• STRATEGIC PLANNING BEGINS WITH STRATEGIC THINKING, WHICH BEGINS WITH CAPACITY TO FOCUS – a not-so-easy practice when uncertainty, disrupted routines and chaotic surroundings keep increasing these days. Our minds need “time to give the brain opportunity to pause, untangle, and sort through observations & experiences, consider multiple possible interpretations and create meaning, which can then inform future mindsets & actions… Strategic thinking is essential but not always comfortable when we feel vulnerable, scared, irritated or bored, but it’s critical to take a deep breath, sit with those feelings and persevere.” Some tips to facilitate change in perspective are: (1) engage in live or virtual brainstorming sessions with friends or colleagues; (2) tune-in to the multitude of presentations now available online; (3) scan the 7½ years of DCG analysis & perspective archived at DuitchConsulting.com; (4) Call us for courtesy consult. [FAST COMPANY – 6/8/20]
  • COVID-19 ANTIBODY TESTING IS FAR FROM PERFECT SCIENCE, particularly whether, if results are positive, ‘recovered’ patients will have immunity, if so for how long, and can they be re-infected again? Additionally, “false-positive results are especially worrisome with blood tests because this conveys a false sense of security (i.e. presence of immunity) when in fact the individual may still be at risk for infection or re-infection.” Just be aware. [LIFE EXTENSION – July 20]
  • “CANCEL CULTURE IS GIVING WAY TO ERASURE CULTURE,” AS MOB MENTALITY DOMINATES media attention and political response, despite the relatively small proportion of society represented. CANCEL culture involves “the outright attempt to remove individuals or institutions entirely from the public square over any perceived insurrection from their past” – tweets/words/scripts/films/anything that “in a fashion, someone could have possibly interpreted as insensitive.” Regrettably, Hollywood and major corporations concerned with losing consumer patronage are leading today’s shameful capitulation. ERASURE culture takes it a step further, involving complete elimination of names/identities/sculptures even “monuments to historical figures who have a history that some contemporary citizens just cannot grapple with… People wanting to bully others has been a bad habit of humanity forever… But how are today’s serious societal problems remedied by dredging up decades-old Halloween costumes, censoring movies that have long been released, or removing historical landmarks & renaming buildings because someone cannot handle being ‘triggered’ by supposed offenses? Avoiding the reality of things that happened and pretending they didn’t exist accomplishes nothing. Erasure culture is abject denial” and does nothing more than temporarily capitulate to mob mentality, reinforcing their idea that threats & intimidation are effective guerilla warfare tactics.  [RED STATE – 6/10/20]
  • REAL ESTATE INVESTORS IN DESIGNATED ECONOMIC ‘OPPORTUNITY ZONES’ receive major tax advantages, including no capital gains tax on sale if held ten years, deferral of tax on 2019 capital gains until 2027, and elimination on up to 15% of that tax if held 5-7 years. Qualification requirements were substantially modified last week in favor of investors: (1) Investment Period is extended to 12/31/20; (2) ‘90% Asset’ test is suspended for 2020; (3) ‘Substantial Improvement’ period is extended to 5/31/23; (4) ‘Working Capital’ safe harbor is extended 24 months; and (5) ‘Reinvestment Period’ is extended additional 12 months when period includes the Major Disaster Declaration date 1/20/20.
  • ‘PROTESTS’ AND ‘RIOTS’ ARE “HOW THIRD-WORLD COUNTRIES EXPRESS THEMSELVES, along with Molotov cocktails… while in America, Conservatives watch silently, more focused on Obamagate, pro-life, school choice, and treat ‘immigration’ as just one ‘issue’ – but it’s the one issue that could override every other issue… Anarchist groups are top-heavy with recent immigrants (a larger proportion of Asians & Africans in Minnesota than in the nation as a whole)… the same ethnic groups that elected Hugo Chavez, Evita Peron & fought for Mao,” as well as leftist government leaders & legislators in most states – including Californians Newsome and Garcetti who stood by while buildings burned and police were attacked, with outward support for BLM demands. “If you don’t recognize your country, it’s because it’s not the same country. What you’re seeing is the 3rd-world hellhole the Left has been quietly assembling since 1970.” [TOWNHALL – 6/10/20]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

           On immigration:  A thought-provoking video, regardless of your political perspective:   https://www.youtube.com/embed/yeJ-iv3MOTo?rel=0

           “Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn.” – Benjamin Franklin