Star Wars

The new Star Wars movie and merchandise is making billions and is a leading news story.  Groupies know every detail of the Star Wars history.  I wish the public was half as informed about our government and how our republic functions. 

Although it will never happen, I think people should have to take some type of government competency test to register to vote.  If you have ever watched Water’s World interviews, it is obvious that we have too many political morons voting.  How do we educate these people?  The media certainly is no help.  They broadcast anything that is controversial to hype ratings.  The lame stream media tries not to let the facts get in the way of a good story and divide the country. 

Why do we let big government, big money, and the political elite run our country?  I congratulate Congress for actually passing a budget for a change.  This is the responsibility and obligation that Congress has ignored in our recent history. 

The problem is that the budget was 1.1 TRILION dollars and gave President Obama everything he wanted.  Money for the military and veterans was cut, there is no increase for Social Security recipients, AND welfare was increased.  This is wrong. 

Republicans have done well in the last two elections because of promises to cut the size of government and government spending.  This new budget certainly does not reflect what the majority of the country wants.  

Too many government decisions are made for political reasons.  One example is the disaster called Obama Care.  The implementation of the tax on Cadillac health care plans has been delayed again.  Why?  If this tax were implemented, before the next election, it would be a death stroke to the Democratic Party. 

Most polls show that less than 10% of Americans think the government is doing a good job.  I can see why Republican Presidential candidates that are considered outsiders are doing so well.  The public may not be well informed, but most are smart enough to realize we have a problem. 

All political candidates give lip service to solving the problems created by big government, but will not act on these problems.  I can certainly understand both parties concern with some of the outsider candidates.  If elected, some of these candidates will act, and it could mean the end of big government and the political elite as we know it today, and it would force major changes in both political parties. 

For the sake of the United States of America and future generations, I pray we cut big government and get back to the Constitution, but I am very concerned that we will continue on the path to socialism.   

P.C.

Any of you that have read my book, Business Fits, know how I feel about acronyms.  The use of acronyms leads to misunderstandings and miscommunications.  In business they cause wasted advertising and marketing dollars, and most importantly lead to lost sales. 

So what does P.C. stand for?  I once did consulting work for a franchise that used the term in marketing materials for prospective franchisees.  The prospects felt the term referred to Personal Computer.  It made no sense and the prospects did not want to appear dumb by asking questions.  In this case P.C. stood for a technical term in the franchise system.  How many franchise sales were lost before the acronym was removed?

So does P.C. stand for a personal computer or something else?  I was listening to a book of fiction on tape in the car.  They kept using the acronym P.C. in this book and it did not make any sense until I finally realized that they were referring to Probable Cause for search warrants.  This may have made sense to someone involved in law enforcement, but not for most people.  Don’t get in the habit of using acronyms in your company or industry.  It is a bad habit, and you will use them when you shouldn’t. 

The P.C. I want to address now stands for Political Correctness, which is the most detrimental and dangerous trend in our government today.  We are at war with radical Islam and our government won’t even say the words.  How can we ever win this war?  We can’t have open and honest discussions about race, immigration, sex, or religion, because of someone taking offense at a word usage.  This attitude is ignorant. 

I understand many people get rich by race-baiting and even by advocating that we can control climate change, but this is not healthy for our country.  People should not be allowed to get rich by promoting lies.

Political correctness is dividing America and diverting attention from the real problems facing this country.  Instead of dealing with horrific problems like the war with radical Islam, the growth of government, and government debt, our leaders talk about b--- s--- like climate change and gun control. 

We need to forget political correctness and get serious for the sake of our children and future generations. 

Dangerous Minorities

      It would be nice if we could always hire the most qualified person for the job, but that is not realistic in today’s society if we want to appear politically correct.  If a company does business with the government, hiring minorities can be a requirement for the business. 

Businesses must often hire based on race or sex requirements.  Then, minorities are hired, and everyone must be careful that these minorities are not discriminated against in any real or perceived way.  Business and government both have to give minority groups special consideration in order to prevent problems.  I am not saying minorities have not been discriminated against in the past, because they have, but today business has to be very careful not to show any sign of discrimination. 

Religious discrimination in business has not received a lot of attention, but it exists.  When I bought a car dealership in a small town, I was told I needed to join a specific church if I was going to do business in the town.  That offended me to the point I probably would not have joined that church if it had been my church of choice. 

Politically, minorities are an even greater problem.  These groups are easily manipulated by the political elite.  This is not the good for the country.  Only 5% of Germans were Nazis, but that led to the death of 5.7 million Jews in the holocaust and over 60 million people in WWII.  Very few people in Russia were Communists, but the Russian revolution resulted in the death of over 9 million people.  Very few people in China were Communists, but millions died. 

Communists regimes all started out with a very small part of the population, but this was a very dangerous minority.  Martin Malia estimates in his book, Black Book of Communism, that Communist regimes have caused the death of 85 to 100 million people.  Maybe Communists were a minority somebody should have been concerned with. 

Today Muslims are a religious group getting a lot of attention.  I agree that the majority of Muslims are peace loving, but the radical minority is a problem.  Any Muslim that believes in or supports Sharia law and Jihad must be considered an Islamic radical. 

Radical Islam is a minority of the Muslims, but it is a large and very dangerous minority.  There are over 1.6 Billion Muslims in the world.  Estimates put the number of radicals at 18% to 25%.  That is a huge number.  The number of radical Muslins probably exceeds the total population of the United States. 

This is not a small problem.  The majority of peace-loving Muslims MUST report any suspected radicals.  A passive non-involvement attitude is not acceptable.  The result will result in death and loss of freedoms for both Muslims and infidels. 

Think about this for a minute.  If we bring 10,000 Syrian refugees into the US, we can assume that statistically only 2,000 want to kill us.  How do we tell which 2,000?  We can’t tell by looking or talking to them.  Deceit is an essential tactic of Jihad.  There are very few records for these refugees which makes reliable vetting impossible.  Doesn’t anyone see a problem here? 

Age and sex are also irrelevant.  One of the shooters in the California shooting, Tashfeen Malik, was in this country illegally.  She slipped through the system.  We have a real problem with radical Islam.  They are at war with us.  We cannot negotiate with radical Islam. 

This is not an issue of religious freedom or political correctness.  Radical Islam wants to kill all infidels.  This means everyone that does not follow Sharia law and beleave in Jihad.  Someone said it is a war between the Koran and our Constitution. 

James Younger Gang

I am a student of our western history from 1860 to 1890.  This was an exciting time in the history of our county.   Jesse James, Frank James, Cole Younger, Jim Younger, and Bob Younger were the nucleus of an outlaw gang that achieved notoriety during that time period. 

Jesse became the most famous and the gang is normally referred as the James Gang.  He was shot in the back of the head by a gang member.  Personally, I believe that Cole Younger was the primary leader of gang.  The history of these people is very interesting.  I would recommend stopping at The James Farm and Museum in Kearney, Missouri. 

Jesse James was sometimes compared to Robin Hood, and the gang was defended by southern patriots, but in reality they were ruthless robbers and killers. Some politicians and some members of the press defended the gang and contributed to their infamy. 

The gang was able to continue their life of crime for many years for several reasons.  They were trained as guerrilla fighters in the Civil War.  The gang was better armed than most of the population and no one fought back.  They were protected by family and southern sympathizers.  The gang targeted banks and railroads so the pubic never recognized them as a serous problem or threat to the public. 

The downfall of the gang happened in Northfield, Minnesota where northern farmers and townspeople did not sympathize with the southern guerrillas.  The townspeople took up arms, and three gang members were killed.  The three Younger brothers were all seriously wounded and imprisoned in Stillwater, Minnesota.  Only Frank and Jesse James escaped. 

This history has some relevance today.  The shooting in San Bernardino is a change in tactics for terrorism in this county.  The government and media are very careful about labeling the problem or making any statements that might be consider politically incorrect.  The fact is that the shooters were devout Muslims.  Syed Farook had traveled to Syria to find a Muslim wife, and they had traveled to Syria and Pakistan.  This may be a clue to their motives.   They attacked, killed, and wounded people at a Christmas party.  Their dress, guns, and explosives clearly show that the attack was planned for a long time, and probably was funded by Islamic sympathizers. 

The change with this attack is that they were not on a suicide mission.  They tried to escape which makes it a guerrilla attack like the James gang.  They probably had training during trips to Syria and Pakistan.  They were better armed than their victims.  They knew that all their victims would be unarmed in a gun-free-zone, and would not fight back.  They planned on getting away and having family and the Muslim community hide and protect them, just like the James gang.  It is naive to think that no one in their family or church had any idea what they were planning. 

This all sounds like the guerrilla tactics of the James gang.  I am surprised Islamic terrorists have not adopted these guerrilla tactics before.  The only problem was that armed police responded too quickly.  Our police need tactical weapons to deal with this war on terror. 

Unfortunately, President Obama does not agree and actually took military grade equipment away from some police departments.  He would also like to take all guns away from citizens so they can’t defend themselves.  I would be in favor of any new gun control that took guns away from criminals and terrorists, but we already have that legislation. All proposed new legislation takes guns away from honest citizens and infringes on the rights guaranteed in the Second Amendment. 

We are at war with radical Islam.  This is a guerrilla war in countries not controlled by Islam.  Political correctness and talk of gun control are dangerous because both avoid addressing the real terrorist threat.  Maybe we should recognize political correctness as the propaganda it is because it avoids facing reality. 

We have to wake up and fight.  People are dying and more will die until we win this war.  Citizens may need to help the military and police by taking up arms and fighting for our country like the people of Northfield, Minnesota fought for their town.

100% Sure

I once had a marketing professor that said, “If you are 100% sure, you are wrong because you are too late.”  If you are 100% sure, someone else will have already acted, and the best opportunity is gone.  This is certainly true in marketing and business. 

The market is always changing.  Maybe that is why business is so interesting and challenging.   The changing market is one reason large companies, chains, and franchises are more successful than independents.  A small independent business can not afford the market research necessary to keep up with a changing market. 

I have had clients who were looking for a business and wanted to be 100% sure.  They will probably never own a successful business, because if they continue to investigate, the opportunity will be gone.  In some cases, the idea of being 100% sure is just an excuse so they never have to make a decision.  Unfortunately, they do not realize that this procrastination itself is making a decision to never be self employed. 

This works for the 100% sure individual because not everyone should be in business for themselves.  Owning a business requires making many decisions every day.  Someone that needs to be 100% sure has demonstrated that they are not capable of making business decisions in a timely manner. 

I would like to think I can be 100% sure of who to vote for politically, but that is also not possible.  Theoretically, we want to vote for the most qualified candidate that will best represent the future of our great country. 

We ask a candidate for specific plans on issues, but if the candidate is foolish enough to provide specifics, they will lose because the special interests and the political elite will criticize the details. 

Instead, we elect an individual with no experience or qualifications, but who has a good personality and can give a good speech.  No one would stay in business very long if they hired employees like this.  So why does anyone vote for them?

 Political candidates seek partisan support and the support of special interest groups.  They must then pay back for this support at the expense of the taxpayer.  It is most disturbing when they gain support by dividing the country based on race, sex, or religion. 

I am also very disturbed by politicians that feel they have to be so politically correct that they cannot even talk about some of the biggest problems facing this country.   This is why the political insiders are having such a hard time in the current Presidential race.  The public is getting fed up with inefficient big government, and the avoidance of the real issues facing this country.

I know it takes a lot of time and energy to learn about a candidate, and not just believe the lame stream media headlines, and the untrue super pack advertisements.  As in business, we can never be 100% sure, but we must do our best.  I have made many mistakes in both business and the voting booth.  I have learned from them.

You can never be 100% sure when you go to vote, but be informed.  Don’t be taken in by propaganda.