Bob's BLOG

"There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country, if the people lose their roughness and spirit of defiance."  Walt Whitman "The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges, or churches, or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people."  Walt Whitman "And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."  Sylvia Plath

I was fascinated by this article, I found it published in Historybuff.com.  Most know the story of the War of 1812, Fort McHenry and its connection to the STAR SPANGLED BANNER, but did you know the facts associated with the defenders that were there within the fort that night - they are highlighted in red below? For most American’s, all we know about the Star Spangled Banner is that Francis Scott Key wrote it as a result of seeing Fort McHenry being bombarded through the night. There is more information that makes it even more remarkable. Guarding the entrance to Baltimore harbor via the Patapsco River during the War of 1812, Fort McHenry faced almost certain attack by British forces. Major George Armistead, the stronghold's commander, was ready to defend the fort, but he wanted a flag that would identify his position, and one whose size would be visible to the enemy from a distance. Determined to supply such a flag, a committee of high-ranking officers called on Mary Young P...

Here is what Obama said in a CBS' "60 Minutes" interview to air Sunday night, Obama said he's "focused on overhauling health care the right way. "I have no interest in having a bill get passed that fails," he said. He acknowledged he will "own" whatever measure passes Congress, effective or not.  He may own it but he won't be under the plan as he and the Congress will insist on a personal plan for themselves, as they currently have.   He should have an overriding single interest - get it right initially and you won't have it fail!  It will fail, if not done correctly. I agree we need HealthCare reform and we should have reform NOW!  We do need to get this right, we don't need anyone telling us it is there way or no way.  Obama and the entire Congress should have vested "interest in getting it right the first time - for each item they overhaul".  Perhaps it will take one item at a time to fix the problem and not by pushi...

The NICHE market:  Websters defines niche as: "a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted or a specialized market".  Niche marketing may be the best strategy when going up against a big business or the established business. There are drawbacks however to this strategy.  There may be less product/service bid opportunities, higher initial costs to gear up with specialized tooling/machinery, single proposal development costs might be higher do to the complexity of the proposal. etc.  The benefits may be found in less upfront marketing costs, less inventory costs, fewer marketing staff, less proposal development costs (it takes money to put a proposal together. and if you don't win you just ate those costs), etc.  However, I feel that pursuing a niche market has many advantages.  And, the advantage can be increased significantly if you pursue a business model that you enjoy and are good at doing. I remember when...

Here are my thoughts on beginning any business.   Please offer any comments you might have. I believe the single most important step to starting up any business is the development of a sound Business Plan.    Monitoring the health of a business is possible with a sound business plan.  Business plans are like a road map and needs to be followed.  It has been said, "if you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there".  Without a clear, concise, and structured plan, the business eventually runs out of steam, money, whatever the intent might have been, etc.  Maintaining and refining the business plan is an essential and ongoing aspect for the new start and for those already in operation. I see a solid business plan being more important than having a wheel barrel full of money - sooner or later the money will run out.  Failure to achieve even a modest return on investment during the early development stages of a business will ...

Apparently, Mr Feinberg,  aka business CZAR, will begin "negotiating" compensation levels with top management for the large firms that were recently "bailed" out by the government.  As the Government now contends, "they were making too much for the too little services they provided their firm, and with to little relative benefit for the stockholders".  "Thank you", is all I can say to Mr. CZAR.  Go get em!  (I am not a fond proponent of these zillion dollar deals, but i do buy stock, and if these firms do not deliver, I exercise my option to move my money to those that hopefully will) Next, I hope they appoint a CZAR that will begin looking at the professional athletics that are negotiating 5, 10, 20, even a hundred million dollar deals.  These negotiated salary/incentives are outrageous too!  Perhaps, after the government negotiates players deals, we average Americans will be able to afford going to a game and buying a "hot dog and soda...