Just in Case it Matters to You
Weekly Report 13-41
- BEWARE: A NEW VERY AGGRESSIVE MALWARE, “distributed as a zip file attachment to emails which encrypts files on the user’s hard drive, rendering them unusable until a ransom is paid. There is no technology to protect against the malware. The only defense against these attacks is user awareness.” [CITADEL-INFORMATION.COM – Oct 7, 13]
- IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE BELIEVING YOU CAN HIDE IN A CROWD, do not click below. This picture was taken with a 2100 Mega-Pixel camera – not yet available to the general public, but it’s a safe bet that our government and foreign governments have far far more sophisticated camera equipment. Check out: http://www.gigapixel.com/mobile/?id=79995
- “GOOD EMPLOYEES ARE NOT SET-IT-AND-FORGET-IT MACHINES.” Workers are far more effective at meeting owners’ goals and objectives if they know what those are – i.e. “what’s going on, where the Company is going, why it’s going there, what is expected of them, how they can contribute and what the payoff is for them. A leader wants to know the answer to those questions, and so does the entire team… Benefits include higher job satisfaction, better job performance, greater commitment to goals of the organization, stress reduction, reduced turnover and getting productive workers to increase their tenure.” [LIGHTHOUSE CONSULTING NWSLTR – Sep 24, 13] WHEN COMPANIES ARE ALIGNED IN PURPOSE and workers are aware of how their contribution drives core strategies in that direction so that processes & tactics are optimally focused, “work priorities become self-evident, employees feel their work has value, there is rapid deployment of the business strategy and the company experiences more breakthroughs.” [GLOWAN.COM NWSLTR- Sep 17,13] DCG guidance supports leadership and management to ensure such alignment, with decades of experience in helping businesses strategically develop optimal communication systems to foster these goals. ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, it doesn’t matter what road you take,’ but the likelihood of getting there most efficiently, timely and least costly is remote.
- THE CHALLENGES IN DISPOSING OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS “suggests that, even if Syria is sincere, it’s at the beginning of a long process… Disposal sites typically take 4-5 years to build, then 2-3 years to ‘systemize’ or test, then another 3-6 years for destruction… while robots do the dirty work.” America has two sites where ‘Specialized Disposal Factories’ have been under construction for ten years already – based on international agreements signed with a commitment “to eradicate all stash completely by 2012.” Reality is that thousands of tons of chemicals still exist (at one site, mustard gas is inside more than 800,000 weapons) and 2023 completion is now targeted based on 24/7 operations, 365 days a year. Cleaning up deadly stockpiles is a decades-long task, regardless of political headlines. [BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK – Sep 30, 13]
- A NEW DEFICIT-REDUCTION STRATEGY “LESS UNPOPULAR THAN TRYING TO RAISE THE DEBT LIMIT” has just been executed in Poland, where “all government bonds were forcibly transferred to the government. Since bonds are no longer held by investors, the national debt is thus reduced by face value of those securities… Why did the regime in Warsaw do something so blatantly self-destructive and immoral? Simple: politics. The incumbents are unpopular and the economy has slowed down… By seizing the bonds and declaring them null & void, restrictions on spending & resultant deficits disappear, and the spending spigot reopened… The Obama Administration floated such an idea earlier this year, suggesting that the size of Retirement Plans be restricted.” A precedent has actually already been established by congressional handling of Social Security Trust funds – “which supposedly have $2.7 trillion in reserves, but instead hold ‘nonmarketable’ Treasury IOUs, since the money was spent by politicians as soon as the cash came in.” [FORBES – Oct 7, 13]
- THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: First day sales for ‘Grand Theft Auto’ – which just released its 5th installment – make movie- goers look like amateurs compared to Gamers. In just 24 hours, about 22 million copies were sold, generating $800 million.
Why the U.S. Post Office is on its way to oblivion – 2 minute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGkkjpCetHs&feature=youtu.be
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured, but not everyone must prove they are a citizen… And now, any of those who are unable, or refuse, to prove they are citizens will receive free insurance paid for by those who are forced to buy insurance because they are citizens.” –Ben Stein