• STRATEGIC PLANNING IS THE “TOP PRIORITY” FOR FINANCE EXECS & PROFESSIONALS, according to the newest national survey by Financial Executives Research Foundation –followed by Budgeting, Profitability Analysis and Cash Forecasting. These are the principal focused consulting services which DCG provides to clients, based on decades of experience. Very few emerging and even mid-size companies have the internal capacity to perform these critical functions and Q1 is the optimal time for strategic planning. Call us for a courtesy analysis as to how a relatively few hours of direction can help your company’s productivity, profitability, stability and Valuation. “Failing to Plan is effectively planning to Fail.” [CFO MAGAZINE – Dec 14]
  • BUSINESS OPERATIONS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY DEPENDANT ON GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS & CONTROLS which are “more focused on risk-aversion and political stability than economic growth… as national-security priorities have inflated the military-industrial complex to now encompass technology, telecommunications and financial companies.” Increasingly, the Administration attempts to exert influence by “turning finance into a weapon…by using various types of sanctions as tools of coercive diplomacy…at risk of damaging companies caught in the crossfire between Washington and targeted states.” As this strategy expands to other countries, the risk for businesses with international operations also expands, since American commerce represents over 20% of global GDP and over 80% of “finance conducted in U.S. dollars.” [TIME – Jan 19, 15]
  • MEANWHILE, THE RECENT CYBERATTACKS AGAINST COMPANIES ON U.S. SOIL “have made it almost certain that government will focus heavily on the nation’s technological security in the year ahead… and policymakers will be tasked with striking a balance between protecting the nation’s cyber infrastructure and enacting rules that threaten internet freedom… Since our technical economy gives adversaries an endless number of vulnerable entry points for attacks that could cripple critical infrastructure, America has more to lose than any other nation on Earth and defending against internet-based attacks is much more important than our ability to launch attacks.” Finding a balance will be some challenge. [PERSONAL LIBERTY.COM – Jan 9, 15]
  • THE 10,535 PAGES OF OBAMACARE CONDENSED TO THREE SENTENCES: (1) In order to insure the uninsured, we first have to un-insure those insured; (2)  Next, we require the newly uninsured to be re-insured and to pay extra charges for the privilege; (3) This covers the cost so that original un-insureds can then be insured without charge to them. While noble in cause, this strategy is a component of the process called “redistribution of wealth” or, by its more common name, socialism. 
  • A REALITY-CHECK ON OUR WATER SUPPLY: Some 350 toxic chemicals, a hundred pharmaceutical drugs, industrial waste, and disease-carrying microorganisms are ensconced in our drinking water. “Pregnant women who drink typically heavily chlorinated tap water double their risk of giving birth to a child with serious defects… and lead, which enters tap water through corrosion of plumbing materials (particularly in homes built before 1986), can cause a variety of adverse health effects.” Be aware that reverse-osmosis carbon water filters remove most bad stuff and are relatively inexpensive. [INTELLIGENT OPTIMIST – Winter 15]
  • OVER TWENTY MILLION AMERICAN WOMEN BETWEEN 15 AND 30 VISIT TANNING SALONS; so do ten million men. Public health efforts to dissuade this luxury have basically been ignored, but “radiation from just ten indoor tanning sessions in two weeks can suppress a person’s cancer fighting immune system… and tanning can cause permanent structural damage to skin – including wrinkling, age spots and loss of elasticity.” Beyond formation of skin cancers (including often deadly melanoma ), tanning can also cause cataracts and eye cancer. Diet is a much safer way to receive vitamin D. [LEVINE BREAKING NEWS – Jan 12, 15]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:             “OLD is when an ‘all nighter’ means not getting up to use the bathroom…”

The federal government, which has Tomahawk cruise missiles, Apache, Blackhawk, Kiowa, Iroquois & Lakota helicopters, and used the code name “Geronimo” in the Osama bin Laden attack, officially objects to the name of the Washington Redskins.

Six mesmerizing minutes of extreme videos (by some crazy people) from 2014: http://twistedsifter.com/videos/best-of-web-2014/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Twistedsifter+%28TwistedSifter+%29 .

“Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr   

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