Monthly Archives: November 2021

11/30/21

Threatening The Supreme Court of the United States — Bad Juju

Being a Supreme Court Justice seems like a good gig. Full disclosure: I have never been a Supreme Court though I once met John Roberts in the bar of the Old Edwards Inn in Highlands, NC and chatted with him amiably about local fly fishing. He had two enormous US Marshalls guarding him, both of whom could have started for the Dallas Cowboys. For the record, he sat down next to me and initiated the conversation. Looked lonely with a sunburn.

You are appointed for life, you work in a nice building with great parking and security, they provide you with clerks to write the opinions, you can wear anything you want under your robe, they give you free latte, and they have unlimited M & M’s in the kitchen. [Associate Justice Sotomayer refuses to eat the yellow ones.]

Different set of Supremes than the group that sang, Stop in the Name of Love, Back in My Arms Again, and I Hear a Symphony.

What’s not to like? Continue reading →

11/28/21

Moderna — The Efficacy Of Following The Money

If you are expecting an erudite and pithy exposition of my considerable knowledge on COVID (I am a veteran of the ‘Vid) and my extensive wisdom as an Internet immunologist, public health official, medical raconteur, and epidemiologist — you will be disappointed. I am sorry.

Today, I speak only of one company – Moderna.

The Pandemic has been very good to Moderna — this is not a slur or a casting of aspersions of any form whatever. It is simply a reflection of Moderna’s stock price. Continue reading →

11/27/21

Understanding Energy Pricing

It is very easy to understand gasoline pricing — you drive up to the pump, study the price of different grades of gasoline, insert your card, and pump your gas.

[The price of gas taken together with the price of groceries makes one as intimately knowledgeable of the state of inflation in America as a Nobel Laureate economist.]

Today, when you fill up it costs about twice what it did when Joe Biden was elected President.

Glendale, California — I have a 24-gallon tank. Do the bloody math. Ouch!

But, what really controls the price of gasoline? Is it crude oil prices? Continue reading →

11/26/21

Girl With The Curl — The Future

Imagine this poem by Longfellow spoken in a High Street London English accent, slowly.

 

“Momma, what does ‘horrid’ mean?”

There was a little girl,

            Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

            When she was good,

            She was very good indeed,

But when she was bad she was . . . . . horrid.

 

Introducing my granddaughter, Eadie Eichholz, a Southern girl of considerable ability from Savannah, Georgia who it is a blessing to know and be related to and is never, ever horrid.

11/22/21

The Worm Has Turned — Employment

The United States, a great country, has about 10.5MM job openings and 7.3MM folks looking for jobs.

This means that employers who want to fill their open positions are ratcheting up their hiring game because this is now a contest in which not everybody can emerge a winner.

So, how do you — wanting to be a winner — do it? Continue reading →

11/20/21

A Well Traveled Lie Promulgated By A Majority Does NOT = THE TRUTH

Comes now the inane case of Kyle Rittenhouse charged and acquitted killer of two and wounder of one in an unfortunate and completely avoidable saga of Shakespearian proportions played out like a Greek tragedy with an attendant chorus of morons.

Just for clarity — a jury does not render a verdict of “innocent.” The outcome of a criminal jury trial is either “guilty” or “not guilty.” There is no “innocent.” Thought that needed to be said.

Green shirt cherubic Kyle removing graffiti from high school prior to events of that tragic night.

 

Armed 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse as tragic events began to unfold.

Continue reading →

11/16/21

Xi Jinping: “Let’s Go, Brandon!”

Last night POTUS Joe Biden and President-for-Life Xi Jinping had a pre-holiday call to chat about their Thanksgiving and Christmas plans and China’s strategy to take over the world and to dominate the United States.

In the lead up to the Zoom chat, President Joe Biden was asked if he was looking forward to visiting with his old pal, Xi.

Joe bristled saying he and Xi Jinping, President-for-Life, were purely business. They were not “old friends.” Huh?

During the campaign then Candidate Joe Biden had bragged that he and Xi were great amigos who had traveled 17,000 miles together, but now Joe says they’re not “old friends?”

A Chinese government financial entity did invest $1,500,000,000 with No 1 Son, Hunter Biden, when Joe came calling last time on Air Force Two, so Joe is understandably a little sensitive about being in the pocket of the Chinese. Understandable, very understandable. Sensitive.

“Ten percent for the Big Guy, Xi?”

Continue reading →

11/14/21

Leadership Tone

Leadership is a difficult, broad subject — a constantly evolving, context-dependent, nuanced, and complex issue while being supremely personal and driven by individual style.

Leadership tone

We have spoken before about leadership style, authentic leadership voice, but today I want to speak about leadership tone.

Leadership Style

By “tone” I mean the emphasis or coloration of how the leader’s voice resonates, its intonation, timbre, or temperament, of how the leader speaks and approaches the solving of problems or meeting challenges. Continue reading →