Liberation

I recently made a Facebook post about feeling "Liberated", and what would a conservative do to celebrate instead of burning my bra. It was obviously a tongue in cheek statement, but it had some pretty deep roots.

My hometown Monteagle, the town of my elders, the town that my namesake helped incorporate, had an election on Tuesday. Not just any election, it was an election that meant a possible end to 18 years of thug rule if the results went in our favor. Maybe I am exaggerating on 18 years, I want to give the man who was in office some due. I want to believe that he started out wanting to serve the public and do what was best for the town of Monteagle. But over the years, his interests became skewed and his ego took over. And along with his ego, came the breaking of laws and alot of political malfeasance.

Surely, how much harm can a person in charge of a little town of 1100 do? Unfortunately, quite a bit. Monteagle has been a well-known southern mountain vacation community since the late 1800's, it also has two exits right off the major interstate between Nashville and Chattanooga which means it is the financial gateway to many bedroom communities in the several counties surrounding it. Monteagle can help or hinder those communities. That is quite a bit of power to wield.

Over the years, there was also an unwritten rule that to do business in Monteagle, you had to hire the local plumber/electrician...yes, that would be the Mayor. Then, you had to deal with an uneven policy of zoning and water/sewer rights. If you made a deal thru the Mayor, the rest was approved. If you didn't play by those rules, you would pay...one way or another. Many a person has lost alot of money doing business in Monteagle.

Then you had just everyday rules and policies. If you paid homage to the powers that be, you wouldn't have to follow those policies. If you crossed hairs with the powers that be, then they found every law in the book to bring you to your knees. So if you live in a town of 1100, the long arm of the law could reach into every aspect of your life in a very short time with no recourse. For people like myself, this existence is like a prison. A beautiful prison, but still a prison.

So when I talk about the fear of our state and federal government overextending their powers "for our own good", I think about "who" will be carrying out those duties and how in a little town of 1100, hell on earth can happen when you give people the power of "the law".

The devil is always on our shoulder, he especially likes politicians and people in power. I prefer to take away his tools and let everyone deal with his/her own demons personally. Govt shouldn't be his playground.

Liberation? Yes, we won on Tuesday! With a little Divine guidance and sheer hard work, Monteagle, and all her residents have been Liberated! Time to start breaking down the prison walls and building up the life our Founding Fathers envisioned...it starts in small towns all across America folks. We all can make victories happen.

The Ballot is stronger than the Bullet.

My next installment? How a dead man won the Mayor seat in the town next to ours.

Education vs Job Creation

First and foremost, I truly believe an educated workforce is a top priority in our state and in our nation. But let's look at the mechanics of it a little more closely.

I am considering going back to school and pursue a law degree. Do we need more lawyers? Probably not. But in my field, the knowledge of law is a very important tool in the toolbelt. I repeat, knowledge is a very useful tool.

However, if this consideration becomes reality, I will use this knowledge to be a better entrepreneur. I truly think America's greatest gift to us is the ability to own our own business or be self-employed. In my opinion, that is the American Dream.

My concern then, on the political front, is the roadblocks that seem to be popping up and the direction our nation is moving.

This blog entry from Stacey Campfield sums it up pretty well.

Education and jobs or independence and growth?

George Korda does an interesting article on the need for education in being the lynch pin to get good paying jobs. While he makes many great points (As usual) I tend to see the need in areas bigger then education.

What? Impossible you say? Education is the end all be all for a good future and life. Right?

Well, lets do some math. In the article it talks about how 40,000 people had already applied for a job at the new VW plant. 100,000 were expected to try and fill the 2,000 positions. Probably the known stipulation that a two year diploma was required to get a job kept some away.

Fine. Lets just say at least half of them knew and fit the requirement going in. No, Lets make it even harder then that. Lets say only one in ten had the requirement. Even though Tennessee has a much higher college graduation rate then that (it is in the mid 20's) we still have at least 4,000 well educated and qualified people to fill 2,000 job openings and that is an absolute minimum. I would expect it is more like half to two thirds knew and have the education and qualifications to fit the bill. That is more like ten people trying to fill every position. If we double the number of college graduates or even tripled it, would that suddenly in and of itself produce more jobs? No. You would just have 8,000 or 12,000 qualified and educated people trying to fill those same 2,000 jobs. Lack of a good education is obviously not the only thing holding people back from a good future.

The problem is clearly more a lack of jobs no matter what the qualifications are. Not the lack for educated people to fill those positions. What are we competing against? places like India, China and Japan who have an innovative, educated workforce willing to work at the same type job for pennies on the dollar compared to US employees.

This leaves us a few alternatives. Raise barriers to foreign imports? If we do that a few things will happen. The world will do the same thing to some of our goods. We would loose the high end products we have been selling overseas but would gain back the low end textile product manufacturing we lost. A mixed bag.

Increase taxes on foreign owned companies or products sold in the U.S.? We would loose some of the foreign owned employers who employ large numbers of people such as VW, Toyota and others, but it would probably allow the US owned companies to bounce back a little. Expect the same thing to happen back to our world wide brands as well. a mixed bag.

Lower our standard of living, minimum wage and regulation to compete with the foreign factories over seas? (not something most politicos want to put on a mail piece for their next election) A mixed bag.

Lastly. The one many people seem to never talk about is creating or growing our own market and brands. America is full of independent, intelligent, hard working people. The problem is we have gotten into a mind set of thinking we need someone else to give us a job. That having a job in a big factory is the American dream. That is the ultimate goal now.

When did that happen? It used to be owning the factory, being the employer or the boss was the American dream!

I think all this talk about "Evil profits", class warfare and the "terrible big boss" have made us think that achievement is somehow bad. That, heaven forbid we ever start a company and succeed we might make money and have employees! What would the world think of us then? "Better not climb too high or dream too big. Might have people attack you and call you names. You'll get taxed and regulated more. Better just get an education and hope to get on at some factory job."

That kind of negative talk has to stop or we are in big trouble as a nation. What has to happen more then anything, is just like what happened when baseball became a battle of the "haves" and the "have nots". We need to look to starting up or reinvigorating our farm team system. We need to incentivize business ownership and entrepreneurship. Reward it. Let it profit, champion those who work, innovate, succeed and grow. Remove barriers and the stigma of starting businesses.

Education is great and yes, it is an important part. But if we do not start developing our own next generation of inventors or business people like Henry Ford (who they say couldn't print his own name) then no matter how educated we are, we will be in trouble. Our governors and presidents will forever be recruiting factories overseas. We will forever be begging for scraps off another mans table instead of dining at our own banquet of success.

I wish our guber candidates, instead of always talking about how with a new super educated student what a great foreign job recruiter they will suddenly be, would once in a while talk about how they will start motivating, incentivizing our own people and companies to start, expand and stay here.

It Matters Who Governs - Monteagle

Many of you have read previous posts where I have ranted about the ineptness of my local government...especially when it came to infrastructure issues. We have had a complete systemic failure in our sewer treatment functions, we have run out of water and we have had horrendous audit reports with issues that haven't been corrected in 20 years. Now if that isn't bad leadership, I really don't what is. But hey, we allowed it to happen. It does matter who governs folks.

Fast forward to the elections of 2008, one woman decided to run for city council. She wanted to make a difference in the community that she loved. She was elected in spite of some of the local naysayers. She was off-handedly given the task of getting grants for the town. What harm could she do there. They didn't know Marilyn Nixon.

Identifying needs, finding grant money, getting the paperwork done and taking the steps necessary to get those grants is an arduous task even for the most functional of local governments. But Marilyn doggedly pursued the courses of action to make it happen. She fortunately had two, sometimes three other votes on the council that saw the logic and the possibilities. It does matter who governs folks.

Yesterday, the state announced that Monteagle was #1 on the list for Clean Water Stimulus money in Tennessee. Our local government had failed so badly at providing vital services, that we beat out all the other deserving local governments in Tennessee for this top dog spot in Obama's "free" cash extravaganza.

But no matter how I feel politically about all this Stimulus bs, I say "Go Girl" to Marilyn Nixon. Sometimes it takes a woman to get the job done. It does matter who governs.

Tennessee is preparing to spend $77 million in stimulus money on clean water and drinking water projects, including several local ones.

Topping the state's priority list of more than 300 projects are eight Southeast Tennessee water improvement projects for which state officials are offering quick funding opportunities.

For drinking water funding, the Ocoee Utility District in Polk and Bradley counties, the Big Creek Utility District in Grundy County and South Pittsburg in Marion County have chances to get a total of a little more than $10 million.

For clean water projects, Monteagle, serving Grundy, Marion and Franklin counties; Ocoee Utility District; Benton in Polk County; plus Cleveland and Athens may receive more than $14.6 million.

Tisha Calabrese-Benton, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said money is allocated through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. She said the money will be combined with state funds for low-interest loans and grants.

If local communities decline the money or can't make deadlines, other communities will be considered according to the state's priority list, Ms. Calabrese-Benton said.

The federal money -- $57 million for sewer facilities and more than $20 million for planning, design and construction of drinking water facilities -- must be obligated by Feb. 17, 2010, state officials said. Utilities, water authorities or communities must have a signed construction contract or must have begun construction by the same date.

Many area utility officials could not be reached for comment Thursday, but Ocoee Utility District Manager Tim Lawson said his district has decided to put on hold a plan to build a water treatment system. The $1.6 million in funding will go to another project.

"We are proceeding with the drinking water application," Mr. Lawson said.

Two planned extensions will serve several hundred homes in Polk and Bradley counties, he said.

"We just don't think it's feasible for us to be able to start the (sewer) work by February, which we would have to do," Mr. Lawson said.

The state also is set to receive $458,806 to implement water quality management planning projects, including grants to three Tennessee development districts to conduct green infrastructure needs analyses.

Reaganomics vs Obamanomics

Gotta love Ann Coulter. In a recent email, she was plugging a book that is an investor "must read" but her preface is what caught my attention. It is just a matter-of-fact recap of the obvious. Bottom line, liberal economic/social policies have killed us thruout history. I know my braniac liberal leaning friends want to discount this theory because of social responsibility principles but "at what cost".

Me, personally...I just think government needs to get the hell out of the way.

Reaganomics vs. Obamanomics

Dear Fellow Conservative,

You know what really irritates me about liberals? (Besides the fact that they're spineless little girls in pretty dresses who can't play rough because it musses up their hair...)They always think liberalism fixes the problem -- even when it was liberalism that caused the problem in the first place!

Case in point, the Financial Meltdown of 2008 (and counting). To hear liberals tell it, it all goes back to Ronald Reagan -- who with his seductive "B-actor" charm fooled America into thinking that by slashing taxes, regulation, and government spending we could unleash free enterprise and create a new wave of prosperity.
Sure, liberals concede, that seemed to work for, oh, the better part of three decades, but now we're paying the price for all that "greed." The solution? A return to the pre-Reagan policies of Jimmy Carter, LBJ, FDR... Speaking of which, what will victory look like in the "War on Poverty"? When are they going to produce an "exit strategy" from that quagmire?

Unfortunately, the facts -- as always when you're talking about liberal theories -- tell a different story. A story in which all the major villains, it turns out, have one thing in common: government. That's right. From the "Community Reinvestment Act" that pressured banks into affirmative-action lending, to those "government-sponsored enterprises" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- who bought up all the resulting subprime loans and repackaged them as "investment grade" securities -- the greasy thumb-prints of government were all over this fiasco from beginning to end.

But those, as I say, are facts. And facts have no place in the fantasy world of Democratic policy-makers. Nor does history -- true history, that is, as opposed to the public-school propaganda that teaches, for instance, that FDR's New Deal got us out of the Great Depression, when in reality it only deepened and prolonged it.
But the question remains: What can those of us in the fast-dwindling, Reality-Based Community do to survive financially as the Obamacrats prepare a "New New Deal" that threatens to outspend the original by about ten thousand to one?

Personally, I don't have a clue. But thank goodness I know of someone who does.
His name is Mark Skousen, Ph.D., editor of the investment newsletter Forecasts & Strategies -- and he just might be the smartest financial advisor working today.
Don't let that "Ph.D." fool you -- this is no pointy-headed leftist like Obama's economic team who seem to think that all the economy needs in order to flourish are more liberals running the economy.

Skousen, after all, launched his career by predicting during the 1980-82 recession -- and to the scornful laughter of nearly all the other so-called experts -- that "Reaganomics will work."

Boy, did he get that right. And boy, has he gotten it right ever since:

• Like when he issued a "sell everything" recommendation to his Forecasts & Strategies subscribers just 41 days before the stock market crash of 1987 -- then told them to get fully invested again several weeks later, just in time for the recovery.

• And when he called the Gulf War of 1990 "a turning point for U.S. stocks" -- and the Dow subsequently began a bull market that didn't end for nearly 10 years.
• And when he told his subscribers in 1995 that the NASDAQ would double, and then double again -- which is exactly what it did.

• And when, just weeks before the NASDAQ collapsed in 2000, he warned his subscribers that tech stocks were dangerously overvalued.

• And when, in 2006 -- more than two years before the financial meltdown -- he warned subscribers that "we clearly are headed for fiscal disaster," and showed them how to protect themselves.

What's Skousen's secret? I think it begins with understanding the real laws of economics -- not the warmed-over Marxism that passes for "new thinking" to Obama's media groupies.

And here's the best thing about Mark Skousen. He knows how to make you money no matter how bad things get in the financial markets and the economy overall.
After all, he points out, the late billionaire John Templeton -- whom Money magazine called "the greatest stock-picker of the 20th century" -- began to build his vast fortune in the depths of the Great Depression.

Maybe you're not looking to be a billionaire. Maybe you're just looking to keep your head above water while the Obamacrats do their best to sink the economy. Either way, Mark Skousen can help -- and I urge you to give his Forecasts & Strategies a try.
The cost? Less than the tip on a John Edwards haircut -- in today's dollars, that is. After Obama gets done driving down the value of the dollar it wouldn't be enough to buy Governor Rod Blogojevich a haircut.

Sincerely,

Ann Coulter

Health - Personal Responsibility

Star Parker is usually dead-on with her assessments. I respect her opinion even more because she has pulled herself up by her bootstraps and has seen both sides of the spectrum. She is a black woman who tells it straight.

Want to know what troubles our American health care system?
by Star Parker

Consider the thoughts of psychiatrist and Nazi death camp survivor Viktor Frankl.

After spending time in our country as a visiting professor, he saw the looming dangers of freedom without responsibility. He observed: "Freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast."

We as Americans accept that health care is an individual right, even if someone else is paying for it. The truth that every personal right must have an accompanying personal responsibility is now lost in our self-absorbed materialistic culture. We have only rights, entitlements if you will. Few have any idea what the costs are of the health care they receive. Many get it tax subsidized through their employer, many get it through Medicare in a now bankrupt Ponzi scheme in which those working pay taxes to pay for care of those retired, and more than sixty million Americans do not pay at all through Medicaid and SCHIP programs.

Hundreds of millions receive health care the costs of which have little or nothing to do with their own personal realities and then we wonder why those costs are out of control.

Now Ted Kennedy has introduced his solution to all of this, which also captures the thinking of our president. Set up a new government health care plan, subsidized of course by taxes, and call this choice because you are not forced to take it (although you are forced to pay taxes for it).

As Senator Kennedy announces more free health care -- meaning one group of Americans will get what another group of Americans will pay for -- the disconnect between who gets health care services and who pays for them will grow even greater.

Costs will be controlled, according to Senator Kennedy, by setting up a new army of bureaucrats who will get rid of proverbial "fraud and abuse," will decide for doctors how to treat their patients, and will decide for us how we should behave by dictating the preventative measures we must take for our own good.

To put on a show for what this all might look like, a few weeks ago President Obama "invited" representatives from the major sectors of the health care business -- doctors, insurers, hospitals, pharmaceutical firms, medical device manufacturers -- to the White House to tell us all how much they would commit to lowering costs.

The result was a supposed commitment by these groups to cut costs by 1.5 percent per year.

Aside from the fact that shortly after the White House announcement, industry representatives began issuing statements denying that they made any such commitment, let's assume it's accurate. That these groups do not know how to run their own businesses and that they can deliver the same products and services annually for 1.5 percent less if the president threatens them.

At our annual health care bill of about $2.5 trillion dollars, savings of 1.5 percent would be about $40 billion.

Let's consider how much of our $2.5 trillion health care bill are costs resulting from behavior that individuals choose.

Googling around and totaling up, I come up with about $240 billion, about ten percent of our total health care bill. This is roughly the total reported health care costs associated with obesity, drug and alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS and sedentary life styles.

Worth noting is that these occur disproportionately in low income groups who get their health care free. More than half our spending on HIV/AIDS, for example, is out of Medicaid. Can it be accidental that the huge health care costs related to lifestyle issues are most pronounced where individuals do not personally bear the costs of how they behave?

How can our health care problems be solved by more entitlements and bureaucrats when this is what is causing the problem to begin with?

Viktor Frankl had it right. At the heart of the solution for our health care crisis is personal responsibility. This means more freedom and more markets.

Redneck Values

As I was perusing my morning reading material, I happened on a few items that connected in a strange way. A.C.K. had a commentary on the Gibbons vs Haslam message and then I received an email from my local militant friend that I am posting below.

As the party searches their souls to redefine what it means to be a Republican, I can't help but appreciate what makes life in small town America so appealing.

YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK:

You might be a redneck if: It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, 'One nation, under God.'

You might be a redneck if: You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.

You might be a redneck if: You still say ' Christmas' instead of 'Winter Festival.'

You might be a redneck if: You bow your head when someone prays.

You might be a redneck if: You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem.

You might be a redneck if: You treat our armed forces veterans with great respect, and always have.

You might be a redneck if: You've never burned an American flag, nor intend to.

You might be a redneck if: You know what you believe and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.

You might be a redneck if: You respect your elders and raised your kids to do the same.

You might be a redneck if: You'd give your last dollar to a friend.

If you got this email from me, it is because I believe that you, like me, have just enough Red Neck in you to have the same beliefs as those talked about in this email.

God Bless the USA !

Auto Restructuring Plan

Being in the political arena is a double edge sword if you have a conscious. Too often you have to translate political prose into bottom line reality and then somehow have to convince your own people what that means to them because the political prose is so dang pretty and deceptive...the snake in Eden concept.

It is kinda like a joke being told by a group of tuxedo clad people at a cocktail party, and the only people who don't get it are the people at the end of the punch line.

The facts of this restructuring represent that kind of joke.

Chrysler Restructuring Plan a Power Grab
By Robert Robb

The proposed end games for General Motors and particularly Chrysler illustrate why government shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place.

It's worthwhile to begin with the broader picture. Americans used to buy about 17 million new cars and trucks a year. Now, we're buying less than 10 million. That, of course, puts considerable stress on manufacturers with weaker products or financial structures.

How many new cars Americans will want to purchase in the future is unknown. But there can be a high degree of confidence in this: however many it is, someone will sell them to us.

Moreover, they are likely to be produced in the United States. A majority of cars sold by foreign manufacturers in the U.S. are actually built here.

So, why should the federal government care who it is that sells us our cars? There are two rationales offered. First, to preserve an "American" auto industry. Second, to preserve "American" jobs.

The proposed Chrysler restructuring gives the lie to both rationales.

Under the Obama administration's proposal, Chrysler would, in essence, be given to Fiat, an Italian company, to operate.

So, how is an Italian car manufacturer operating in Michigan any more "American" than a Japanese manufacturer operating in Kentucky?

And why should the federal government give a market preference - through taxpayer financing and warrantee guarantees - to Italian cars produced by American workers in Michigan over Japanese cars produced by American workers in Kentucky?

The Obama administration's proposed restructuring is more than just unjustified, however. It dangerously undermines the rule of law, as explicated so beneficially by Friedrich Hayek in his classic, "The Road to Serfdom."

The essence of the rule of law, according to Hayek, is that what the government will do is known to all economic actors in advance. That government will not act arbitrarily in specific circumstances to favor some economic actors over others.

Chrysler has $6.9 billion in secured debt. Under the law, secured lenders have the first claim on the assets of the debtor in the event of non-payment.

The Obama administration is attempting to muscle past this law. Under its proposal, the health care trust of the auto workers' union, an unsecured creditor, would forgive 57 percent of what Chrysler owes it, and receive 55 percent of the company's equity in exchange. The federal government would forgive about a third of what it would loan Chrysler and receive 8 percent of the company's equity. Fiat would pay nothing for its 20 percent initial ownership.

The secured creditors, with the first claim on Chrysler's assets, were asked to forgive 70 percent of what they are owed and receive nothing in equity. When they refused and forced the company into bankruptcy, they were excoriated by Obama - a shameful act by a president who pledged to uphold the law, not make it up as he went along.

The proposed GM restructuring is equally lopsided. The union trust would forgive half of what it is owed and receive 39 percent of the company. The government would forgive half of what it is owed and receive 50 percent of the company. The other private lenders, in this case unsecured, would forgive 100 percent of what they are owed and receive just 10 percent of the company.

In his recent press conference, Obama said he had no interest in owning or operating car companies. Until this point, I was willing to accept Obama at his word, while fundamentally disagreeing with his economic policies.

Given his actions, however, it's hard to credit his disclaimer in this instance.

These proposed restructurings are power grabs, pure and simple. The positions of lenders are eviscerated to give control to the union trust and the government. The emergent companies are given market preference through taxpayer financing and government warrantee guarantees. All to serve no true national purpose.

Education

Since the legislative session is winding down and my OHV bills had a 1/3 success ratio with time to spare before next year's battle, my philosophical focus has now shifted to the education conundrum. A huge issue in my neck of the woods and one that could, in my opinion, be easily changed if we all put our thinking caps on and be willing to get over "status quo" issues and think about solutions.

Personally, I think the solution to any problem is education of the mind and expanding our world view. Since adults usually close off the most porous of these brain cells (unwillingly, willingly or just by attrition), my intentional focus will be the children and figuring out how to help them be the best that they can be in life...whatever that path may be. I think we spend way too much time telling them what they should be instead of focusing on their own unique skillsets. God has given us each our own set.

I decided to have my own children later in life (although I was one of the first of my dear college friends to do so). When I made that decision, my entire life revolved around expanding their minds and souls. Yes, I even did the Vivaldi in the womb thing.

When it was time for school, I jumped in and became that involved parent. By second grade, my eldest was evolving faster then her teachers could keep up with educationally. Unfortunately, the school resources were being spent teaching English as a Second Language and not challenging the above average student(our little suburb had a huge influx that they were not prepared for).

As PTA President, I did what I could, but the education system is not one you can "fix" overnight. So after third grade, I pulled her from public school and placed her in a Christian private school that fit my preferred educational qualifications. I had one shot at this parenthood thing and education was a huge component.

Sometimes life gets in the way with all of our best laid plans, but so far, my children are still expanding their minds (they are 12 and 17 with 4.0's). So I know this education thing has some merit. In fact, opening up their world views early in life probably helped them get thru some of the hardest of personal times a child can have in life. I am thankful every day for that miracle.

I don't have all the answers, but I welcome an open discussion on the matter...and maybe just maybe, we can put our thoughtful discourse into practical application. It is time to think out of the box on this issue. Let the fun begin!

Communication 101

Being in the Communication business, I come across way too many "failure of purpose" instances due to poor communication. They are not failing at what they are doing, they are failing at communicating their actions to their primary audience. Big difference.

I have a dear friend who has ventured into local politics because she wanted to make a difference. She is having to work extremely long (unpaid) hours at it because the municipality is in such dire straights due to long standing mismanagement. There are more dynamic figures in the game who outshine this individual, however, she is the one who is guiding the work with new solutions to old problems. She is a fresh, intelligent voice in this mix and her efforts should pay off for the long-term stability of our city.

But what happens when it comes time for reelection or election to higher positions? For those who know the behind the scenes story, it is a no-brainer. She is one of the most capable and energetic individuals on the ballot...but does the rest of her target audience know that? How should she go about communicating that on a regular basis not just at election time? I have my own solutions, but I will share them with her in private.

For the rest of you, don't ever think that because you do good work means you will get that promotion or the recognition you deserve. Effective communications, my friends, is the magic bullet. And these days, we need all the help we can get to keep our jobs.

By Schatzie Brunner • April 27, 2009 * Tennessean

Have you just landed a new role or different job in your organization? With any shift in responsibilities there are new communication issues to face.

According to executive coach Scott Eblin in his book, The Next Level, executives spend most of their time producing and dealing in ideas. "For those ideas to be of any value, they have to be well communicated to the right audience at the right time," Eblin says.

How many times have you heard the catch phrase "Know your audience"? But one of the biggest pitfalls is learning how to define "audience."

Is your message going to the entire organization, or to your boss or peers? Keep in mind that the way you craft a message has to be based on the specific person or people receiving it.

For instance, if you want to reach your boss, craft a message in terms of his or her interests. What drives the boss — is it overhead costs, ego or something else?

Those drivers will no doubt be very different from those of your peers or the team you may manage.

Start by defining those drivers and asking yourself why your message should matter to the audience. No matter what level you occupy, you are always onstage. And so is each recipient.

The more deliberate you become in your communications style, the more impact you can have each time you communicate.

Keep the energy up
Energy is such a key component to communicating a message — and yet it's easy to forget to stay engaged.

Knowing how you come across to others, whether in a written or spoken message, is critical information. One exercise I use with clients — and in keynote addresses — is to take a pen and paper and make two lists.

One is all the things, people, places and activities that give me energy, and the other is a list of what saps energy away. It's a great way to evaluate yourself so that you know when and where you are engaged, interested or attentive.

I've found in coaching hundreds of folks that self-perception and reality are never congruent; you may think you sound like a ball
of fire when someone else may experience you as less than dynamic.

The trick is to get to know yourself and your style better. Don't leave it to chance.

Even when you feel you don't have the energy to put one foot in front of the other, realize that no one else cares about your level of fatigue as you try to communicate in business.

So, even if you have to "fake it until you make it," do so in order to come across as the dynamo
you want others to believe you are.

Unemployed?

The other day, I was listening to the laments of my 80+ Grandma Nell about her morning paper delivery being canceled (The Tennessean, bad move on their part btw on totally canceling Franklin County delivery). For someone who has gotten the morning paper for 50+ years, this was a huge big deal in her quality of life. If Grandpa Mose were still alive, there would have been hell to pay.

Being the ever-thinking entrepreneur, I immediately thought that situation was a prime opportunity for someone to come in an offer paper delivery for a fee. You have a captive, established market who was already paying for the service, you have the product ready to deliver, the only thing you needed to do was set-up the mechanisms to make it happen. Kinda brainless actually. If I didn't already have 5 jobs, I would do it.

There is always a way to make a living in any economy. You just have to get out there and find opportunities and make it happen. Surely, we haven't lost that much of our good ole American ingenuity.

Here is a great article for those thinking about jumping into the self-employed genre (willingly or unwillingly).

I accepted a severance package from my employer because I've always wanted to be self-employed. My problem is I'm not sure if the work I did for the past 30 years translates to private enterprise. With the economy the way it is, is this a bad time to start a business? In what industry will I find the greatest profits?

It depends on what your interests and skills are. What do you enjoy doing? Would anyone pay you to do that? What does the marketplace need right now, and how does that relate to what you're passionate about?

Keep these five tips in mind:

1. Remember, baby boomers are the largest generation on the planet, and they have money. They are at the prime of their lives and do not anticipate sitting in a rocking chair. Although the present economic decline may affect their portfolios, this means only that they may postpone retirement. However, they remain more affluent than past generations at their age. They need financial planning, health care and help traveling. Consider providing it.

2. Because many boomers will continue to work as long as possible, they also need help caring for their aging parents. At the same time, more elderly citizens want to remain at home. Senior services companies offer clients help such as making medical appointments, providing transportation, shopping for groceries, and taking care of banking and other financial needs.

3. Going green is hip, smart and part of a $209 billion-a-year industry. Marketing and installing solar panels is one way to tap into that trend and earn a living on your own.

4. If gadgets or electronics are your strong suits, consider a second life as a technology consultant. All businesses have computers and need someone to help keep them humming. So, why not earn money from those technical talents?

5. Finally, a sector that has gotten a boost from the federal stimulus bill is construction. Tennessee is scheduled to get millions of dollars, much of which will go to private industry to create construction jobs. An additional $150 billion is in the bill to repair or replace states' crumbling infrastructure, which includes bridges, highways, roads, public transportation and water projects. Private enterprise will play a role. Maybe you could, too.

Rules of Engagement

I am sure alot of you have seen this email as it has made the rounds among the conservative ranks. Snopes currently says the validity is "Undetermined". Although I really try to give our President the benefit of the doubt (it is hard, but I do try), this Somali pirate scenario is certainly plausible and likely all considering.

I have recently read the "Lone Survivor" book by Marcus Luttrell who was the lone survivor of a SEALS mission over in Afghanistan in 2005. The Rules of Engagement (ROE) is a major issue in the military and even more so with these mighty warriors who are solely trained for mission success against all odds.

If recent news stories are any indication, I think the way our military "does business" will be challenged and possibly changed forever. Are we really ready for that kind of "Change"?

If you are interested in what really happened in the piracy hostage standoff this week, read the following from a friend with a lifetime in national security-related operations. I have erased the name of his personal SEAL contact as he is still on active duty and I would not want to risk career damage to him for his truthfulness. FYI, ROE= rules of engagement, BHO=our esteemed president.

Here is a note a SEAL friend sent me.

Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, I got the following:

1. BHO wouldn't authorize the SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours, going against OSC (on scene commander) recommendation.

2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions that they couldn't do anything unless the hostage's life was in "imminent" danger.

3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE.

4. When the navy RIB came under fire as it approached with supplies, no fire was returned due to ROE. As the raggies were shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all dialed in.

5. BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CPN and SEAL teams

6. Bainbridge CPN and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. 4 hours later, 3 dead raggies

7. BHO immediately claims credit for his "daring and decisive" behaviour. As usual with him, it's BS.

So per our last email thread, I'm downgrading Obama's performace to D-. Only reason it's not an F is that the hostage survived.

Read the following accurate account:

Philips’ first leap into the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out well. With the Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Phili ps threw himself off of his lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear shot at his captors — but none was taken.

Guidance from National Command Authority — president Barack Obama — had been clear: a peaceful solution was the only acceptable outcome to this standoff, unless the hostage’s life was in clear danger.

The next day, a small Navy boat was fired on by the Somali pirates — and again no fire was returned. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed, thanks to a mandate from the commander in chief’s staff not to act until Obama, a man with no background dealing with such issues, decided that an outcome other than a “peaceful solution” would be acceptable.

After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the on-scene-commander decided he’d had enough.

Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear danger to the hostage’s life and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK47 leveled at Philips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.

Three rounds and all three brigands became enemy KIA and Philips was safe.

There is an upside, a downside, and a spinside to the series of events over the last week .

Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration claimed victory and declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put paid to questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness.

Despite the Obama administration’s attempt to spin yesterday’s success as a result of bold, decisive leadership by the president, the reality is nothing of the sort.

What should have lasted only hours — as long as it took the USS Bainbridge to steam to the location — became an embarrassing four day standoff between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.

Economics 101

Found these wonderful quotes today and thought I would share...


"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." -- Author unknown


"Every time you take a rich man down, you take a 100 poor men with him."


"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it." -- Benjamin Franklin


"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand." -- Milton Friedman


"I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible." -- Milton Friedman


"When the United States was formed in 1776, it took 19 people on the farm to produce enough food for 20 people. So most of the people had to spend their time and efforts on growing food. Today, it's down to 1% or 2% to produce that food. Now just consider the vast amount of supposed unemployment that was produced by that. But there wasn't really any unemployment produced. What happened was that people who had formerly been tied up working in agriculture were freed by technological developments and improvements to do something else. That enabled us to have a better standard of living and a more extensive range of products." -- Milton Friedman


"Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else's resources as carefully as he uses his own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property." -- Milton Friedman


"When everybody owns something, nobody owns it, and nobody has a direct interest in maintaining or improving its condition. That is why buildings in the Soviet Union -- like public housing in the United States -- look decrepit within a year or two if their construction..." -- Milton Friedman


"(T)he supporters of tariffs treat it as self-evident that the creation of jobs is a desirable end, in and of itself, regardless of what the persons employed do. That is clearly wrong. If all we want are jobs, we can create any number -- for example, have people dig holes and then fill them up again, or perform other useless tasks. Work is sometimes its own reward. Mostly, however, it is the price we pay to get the things we want. Our real objective is not just jobs but productive jobs -- jobs that will mean more goods and services to consume." -- Milton Friedman


"There is all the difference in the world, however, between two kinds of assistance through government that seem superficially similar: first, 90 percent of us agreeing to impose taxes on ourselves in order to help the bottom 10 percent, and second, 80 percent voting to impose taxes on the top 10 percent to help the bottom 10 percent -- William Graham Sumner's famous example of B and C decided what D shall do for A. The first may be wise or unwise, an effective or ineffective way to help the disadvantaged -- but it is consistent with belief in both equality of opportunity and liberty. The second seeks equality of outcome and is entirely antithetical to liberty." -- Milton Friedman


"The great danger to the consumer is the monopoly -- whether private or governmental. His most effective protection is free competition at home and free trade throughout the world. The consumer is protected from being exploited by one seller by the existence of another seller from whom he can buy and who is eager to sell to him. Alternative sources of supply protect the consumer far more effectively than all the Ralph Naders of the world." -- Milton Friedman


"Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread." -- Thomas Jefferson


"A rising tide (in the economy) lifts all boats" -- John Kennedy


"The record of economic success during the 1980's is clear: 18.6 million new jobs were created, increasing U.S. civilian employment by 20 percent. Only 12 percent of these jobs were in low-paid restaurant and retail areas, while 82 percent were in high-paid technical, managerial and professional areas. Once Reagan's tax cuts kicked in (fiscal year 1982), the country experienced 92 months of economic growth without a recession. This represented the longest period of sustained peacetime economic growth in American history. America's most successful achievers do pay a higher share of the total tax burden. The top one percent income earners paid 18 percent of the total tax burden in 1981, and paid 25 percent in 1991. The bottom 50 percent of income earners paid only 8 percent of the total tax burden, and paid only 5 percent in 1991. History shows that tax cuts have always resulted in improved economic growth producing more tax revenue in the treasury." -- Rush Limbaugh


"What pays under capitalism is satisfying the common man, the customer. The more people you satisfy, the better for you." -- Ludwig Von Mises


"Don't knock the rich. When did a poor person ever give you a job?" -- Laurence J. Peter


"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -- Ronald Reagan


"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." -- Adam Smith


"It is the maxim of every prudent master of a family, never to attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to make than to buy...What is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom. If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, better buy it of them with some part of the produce of our own industry, employed in a way in which we have some advantage." -- Adam Smith


"Sellers in general maintain the quality of their products and services for fear of losing customers otherwise. But, when price controls create a situation where the amount demanded is greater than the amount supplied -- a shortage -- fear of losing customers is no longer as strong an incentive. For example, landlords typically reduce painting and repairs when there is rent control, because there is no need to fear vacancies when there are more tenants looking for apartments than there are apartments available." -- Thomas Sowell


"Tariffs that save jobs in the steel industry mean higher steel prices, which in turn means fewer sales of American steel products around the world and losses of far more jobs than are saved." -- Thomas Sowell


"Four things have almost invariably followed the imposition of controls to keep prices below the level they would reach under supply and demand in a free market: (1) increased use of the product or service whose price is controlled, (2) Reduced supply of the same product or service, (3) quality deterioration, (4) black markets." -- Thomas Sowell


"Politics offers attractive solutions but economics can offer only trade-offs. For example, when laws are proposed to restrict the height of apartment buildings in a community, politics presents the issue in terms of whether we prefer tall buildings or buildings of a more modest height in our town. Economics asks what you are prepared to trade off in order to keep the height of buildings below some specified level. In places where land costs may equal or even exceed the cost of the apartment buildings themselves, the difference between allowing ten-story buildings to be built and allowing a maximum of five stories may be that rents will be twice as high in the shorter buildings. The question then is not simply whether you prefer shorter buildings but how much do you prefer shorter buildings and what price are you prepared to pay to mandate height restrictions in your community. A doubling of rents and three additional highway fatalities per yet? A tripling of rents and six additional highway fatalities per year? Economics cannot answer such questions. It can only make you aware of a need to ask them." -- Thomas Sowell


"In a small town, an idiot breaks a shop window. He's called a vandal, until someone points out that a window installer now must be paid to replace the window. The window installer then will have enough money to buy a new suit. A tailor will then be able to buy a new desk. And so on. The whole town apparently gains from the economic activity generated by the broken window. Of course, if this made sense, cities should hire people to run though town, breaking windows.

But it doesn't make sense. It's a fallacy because the circulating money is seen; what is not seen is what would have been done with the money if the window were still whole. The shopkeeper, instead of paying the window installer, might have expanded his business, or bought a new suit or a new desk. The town is worse off because of a broken window." -- John Stossel



"Minimum prices in general tend to discriminate against the lesser skilled person or the less preferred item. Let's say ten workers show up and you only can hire five. Well, you can't discriminate based on price because you have to pay them all eight dollars an hour. So you may hire according to what you like. So if you prefer Catholics to Jews or whites to blacks, you'll have a tendency to indulge your preferences. You can apply that phenomena to anything. If we made a law, let's call it a "minimum steak law", that is, fillet mignon and chuck steak both sell for $10. Well, the cost of discriminating against chuck steak would be zero, because you have to pay $10 anyway. The way that less preferred things compete with more preferred things is by having a lower price. Even though people prefer filet mignon to chuck steak, chuck steak doesn't have any problems selling at all." -- Walter Williams




"We might think of dollars as being "certificates of performance." The better I serve my fellow man, and the higher the value he places on that service, the more certificates of performance he gives me. The more certificates I earn, the greater my claim on the goods my fellow man produces. That's the morality of the market. In order for one to have a claim on what his fellow man produces, he must first serve him." -- Walter Williams


"(Tariffs) help some steel workers keep their jobs, but it turns out to be a losing proposition on balance. The reason why steel workers and their companies want tariffs on foreign steel is so they can raise the price of steel produced by US companies. So, it will save some jobs in the steel industry, but one has to look at the "steel using industry." The companies in the US that buy steel to produce their products are hurt by the tariffs. You find unemployment in those areas because of the higher costs of their inputs, which makes them less competitive on world markets. So what one has to look at is not the seen, but the unseen. Yes, you can see as a result of tariffs that more jobs are saved in the steel industry. What goes unseen are the jobs lost elsewhere because of the steel tariffs. Tariffs save some jobs at the expense of many, many, other jobs."


"Suppose I hire you to repair my computer. The job is worth $200 to me and doing the job is worth $200 to you. The transaction will occur because we have a meeting of the mind. Now suppose there's the imposition of a 30 percent income tax on you. That means you won't receive $200 but instead $140. You might say the heck with working for me -- spending the day with your family is worth more than $140. You might then offer that you'll do the job if I pay you $285. That way your after-tax earnings will be $200 -- what the job was worth to you. There's a problem. The repair job was worth $200 to me, not $285. So it's my turn to say the heck with it. This simple example demonstrates that one effect of taxes is that of eliminating transactions, and hence jobs." -- Walter Williams


"How many times have we heard "free tuition," "free health care," and free you-name-it? If a particular good or service is truly free, we can have as much of it as we want without the sacrifice of other goods or services. Take a "free" library; is it really free? The answer is no. Had the library not been built, that $50 million could have purchased something else. That something else sacrificed is the cost of the library. While users of the library might pay a zero price, zero price and free are not one and the same. So when politicians talk about providing something free, ask them to identify the beneficent Santa Claus or tooth fairy." -- Walter Williams


"Here's Williams' roadmap out of poverty: Complete high school; get a job, any kind of a job; get married before having children; and be a law-abiding citizen. Among both black and white Americans so described, the poverty rate is in the single digits." -- Walter Williams

Tea Parties

Wow, where do I begin.

Started the day in Monteagle where we had a Tea Party at Noon. A local business owner had asked me to host one because he was so darn fed up with everything. Of course, I couldn't say no. Direction was quickly given by the TN event organizers, I was VERY impressed with both Ken and Judson's immediate feedback and action plan.

Signs went up Saturday and the invite was pretty much word of mouth. I was thinking 15 people showing up would classify it as a success considering we live in such a small town with alot of apathy. People started arriving at 11:30am, I was a little shocked, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. 11:45am the parking lot was almost full and we were having traffic control issues. Noon, it was full-blown. I have not seen anything like it in all my days here. Some say 65, some say closer to 100, I really was too busy to get a head count.

Music by Sarah Mallory, Pledge, Prayer, National Anthem and then audience participation. So many great, heartfelt words...so many cheers of approval. All ages, all walks of life. It was beautiful. Food and drink were donated, war stories were shared afterwards. I feel hope again.

Made a quick dash to Sewanee for the T.Boone Pickens book signing (line too long, gave friend Andy my book to sign).

Then off to Tullahoma where dear friend Lynn Sebourn was on the organizing team. He had asked me several weeks ago to be on the speaker list and I was happy to comply. I pulled in about 4:45pm and the South Jackson Civic Center front lawn was covered up with people and signs. I was in awe. Jerry Anderson was emceeing and he was certainly in his element. Glib, charming and gently jabbing. Rep. Matheny kicked off the speakers, always my hero, he had just gotten in from a long day on the hill and he looked exhausted...but he nailed it as usual. Lynn Sebourn was brilliant as always, Steve Heath was rocking, Kent Greenough was rocking too, Greg Sandlin made his points so very deftly, my fellow revolutionary Chip Ramsey was passionate and inspiring. I got in there after Kent and since everyone was making such great points, I thought I would go in a slightly different direction and talk about guns and anarchy. I guess I hit a nerve, the response was pleasantly surprising.

As I sit here exhausted from so many discussions over the day, I can honestly say that what happened today was almost a miracle in my book. Can this be the beginning...?

17 Things to Love

Happy Easter everyone! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and Jesus has risen! The power of the resurrection always gives me hope for a better tomorrow and rejuvenates my spirit and soul for the upcoming year.

Maybe that is why I was amused today at this little web diddy.

1. In the South, the word "bulls*it" has three syllables and serves as a verb, noun, adjective and, occasionally, a nickname. (There is alot of b.s. here and we call it like we see it.)

2. In fact, people down south often have charming nicknames- for example- I had three aunts: Chicken, Goat and Pig. (Roundhead, mush, bug eye, turkey...)

Sadly, only Aunt Chicken is left.

3. Down south, everything looks better in camouflage print. (Oh yea!)

4. In the state of North Carolina, it is illegal to use an elephant to plow a field. Couples staying in a hotel must have a room with double beds and they must be at least two feet apart. (Glad I don't live in North Carolina.)

5. For the Southerner, any dish can be improved with a slab of pork. Pork in your greens, pork in your green beans, pork in your Rice Krispies...(The great flavor secret.)

6. Southerners take church very seriously- a Southern church service can easily last five hours- without air-conditioning. We rate the sermons as "rare", "medium" and "well done". (We have evolved...there is airconditioning.)

7. Every part of the pig is edible. Every.Single.Part. The hog foot, the hog tail, the hog maw, the hog grammaw...(I wouldn't call it edible, but we eat it.)

8. The Southern lady is schooled in the art of hairdressing, make-up application, Christian virtue and the loading of various fire-arms. (Absolutely!)

9. Most Southerners scoff at the idea of healthy eating- they eat just what the Lord Jesus himself ate- neckbones and biscuits. (Didn't he?)

10.In Tennesse you can't shoot any game from a moving vehicle- except whales. In Tennessee. Where.there.is.no.ocean.... (Details, details)

11. The Georgia legislature once considered making it illegal for a restaurant to not serve sweet iced tea. (Was that an ethics issue?)

12. I love the way people from Louisiana talk. Can't understand what they're saying, but I love that they're saying it...(A smooth southern drawl can melt any heart.)

13. Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Zora Neal Hurston were all southerners. Yankees ain't the only ones what can read and write...(And boy, can they write!)

14. In the state of Georgia, it is illegal to keep a donkey in a bathtub. (But how do you wash him?)

15. In the state of Arkansas, a man may beat his wife, but not more than once a month. (Wouldn't want to spoil her you know.)

16. In Mississippi, it is illegal for a man to be sexually aroused in public. (Are there enough jails in Mississippi to handle this one?)

17. Every Sunday is an occasion for a big dinner, usually consisting of fried chicken, white rice, gravy, collard greens, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, fresh corn, cabbage, potato salad, fatback, fried green tomatoes, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, hush puppies, fried catfish, biscuits, corn bread, deer meat, tomato preserves, homemade pork rinds- and hey where y'all goin' don't you want no dessert? (Yep, and it just doesn't get any better than that, love Easter dinner down home!)

Another Monteagle Disaster

Bad government rears its ugly head again as Monteagle suffers another PR blow. Poor management seems like a callous disregard for public safety to me. When are we going to learn that IT DOES MATTER WHO GOVERNS!

Monteagle Sewage Spills Into Creek

March 16, 2009 - 9:55 PM

A massive rupture at Monteagle's Sewer Treatment Plant sends a hundred thousand gallons of raw sewage into a local creek. City leaders say the water supply of a number of residents who live at the base of Monteagle Mountain could be impacted by the spill.
Monteagle's Mayor says he has no idea what caused this spill right now but he tells us all of that sewage spilled into a creek behind the plant. That creek goes into the ground about half a mile down from the plant and the Mayor says because of that they have no idea where the spilled sewage went or who could be affected.
Cold water flows from the pump in Robert Myers' yard today, but Myers tells us he won't be drinking that water anytime soon.
"Well yeah you know I don't want to be drinking sewage," Myers says with a chuckle.
Over 100,000 gallons of sewage poured into the Juanita Creek yesterday after an equalization tank ruptured at Monteagle's Sewer Treatment Plant #1.
"Well I heard it bursted the tank up there," Myers says.
"The westside of the tank completely laid down on the ground," Monteagle Mayor Charles Rollins says.
Rollins says they have since bypassed the collapsed tank and put chlorine into the creek, but he says they have no idea what the spilled sewage's affect on the community might be.
We managed to get behind the sewage plant and could see several workers on the scene trying to fix this problem. Their biggest concern is that the sewage that leaked out got into creek, flowed downstream, and then got into the wells on people's property.
The Mayor says that's around twenty-eight wells that could be impacted, including the well in Myers' backyard.
Myers lives in the Pelham Valley which is directly down stream from the spill. Myers says Police Officers and the Mayor stopped by to warn him about the rupture.
"He said it would be okay to shower and wash clothes, but he just said don't drink it," Myers says.
And while Myers says he'll continue to let his dog drink water from the well...
"I don't think it will really affect him," Myers says.
He says he won't take the risk of going to the well one too many times.
"They furnished me bottle water," Myers says. "Long as it's safe that's all I care."
The Mayor says Monteagle residents will not be affected by this spill. He says it could only be the people who live in the Pelham Valley and even then only people who have wells on their property.
The Mayor says they notified the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and also says they'll be testing over the next week to see how much damage the spill really caused.

Sack Lunch for a Soldier

This past Saturday I saw a large group of newly graduated recruits at Wildwood exit 169, making a stop for junk food and beverages. They were heading to Missouri for final training before being stationed somewhere far away (probably Afghanistan according to one soldier). I made a point of thanking them as I try to always do when I see someone in soldier gear. They deserve it.

I don't know how they usually get received, but on Saturday, the smiles on the customers faces were contagious as they watched the shopping scene unfold. It seemed like we were all so very proud and thankful for these brave men and women and wanted to do all we could to help. Someone brought a 2 for 1 beverage to an unsuspecting soldier, another stepped out of line to help a soldier with an armful of goodies. It was a pretty darn cool moment in time. There is just something about living in the South that does that to people. I love it here. I almost felt like we needed a group hug!

On a similiar note, this story came thru my inbox today and made me shed a grateful tear, I thought I would pass it on.

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down
in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight.
'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will
get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the
aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding
me. I decided to start a conversation.. 'Where are
you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.
'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special
training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made
that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It
would be several hours before we reached the east, and I
quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his
buddy if he planned to buy lunch.

'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack
lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll
wait till we get to base'

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying
lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the
flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to
all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed
tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My
son was a soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are
doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the
soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked,
'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked.
She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a
minute later with a dinner plate from first class.
'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the
plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me.
'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here,
take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain
coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he
walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he
was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane.
When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand,
an said, 'I want to shake your hand..'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the
Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was
a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought
me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never
forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard
from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch
my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me
reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left
another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to
deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who
stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and
walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five
dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering
for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and
handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some
time to reach the base. It will be about time for a
sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect
of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car,
I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers
were giving their all for our country. I could only give
them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a
blank check made payable to ' United States of
America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my
life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this
country who no longer understand it.'

May God give you the strength and courage to pass this
along to friends on your email buddy list....

I JUST DID

Amazing Grace

William Wilberforce: It's God. I have 10,000 engagements of state today but I would prefer to spend the day out here getting a wet arse, studying dandelions and marveling at... bloody spider's webs.

That quote came from one of my favorite movies that I was able to enjoy seeing again this past weekend. William Wilberforce was one of God's warriors, and his journey was a long one.

As I sit here on my back porch reworking today's schedule, I find myself drifting away from my extensive to-do list and "marveling at bloody spider's webs" on the rocking chair, listening to the melodious wind chimes, the birds singing in the trees and all the other little Spring harmonizing that occurs after a long winter sleep. God is good.

My primary Bill just got rolled for two weeks so today's trip to Nashville is out, I have pushed everything else out to the rest of the week...what do I do with the gift of time?

God's Amazing Grace, I get the hint.

American Dream

As I sit here juggling 7 different projects in 5 different fields of expertise, I start to scratch my head and laugh. Living in paradise has its complications.

I live pretty simply, but there are things in my life that need to be funded. When I moved to the mountains, I traded a "normal" life for one that required a great deal of creativity to survive financially. There are not that many jobs locally that need a great PR gal (or can afford one), so I started finding other opportunities that could capitalize on my unique skillsets. My current resume reads like a person with ADD. It is all over the board.

The common denominator is an entrepreneurial spirit. I totally understand the hardships associated with being out on your own. Insurance, taxes, liability, employees, liability, taxes, insurance, economy, overhead, taxes, liability, insurance. Each start-up business has its demons, but the benefits to making your own way by your own expertise is truly a thrilling and fulfilling endeavor...in fact, second only to being a parent. Owning your own business is truly the great American Dream.

So as we try to figure this economy thing out, I am thinking some of the greatest businesses were started during the worst of times. We are Americans and that is what we do best. That stimulus money should be stimulating us.

Entrepreneurs are best stimulus for the economy
Posted by Carl J. Schramm/ NJ Voices Guest Blogger March 04, 2009

The day after the House of Representatives voted on the stimulus package, I met with a Democratic member of Congress.

He told me, "I know the package won't begin to create enough jobs and certainly not now when we need them." Worse, he worried, "The voters will be on to this by the 4th of July and they won't support more spending then because they don't support it now.

"How," he asked, "do we get out?"

Those in charge in Washington think they know the answer: take a pledge from the Keynesian playbook. Spend (and borrow) massively and hope that government will spur demand and revive the economy.


The congressman knows better. This bill had everything to do with necessary political theater, and nothing to do with basic economics. Anecdotal experience and observation have taught him what drives growth: individual activity in thriving communities.

But what drives that activity is the "animal spirits" of entrepreneurs. And no one understood that better than another long-dead economist - one whose work is vastly more sound than John Maynard Keynes' and directly applicable to current times.

Joseph Schumpeter is best known for the concept of "creative destruction," which asserts that economies flourish only to the extent that entrepreneurs disturb the status quo. Entrepreneurs are job creators. More entrepreneurs mean more growth and more prosperity for all. Or, to put the equation in terms fit for our times, E=R: entrepreneurship equals recovery.

Only private enterprise -- in particular high-growth start-ups -- will create the jobs and the wealth to right America's listing economy. That is, if we let them.

What our economy most needs is another outbreak of entrepreneurial energy. It is waiting to happen all around us. As people face layoffs, many take with them wonderful ideas for entirely new products and services. Layoffs are tough, but they need not spell doom. The average age of those who found high-tech companies in this country is 39. In fact, twice as many founders are older than 50 as are younger than 25. The end of one career can be the beginning of another.

Some people getting pink slips might have ideas that could become entire new industries. Indeed, some of America's largest and most successful firms were started in recessions or bear markets or both -- including General Electric (founded in the wake of the Panic of 1873), IBM (started in the last year of the recession that followed the Panic of 1893), United Technologies (same year as the 1929 crash), Microsoft (1975 depth of "stagflation") and Guess (1981, worst post-World War II recession to date).

If Schumpeter were available to take a 3 a.m. call from a nervous president unsure if his stimulus policy will stimulate, he would say that the most important thing government can do is step out of the way and let the talented next generation of entrepreneurs do their work unhindered. But he might also recommend certain modest steps -- most of them not incorporated into the stimulus bill -- to help entrepreneurs work their magic.

First, encourage risk-taking through tax policy: exempt entrepreneurs from payroll taxes. In fact, a year-long moratorium on payroll taxes could have the economy back up inside of a year.

Second, exempt entrepreneurial businesses from capital gains taxes. The president promised as much during the campaign. Somehow, the Congressional scribes forget to get it into the stimulus package. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) tried to reinsert it as an amendment, but was blocked by members of the president's own party. Perhaps the president could prevail on the Congressional leadership to reintroduce this provision as a separate bill.

Third, focus on the needs of new businesses for affordable health coverage by telling insurance companies they can compete across state lines with a bare bones "entrepreneurs' policy."

Fourth, encourage the world's brightest students to come here, study, and become entrepreneurs. Over 40 percent of the growth of the Silicon Valley in the 1990s came at the hands of foreign-born entrepreneurs.

Finally, put some government spending into research and development for defense. We need more sophisticated protections against biologics and tactical terrorist weaponry, including cyber-assaults. Spending in these areas would bring forth thousands of new companies whose innovations and new jobs would be of great benefit to our economy, while helping America focus on the one place in modern society where seeking order is well-advised, namely, world affairs.

This is the way out. Over half of Americans aspire to start a business. In other words, the people who will save our economy are not mysterious: they are you and me. President Obama promised, "Yes we can!" American entrepreneurs are ready. They just need a little help. Schumpeter, not Keynes, shows the way.
Carl J. Schramm is president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation and coauthor of Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism.

Music

Music has always been a way for me to feel the emotion of the moment, the season or a more subtle texture of life. When I opened a music club in 2004, I felt like a kid in a candy store. So much beautiful music graced my stage and my soul. When I am in Church, the music is always the thing that fills my heart with joy and celebration.

Today, I have Spring Fever. I can remember back in my college days when us girls would cruise around on a beautiful spring day with my t-tops off (I know, how 80's) and the music blaring. In Wisconsin, the winters were long and brutal and when a whiff of Spring hit us, all bets were off.

For whatever reason, this song begs to be played in my car today. Forget the lyrics, this beat gets me revved and happy. I thought it was funny that I found it with a video of Lara Croft, my personal kick butt gal hero.

A Conservative View Point

I happened to find this little gem while reading the chattanoogan.com headlines today...

Tommy Crangle: What Conservatism Means To Me - #2 In A Series
Individual Freedom and Equality
by Tommy Crangle
posted January 7, 2009

How do these two principles affect national policy? A man that is free is the luckiest man in the world. Only when he is free can he approach his full potential and fulfill his place in society and the world and for his Creator. Man was created to be free. How else can he follow his dreams and aspirations? In fact, our Constitution was created to protect this God-given freedom, not to grant freedom. We already had freedom before the United States was ever formed. From the Declaration, “—Men—are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed ---“.

When government takes on the task of making laws and the reams and reams of rules, regulations, guidelines and restrictions, it should be very careful that it does not stifle the creativeness and imagination of its own citizens. For in so doing, our freedom is a little bit hindered and we are made a little more of a slave to big government. It matters not that the reason for the law is good, even noble. What matters is that the government has decided the course of the individual rather than the individual.

Can we have each individual making all these decisions? Would not that make for mass confusion? Not at all. The individual should only be restricted by rights of others. Of course, there are some legitimate functions of the federal government. A few. Only a few. The rest are reserved to the states and to the people.

What happens when the government taxes the labor and creativeness of its citizens? The government has essentially preempted you and taken that money, under threat of force and imprisonment, to use in the way it decides is best. I know that our representatives voted for it, but that on its own does not make it right or best for our country. It does not really matter how it happens, does it? Our representatives must keep in mind that they cannot do right by doing wrong.

I don’t know about you, but I have to reduce things to the basics so I can understand. You can make it as complicated as you want, but I like simplicity as long as it catches the essence of the matter.

I hope these writings are helpful to the reader in understanding the world around us. The papers in this series are not a research project. I have not read sources to compile them (except as quoted). They are created from my own thoughts, readings over the years, and what I have heard and discussed with others.

Tommy Crangle
tcrangle@aol.com


(Tommy Crangle is a licensed professional engineer (P.E.) and a graduate of Tennessee Technological University. He is a former electric utility executive and has been to Iraq six times working on the electricity infrastructure. He is currently an investor and lives on Signal Mountain. He can be contacted at tcrangle@aol.com.)