What would you think if I told you I was a caterpillar farmer? I was talking with business coach James S. Huggins [www.JamesSHuggins.com] recently and excitedly told him about my weekend ….inspecting my butterfly weed plants for caterpillars. I found four monarch caterpillars in my back (more…)

According to this Texas author and journalist, Robert Brice, “when adjusted for inflation, a gallon of gas today costs about the same as it did in 1919″ http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/Business/Detail?contentId=6119924&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=4.1.1 Now isn’t that an interesting perspective!

I recently found out from The O’Reilly Factor about this code. Perhaps many of you already know this. When someone says “Let’s move on” what they really mean is “You got me and I don’t want to talk about this again”. In the instance Mr. (more…)

Wow … talk about two completely separate perspectives!  In this article about Notre Dame’s 2009 Commencement Speaker:

In a statement issued Monday, the Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, said Obama will be honored as an “inspiring leader” at the commencement.

“Of course, this does not mean we support all of his positions,” Jenkins said. “The invitation to President Obama to be our Commencement speaker should not be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of human life, including abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Yet, we see his visit as a basis for further positive engagement.” ———————————————————————– “President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred,” Bishop John D’Arcy said in a statement issued Tuesday. “While claiming to separate politics from science, he has in fact separated science from ethics and has brought the American government, for the first time in history, into supporting direct destruction of innocent human life.” “I wish no disrespect to our president, I pray for him and wish him well,” the statement continued. “I have always revered the Office of the Presidency. But a bishop must teach the Catholic faith ‘in season and out of season,’ and he teaches not only by his words — but by his actions.” ———————————————————————– David Constanzo, communications director for the Cardinal Newman Society, said Notre Dame’s tradition of inviting sitting U.S. presidents to its commencement should be rethought. “There is a time when policies need to be reconsidered in light of the fact that the individual invited may have a history of standing in direct opposition to some of the most prominent aspects of our faith — the biggest case in point is that of the pro-life agenda,” Constanzo said. “The obligation of Notre Dame as a Catholic institution is to follow the directives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who clearly stated in 2004 that Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.” ———————————————————————- George Weigel, a Catholic theologian and distinguished senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said the invitation is not a “neutral act” and will significantly damage Notre Dame’s reputation in Catholic circles following Obama’s decision to reverse restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and for family planning groups that provide abortions. ———————————————————————-

But Ralph McInerny, a philosophy professor at Notre Dame for more than 50 years, likened the invitation as a “deliberate thumbing of the collective nose” at the Roman Catholic Church.

“By inviting Barack Obama to be the 2009 commencement speaker, Notre Dame has forfeited its right to call itself a Catholic university,” McInerny wrote in a column for The Catholic Thing. “It invites an official rebuke. May it come.”

  Can you see both sides?  People’s perceptions are their reality — I don’t see an amicable solution to this situation – do you?

I came across this headline [above] and my first thought was “save hundreds of what? lives? vehicles? miles? people? jobs? gas? dollars?” Then I watched the short video: http://www.foxnews.com/video2/player06.html?032308/032308_ff_driving&FOX_Friends&Drive%20differently%20and%20save%20hundreds&acc&US&-1&News&229&&&exp or go to http://www.foxnews.com/index.html , videos on the lower right hand side and select (more…)

Did you watch Week 4 of The Celebrity Apprentice?  What a prime example of conflict in the workplace .. sometimes passive aggressive, sometimes downright attacking.  Claudia vs. Melissa … a classic re-enactment of how two very strong personalities clash.   And Donald’s response?  Certainly not to tolerate emotions infiltrating the workplace! If you have not seen this episode, in the US check Saturday evening …. it may be a repeat.  The teams are selling cell phones. Let me know what you think!

Or are they going overboard?  From Aviation Industry Press – Daily Newsletter Wednesday 18 February 2009

Ground all twin turboprops?

The former chairman of the US National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) has stunned the aviation community with his recommendation to ground all twin-engine turboprop passenger aircraft until the end of the on-going investigation into a recent fatal accident of a Bombardier Q400 near Buffalo, New York. He argues that due to the lower speed, ice can build up quicker on turboprops than on jets and can lead to greater ice accumulation.

Icing may have been a factor in the Buffalo crash - the pilots reported “significant” icing on the approach to the airport. Other flight crew reported icing conditions on the night of the accident, including pilots of similar types to the Q400, none of which were considered “severe”.

 

Aside from possible ice build-up, controversy surrounds whether or not the pilots should have had the autopilot engaged before the crash. While current regulation requires the flight crew to disengage the autopilot only in “severe” icing conditions, the NTSB has in the past recommended to the FAA that it may be advisable to fly the aircraft manually in light-to-moderate icing conditions. This point, however, comes back to the question of whether or not the ice-build up was “severe”. The NTSB investigation team has thus far denied allegations the Colgan Air were acting incorrectly by keeping the autopilot engaged.

 

It is no wonder the FAA and industry have dismissed the radical recommendation to ground all twin-engine turboprop aircraft. However that it came from the former chief accident inspector himself - while the investigation is still going on and no clear indication of the cause has been given - is a surprise indeed.

- Michael Gubisch, staff writer, Aircraft Technology Engineering & Maintenance

Is this another instance of targeting what is the most visible and not focusing on the real problem, the root cause? Or is it simply reacting to the public’s perception so it appears that action is being taken.  Aviators and non-aviators, let me know what your opinion is on this topic.

Can you imagine …. anyone in the Trump family claiming they are a victim?  “The Donald’s” daughter, Ivanka, told FOXNews that “I am sorry for everyone but we are in the same boat,” Trump said. “We had to terminate our contract because (more…)

Your words, voice tone and inflection can elicit powerful emotions from others, without you realizing it.

“Fightin’ Words” are those words that can trigger your emotions and cause you to become defensive.  In my leadership and communication workshops, participants do a skit using as many of these words they can. Although each group comes up with different words, there are some that are (more…)

I was watching The O’Reilly Factor and caught the segment Body Language featuring Tonya Reiman, author of “The Power of Body Language”. Every Monday evening, Bill O’Reilly has Ms. Reiman on and shows newsclips of well-known people and discusses their body language. This particular evening (more…)