," he tweeted before the midterms. "After Kavanaugh, Trump, Garland, Citizens United, Bush v. Gore, etc, the party is on the edge of losing faith in the system (and reasonably so)."

The "House popular vote" now joins the "national popular vote" and "Senate popular vote" as fictional gauges of governance used by Democrats who aren't brave enough to say they oppose the fundamental anti-majoritarianism that girds the Constitution.

Otherwise, why would Democrats lose faith in a "system" that is doing exactly what was intended? The Constitution explicitly protects small states (and individuals) from national majorities. The argument for diffusing democracy and checking a strong federal government is laid out in The Federalist Papers and codified on an array of levels. This was done on purpose. It is the system.

I mean, do Democrats really believe that the Electoral College was constructed to always correspond with the national vote? Do they believe that the signers of the Constitution were unaware that some states would be far bigger than others in the future? If the Founding Fathers didn't want Virginia to dictate how people in Delaware lived in 1787, why would they want California to dictate how people in Wyoming live in 2018? If you don't believe that this kind of proportionality is a vital part of American governance, you don't believe in American governance.

You can despise Brett Kavanaugh all you like, but why would Democrats lose faith in "the system" that saw Republicans follow directions laid out in the Constitution for confirming a Supreme Court nominee? Why would Democrats lose faith in "the system" that elected Donald Trump using the same Electoral College that every other president used? Why would they lose faith in a system that houses a Supreme Court that stops the other branches from banning political speech? When the Supreme Court affirmed the election of George W. Bush, it turned out to be the right call.

It's because they see the system as a way to achieve partisan goals, not as a set of politically neutral idealistic values.

It's not a civics problem, either. One hopes that such liberal activists as NBC News' Ken Dilanian, who wonders "how much longer the American majority will tolerate being pushed around by a rural minority," understand sixth-grade civics. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman surely knows that the Constitution doesn't give "disproportionate weight" to smaller states. It intentionally gives all states the same weight in the Senate. Krugman only finds this idea "disproportionate" because it protects millions of Americans from the centralized coercive state that he envisions for them. The disproportionality he sees merely reflects his own concerns. It has nothing to do with the system.

Also, rural America doesn't bully people such as Dilanian. The federal government was never supposed to be this powerful. Those in non-"forward-moving" America -- those dummies Krugman would like to nanny from Washington -- don't very much care how Dilanian lives. He, on the other hand, has big plans for them.

It should be noted that these majoritarians throw millions of Americans aside to make this argument. We don't know how a national majority would vote. There are many millions of Republicans in New York and California who don't involve themselves in the futility of state politics. Those who rely on a "Senate popular vote" are being particularly dishonest, considering California didn't have a Republican on the ballot Tuesday. There are more Republicans in California than there are in Wyoming.

But as you can see on Election Day, liberals have made "democracy" -- a word mentioned zero times in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence -- into a sacramental rite. Getting more votes in an election outweighs the inherent rights of liberty that are laid out in our founding documents -- unless, of course, a right happens to intersect with some advantageous partisan idea, e.g., birthright citizenship; then Democrats become strict originalists.

The only reason these folks who claim to want to save Constitution from Trump see crisis in the system is that it fails to deliver for them politically. They're not losing faith in the system. They just don't like the system.

----------------------

David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist and the author of the book "First Freedom: A Ride Through America's Enduring History With the Gun."

THAT’S PLENTY FOR TODAY. LET’S HOPE THAT NO ELECTIONS GET ALTERED ILLEGALLY, BUT EITHER THE RUSSIANS, OR THE OPPOSING PARTY.

 

JOHN

 

ROCKETSHIPS & PARACHUTES is available on amazon.com

Please buy your copies NOW! Here is a link to order:

https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-P

 

THE ENTERPRISE 2.0.1 is the 1st non-political, business & life oriented edition—"Timeless Truths"

NOTE: THE ENTERPRISE 2.0 is the non-political, business and life oriented version of THE ENTERPRISE. 

Where politics and public policy are mentioned or involved are instances when those are hopeless intertwined with the business principles being covered.

 

I PROMISED I’D START FROM MY ROOTS IN BUSINESS, AND LIFE, AND HERE GOES. (THE ENTERPRISE 2.0 = TE2.0)

My general idea is to start with how businesses (and organizations) begin, and follow the steps that lead them to succeed and grow. There are many lessons in nature that I’ll call on to help illustrate my points. I’ve written so many columns and posts, that I’m likely to repeat things that I’ve described before. That’s OK. Some experts say that until you’ve heard something seven times, you really don’t grasp and remember it. (I’ll try to avoid repeating things more than seven times.)

 

TIMELESS TRUTHS

Most of these are "timeless truths." No matter how the technology changes, the earth is inhabited by humans—who only change very slowly—if at all. Thus, human behavior is at the core of many timeless truths. There are also core principles of leadership, and management that are so fundamental, I consider them timeless truths. 

 

As I write editions for TE2.0, I will use many of these truths as the fundamentals—the underpinnings of my writing and premises on which it is based. I will also cite, quote and excerpt from, and sometimes expand on (or update) parts of my 12 business books. 

 

If the truth below is marked “Lesson," it’s explained further in my latest bookRocketships & Parachutes—365 Lessons to launch and land your career (https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-P) There are a lot of "timeless truths" in its 365 lessons. Everyone so far has been very happy with it. I hope you’d get a copy —and review it—feedback is very valuable.

 

Twenty-five Timeless Truths

1. Lesson: Integrity is like virginity; you either have it or you don’’t.
2. Walk your talk, because if you don’t, people will stop believing you and trusting you.
3. What goes around, comes around. (If you behave and treat others badly, “you’ll get yours” in return—someday.)
4. There's no such thing as a free lunch—in life, business, or in government. (Anything “free” is paid for by someone.)
5. Government was created to work for the people; not vice versa; intended to do the limited range of things people can’t do alone.
6. Lesson: Nothing good comes easily. Hard is good; if it was easy, someone would have already done it before you got the chance.
7. Lesson: If you really need something, you’ll pay for it, whether you buy it or not.
8. Lesson: You don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.
9. Lesson: Always tell the truth, but not every truth needs to be told.
10. Lesson: Facts are inconvenient things. They don’t change in the face of assumptions or opinions.
11. Figures don’t lie, but liars figure. Beware.
12. To solve any problem: 1) understand and define it; 2) then solve it. (Not vice versa.)
13. Lesson: There is no substitute for personal discipline and accountability.
14. Lesson: The customer may not always be right, but the customer is always the customer.
15. Business is a game where the score is kept in money.
16. Lesson: Everybody has a boss—figure out who is yours.
17. Lesson; [In business] Cash is like oxygen. When you run out of it, you die.
18. Lesson: There is no substitute for being ready.
19. Lesson: When opportunity comes knocking, take it. You might not get another chance.
20. Lesson: "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail." —B. Franklin
21. There are very few rotten people, but "it only takes one rotten apple to spoil the whole bushel."
22. Lesson: The people who were present when problems arose are seldom the ones you need to fix the problems. 
23. Lesson: To make significant change, you must change significant people.
24. To have a partner, you must be a partner.
25. Lesson: Do the right thing, you’ll know it when it comes along.

HOW DO BUSINESSES (AND ORGANIZATIONS) GET STARTED?

Someone recognizes a need, that is going unfulfilled. It might be for a product or a service or some combination of those. Once a need (or a want) recognized, someone is likely to try fulfilling it. When that happens, the creator usually tries to exchange that product or service for something else of value. Long ago, they might barter it (trade it) for something they needed (like food, etc.). As time went on, currency (money) was created as the universal form of value to exchange for products or services. 

 

Commerce began and small, often one-person businesses were born. When the demand for whatever was created exceeded what the initial founder (creator) could supply, s/he enlisted others (sometimes family members) to help deliver more. If outsiders were needed, they were compensated with something of value (perhaps livestock or crops or many other things. Finally currency in the form of promissory noted evolved into money (Often a promissory note worth value from some issuing government entity.) Businesses aimed for profit—to get more value than they gave, but some chose to be non-profit, simply satisfied to exchange equal value.

 

Entire books have been written about this kind of topic, but this is enough to get us started. 

 

At times, when an unmet need is recognized, totally new products or services are devised to fill that need. More on that idea later. 

I’ll also add more Timeless Truths to the list in future TE2.0 editions, as they seem appropriate.For now, just read and think about them and imagine all your experiences in which you found them to be true (or not?). 

 

Does the accelerating advance of technology change these much, or at all? Absolutely. The issue is how? Perhaps the pervasive reach of communications devices allows easier, faster and far-reaching communication, but does it really change what is being communicated? Yes and no. 

 

The words may be the same but absent the expression and body language of face to face, or even voice to voice communication, the new electronic version become less personal. It is also far easier to offend or irritate someone without realizing it—because there is no immediate feedback to how the words written came across different than intended. 

 

Arguing via email or text is a really bad idea. It gets ugly fast. Emojis somewhat evolved as a (poor) electronic substitute for the missing body and facial language and feedback. Read aloud what you type into the device and imagine you were saying that to the person opposite you. How would that turn out? Not so good, right? The fix it and try again. 

 

Text and email are efficient—fast and asynchronous (the two parties don’t need to be present at the same time as the communication occurs). That’s a benefit, and a risk. However, until a personal rapport exists, be very careful.

 

What is the central element of these timeless truths?Human behavior.

Let’s stop now, to let you think, before continuing.

 

Best, 

JOHN

 

PS: To those who long for the old version of THE ENTERPRISE, if you see this and send me an email, I will your name will remain on a list to get something like that. This presumes enough of you ask for it. If you don’t want the old one, (which will be very infrequent and only when critical issues are dominating the conversations,)withinsay so, and I’ll delete your address.

 

 

 

 

BIG UPDATE ON THE ENTERPRISE--SOME GOOD ADVICE AND A DECISION LONG PAST DUE...

MY LAST EDITION OF THE ENTERPRISE STRUCK NERVES OF A LOT OF READERS, BUT MORE THAN THAT, IT PUSHED ME INTO A DECISION I HAD BEEN CONSIDERING FOR A LONG TIME

 

PART ONE— THE FEEDBACK:

I normally get feedback, and often it disagrees with what I said. This time it was more than usual and several pieces of input or advice came from people whose opinions I respect.  

 

—One in particular was not very delicate--a colleague called it “crap” and “garbage.” I responded with my rationale for what I wrote and why (and respectfully disagreed about it being “garbage.”)  But his opinion weighs heavily on my mind. 

 

—A second one caused me to think hard, and finally decide to do two things: 

It was from an experienced editor-in-chief I have gotten to know, Alan Miller of the Columbus Dispatch. 

I find the Dispatch to be one of the best newspapers I read, and Miller to be an excellent leader and journalist. I also read the WSJ, some of Columbus Business First, and The Week, but I just read snippets from other papers—like the Washington Post and a few European papers—on the Internet.

 

When you write and post directly, as I’ve done for 20 years in THE ENTERPRISE, you have no editorial input to help you with your perspective. That can be a problem, especially if you don’t realize when you are “cranky” or “irritated” about the entire political landscape, (as I was this past week, and a lot lately) and there is no one at hand to debate or moderate your opinions before you publish.

 

I agreed with Alan to post his response to me, with attribution, because it is well thought out and valuable.

John: 

"It is factually inaccurate to say that the media hate Trump. When you hold your employees or your children accountable, is that hate?

 

The media report how the president behaves, and how that squares with the facts, the law, the expectations for the person holding the office of president -- and how people react to all of that. That is not hate. That is doing our jobs. For you to say that we "hate" him is to suggest that we are motivated by hate to go at him in some sort of vindictive rage. That is false.

 

You are as responsible for what you publish as I am for what I publish. Every word matters, so please get it right. And I'd appreciate it if you would share this with your audience and not lump all of us in one basket of deplorable media folks, which is what you did today."

 

Alan Miller, Editor in Chief, Columbus Dispatch

 

Earlier note to Alan from me: We have had enough discussions for you to know I don’t lump the Dispatch with papers like the NYTimes. I respect what you and the Dispatch publish—even when I disagree with it—it is head and shoulders above most newspapers which is why I read it all the time—before even the WSJ. 

 

PS: In all honesty, I do think at least some of the NYTimes editorial staff actually do “hate” Trump—or at least that is how its reporting strikes me.

 

PART TWO—A BIG DECISION (FOR ME ANYWAY)

 

THE ENTERPRISE was born in the turmoil surrounding 9/11. I was forwarding a third party outlook on the economy and adding my comments on how managers and executives might deal with the issues of the time. As time went on, the third party material was available all over the internet, so I dropped it and simply added commentary.   

 

Because the actions of government impact the economy and create issues faced by companies, managers and executives, I migrated over to commenting on those. From there it was a slippery slope to getting sucked into the no-win maelstrom of partisan political commentary. This is an area rife with controversy, opinions and emotions. 

 

That means one of my old sayings comes to mind: “Whenever you try to please everyone, someone won’t like it.”  In politics and political commentary, that’s truer than ever. It’s getting harder and harder to find a path to the truth, and even harder to steer a patch through the partisan, polarized, minefield of political beliefs and opinions.  I didn’t start out to be here—so now is a good time to move back to my roots.

 

MY DECISION: I have decided to take THE ENTERPRISE back to where it started—a commentary on business, the economy (careful—politics influences it a lot) and managerial/leadership topics and related topics of interest to busy people, coping with business, technology and organizational issues, and the constant challenge of finding profitable growth, without introducing crippling complexity.

 

That is where most of my experience lies (not politics), and where I can help more people, in more ways.  I believe this will be time well spent for me—and more of a benefit to readers—than adding one more voice added to the excessive cacophony of political commentary.  

 

That’s it. A significant decision and a big change in focus for me—and for anyone who reads THE ENTERPRISE. 

I hope readers will like this decision and find THE ENTERPRISE to be a valuable resource going forward.  

 

Frequency will still vary, but roughly every few (2-3+/-) weeks, depending on time and content, and another one will show up in your email box. (If you want to OPT-OUT, just reply to my email. If you aren’t interested in the content, the DELETE key is on the upper right of your keyboard.)

 

THANKS FOR BEING LOYAL READERS FOR THESE MANY YEARS.  A Preview of things to come—and series of snippets from my latest book Rocketships & Parachutes—365 Lessons fo launch and land your career,  and excerpts from others of my dozen books that I thing will be useful or interesting.

 

WHERE ARE WE HEADED? WHAT’S NEXT? AND HOW MUCH FASTER WILL DISRUPTIVE CHANGE COME?

The new aspect of THE ENTERPRISE will deal with the current, rapidly changing, accelerating and DISRUPTIVE changes that are challenging leaders everywhere. If you have not thought about this, consider this: It took humans a million+ years to discover fire, a few thousand years to invent the printing press and the telescope, and only the next few centuries to develop the telegraph, the steam engine, gas powered autos, the telephone, then the Space Shuttle and then the Internet, which came onto the scene in the mid 1990’s.  

 

The first iPhone was introduced only 11 years ago, and in that same era Web pages exploded in number and texting, Facebook, Google, Twitter, et. al. expanded to billions of users and messages—often in just a day’s time. Streaming video is replacing Cable & DVDs, etc. to be followed by—what? And how soon? Moore’s Law may be facing it’s limits—or it may not—no matter! As the planet’s population soars past 7 billion is it headed to 10 billion, or will it plateau? Nobody really knows.  

 

People don’t talk to each other as they used to. The text, they tweet, they email, or post on Facebook, and more. However, something is lost in all these digital ones and zeros replacing face to face, tone of voice, body language and facial expressions. 

 

Can it be recovered? Should it? What’s coming next? Behaviors will change to accommodate these interpersonal changes. 

How? Who knows? All we know is that tomorrow's knowledge and speed of change will dwarf what we knew yesterday.

there tLet’s figure it out together as people with common goals—to do better and to be better, and to work together to make the world a better place.

 

Thus I am looking forward to THE ENTERPRISE’s new era—trying to figure it all out, and share some of it with you. 

Hold on, it will be a bumpy ride. (Rocketships are always bumpy on liftoff!)

 

JOHN

 

 

Rocketships & Parachutes—365 Lessons fo launch and land your career,

ORDER THE BOOK HERE Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-P

Kindle: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-PK

 

 

 

 

THE ENTERPRISE--PIVOTAL MID-TERM ELECTION IS ONLY 2 MONTHS AWAY--VOTE TO KEEP GOP CONTROL OF CONGRESS

 

 

BARACK OBAMA IS BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT OF THE NEWS MEDIA WHO LOVE HIM (AND HATE TRUMP)

PS: OBAMA IS NOT RUNNING FOR ANYTHING EXCEPT HIS OWN PERSONAL GLORY AND HIS “LEGACY"

Obama made a practice during his presidency of blaming someone else for everything and anything that went wrong. He uses his teleprompter aided oratory to spin webs of what he would do, has done, and why anything bad that happened was someone else’s fault.

He’s BAACK—like the Terminator that never goes away. He wants to hoodwink the independents and moderates to believe hmagain. He really wants to add to his personal glory and defend his legacy. He can and will throw all the rocks he wants at Trump (who is methodically dismantling Obama’s legacy, but also deserves many of the things he is accused of being—an egotist, a narcissist, a blowhard, and too often factually-challenged).Trump also deserves credit for caring deeply about America and Americans!

 

WHAT OBAMA IS NOW TRYING TO DO IS TAKE THE CREDIT FOR THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY MADE POSSIBLE BY TRUMP’S ELECTION AND HIS ACTIONS

As much as Trump’s Tweets and overlong speeches are excessive, he has made almost all of the right decisions. The economy shows it, and no matter how long Obama talks, he can’t claim he did that.I predicted that the US economy would not fully recover as long as Obama and his anti-business policy wonks were in control. That was true. Now it is recovering. Confidence is up. Unemployment is way down.Minorities—especially blacks and Hispanics are doing better than ever. Everyone is doing better, 

 

The only reason jobs numbers aren’t up even more, is thatcompanies can’t find people to hire(that can pass drug tests). BarackObama’s welfare state took so many peopleout of the workforce and into the stay-at-home, do nothinglifestyles(except demonstrate now & then)and collect a government check—or several.

 

1) TRUMP’S POLICY AND NEGOTIATING STRATEGY IS CLEAR—IF YOU UNDERSTAND NEGOTIATIONS.

Thehigher your initial demands are, until they far exceed the bounds of credibility (and even then),the higher your result will be.

This has been proven over and over all the way back to my first negotiation training with Chester Karrass organization in the 1970’s—and it is still true now. Trump learned it in the big time real estate business, where price high, then negotiate down the where a DEAL can be closed. It works—in real estate and in domestic and foreign relations. (e.g., NAFTA, NATO, etc.!)

 

2) TRUMP’S FOREIGN RELATIONS TACTICS COME FROM MACHIAVELLI (OR SONNY CORLEONE)

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”Trump knows that by cozying up to Putin and Kim, and complimenting them, (while the liberal media and pols scream) they will feel like "he’s with them.” (Trump may understand that because others do it to him all the time.) Then he leaves, and turns his staff loose to impose even tougher sanctions on them. He’s in the midst of a protracted back and forth with Xi of China too. Iran knows Trump isn’t kidding because he clamped down on Obama & Kerry’s folly, which Iran was pretending to conform while violating in secret (ICBMs for just one example, selling nuke tech for another).

 

3) TRUMP’S MOST VISIBLE FAILURE IS IN CHOOSING AND HIRING PEOPLE WHO PRETEND TO BE LOYAL

A loyal person is valuable—if they are genuine—and if they arecompetent.Trump has erred on both counts. (e.g., Flynn, Priebus, Sessions and OMG—Omarossa—really Donald?) Many of Trump’s picks for his administration are like him—wealthy, successful business people—and then bring the conflict of interest baggage with them. There’s no dismissing this failure. Fortunately, he picked a few good ones and they are serving him—and us—well, but steering him through his fits of meteoric histrionics, and finding sensible and sound decisions that he can back into. Generals Kelly & Mattis, Pompeo, etc. N

 

4) TRUMP’S LEGAL ISSUES WILL CONTINUE TO MOUNT—HOPEFULLY FENDED OFF—TEMPORARILY

The Mueller investigation is totally out of control.Here’s the best recap of why that is true:

 

Download When Justice Is Partial - WSJ

 

WITH ALL THAT OUT OF THE WAY—CONSIDER THE MIDTERMS: DO YOU REALLY WANT NANCY PELOSI BACK IN THE LINE OF SUCCESSION?

Hell NO!The speaker of the House IS two heartbeats away from the White House. Aside from her misguided California “nutty” policies, having her in that seat is just SCARY. We’ve seen that before. Remind your voting age friends and family that Margaret Thatcher was right. “Other peoples money runs out"—and the working people get stuck with the bills.

 

DO YOU REALLY THINK THE BIG GOVERNMENT, FREE EVERYTHING (PAID FOR BY TAXPAYERS AND DEBT) IS THE RIGHT COURSE

It’s been proven time and again. Obama’s non-recovery that he handed over to Trump to make a real recovery is only one instance. Take most major US cities and a few states (Obama’s home state of IL) have proven to be dismal failures. Mounting deficits, impossible budgets, businesses baling out, and crime running rampant. 

 

If you vote for the Democratic candidate—no matter what they say they’ll do—they won’t. They’ll toe the party line and take America back to low growth—except in government— which will once again explode.Why? Because “government knows best” what is good for you. —You get that, right?

 

READ THIS AND USE IT TO DISSUADE THEM FROM VOTING FOR PEOPLE LIKE SANDERS, WARREN AND THE OTHER DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS WHO WILL BE RUNNING FOR CONGRESS

 

Download How to Argue With a Young Socialist - WSJ

 

NOW IS THE TIME TO STEP UP—WE ARE THE ONES WHO CAN MAKE/KEEP AMERICA GREAT AGAIN—BY KEEPING THE DEMOCRATS FROM CONTROLLING CONGRESS—ONE VOTE AT A TIME—GETTING EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO VOTE GOP

To every American who is currently appreciating the economic recovery stimulated by President Trump and the GOP Congress (albeit it has been of modest —choose the GOP candidate in your District. Go meet with him/her, help shape the policy, but most of all donate to their campaign (yes small donations add up!) and educate your family’s Millennial or GenZ voters 

 

This November the moneyed elite who fund the increasingly Socialistic Democratic party, aided and abetted by the heavily Liberal mainstream media (NYTimes, WashPost, et. alcollusionwith CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc.) are dumping everything (with $$$ from George Soros, etc.) they have to elect Democrat lefty liberals to the House and Senate.

 

The large number of retiring GOP Congressional Representatives is asymptomof the failure of the very narrow Senate majority to move the many bills passed in the House on to the President’s desk to become law.

 

The retiring incumbentrs' frustration has been palpable—and well deserved. Many were good people, who simply got tired of passing bills to serve their constituents and help rebuild America after Barack Obama left it in a mess, only to see them die in 

the Senate because a couple of Senators had their own selfish agendas.

 

Obama’s weakness abroad led to terrible —or no— practical foreign policies.Obama’s flawed and failed economic policies costAmericans$18 Trillion (see article below). Eighteen Trillion Dollars!

 

AS I WARNED—NO REAL RECOVERY WOULD COME WITH OBAMA IN THE WHITE HOUSE—and it didn’t! This article belowexplains why. It also explainswhy a Trump presidency, however you may feel about Trump the man, is good for America and Americans.

 

 

The Good Times Can Roll On

The economy isn’t on a ‘sugar high.’ Pro-market policy improved incentives to work and invest.

By Edward C. Prescott and Lee E. Ohanian

Aug. 23, 2018 6:30 p.m. ET

Some Keynesian economists argue that the U.S. economy’s recent uptick is only a “sugar high.” They predict that the slow-growth conditions of the Obama years will soon return. But this pessimistic view is misguided. Better economic policies are the primary reason the economy has improved since 2016. If pro-growth policies remain in place, the economy’s strong performance will likely continue.

 

The growth paths in a market economy depend on the quality of government policies and institutions.These affect the incentives to innovate, start a business, hire workers, and invest in physical and human capital.If policies are reformed to increase incentives for market economic activity—as many have been under President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress—then investment and labor input expand as the economy rises to a higher growth path. Once the economy reaches its new growth path, labor and investment stabilize at higher levels.

 

When policies change to depress these incentives, the economy moves onto a lower long-run growth path.That happened after the 2007-09 recession. Because of the severity of the downturn, the economy recovered organically to some extent. But that partial recovery stalled by the end of 2014 because of higher tax rates and increased regulation. These policies produced a long-run growth path below the pre-recession path.

 

It’s clear the recovery ended in 2014 because the two hallmarks of recovery—investment’s share of gross domestic product and labor input relative to the adult population—stopped increasing. This left a large gap between actual output and the output level that would have occurred had the economy recovered to its pre-recession growth path.According to our calculations, the U.S. cumulatively lost about $18 trillion in income and output between 2007 and 2016. Everything suggested this shortfall would persist or even grow. 

 

Yet economic performance began to improve beginning in the first quarter of 2017. Real GDP growth accelerated to about 2.7% between the end of 2016 and the second quarter of 2018, up from about 2% between 2014 and the end of 2016. The share of GDP devoted to nonresidential business investment rose to a historic high. 

 

The best measure of labor input—the total number of market hours worked divided by the 16-and-older population—is growing faster than in 2014-16, and is now close to its all-time high. This is all the more impressive since the growth rate of the working-age population is slowing. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the current economy: The emergence of better job opportunities has reduced the number of people on disability. This has led the Social Security Administration to reverse its previous warning that the disability system would become insolvent as soon as 2023. 

 

U.S. economic performance is the strongest in years. One policy driving this turnaround is the substantially lower corporate-tax rate, which has made the U.S. more competitive with other countries. Regulatory changes—such as the partial rollback of Dodd-Frank and new leadership within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—also have proved helpful, particularly for small businesses, which are benefiting from lower record-keeping and compliance costs. Meanwhile, the number of regulatory pages in the Federal Register has been cut by a third since President Obama’s last year in office. That’s a major reason the National Federation of Independent Business reports that more small-business owners are hiring than ever. They’re also increasingly optimistic about the future of the U.S. economy.

 

As the two hallmarks of recovery are still rising, the economy likely has not reached its new, higher growth path. This means that the U.S. can expect above-normal growth in the coming months, possibly even years. 

 

Growth rates could improve with further policy changes. One example is a reduction in trade barriers. Since the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was signed 70 years ago, international commerce has expanded dramatically, hugely benefiting U.S. consumers by lowering prices and increasing the variety of available goods. The average household’s benefits from trade are greater than $10,000 a year, according to the Tax Foundation. Further cooperative trade agreements—rather than wide-ranging tariffs—would expand these already large benefits.

 

A second area for reform that could put the U.S. on a still-higher growth path is health care. The rise of health-care costs is the most important reason wages have not increased more for U.S. workers. The extra compensation is swallowed up by health-insurance premiums. Expanding medical savings accounts and decoupling health plans from employment would create incentives for both consumers and their health-care providers to economize on health-care spending. This would lower costs without compromising quality.

 

U.S. economic performance over the past decade illustrates the substantial influence of government policies on growth. While some are reluctant to admit it, the current performance is a result of policies that basic economic theory tells us will increase investment and hiring. Even greater prosperity is possible if policy makers stay the course and continue to implement pro-market economic policies. 

 

Mr. Prescott, a 2004 Nobel economics laureate, is director for the Center for the Advanced Study in Economic Efficiency at Arizona State University. Mr. Ohanian, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, is associate director of the center at ASU.

Appeared in the August 24, 2018, WSJ print edition.

A DISASTER FOR AMERICA—“CRAZY BERNIE SANDERS”—THE "DONE-NOTHING” SO-CALLED “INDEPENDENT” SENATOR (Socialist=make everything free/let "working Americans" pay for it) IS TOUTING PLANS SO IRRESPONSIBLE THEY ARE UNBELIEVABLE EXCEPT TO THE NAIVE AND UNIFORMED.

Now the Democratic party is reacting to its rigging of the Democratic primaries last time so Hillary Clinton would win, and Sanders could not. Both were terribly flawed candidates. One was a “crook;” the other was “crazy.” You can decide which is which. Current Democratic stalwarts like Elizabeth Warren (“Pocahontas” according to Trump) is only slightly less bad than Sanders. Party leaders like Chuck "Two-faced” Schumer and Nancy Pelosi (Really, her again!?) are a sorry lot, whose hypocrisy knows no bounds. They make Trump’s ranting sound good.

 

What Kind of Socialist is Bernie Sanders?

The kind that doesn’t argue with redistributing $32.6 trillion.

By James Freeman

Aug. 21, 2018 7:22 p.m. ET

Is Bernie Sanders a socialist like Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, whose mania for wealth redistribution has brought a country to its knees? Or, as Mr. Sanders suggests, is he merely a “socialist” in the manner of Scandinavian politicians, who presided over thriving free economies before imposing entitlement programs and have since cut corporate tax rates to allow economic growth to fund their promises?

 

The reaction of Sen. Sanders to a critique of his single-payer health care plan may be instructive. Recently in the Journal, former Social Security and Medicare trustee Charles Blahous forecast the spending required to allow Mr. Sanders to implement his vision of changing health care for every American. Mr. Sanders calls it “Medicare for All.” Mr. Blahous, now at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, explained what it could mean for all taxpayers: 

 

According to my calculations, paying for every American’s health-care expenses would increase federal spending by $32.6 trillion over the first decade of Medicare for All. Even if Congress were to double what it collects in individual and corporate income taxes, there still wouldn’t be enough money added to the federal coffers to finance the costs of this plan.

While such large amounts of money are difficult to comprehend, my cost estimate is essentially a lower bound. Medicare for All’s actual price tag would likely be even higher. 

 

If the Blahous analysis is even close to accurate, it’s a damning indictment of the Sanders plan. How many politicians have even considered wealth redistribution on such a scale? Certainly one would expect a spirited rebuttal from just about any American or Scandinavian elected official accused of planning such an explosion of taxpayer obligations. Remember, before a single nickel is spent on a Sanders-style makeover of American health care, the Congressional Budget Office is already forecasting that U.S. government debt held by the public will surge over the next two decades to 118% of GDP from its current 78%.

 

Well, Mr. Sanders has lately been pushing back, but he’s not quarreling with the idea that he will be pulling huge sums out of the private economy and into his new health bureaucracy. Instead he’s arguing that this huge federal money grab will be worth it because it will allegedly result in lower overall U.S. health care spending.

 

No doubt mindful that government services are not generally regarded as models of efficiency and thrift, Mr. Sanders is now appealing to the authority of a third party to back his claims of future cost savings. 

 

Specifically, he’s pretending that the same analysis that exposed the gargantuan size of his new taxpayer burden also concluded that the plan would reduce overall medical costs. This week Mr. Sanders tweeted that “the Mercatus report found that the American people would save $2 trillion over 10 years under Medicare for All.”

 

But Mr. Blahous of Mercatus found no such thing. For the purposes of his analysis he simply evaluated the Sanders plan on its own terms and accepted the senator’s assumptions about his ability to ratchet down payments to doctors and hospitals. As Mr. Blahous wrote in the Journal: 

 

My projection generously assumes the plan would succeed in lowering prescription-drug costs and that administrative costs would somehow be less than half what they are among private insurers.

Most important, it assumes Medicare for All would successfully cut all health-care provider payments down to Medicare’s reimbursement rates, which are more than 40% lower than private insurance rates—and even below providers’ costs of delivering services. Moreover, it assumes that Medicare for All will somehow do all this without disrupting the availability and quality of health care....Without such cuts, Medicare for All would drive national health costs further upward, and the federal price tag would be $38 trillion during its first 10 years.

The Sanders whopper has proven to be too much even for CNN and the oddly namedFactCheck.org.

 

What kind of socialist is Bernie Sanders? The kind that demands $32.6 trillion from taxpayers to alter their medical care and then misleads them about the imagined benefits. 

AS USUAL I TRY TO FINISH WITH SOMETHING INTERESTING AND UPLIFTING 

Steve Jobs died a billionaire at age 56. This is his final essay: (Not verified but still good).

 

I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world.In some others' eyes, my life is the epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, my wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to. At this moment, lying on my bed

and recalling my life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in have paled and

become meaningless in the face of my death.

 

You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone bear your sickness for

you. Material things lost can be found or replaced. But there is one thing that can never be found when it's lost - Life. Whichever stage in life you are in right now, with time, you will face the day when the curtain comes down.

 

Treasure love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well and cherish others. As we

grow older, and hopefully wiser, we realize that a $300 or a $30 watch both tell the same time. You will realize

that your true inner happiness does not come from the material things of this world. Whether you fly first class or economy, if the plane goes down - you go down with it. 

 

Therefore, I hope you realize, when you have mates, buddies and old friends, brothers and sisters, who you chat with, laugh

with, talk with, have sing songs with, talk about north-south-east-west or heaven and earth, that is true happiness! Don't educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy. So when they grow up they will know the value of things and not the

price. Eat your food as your medicine, otherwise you have to eat medicine as your food.

 

The One who loves you will never leave you for another because, even if there are 100 reasons to give up, he or she will

find a reason to hold on. There is a big difference between a human being and being human. Only a few really understand it. 

You are loved when you are born. You will be loved when you die. In between, you have to manage!

 

The six best doctors in the world are sunlight, rest, exercise,diet, self-confidence and friends

 

To readers in Mid-Ohio District 12:TROY BALDERSON NEEDS CONTINUED SUPPORT SQUEAKED OUT A WIN IN OHIO’S 12TH DISTRICT SPECIAL ELECTION TO THE HOUSE…NOW HE NEEDS ANOTHER ONE IN NOVEMBER—(PLEASE HELP IF YOU VOTE IN THAT DISTRICT) DEMS BIG MONEY IS FLOODING IN TO OPPOSE HIM—SENSING THE SEAT AS AVAILABLE TO “BUY!"

Balderson was not the most dynamic candidate (in comparison to prior incumbent Pat Tiberi’s 17+ years of experience). However Pat wasn’t always a seasoned and senior member of the House. He earned that spot and the respect that went with it over a period of years—and so, hopefully will Troy—given time and the chance (assuming he wins again in November.) FYI-Tiberi endorsed Balderson, as did Kasich and Trump—both!).

 

DANNY O’CONNOR WAS A PERFECT NAIVE “FRESH-FACE” DEMOCRAT—NO HISTORY, NO RECORD, & NO RELEVANT EXPERIENCE. 

He was carefully scripted, to fool many people, (even smart ones at the Columbus Dispatch) by saying that he’d be a “moderate” and reach across the aisle to the GOP. No way the Democratic leadership would allow that. The first time he reached across the aisle, he’d get his hand and arm cut off (by party leadership.) He would be a fresh face and a good puppet, but he would also be a “babe in the woods” (or maybe “Daniel in the lion’s den” is more accurate.) Why? Read on.

 

O’Connor had NO legislative experience AND very limited "life experience" (at age 31.) He was a County Recorder—a purely administrative position.His relative youth might please the GenZ and younger Millennial voters (who also lack that life experience), but they’s be wrong.Danny showed how limited and timid he was when MSNBC’s “attack dog” Chris Matthews refused to accept O’Connor's scripted remarks—even when he repeated the script 4-5 times. Matthews just kept asking, until O'Connor had nothing else to say—and caved,admitting that he'd support the party and leader—whoever that was, including Pelosi.

 

 

ENJOY THE LAST OF A HOT SUMMER

 

JOHN

 

THE ENTERPRISE—A FAVOR, A RANT, A FEW OPINIONS—AND A LITTLE HUMOR—TO HELP KEEP US SANE

FIRST THE FAVOR: PLEASE GO TO AMAZON.COM AND BUY ONE (OR MORE) COPIES OF ROCKETSHIPS AND PARACHUTES. 
IF you already bought a copy—please buy another one (or more)—and give them to people you care about. 

--It is suitable for all ages and all stages of career and life. 

I listed amazon.combecause it is the fastest and easiest way to get a copy. 

Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-PKindle: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-PK
Also: www.barnesandnoble.comhas it available—just search the title and my last name.

Good reviews would be appreciated too (:-)

After the launch, sales naturally slow down. I am hoping to get this book tobecome the popular, favorite gift item for all occasions.

Here’s an example of who might benefit from it and appreciate it. 
1) College graduates from 4-year, 2 year, or all Gen Z. 
2) Generation Y (Millennials), who are in early or mid-career in the work force. 
3) Generation X, who are in mid-late career in the work force, 
4) Baby Boomers, who are in late career, in middle or upper management, or operating their own businesses.
5) Self-made people who are operating or working in businesses, aspiring to advance by learning more about management to apply in their jobs.
By job situation:

DO ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS REMIND YOU OF SOMEONE YOU KNOW, (OR A COMPANY YOU KNOW)

THEY NEED ROCKETSHIPS AND PARACHUTES. 

1. Do you have problems at work—with people or the organization?
2. Is your career stalled or on a plateau? Want to launch it upward?
3. Do you have uncertainty about your career, its direction or its trajectory?
4. Do you wish you had a mentor or advisor to help you will issues you are encountering?
5. Is all the input you can find too theoretical, or not applicable to where you are on your career trajectory?
6. Do you think you might have a big chance coming up but are uncertain if you should “go for it?”
7. Are your grown children stuck in career “limbo” trying to figure out “what now?”
8. Do your grown children struggle in their jobs? Need help, a mentor and sound advice?
9. Are you or others you know college grads, but can’t seem to match skills and knowhow with jobs available?
10. Does your company (employer) direction seem to be a problem or an issue?
11. Is its strategy outdated or failing, and impacting you? What to do about that?
12. Is execution of important tasks a problem, or simply ineffective?
13. Is accountability lacking or poor, and leadership doesn’t demand it?
14. Are people unwilling to take responsibility for their assigned roles?
15. Is teamwork poor? Do people not understand how to work in teams, or are unwilling to do so.
16. Is problem solving ineffective and yielding no actionable outcomes?
17. Is your boss a problem? Or are you? Or are his bosses in higher management a problem?
18. Has growth in your company or industry stalled? Know what to do?

OK—ENOUGH ASKING FOR YOU TO BUY BOOKS ———————————————————

 

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Y0U MAY HAVE NOTICED, THAT I HAVE NOT PUBLISHED AN EDITION OF THE ENTERPRISE FOR SOME TIME. WHY? YES, I KNOW THAT ALL CAPS IS “YELLING” IN INTERNET EMAIL STYLE…HOWEVER, IT IS THE QUICKEST EASIEST WAY TO START WITH A “BANG."

 

FIRST, I’ve been busy getting ROCKETSHIPS AND PARACHUTESinto the market. Sales have dibbled in since I haven’t gone after big bulk sales or mass giveaways (two common ways to lift book sales.) Reviews, both written and verbal have been great. Please add you own, assuming you have a copy and have read some of it. 

 

SECOND, BECAUSE THE POLITICAL AND POLICY TOPICS—AND CONTRASTING POSITIONS ON THEM—ARE SO INCENDIARY, AND SO POLARIZED, I AM RELUCTANT TO “POUR GASOLINE ON A FIRE.”

 

IT’S HARD TO TAKE A MEASURED POSITION WITH THE VOICES OF TRUMP, ET. AL, AND SCHUMER, ET. AL. IMMEDIATELY RENDERING IT EITHER MOOT—OR SOUNDING LIKE I AM WAFFLING. IT’S ALSO HARD TO BE HEARD WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE IS YELLING—HENCE THE ALL CAPS PART OF THIS EMAIL.

 

TRUMP IS ALL OVER THE PLACE. THERE’S NO DEFENDING HIM ON THAT. HOWEVER, THE RESULTS OF HIS PRESIDENCY THUS FAR ARE MUCH BETTER THAN HIS PERSONA WOULD LEAD ONE TO BELIEVE. HE’S EITHER "DUMB LIKE A FOX” AND SEEING THE STAGE FOR HIS COMING MOVES, OR SOMEONE WILL NOTICE THAT DEFICITS ARE CLIMBING—HIS DEREGULATION AND PRO-BUSINESS POLICY MOVES MUST SPIKE THE REVENUE COMING IN TO OFFSET THE SPENDING.

 

Before being too critical, remember that Obama blew the lid off spending right after he came into office, ostensibly to deal with the recession. Then he led the country into 8 years of slow or no growth, and theweakest post recession recovery in modern history.

 

Now the crazies and hypocrites are in charge of the Democratic party and the Republican party—all 2-3 of them—can’t agree on what to do. REALLY? Has anyone ever heard of COMPROMISING FOR THE GREATER GOOD? If the GOP doesn’t quickly get its act together, the Dems, led by Crazy Bernie, and his Socialist Gang will take back the House this fall… Are you ready for Pelosi again?(:-(( Scary! Likely to happen—yes! Stupid GOP cannot pull itself together to stop it, I’m afraid. Leaderless in Congress—Lame Duck Paul Ryan is a liability, except raising money for his own needs and wishes. Jim Jordan’s intentions are “right" but his position is so "far right"…it’s going nowhere.

=========================

 

I CANNOT RESTRAIN MYSELF FROM RANTING A BIT ABOUT SUCH BLATANT ACTS OF POLITICAL MANIPULATION & HYPOCRISY

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? THE STAGED PROTESTS ABOUT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE HAD ______________ (FILL IN THE BLANK) ON THE PROTEST POSTERS—AND THEN GO CRAZY! IT DIDN’T MATTER WHO PRESIDENT TRUMP NOMINATED THE PROTESTERS WERE OPPOSED.

I was incredulous when I saw the speed and emotional intensity of the protesters who were staged to protest “whoever" President Trump nominated.Is that democracy at work? NO. 

 

It is Democratic Trump Derangement Syndrome at its worst. The big question as we head toward mid-term elections: Does the Democrat party actually stand FOR anything except illegal immigration, unlimited abortion, and constant wealth redistribution—paid for by those who work and earn a living, to benefit those who do nothing but accept and expect handout after handout,and "free everything” to buy more votes (But paid for by whom? taxpayers, that’s who) It is sad, but look at the party leadership. 

 

The ultimate lunatic scheme is percolating in the minds of Democratic Socialists like Bernie Sanders:

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2017/0301/Guaranteed-paycheck-Does-a-basic-income-encourage-laziness

Conceived for poor, third world countries as an alternative to charity, Sanders thinks it would be nice to give paychecks to every American. Somehow, Crazy Bernie doesn’t compute that all of his Socialist schemes have to be paid for by someone—a person, or a government and its taxpayers. "The problem with socialismis that youeventually run out of other people's money."—Margaret Thatcher

THAT SAID, THE GOP WOULD DO WELL TO SIT DOWN WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP AND REVIEW REVENUE VS. SPENDING
Is the expected economic growth from policy changes and tax cuts generating the revenue expected? The spending is sure going strong.
Nobody wants to touch entitlements what will surely sink the US into insolvency, because it seems few people retain their fiscal sanity once elected to office.

FISCAL SANITY DOESN'T MEAN JUST "KEEP ON SPENDING"
When you have unexpected expenses at home or at work, you cut back somewhere else to cover them, but not in government. Just borrow and spend more, like a drunken person with a high limit credit card on a binge.How is it that elected officials can’t recall this simple fact? We are drowning in debt as a country and no one has the courage to sound the alarm.

=========================

PERHAPS MY RANTING SOLUTION IS TO SIMPLY TUNE OUT ANYTHING SAID BY DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERS?

BUT, that’s wrong too. When Chuck Schumer comes on the air, everything he says is diametrically opposed to anything coming out of the GOP or the White House—so why should I listen? 

 

SCHUMER TAKES “HYPOCRITICAL" TO NEW LENGTHS, BUT PELOSI, WATERS, ET. AL. ARE ABOUT AS BAD
Since Donald Trump was legally elected president of the United States, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, (once thought to be a reasonable, moderately left-leaning Senator), has decided to categorically oppose, obstruct, and reject anything originating with the GOP Members of Congress, or the Trump White House. Schumer’s behavior remind us of a badly behaving, petulant child having a tantrum. All that’s missing if for him to make his statement by screaming at the top of his lungs, thrashing wildly on the floor.

Even when there is incontrovertible evidence in video, audio and print thathe is totally reversing his prior stated positions, he continues his anti-American behavior, leading his party in Trump Derangement Syndrome. 

 

For him to oppose some GOP policies is a given; to oppose most of them is even to be expected; BUT to oppose ALL GOP initiatives, is simply irrational and antithetical to the Senate seat he holds. Schumer is approaching the same level of bad governance and unconscionable behavior that his predecessor “Dirty Harry” Reid achieved. 

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I’VE BEEN WRITING AND WARNING FOR 10 YEARS ABOUT THIS—CYBER-TERRORISM IS THE BIG THREAT (RIGHT UP THERE WITH NUKES, EMPS AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE)

Russian Hackers Reach U.S. Utility Control Rooms

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-hackers-reach-u-s-utility-control-rooms-homeland-security-officials-say-1532388110?emailToken=0a92c06cb26406110c020817c61a618a0s+u+1kTeIcs96g8koqm5AZYS8NfG9mmf4yt05WEkbvzDUCctGeNEAvHEcZSg8Y7y/DzAYolXDsERpb/mBKFS11THzWIAn/9GefYS/SA4bEvhF/3QOOcZVRK8axStPii8Rtuou/ZoStvzxCshPR93w%3D%3D&reflink=article_email_share

 

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LIKE RATS LEAVING A SINKING SHIP—TOP FBI CYBER SECURITY PEOPLE BAILING OUT—JOINING THE OTHER DIRTY ONES

https://www.wsj.com/articles/three-top-fbi-cybersecurity-officials-to-retire-1532036330?mod=djemalertNEWS

 

Several FBI-ers should be indicted and go to jail but don’t hold your breath. Washington protects their own, no matter how dirty. If Special Counsel Mueller were checking out Dems, Hillary, the FBI and IRS, instead of Trump & Russia, he’s have indicted so many people the courts would be busy for years.

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WATCH FOR THE FLOOD OF ELECTRIC CARS COMING FROM CHINA IN A FEW YEARS.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-has-487-electric-car-makers-and-local-governments-are-clamoring-for-more-1531992601?mod=djemwhatsnews

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A SIMPLE CHARACTERIZATION OF WHY TRUMP SUPPORTERS STICK WITH HIM

Interesting perspective….FROM A CORRESPONDENT...

 

Like many citizens, I've wondered and tried hard to understand why Trump has such a loyal following. (It’s obvious in many ways why he probably should not!) Then a friend sent me this raccoon story.

 

It makes no difference about your political leanings, this is just a good explanation of WHY (or it’s as good as any I can come up with). If you really want to know how the majority of people feel? And this applies to both democrats and republicans, read below. It says it all.

 

You’ve been out of town for a long time, you come home, and your basement is infested with raccoons. Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement. Poop is everywhere! You want them gone immediately.

 

You call the city, the county, and four different exterminators, but nobody can handle the job. But there is this ONE guy, and he guarantees you to get rid of them. You don’t care if the guy smells bad, you don’t care if the guy swears, you don’t care if he’s an alcoholic, you don’t care how many times he's been married, you don't care if he has a plumber's crack, you simply want those raccoons gone, so you hire him! You want your problem fixed! He's the guy. He's the best. Period !

 

Here’s why we want Trump, yes he’s a bit of an ass, yes he’s an egomaniac without an ounce of humility, but we don’t care. The country is a mess because all politicians suck. The Republicans and Democrats can be two-faced and gutless, and illegals are everywhere. We want it all fixed - drain the swamp!

 

We don’t care that Trump is crude, we don't care that he insults people, we don't care that he has changed positions, we don't care that he's been married three times, we don't care that he fights with Megyn Kelly and Rosie O'Donnell, and we don't care that he doesn't know the name of some Muslin terrorist.

 

This country is weak, bankrupt, our enemies are making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegals, we are becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo, and Hasid is a special group with special rights, where we don’t even recognize the country we were born and raised in; “AND WE JUST WANT IT FIXED” and Trump is the only guy who seems to understand what the people want.

 

We’re sick of politicians, sick of the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and sick of illegals. We just want this thing fixed. Trump may not be a saint, but he doesn’t have lobbyist money holding him back, and he doesn’t have political correctness restraining him. All we know is that he has been very successful, a good negotiator, he has built a lot of things, and he’s also not a cowardly politician. He says he’ll fix it, and we believe him because he is too much of an egotist to be proven wrong, or looked at and called a liar. Also, we don't care if the guy has bad hair. 

 

We just want those raccoons gone, out of our house, NOW!

You are welcome to pass this on. I feel this is why thousands of people who haven't voted in 25 years are getting involved.

The raccoons have got to go.

=========================

 

RAND PAUL IS NOT ALWAYS MY FAVORITE, BUT HE MAKES SOME GOOD POINTS HERE

 

Rand Paul Went On TV And Silenced The Democrats Plan To Impeach Trump

Democrats are all in to impeach President Trump and remove him from office.

The left is counting on the Mueller probe to deliver the smoking gun that will bring about the end of the Trump Presidency.

But that all ended when Rand Paul sat in front of the cameras and silenced the Democrats plan to impeach Trump.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul appeared on CNN’s State of the Union to discuss the latest developments in the Russia investigation.

On Friday, special counsel Robert Mueller announced that his office indicted 12 Russians connected to the nation’s intelligence service for alleged cyber attacks during the 2016 election.

Democrats believe these indictments represent the next step in Mueller finally producing conclusive evidence that Trump and his campaign colluded with Vladimir Putin to steal the election from Hillary Clinton.

CNN host Jake Tapper pressed Paul on the Trump-Putin summit and demanded to know if Paul believed President Trump should hold Russia “accountable.”

“I think really we mistake our response if we think it’s about accountability from the Russians. They are another country. They are going to spy on us, do spy on us. They are going to interfere in our elections, we also do the same,” Paul answered.

Paul went on to cite a study showing that the United States interfered in other countries elections 81 times.

One example was when Barack Obama meddled in the last Israeli election.

Obama’s State Department funneled $250,000 to the opposition party in a bid to defeat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his 2015 campaign.

Obama tried to undermine Israel’s democracy by taking down Netanyahu because he had opposed Obama appeasing Iran.

Paul went on to flatly reject Tapper’s attempt to smear him by claiming Paul was saying that Russia and the United States are moral equivalents.Paul shot back, “I would say it’s not morally equivalent.”

The Kentucky Senator continued, “But I think in [Russia’s] mind it is. It’s important to know in your adversary’s mind the way they perceive the thing. They react to our interference in their elections and one of the reasons they didn’t like Hillary Clinton, they found her responsible for some of the activity by the U.S. in their elections under the [Former President Barack] Obama administration.”

Paul also agreed with President Trump that the Mueller probe is a “witch hunt.”

“If we have proof that they did it, we should spend our time protecting ourselves instead of having this witch hunt on the president,” Paul declared.

Democrats impeachment hopes rest on the Mueller investigation. But as Paul also pointed out, whatever cyber attacks occurred took place on Barack Obama’s watch. And this investigation has still produced no evidence of conclusion. The Department of Justice’s press release announcing the indictments also made it clear no Americans were involved in these alleged crimes.

 

The DOJ announced: “There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged unlawful activity or knew they were communicating with Russian intelligence officers.”

Mueller’s report is going to be a massive letdown for Democrats.

There is no evidence of collusion and Senator Paul’s comments demonstrate that both avenues the Democrats hope to use in the Mueller report to impeach President Trump are dead ends.

 

=========================

THIS PLAY ON WORDS MAY MAKE YOUR GROAN OR GRIN (NEEDED IN THESE UNBELIEVABLE TIMES)

• “Lexophile" describes those who have a love for words, such as "You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish;" or "To write with a broken pencil is pointless." An annual competition is held by the New York Times to see who can create the best original lexophile. This year's winning submission is posted at the very end. This year’s contenders:

• No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

• If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

• I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.

• I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

• Did you hear about the crossed-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?

• When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.

• When chemists die, they barium.

• I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.

• I changed my iPod's name to Titanic. It's syncing now.

• England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.

• Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes.

• This girl today said she recognized me from the Vegetarians Club, but I'd swear I've never met herbivore.

• I know a guy who's addicted to drinking brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time.

• A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

• When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A.

• I got some batteries that were given out free of charge.

• A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.

• A will is a dead giveaway.

• With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

• Police were summoned to a daycare center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

• Did you hear about the fellow whose entire left side was cut off? He's all right now.

• A bicycle can't stand alone; it's just two tired.

• The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine last week is now fully recovered.

• He had a photographic memory but it was never fully developed.

• When she saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.

• Acupuncture is a jab well done. That's the point of it.

• And the winner is: Those who get too big for their pants will be totally exposed in the end.

 

 

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER

JOHN

New book is out!
ROCKETSHIPS & PARACHUTES is here, and available on amazon. See more at: www.mariotti.net
Please go buy your copies NOW—! Here are links to order:
Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-P
Kindle: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-PK

 

 

Sent from my iPad--(excuse autocorrect's changes). 

THE ENTERPRISE--THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW AND THINK ABOUT…

I LIKE TO HELP PEOPLE. THAT’S WHY I AM STILL WRITING THE ENTERPRISE AFTER 17 YEARS.
I hope this edition will be helpful to you, both personally and professionally. 

That’s why I wrote Rocketships & Parachutes to help all ages at all career stages. It is my “legacy. PLEASE GO OUT AND BUY COPIES OF THE BOOK FOR EACH OF YOUR ADULT FAMILY MEMBERS—IT WILL BE THE BEST, MOST PRODUCTIVE $20 EACH YOU EVER SPENT. 

(Way better than a movie and popcorn and a drink—which also costs about $20)

Here are  links to order: Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-P   Kindle:   https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-PK

 

THEN ENCOURAGE THEM TO READ IT—SKIM THROUGH IT—DIP INTO IT HERE AND THERE. 

THE LESSONS IN IT WILL IMPROVE THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER, AND THEIR JOB OR BUSINESS

 

Here are two Lessons from the book, that stand up pretty well without explanation:

Lesson: Luck is better than skill you just can’t rely on it.

Lesson: If you really need something you’ll pay for it whether you buy it or not.

Here is what one reviewer said about the book: 
Rocketships & Parachutes is a GPS for the spirit and the soul. 365 timeless lessons in navigating life’s rollercoaster twists and turns, ups and downs—accumulated through an amazing lifetime of experience, and written as a love letter to life’s weary travelers. I will pass it on to my children as an essential roadmap for their own professional and personal journey. Read it. Remember it. Roll with it. “—Tom Koulopoulos, Chairman, Delphi Group, and author of Revealing the Invisible

NOW ON TO THE TYPICAL TIDBITS IN THE ENTERPRISE
It’s impossible to find a middle of the road path in today's partisan, turbulent, and volatile political and policy environment. One day, one side makes sense. Then it doesn’t. Another day, the opposite position makes sense—until it doesn’t. I guess the only thing that doesn’t make sense to me is the unrelenting negative demagoguery being practiced by Democratic leaders day in and day out, with apparent disregard for how it hurts the country.

Now that I have said that, IF there are any Democrats still reading THE ENTErPRISE, were the Republicans (including me) that bad while Obama was in office? Somehow I wish and hope I can believe the obstructionism was a bad, but the outright hypocritical reversal of previously and publicly stated positions was not as bad as it has been since Trump was elected. The resistance to Obama was severe, but the use of every dirty trick in the book (including by government agencies like the FBI) was nowhere near this bad. The Democratic obstructionism, made worse by some of Trump’s less than wise nominees, and prevented the Trump presidency from even having a reasonable number of appointees fill the seats occupied (still) by Obama sympathizers (and leakers).

Nothing in my lifetime has even approached the Trump Derangement Syndrome, in amount and vehemence of reaction by the mainstream media (MSM) and Democratic opposition. Simply counting negative news stories in MSM compared to positive ones—about inarguably positive events—tells the story.  So, I’m not going to add to the rants, as much as I might like to. I’m going to present other credible opinions and useful information about life and work.

Caution: Do not listen or read too much of current events news. Half of it is false, badly biased or wrong, and it’s hard to tell which half. I have a new policy: I do not read long speculative columns or articles about “what might happen” because nobody knows, and I’ve found a good solution. I save the article for a week or two, and it it still seems to make sense reading (some of) it, maybe I will. Usually it is like old food—no longer suitable for safe consumption. Pitch it!

AMIDST ALL THE SPECULATION, THERE ARE SEVERAL THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW AND CONSIDER.

 

SCOTUS IS NOW RULING ON IMPORTANT ISSUES—TRUMP’S INITIATIVES, STALLED BY THE LOWER COURTS AND ACTIVIST LIBERAL JUDGES—ARE BEING METHODICALLY REVERSED AND BLOWN AWAY.
Here are a few of them.

Supreme Court Upholds Trump Travel Ban
The Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s latest ban on travel to the U.S. by people from several Muslim-majority countries, in a ruling that hands the White House a victory on one of its most central—and controversial—initiatives. The court said Mr. Trump didn’t violate the law last September when he put in place restrictions on U.S. entry by people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

The Supreme Court on Monday ​upheld Texas’s maps for its congressional seats and state House of Representative districts, both of which had been thrown out for discriminating against minority voters, ruling 5-4 that the Republican-controlled Legislature’s good faith in adopting the lines should be presumed.In a separate action Monday indicating a reluctance to tinker with election lines drawn for partisan reasons, the court declined for now to consider a broad challenge to North Carolina’s congressional map, which the state’s GOP-run legislature drew to produce lopsided victories for Republican candidates.

Supreme Court rules against labor unions
A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public employee unions cannot force workers against their will to pay union dues that are used by the union to finance the costs of collective bargaining with state and local governments.

DROWNING IN DEBT—LOTS OF SOURCES REPORTING ON IT.

Where: Student Loans—$1.4 Trillion, State and Local Pension Plans—$6 Trillion, Federal State—$22 Trillion and Local —$3 Trillion Debt, and nothing is being done to reduce these. Of course no politician dares suggest that we cut back on Social Security to keep it solvent. No politician seems to understand or know what to do about the fact that there is 10-20% of fraud and waste in Medicare and Medicaid ($50 Billion plus) annually.

If you add up all the debt around, the number gets to astronomically large that it is incomprehensible.

 

HOW MUCH IS JUST ONE TRILLION TO PAY BACK

To pay back one million dollars, at a rate of one dollar per second, would take you 11.5 days. To pay back one billion dollars, at a rate of one dollar per second, would take you 32 years. To pay back one trillion dollars, at a rate of one dollar per second, would take you 31,688 years. How high would taxes need to go? YOU DON’T EVEN WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWER.

 

Finally, it appears the concept of fiscal responsibility is one that is understood by the masses, but not by the upper classes and elected officials who run our government. When you run into an unexpected expense at home, or in your small business, you look for other places to cut back to cover it. Only if you can’t do that, do you resort to increasing your debt load further. Not in the government!

 

What about the interest paid on the Federal debt: $300+ Billion each year? The interest on the national debt is how much the federal government pays on outstanding public debt. How it's calculated, causes, 2008-2027, impact. Want to read more?

https://www.thebalance.com/interest-on-the-national-debt-4119024?utm_source=emailshare&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons

 

DEMOGRAPHICS ARE DESTINY: LOOK AT THE POPULATION EXHIBIT BELOW TO SEE HOW THE BULGES OF THE BABY BOOMERS AND MILLENNIALS IMPACT AMERICAN POPULATION AND FUTURE COSTS/DEBTS. 

FYI: By 2030 we will be down to 2.30 working people for each retiree in Social Security. Somebody needs to figure out that the “retirement age” must be edged further upward toward age 70 over the next decade.

 

The US Birth rate has dropped below the “replacement rate" of 2.1 births per family—to keep population stable (and earning)—and is stuck at 1.7. Only the influx of immigrants is adding new population and increasing the birth rate. How’s that for a Catch-22…we must support the immigrants and help them assimilate safely, so they can work to support our aging population. This is a problem shared with Europe and Japan (which have still lower birth rates). Now even China’s birth rate is dropping too, while its population is aging too.

 

US POPULATION BY AGE AND GENDER

READ THE OP ED PIECE BY JAY AMBROSE BELOW:
Column: Liberals pose greater danger than Trump
I am not a Republican, I did not vote for Donald Trump. I castigated him during the primaries,
focused more on the outlandish alternative during the general election, but still hold him in low
regard. The tweets, the mostly ignorant, buffoonish tweets, sum up the worst of him in my
opinion, but what I wrote after the election was that we should give him a chance.
The opposite has occurred.
Not only have critics overstated almost every flub he has made, governmental officials in the
executive and judicial branches have shoved aside rule of law through felonious leaks, phony
decisions and much more in trying to get him no matter what. Through such means, the left has
illustrated repeatedly why it is twice the danger to our republic than he is.
It has in fact been a danger for some time. Consider the limp argument about Trump’s supposed
autocracy and then compare him to President Barack Obama. To the extent Trump is a tyrant, it’s
mostly in what he says, not what he does, as in references to “fake news” supposedly ruinous to our
press.
Obama was a man of action. His administration actually spied on reporters. It threatened them
with jail if they did not reveal sources. It set a record in refusing to release government information
requested by citizens. And his verbal jabs at Fox News were just as vicious as Trump’s jabs at the
New York Times and CNN.
Other examples of Obama autocracy?
His administration set records for major, costly regulations that stymie business and reduce your
freedoms even if some do some good. His Clean Power Plan would have dictated to states that they
had to get rid of certain laws. His education department told colleges and universities they must
abandon due process for any male accused of sexual harassment. He granted legal status to illegal
immigrants after saying some 20 times it would be unconstitutional to do so. He unilaterally
rewrote laws. He refused to enforce others.
He also skipped the constitutional requirement of having the Senate vote on treaties, thereby
making them mere executive orders that Trump could reverse, and fortunately has in the case of
Iran. As sure as anything, an enriched Iran is still pursuing nuclear armament and Middle East
hegemony. The Obama philosophy was to ask for little, to get less and then to declare the United
States a winner.
Trump is said to have done nothing good, but, even with its faults, the GOP tax reform was maybe
the single biggest gift to working- and middle-class Americans in decades, and that includes
minorities. After the worst recovery since World War II, much had been trending in the right
direction, but here was a mighty push we would not have had under Hillary Clinton.
At the same time, I do believe Trump’s international trade games could be economically ruinous
and his casualness about the debt is enough to make one shiver. I believe in border security but
think the idea of a wall is overkill.
Trump can still be less a threat than the Democrats and I defend him when I think he is, thereby
earning downright trashy, hateful emails along with a few thoughtful ones. Even many of the
supposed intellectuals out there seem to think any defense of Trump at all puts you in a basket of
deplorables.
All of this along with what we see from activists pretty well sums up how many Trump opponents
are dogmatically sure of themselves, as shorn of norms as he is and disrespectful of their national
inheritance. Following good luck in midterm elections and his impeachment, the hope is to enforce
more semi-socialist, liberty-imperiling central planning.
They make me want to defend Trump all the more.
Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service.
[email protected]


READ THE STATEMENT BY TRUMP’S LEGAL TEAM

The Trump Team's Chilling Message to Mueller  By Ruth Marcus June 04, 2018

Trump.For months we've heard President Trump's TV lawyers, as he calls them, bandy about the argument that he -- or any president, for that matter -- couldn't have obstructed justice because justice is what he says it is. In other words, that because, they claim, a president possesses absolute power to cut short a criminal investigation, he cannot by definition be guilty of obstructing it. Or, in the famous Nixonian formulation, as Richard M. Nixon told David Frost, "Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” But as much as the president's legal team foreshadowed this contention, it was nonetheless breathtaking to see it spelled out, in black and white, in a letter from Trump's legal team to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

"A President can also order the termination of an investigation by the Justice Department or FBI at any time and for any reason," the lawyers, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow, wrote in the January letter, obtained by the New York Times. "Such an action obviously has an impact on the investigation, but that is simply an effect of the President's lawful exercise of his constitutional power and cannot constitute obstruction of justice."

At any time and for any reason. The precise context involved the president's discussion with then-FBI Director James B. Comey in which, according to Comey's testimony, Trump cleared the Oval Office of other witnesses before discussing his just-fired national security adviser, Michael Flynn. According to Comey, Trump expressed his "hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.” The letter disputes Comey's version of events but says it wouldn't matter if Trump had made those statements. And then, in a magnificently gaslighting move, the letter claims that Trump is actually the hero of any obstruction story, because he fired Flynn: "Far, far, from obstructing justice, the only individual in the entire Flynn story that ensured swift justice was the President."

Of course the president oversees the executive branch, including the Justice Department. Of course he gets to set broad contours of policy. But there is a long and wise tradition of presidential reticence to interfere in individual criminal matters -- no less in a criminal matter that affects himself. And the notion that the president could peremptorily call off any prosecution for any reason whatsoever -- no matter how corrupt -- would be laughable if it weren't so scary. As Daniel Hemel and Eric Posner write in the California Law Review, "No one thinks that … the president should be able to commit a crime and then call off the investigation of it. What if he murdered his valet?"

That is a fanciful hypothetical, but the more reality-based one also underscores the extreme nature of the Trump lawyers' claim. "It is obvious enough that it would be wrong for the president to order spurious investigations of his political opponents in order to harass them," Hemel and Posner write. "But it would seem to follow that the president should not call off investigations of his political aides and allies (and of himself) in order to protect them (and himself) from legal jeopardy. If he could, then he or his aides could engage in criminal activity in order to harass their political opponents -- as the Watergate burglary, a spy operation against the Democratic National Committee, illustrates -- without fear of legal liability."

Indeed, during Watergate, the articles of impeachment against Nixon included the charge that he obstructed justice by "interfering or endeavoring to interfere with the conduct of investigations by the Department of Justice of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the office of Watergate Special Prosecution Force, and Congressional Committees.” At any time and for any reason. The context was Comey, but the implications are chilling: that Trump asserts the right to terminate the Russia probe altogether. Or the investigation into his lawyer Michael Cohen. This is a scary vision of the power entrusted to any president, but especially this one. (c) 2018, Washington Post Writers Group


 I AM SENDING YOU THIS PIECE. IF YOU ARE NOT OVER 65, IT’S STILL WORTH READING, BECAUSE SOONER OR LATER (HOPEFULLY) YOU WILL GET THERE (OR MAYBE YOUR PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS WILL LIKE IT TOO.) 

The advice is good for all of us…older or not so old.

Many of us are "between 65 and what comes next,”— i.e. old (or getting there). My friend sent me this excellent list for aging and I have to agree it's good advice to follow. 

1. It’s time to use the money you saved up. Use it and enjoy it.  Don’t just keep it for those who may have no notion of the sacrifices you made to get it. Remember there is nothing more dangerous than a son or daughter-in-law with big ideas for your hard-earned capital. Warning: This is also a bad time for investments, even if it seems wonderful or fool-proof. They only bring problems and worries. This is a time for you to enjoy some peace and quiet.

2. Stop worrying about the financial situation of your children and grandchildren, and don’t feel bad spending your money on yourself. You’ve taken care of them for many years, and you’ve taught them what you could. You gave them an education, food, shelter and support. The responsibility is now theirs to earn their own money.

*3. Keep a healthy life, without great physical effort. Do moderate exercise (like walking every day), eat well and get your sleep. It’s easy to become sick, and it gets harder to remain healthy. That is why you need to keep yourself in good shape and be aware of your medical and physical needs. Keep in touch with your doctor, do tests even when you’re feeling well. Stay informed.

*4. Always buy the best, most beautiful items for your significant other. The key goal is to enjoy your money with your partner. One day one of you will miss the other, and the money will not provide any comfort then, enjoy it together.

*5. Don’t stress over the little things. You’ve already overcome so much in your life. You have good memories and bad ones, but the important thing is the present. Don’t let the past drag you down and don’t let the future frighten you. Feel good in the now. Small issues will soon be forgotten.

*6. Regardless of age, always keep love alive. Love your partner, love life, love your family, love your neighbor and remember: “A man is not old as long as he has intelligence and affection.”

*7. Be proud, both inside and out. Don’t stop going to your hair salon or barber, do your nails, go to the dermatologist and the dentist, keep your perfumes and creams well stocked. When you are well-maintained on the outside, it seeps in, making you feel proud and strong.

*8. Don’t lose sight of fashion trends for your age, but keep your own sense of style. There’s nothing worse than an older person trying to wear the current fashion among youngsters. You’ve developed your own sense of what looks good on you – keep it and be proud of it. It’s part of who you are.

*9. ALWAYS stay up-to-date. Read newspapers, watch the news. Go online and read what people are saying. Make sure you have an active email account and try to use some of those social networks. You’ll be surprised what old friends you’ll meet. Keeping in touch with what is going on and with the people you know is important at any age.

10. Respect the younger generation and their opinions. They may not have the same ideals as you, but they are the future, and will take the world in their direction. Give advice, not criticism, and try to remind them that yesterday’s wisdom still applies today.

11. Never use the phrase: “In my time.” Your time is now. As long as you’re alive, you are part of this time. You may have been younger, but you are still you now, having fun and enjoying life.

12. Some people embrace their golden years, while others become bitter and surly. Life is too short to waste your days on the latter. Spend your time with positive, cheerful people, it’ll rub off on you and your days will seem that much better. Spending your time with bitter people will make you older and harder to be around.

13. Do not surrender to the temptation of living with your children or grandchildren (if you have a financial choice, that is). Sure, being surrounded by family sounds great, but we all need our privacy. They need theirs and you need yours. If you’ve lost your partner (our deepest condolences), then find a person to move in with you and help out. Even then, do so only if you feel you really need the help or do not want to live alone.

14. Don’t abandon your hobbies. If you don’t have any, make new ones. You can travel, hike, cook, read, dance. You can adopt a cat or a dog, grow a garden, play cards, checkers, chess, dominoes, golf. You can paint, volunteer or just collect certain items. Find something you like and spend some real time having fun with it.

15. Even if you don’t feel like it, try to accept invitations. Baptisms, graduations, birthdays, weddings, conferences. Try to go. Get out of the house, meet people you haven’t seen in a while, experience something new (or something old). But don’t get upset when you’re not invited. Some events are limited by resources, and not everyone can be hosted. The important thing is to leave the house from time to time. Go to museums, go walk through a field. Get out there.

*16. Be a conversationalist. Talk less and listen more. Some people go on and on about the past, not caring if their listeners are really interested. That’s a great way of reducing their desire to speak with you. Listen first and answer questions, but don’t go off into long stories unless asked to. Speak in courteous tones and try not to complain or criticize too much unless you really need to. Try to accept situations as they are. Everyone is going through the same things, and people have a low tolerance for hearing complaints. Always find some good things to say as well.

17. Pain and discomfort go hand in hand with getting older. Try not to dwell on them but accept them as a part of the cycle of life we’re all going through. Try to minimize them in your mind. They are not who you are, they are something that life added to you. If they become your entire focus, you lose sight of the person you used to be.

*18. If you’ve been offended by someone – forgive them. If you’ve offended someone - apologize. Don’t drag around resentment with you. It only serves to make you sad and bitter. It doesn’t matter who was right. Someone once said: “Holding a grudge is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.” Don’t take that poison. Forgive, forget and move on with your life.

*19. If you have a strong belief, savor it. But don’t waste your time trying to convince others. They will make their own choices no matter what you tell them, and it will only bring you frustration. Live your faith and set an example. Live true to your beliefs and let that memory sway them.

*20. Laugh. Laugh A LOT. Laugh at everything. Remember, you are one of the lucky ones. You managed to have a life, a long one. Many never get to this age, never get to experience a full life. But you did. So what’s not to laugh about? Find the humor in your situation.

*21. Take no notice of what others say about you and even less notice of what they might be thinking. They’ll do it anyway, and you should have pride in yourself and what you’ve achieved. Let them talk and don’t worry. They have no idea about your history, your memories and the life you’ve lived so far. There’s still much to be written, so get busy writing and don’t waste time thinking about what others might think. Now is the time to be at rest, at peace and as happy as you can be!

REMEMBER: “Life is too short to drink bad wine.” “if we don’t go first class our kids will. Have a good day!

I’ll add my own: Don’t worry about what other people say or think about you and what you say and do because "those who matter don’t mind and those who mind, don’t matter.” Friends are friends through thick and thin, good times and bad—and most of all in bad times.
THAT’S ALL FOR THIS EDITION.

JOHN

PS: That’s why Mr. Rogers always closed with  “…will you be my friend?”
New book is out! 

ROCKETSHIPS & PARACHUTES—365 Lessons to launch and land your career  available on amazon. 

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