• TECHNOLOGY HAS TRANSFORMED PARENTING AND TEACHING… since trying to pretend that the world isn’t scary will only undermine the credibility of parents, teachers and other adults.” Whether or not the grownups in their lives choose to tell kids about murders, druggies, sexual norms, pornography or pedophiles (including teachers), “downplaying the seriousness of certain news events is simply not a viable solution, since all news today is viral… It’s parenting without a filter.” [THE WEEK – Nov 14, 14]
  • ‘ESTATE PLANNING’ IS CUSTOMARILY PERCEIVED AS SIMPLY A LEGAL DOCUMENT which serves to transfer assets, minimize taxes and keep the government out of post-death matters. Accordingly, once executed, most people put the plan & documents out of sight and mind. But strategy that may have made sense when drafted is almost always outmoded by changes in family or financial position, and quite often creates meaningful conflict & stress when finally needed. In particular, ‘boilerplate’ Trust clauses regarding “incapacity” can be a real problem (as the recent Donald Sterling public fracas so clearly demonstrated). “Planning for disability should be as important as planning for death, especially who will serve as ‘Successor Trustee’ if the donor is removed for reasons of incapacity.” Nuances involved in how incapacity is determined, and by whom (children & their families with vested interests, spouses who may be estranged or divorced, changed physicians and so forth) can have a critical impact adverse to wishes of the principal, unless updated. Dennis offers a courtesy review of Wills & Trust documents for clients and professional contacts focused on optimal risk management and family cohesion.  [JRNL OF ACCOUNTANCY – Nov 14]
  • BIG COMPANIES WERE “SIMPLY NEVER DESIGNED TO CHANGE PROACTIVELY AND DEEPLY. They were built for discipline and efficiency, enforced through hierarchy and routinization… In most organizations change is regarded as an episodic interruption of the status quo, something initiated & managed from the top… Reality is that continuous improvement requires the creation of change platforms rather than programs…which allow anyone to initiate change, recruit confederates, suggest solutions, and launch experiments… The biggest obstacles aren’t technical; the challenge lies in shifting the role of executive from change-agent to change-enabler, by devoting leadership attention to creation of an environment where deep and proactive change can happen anywhere, and at any time, inspiring the entire organization to swarm the most pressing issues.” DCG has decades of experience in Change & Transition Management; we can help.  [McKINSEY INSIGHTS – Oct 14]  
  • ON THE NEWEST ISLAMIC ‘OUTRAGE’: “We’re supposed to show tolerance and respect for a religion that doesn’t know the meaning of either word and goes out of its way to prove it every day… to amend our values to accommodate a religion that accom-modates nothing and nobody… There is nothing on this planet less deserving of sympathy or respect than Muslim ‘outrage’… It’s impossible to take seriously, even if we wanted to, and nobody in their right mind wants to anymore, since twenty years of baseless grievance mongering and kneejerk offence have show us this ‘religion’ for what it really is.” A realistic and no-holds-barred analysis from Pat Condell: http://dotsub.com/view/72457cbc-fe18-4053-ae3f-6c7639cf4e79  “There is apparently no amount of mass murder, number of innocents tortured or women raped, female degradation, people enslaved, Christians expelled or murdered, Nazi-like Jew-hatred in its societies, number of beheadings or even crucifixions, and no amount of terror that allows criticism of Islam. Why is this? Islamist apologists and their well-meaning by unwitting allies on the left… Socially progressive, self-proclaimed liberals, who would denounce even the slightest injustice committed against women or minorities in America… This is delusional thinking – politicians and academics lecturing that Islam is a ‘religion of peace’.”  [DENNIS PRAGER – Oct 30, 14]
  • A STRONG CASE FOR VITAMIN D: A six-year cardiovascular study of nearly 1,700 participants found “more than double the risk for Dementia or Alzheimer’s among subjects with severe Vitamin D deficiency.”  [NEUROLOGY – Aug 6, 14] 
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: Nearly one-third of non-retired respondents say they have NO pension or retirement savings; in the age 55 to 64 range, the percentage is nearly one in five, according to the Federal Reserve. 

On the one hand, “artificial Intelligence technology is our biggest existential threat,” according to Elon Musk, founder of TESLA and SpaceX. On the other, life-saving ‘Ambulance Drones’ are now functional:  https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=857910784251727&fref=nf

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