• TIME MANAGEMENT IS SIMPLY ABOUT ALLOCATING PERSONAL ENERGY TO OPTIMALLY ACCOMPLISH PRIORITY TASKS in a realistic time frame.  And a critical factor generally overlooked is about our ‘bandwidth’ – our personal energy or mental capacity to handle tasks.” The biggest causes are usually: (1) Setting priorities in the first place;  (2) Struggling with inability to just say “No,” which then pre-empts existing obligations & priorities; (2) Underestimating the degree of interruptions & distractions, especially when we have no control over what the matter may entail; (3) Pursuing perfection, feeling our efforts are never ‘good enough,’ which wastes bandwidth. DCG provides courtesy ‘Lunch & Learn’ presentations on many specific tools & techniques to optimize time management.
  •  IF ENTREPRENEURS, INSTEAD OF CAREER POLITICIANS & LAWYERS were spending public money, funding would be based on OUTCOMES, not ‘promises.’ To give a sense of what might be possible, check out how a trillion dollars could be allocated by the fed productively on projects like: Reducing crime and our incompetent prison system/ Reducing traffic and cost of living in our 50 largest cities/  Building effective mental health institutions/  Making inner-city streets a place where children thrive/ Restoring our industrial skill- base/  Effectively funding science projects versus giveaways to NGOs/  Protecting our energy future/ and more.  https://arenamag.com/2024/10/25/how-to-spend-a-trillion-dollars/
  • SINCE STATE GOVERNMENTS ARE MONOPOLIES, THE OBSTACLE PREVENTING EFFECTIVENESS IN SERVICES are Public Service Unions – i.e. Big Labor. So, when local government fails to provide law & order, repair potholes, provide good public education or safe streets, taxpayer options are limited or nonexistent. In Democrat strongholds, especially California, state government is completely controlled by those unions (Teachers, Peace Officers, County & Municipal Employees, etc.) which collect over a billion dollars in dues every year – all of which goes to workers’ pay, health & pension benefits, expanded vacation time, limiting work hours, versus improving services to taxpayers. [WASHINGTON EXAMINER – 11/20/24]
  • WHY SOCIETIES AND CIVILIZATIONS COLLAPSE:  A strange yet rational study of 86 societies by an Oxford anthropologist suggests: (1) That four categories of cultures differentiate in pursuit of art/ literature/ engineering/ agriculture/ and other advancement, with the category most relevant to Western society today is that characterized by ‘rational thinking.’ (2) He then “measured sexual ethics and restraint on a scale from remaining a virgin until married to complete sexual freedom, to conclude that the single most influential factor in a civilization’s longevity, success and human flourishing is prenuptial chastity… In ‘advanced’ cultures where virginity was no longer expected, rational thinking disappeared within three generations, as people became interested only in personal wants & needs, becoming slaves to their appetites… Are we on the way to collapse?? The historical evidence points to yes – that we cannot have both sexual freedom and progress.”    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1860831149875999117.html
  •                         THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

—-  Beware of increasing phone scams this holiday season, involving fraudsters impersonating FBI, U.S. Marshals, court officers, or other government agents and demanding payments to avoid arrest, after claiming an offense, such as identity theft or failing to report for jury duty, and instructing victims to withdraw cash and transfer it to the government, purchase prepaid debit or gift cards, or deposit money into Bitcoin ATMs to “satisfy” alleged fines.  Scammers often sound convincing by providing badge numbers, names of real law enforcement officials, federal judges, even spoofing caller IDs to appear as if they’re calling from a government agency or courthouse.   

—- A secretive underground U.S. military base, abandoned in the mid-1960s beneath Greenland’s frozen landscape, ‘Camp Century’ was used as a top-secret testing site for deployment of nuclear missiles from the Arctic, and just rediscovered by NASA’s newest radar. “As melting continues to wear away the Greenland ice sheet, scientists are aware that it could someday be exposed again, resurfacing any radioactive waste or other potentially harmful chemical or biological waste that was left behind when the facility was decommissioned in 1967.”  [THE DEBRIEF.ORG – 11/25/24]

—-   Social media for kids under 16 is has just been barred in Australia. Parliament legislation responded when up to 87% of parents surveyed said they’re “worried that young people are becoming desensitized to content that is leading to a distorted understanding of some serious topics.” Platforms have a year to implement assurance identifying whether an account holder is above age 16, and face a fine of U.S.$32million for failure to comply, with certain exceptions for social media programs like YouTube and educational apps.