Telling It Like It Is

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 ———————————————————

 

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

 

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. 

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

 

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

 

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

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.

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

 

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

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

 

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. 

See more at: www.mariotti.net  Here are  links to order:

Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-P

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

THE ENTERPRISE-EARLY NOTICE: TIME TO ORDER Rocketships & Parachutes. IS AVAILABLE NOW!

THE ENTERPRISE-EARLY NOTICE: TIME TO ORDER Rocketships & Parachutes. IS AVAILABLE NOW! 

 

Solve your Father’s Day gifting challenge: give a copy of Rocketships & Parachutes. 

 

This is a book where you MUST buy multiple copies. Get 5, 10 or 20, and give them to everyone you care about. It is a gift that will just keep on giving! 

 

(PLUS--If you buy a paperback, amazon’s "book match” lets you buy a Kindle for only $2.99 instead of $9.99)

 

IF YOU INTEND TO BUY MULTIPLE COPIES and especially if you know who you want to sent them to, PLEASE buy them one at a time! 

A sale of 5 books at one time on amazon counts as one sale on its bestseller list totals (unless they have changed it)…

THUS, IF THE BOOK IS TO MOVE UP THE BESTSELLER LISTS (don’t all authors want that?), its better to place 5 individual orders instead of one order of 5 books.

 

Here are some groups for whom Rocketships & Parachutes will be a valuable gift

• College grads will realize that it gives them a head start into the world of work—ahead of their peers.
• Gen-Y (Millennials) will treasure it as if they had an experienced mentor at their fingertips, to keep them climbing. 
• Gen-X-ers who are moving through their mid-career crises, will see how it helps them stand out from the pack, and begin moving up again.
• Baby Boomers will recognize the years of experience they can tap into, to make their final career climb be the right one.
• Brilliant Entrepreneurs will find the managerial knowhow and expertise they so badly need, but can’t seem to find.
• Self-made people, who have built lives and businesses by sweat and hard work, will learn how to climb higher and when to bail out and try again.

HERE’S WHAT READERS SAID ABOUT Rocketships & Parachutes 

"John Mariotti has lived as eventful a life in business as anyone, and it pays to heed the lessons of his years in business. You will be so much better off—more prepared, more valuable, more wise."-- B. Joseph Pine II, author of Mass Customization and The Experience Economy

"John has written an important book. If we would create our own list of Rocketships and Parachutes moments, we could avoid a lot of problems. For help starting your own list, I can think of no better launching pad than this book."—Rick Maurer, author, Beyond the Wall of Resistance 

 “Excellent lessons on management – in this case management of one’s career. Thought-provoking guidelines to launch and sustain your career.” —C. John Langley, Professor, Penn State University.

 

Here’s what the book is all about (back over copy):

Rocketships & Parachutes takes readers on a journey through a lifetime of lessons—365 of them—that can “launch” a career on an upward trajectory, and “land” it safely and successfully. If you have ever wondered, “Why didn't I learn my lesson from that?” here’s your chance to learn those lessons without risking your career doing it.

Rocketships & Parachutes follows the author’s career from youth to maturity; from early professional, through middle management, into top executive ranks, and beyond into boardrooms and a career in consulting. The author’s experience as a leader and a mentor comes through in the way he explains how lessons were learned, and how readers can use lessons to advance their careers.

This is a compilation of real-world leadership, life and business lessons, based on actual situations. On this journey, they cover theory and practice, strategy & execution, problem solving & even “managing the boss.” There is help for every career stage, in every business discipline. Most of all, this is a guide to success in work, leadership and life.

 

THIS IS LAUNCH WEEK: JUNE 10-17

THIS IS THE TIME TO PLACE YOUR ORDERS, MULTIPLE ORDERS, FOR EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO MIGHT WANT OR NEED HELP…TO EITHER “LAUNCH" THEIR CAREER UPWARD, OR “LAND” IT SAFELY AND SUCCESSFULLY.

Paperback:

https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-P

Kindle: 

https://tinyurl.com/mariottiR-PK

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT (and thanks for helping me get as many copies as possible of Rocketships & Parachutes into the hands of people who can benefit from it—that’s why I wrote it!

 

JOHN

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

THE ENTERPRISE—MOST OF THE "NEWS" IS UNFIT TO PRINT--OR TO BELIEVE; SAD, BAD & INEXCUSABLE

 

IF YOU’VE NOTICED THE FREQUENCY OF THE ENTERPRISE HAS DROPPED OFF…

TWO REASONS: 

1) I’ve been working hard to get my book done and in your hands:  Rocketships & Parachutes — 365 Lessons to launch and land your career   is coming soon, and I hope you will share multiple copies of it, so it helps the most people possible.

2) So much of what is being thrown about as news, IS NOT. It is thinly veiled opinions, bolstered by questionable factoids, and circulated by irresponsible and biased “journalists.” I put that phrase in quotation marks because far too many, in fact most of the so called journalists who create (I chose that word carefully) what you read and hear and see now are not journalists at all. 

 

In days gone by they might have been called “propagandists.” Or quite simply, “biased liars” who write opinions in place of news.  Genuine news reporting is hard to do, and incredibly valuable. There are some good journalists still out there plying their trade, buried under piles of “fake" news, or “made up" news or biased opinions masquerading as news. I tried writing for a “news site” for a while. It was very hard. My opinions kept creeping into whatever I wrote. That’s why so many “opinion” (or OpEd) columns are flying around pretending to be “news.” 

 

ON THE OTHER HAND, TH4E DEATH OF JOURNALISTS IS TRAGIC

World Press Freedom day a week ago, came on the heels of the death of nine journalists (among 25 people killed and 45+ wounded) by suicide bombers in Kabul, Afghanistan. These journalists were mostly the old fashioned kind who travelled at great personal risk to report on news (not fake new) from the dangerous places where it was happening. Other than Daniel Pearl’s highly publicized beheading, most such deaths receive very little publicity. That’s a shame. When we hope and wish for a “free press” we also hope that  the news gatherers don’t have to pay with their lives to bring us that news. In most cases, their reports are the most credible ones (later it may be distorted to fit the ideology of editors and managers). Since 1992, 1,300 journalists have died seeking the truth about the news. We often reflect on our soldiers who give their lives for our freedoms, but forget that the freedom of the press, and accurate on-location reporting, is not free either. It costs lives.  Remember that.

 

ON ROBERT MUELLER’S ENDLESS INVESTIGATION

There was a good cartoon but calling attention to a bad investigation—a fiasco: 

 

HERE ARE TWO EDITORIALS THAT ILLUSTRATE HOW BAD THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION HAS GONE “OFF THE RAILS”

Download Victor Davis Hanson: Mueller probe indicates political double standard - Opinion - The Columbus Dispatch - Columbus OH

 

Download Jay Ambrose: Investigation puts Mueller's own integrity in doubt - Opinion - The Columbus Dispatch - Columbus OH

 

JOE FRIDAY OF OLD TV DRAMA “DRAGNET” HAD IT RIGHT. HE WANTED “THE FACTS, AND NOTHING BUT THE FACTS.”

Face it. Even the police are biased. How can I confidently say that? Because they are human. It is almost impossible to erase our deeply held beliefs and feelings from what we say, do and write. Everyone is a product of their upbringing, their environment, their employment and their experience and what they learned (or didn’t learn from it.)  The best remaining “journalists” try very hard to give the facts objectively. Chris Wallace of Fox News is one of the best at exploring both sides of an issue in the news or in an interview. Several of the female news anchors on Fox also do a decent job, notably Dana Perino, and Shannon Bream.  Occasionally Anderson Cooper of CNN surprises me by being balanced in his pursuit of news and in interviews. Wolf Blitzer tries but his deep biases get in his way, showing even in his facial and body language (like someone who bit down on a piece of rotten fruit) when he has to report anything unfavorable to the Demo-demagogues. 

 

I never watch MSNBC—Doctor’s orders to manage my blood pressure, (Disclosure: I used to watch Joe Scarborough, before he defected to the left wing camp, probably helped by his wife’s input.) because MSNBC is actually the propaganda arm of the left wing Democratic party—unashamed at creating and spreading manufactured “fake news” by editing out any facts that do no suit its purpose—to promote the Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, & Chuck Schumer Democratic Demagogues. Here’s another example of hypocrisy: the past from Democratic platforms had called for recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Last time the Senate voted 90-0 with the support of Schumer. Feinstein, Sanders, et/ al.Now that Trump moved the embassy there, not a single Congressional Democrat—not one—travelled to Israel to attend the historic move. Rep. Pelosi basted the decision, So did Sen. Feinstein, Sanders and others. Two-faced? You bet. Schumer even blasted Trumps effort to bring back the 3 Americans from N. Korea (unlike Obama, it didn’t take trading vast sums of money and terrorists imprisoned in America. Whose side are these people on? Not the American people’s, that’s for sure.

 

 

IF YOU WANT TO SEE HOW BAD THINGS ARE, CONSIDER THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER RECENTLY

You know I like Peggy Noonan and think she tells things like they are—in her opinion of course. I can’t do any better than her take on this revolting (once charitable) event and its speakers.

Download A Dog’s Breakfast of a Dinner - WSJ

 

OK. NOW I GOT THAT ALL OUT OF MY SYSTEM. WHAT AND WHO CAN YOU BELIEVE? HOW ABOUT YOUR DIET?

For years I avoided eggs and dairy and most fats, and a lot of complex carbohydrates. I wondered why I was always hungry, and gaining weight. It turns out that while simple carbs (white bread, etc.) are metabolized almost  immediately into sugar in our bodies, too much of even the good ones, complex carbs will cause you to gain weight. Fats help satiate our hunger and after decades of warnings that fats will elevate your cholesterol and kill you (not true, unless it is transfats—which are really bad for you), they are not deadly, and actually have a role in healthy diet.. The big culprit now, we find, is sugar, and most things sweet. The frequently used, cost effective sweetener, high fructose corn syrup is especially bad for you. Avoid it. Artificial sweeteners are not exactly OK, or terribly bad, because they keep us hooked on eating those sweet things. 

 

EAT PLANT BASED FOOD, AND NON-PROCESSED (No added preservatives, etc.) FOODS

Now the word is “plant based diets" are best. However, try to get the protein your body’s muscles need from them—its hard—which is why they drink protein shakes and use protein powder. Me, I’d prefer a good steak, or pork chop or piece of chicken breast, or fish to get my protein—and (egad!) eggs almost every day for protein. Even drinking milk, which we learned was good for us growing up—is not so good. One old rule still holds: an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Any by the way, exercise won’t make you lose weight per se, but it builds muscle which consumes more calories and has big cardiovascular benefits.

 

EXERCISE IS GOOD FOR US, SO IS VITAMIN D & B12, AND FIBER

Exercise slows aging (a small British study says), reduces the risk of cancer, dementia, infection and auto-immune diseases. So get off your butts, and move around. You do not have to run miles and miles (which tears up your knees and hips). Walk a lot, outdoors if possible to soak up vitamin D from sunlight. Even then, you won’t get enough vitamin D in northern parts of the USA (you’ll need a vitamin D supplement—1000-2000 IU, and maybe more). Park further from the door when you go shopping. Climb steps (if your knees will let you) up and down (different muscles are used). 

 

The average American ingests around 12 grams of fiber daily, while dietary guidelines call for most to ingest 2 to 3 times as much fiber daily (25 - 38 grams). Eating cruciferous vegetables and legumes (beans) helps. A fiber supplement like Metamucil is good for most folks: dump a teaspoon of it into a glass of water once of twice a day and drink it right down. Or use one of the newer fibers, Sun Fiber, available on amazon.com.

 

STICKERS THAT MISLEAD YOU ON WARRANTIES

The Federal Trade Commission recently announced that many warning stickers that say people will void their warranty (Warranty void if seal damaged) are not only wrong but also illegal. Warranties are pretty durable. Other illegal warnings tell you that warranties will not apply if the product is used with parts from another company, or with products not sold, or licensed with, their company. (Source Washington Post article, April 2018

 

CATEGORY: WHAT TO DO ABOUT

Gun control & mass killings: What to do? How to do it? Will it help with so many guns already out there? (Some, but not enough.) Age restrictions? (Yes, for sure) Severe screening for mental health issues? (Absolutely, and right now, nationwide.) Restrictions the put gun sellers in the crosshairs for criminal prosecution as accomplices? (Maybe, but I’m not a lawyer, so who knows if this can be done.)

 

Opioid deaths now exceeding car deaths & still growing. What to do & how to limit use to restricted medical places and uses. Recent tests have found an alternative: Advil (ibuprofen) and Tylenol (acetaminophen) in combination work about as well as an opioid, without the addiction. (Used according to a Doctor’s advice and observing labeled maximum daily dose warnings. Find a way to limit illegal fentanyl impact. Of course, restrict prescriptions to small quantities, and make people come back for more frequently, but better yet, don’t prescribe them at all. Tighten restrictions on the sale and use of opioids.

Immigration and DACA and the “Wall”. Stop using them as political footballs. Secure the borders...more than just a wall in combinations of technology, border security personnel, segments of fencing and walls, and tightening up immigration vetting, ID usage, and in some cases, bans of quotas.  Using profiling constructively will enhance border security. (Israel’s model shows that). Tracking visa overstays hard will help too. Limiting the terms and relationships of "chain migrations” to proven immediate family will also help. AND—limit the benefits offered & paid by the US government for illegals, and there privileges granted—including driving licenses of any kind. Universal IDs, hard to counterfeit, and requiring frequent renewals, are a critical step.

NCAA Basketball changes: eliminate one & done, step up penalties for abuses…and hopefully get NBA to cooperate on 3 year college rule like the NFL uses.  Create a no-contact rule for proven abusers, and a ban for coaches and corporate sponsors when proven involved. Blame the adult abusers not the youthful offenders, but punish them too if egregious violations discovered.

Unions and Right to Work Laws
SCOTUS decision on whether public employee unions can charge dues to workers who do not wish to belong, will have a huge influence on the power of these unions. In fact, public employee unions should not exist at all. The power of these unions, funded by union dues, was shown in the uprising against OH SB 5 a few years ago,  I’m a Right To Work advocate and these public unions fly in the face of my beliefs.  Unions were formed to protect workers against unfair or overly powerful employers bad behavior, and to give groups of employees, collective power to further their agenda (regardless of whether that agenda is doing good or bad things for its members) and in the case of public employees, for the general population. One of the most egregious outcomes of public employee unions is the negotiation of outsized and unaffordable pension plans sinking the economies of several states, notably CA and IL saddling those citizens with crushing obligations that simply cannot be funded and sustained.

CHINA CONTROLLING MORE AND MORE “Big Brother is watching—everywhere—but most of all in China! 

China’s Orwellian society is growing thanks to networks and all sorts of recognition, facial, information, and human, which now allows the central government to accumulate ratings of people—who are for or against government preferred policies and actions. Who they know and associate with can blackball people and punish offenders who barely realized they did anything wrong. China’s ban on the number of children a couple can have is backfiring. In a decade or sooner, China’s economic growth will slow because of too few working age people. Growth and population are inextricable connected. Unless a country has a birth rate of about 2.1 children per couple, it’s population will decline and become older—requiring more government support by fewer working people. The US is there now, as are Japan and most developed European countries.

 

This is a very informative piece on China’s trade policies and cheating:

 

Download Fareed Zakaria: Trump is right to call out giant trade cheat China - Opinion - The Columbus Dispatch - Columbus OH

 

It’s Trump’s Iran Deal Now

This was a lousy agreement, mismanaged by John Kerry and backed by Obama so he could claim he “did something” and he did…something foolish and bad for the USA. Kerry brokered a lousy agreement and spent millions in cash at the same time.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/its-trumps-iran-deal-now-1525905435?emailToken=64baef8980dbdec40b83df15543f7bc0E1txvFgerwwxR62Z1b0Nz66ICvsYexBddi9sbm0L14J8C8g5axzbv9VU/LLN9NIRxtiaZM0KpOjALMCtFn35Pg==  

THE END OF TWO ERAS AND THE FALL OF TWO COMPANIES AND LOTS OF CEOS

 

Eight of 20 Best-Paid CEOs of 2017 Are No Longer on the Job

https://www.wsj.com/articles/eight-of-the-best-paid-ceos-of-2017-are-no-longer-on-the-job-1525950000?emailToken=21edaded9a5f9a0b755c609f3427dbed2rSs/5ZNaZDn97QZqbZY241NFcvZdG2T47XikbHo9JYPx2KhX64ZtvHHlypOobf8E1f852vg8m5gRkheyN7f2+nH1EsCziyd9IsHcAH9ThlLBS0Y4YcOgDNShM96qm4Y

 

General Electric: Companies usually don’t outlive people. Human longevity is typically 6-7 decades or more. Companies seldom last that long. GE has been the exception, and now it is in trouble/ Jack Welch (the legendary CEO) started the trouble by diversifying this legendary manufacturer into financial service and much more. His successor Jeff Immelt showed how unprepared he was to run and grow the company Welch handed off to him. During his decade long tenure, GE went nowhere but into deeper trouble. GE will probably continue to exist in some drastically modified version of what it was or is. It will never be the same again.

 

Toys R Us: I knew Charles Lazarus who passed recently at age 94. He was a brilliant and driven man, like most company founders. His Toys R Us grew, prospered and dominated its market space, until it didn’t anymore.  Just like the Product Life Cycle curve, it went past maturity into decline. It’s industry shifted and it couldn’t keep up with the shift. I wrote about this problem in my award-winning 1997 book Shape Shifters—Continuous Change for Competitive Advantage. ) This kind of shift nearly crippled McDonald’s but thus far it is trying different ways to shift and maintain its market position—"breakfast all day" has saved it for now. Then we’ll see what's next?)

 

Tesla: This brilliant entrepreneur Elon Musk has proven the ability to do spectacular things. Build high end electric cars that are faster than the fastest sports cars; Launch and return rockets to/from space; and much more. However a few rockets "blew up" in the learning process. What about Tesla volume production?

Now he is grappling with two challenges:

1)  Learning to make autos in volume, reliably and fast—that is a tough thing to do. 

2)  Learning to tolerate the inane but probing questions from media wanting to know if investors billions of dollars were wisely used.

Brilliantly conceive ideas are one things. Assembling the talent and gaining the experience to successfully commercialize those ideas is quite another.

 

FYI: I will cover these and many more topics in my newest book, 60 years in the research, 6 years in the writing, nearly ready to be released. Rocketships & Parachutes: 365 Lessons to Launch and Land your career

 

WATCH FOR MORE ON THIS TOPIC IN FUTURE EDITIONS OF THE ENTERPRISE

 

BEST, JOHN



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