- A REFRESHER ON GEN Y, workers born after 1980 who have vastly different expectations in and from the workplace. Also known as Millennials, they “represent the most over-supervised generation in history… used to having very supportive relationships across the board… needing and wanting the human element – coaching, direction, support and shared wisdom – to help guide through the tidal wave of information at their fingertips… and are not wired to view the long-term picture. Talk about a five-year plan, and most will think you’re trying to sell them a bridge.” Moreover, this generation is focused primarily on life balance – things like “flexibility of location & schedule, permission to telecommute and earning social capital can all be as equally important incentives as money. They’re typically more concerned with life success than meeting a number, and really want a sense of fulfillment from their jobs.” Workplaces are dramatically changing as Baby Boomers retire a work culture of nearly five decades – “by and large valuing autonomy over supervision, creating one’s own business plans, setting own goals and being happy to live with the results” – versus the new culture: being part of a team and celebrating diversity. [WEALTH MANAGEMENT.COM – Apr 8, 13]
- “STANDARD SCIENCE TELLS US THAT OUR UNIVERSE BEGAN WITH THE BIG BANG – a burst of energy about 13 billion years ago causing cosmic inflation milliseconds afterward… resulting in human progress over a long, slow climb from the primordial ooze to hunter-gatherers to empires.” While reams of geological and archeological evidence (including manufacturing technology far beyond even today’s levels) consistently indicate that the earth has been “home to several civilizations – human or otherwise – long before recorded history… all such evidence are usually sloughed off as anomalies” by vested power interests (economic, religious, political, educational) to refute the possibility that prevail- ing assumptions about the evolution and future of our species may be wrong. Meanwhile, “thousands of carbon-dated buildings, skeletons and artifacts evidence advanced technologies including “electrical terminals, cables, ancient wiring diagrams & schematics etched on walls… even ‘energy beams’ coming thru the top… of pyramids – a perpetual motion phenomenon that contradicts the known laws of physics.” For a fascinating read: Our Occulted History by Jim Marrs. “The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.” – Harry Truman
- WITH APRIL 15 TAX FILING NOW PAST, it may interest you to know that, according to Census data, California is ranked 2nd worst in terms of individual tax policy and 6th worst in corporate tax policy. Even with our massive 38 million population, taxes collected per person are 11th highest in the country (over $3,100). Alternatives: seven states with no personal tax obligation (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wyoming) and two which tax only interest & dividends (New Hampshire, Tennessee). Just FYI. [24/7 WALLST.COM – Mar 27, 13]
- FOR A SUPERB, THOUGH DEPRESSING, DIATRIBE ON THE REALITY OF U.S. ECONOMIC STAGNATION, among Paul Krugman, David Stockman, George Will, Greta Van Susteren, Arianna Huffington, George Stephanopoulos: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/07/paul-krugman-david-stockman_n_3033003.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics
- “COFFEE IS THE NUMBER ONE SOURCE OF ANTIOXIDANTS IN THE U.S. DIET. A growing body of research suggests that a few cups a day can reduce risk of Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes and even prostate cancer.” Optimal benefits come from light-brown bean roast stored airtight and ground just before brewing (which minimizes free radicals), percolating through a stovetop pot rather than paper filter, and drinking black without milk, sugar or artificial sweeteners. (“A better way to handle bitter is to add ground cinnamon”). [MENS HEALTH – May 13]
- THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: “The difference between the Supreme Court and the Ku Klux Klan is that the members of the Supreme Court dress in black robes and scare white people.”