Retire, You Fossils
The recent scary “frozen empty stare” episode with Senator Mitch McConnell raises the question yet again — what is the age at which a US Senator should be retired and forced out?
07/27/23
Monthly Archives: July 2023
07/26/23
CEO Shoptalk: Fear Of Failure
Chatting the other day with a serial entrepreneur of some seasoning and success and we get on the subject of “fear of failure.” He had some interesting things to say amongst which are: “Everybody has some degree of fear of failure. Perfectly normal. It becomes a problem when it prevents you from going forward.”
WTF is “fear of failure,” Big Red Car?
07/24/23
The Secretary of the Army is Misquided
The actual title of this blog post was “The Secretary of the Army is a Moron” but I modified it to be less contentious. Know that in my heart, I believe she’s a moron.
I am opposed to creating a “warrior caste” in the United States. Isn’t that woke of me?
Who is the Secretary of the Army, Big Red Car?
07/22/23
Russian Casualties
It is difficult to get a handle on Russian casualties in the Ukraine – Russo War. According to the Muscovys, they have lost two dozen men, but they have mobilized more than 500,000 men in addition to their normal twice a year drafts.
According to the Ukrainians, the Russians have lost 350,000 men.
Wagner losses as a gauge
We have a slightly more accurate insight into the magnitude of losses with recent utterances from the Chief Thug of the Wagner Private Military Company Yevgeny Prigozhin — yes, the thug who marched on Moscow with his barbaric henchpersons in rebellion and who was subsequently banished to Belarus.
Barbaric thug, Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder and leader of the Wagner Private Military Company
07/21/23
The State of the Russian Economy
Russia invaded a peaceful Ukraine in February 2022 — seventeen months ago — and thereafter the West imposed broad economic sanctions on Russia. Putin, knowing he was going to invade Ukraine, prepared for the anticipated economic sanctions by stockpiling liquidity, but was caught off guard by the universality and depth of the West’s sanctions.
[It is now clear Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine more than a year before the actual date of the invasion based on actions he took in preparation for the invasion.]
07/13/23
CEO Shoptalk: Doing The Bloody Work
Other day a CEO who had been a client pre-Pandemic calls me and wants to chat about the difficulties of getting folks back to the office who had been weaned from the office whilst working from home during the Pandemic and post-Pandemic, hardly a novel topic.
As I often do, I explored the basis for what was happening and I asked him about hiring, objective setting, performance appraisal, and compensation. We also discussed “quiet quitting” and its management equivalent: “quiet firing.” Continue reading
07/5/23
From Whence The Lesson?
Life is a continuum of learning. When you stop learning, your brain atrophies and it is a headlong slide into the grave. But, how do we really learn in life?
The Lesson >>> The Test >>> The Learning
In a good many things we are prepared by formal teaching, followed by testing, and then consolidating the learning.
One would not want to try to learn how to fly an airplane by oneself. You agree? Continue reading
07/2/23
The Trump Supreme Court Legacy
The US Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation and is composed of nine Justices — a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. When there is a vacancy, the President nominates/appoints a candidate, the Senate conducts hearings, and the Senate then confirms or denies the appointment.
Technically, the Constitution authorizes the President to appoint a justice subject to the advise and consent of the Senate. Continue reading