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Work Harder, Not Smarter

Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss.   — Lee Iacocca Tweaked for clarity 3-26-2011. Buona sera. I have an attitude with thunder and lightning heading your way. You may have noticed that the title of this missive is the opposite of true intelligence. It constantly amazes me that so many companies seem to think that if their employees are not in a minor panic, sweating and frantic, that work is not getting done. Brace yourselves, this is Bluntness Day: They are too cheap to supply their employees with the proper tools to get the job done. Remember my buddy Neil? He works for a cheapskate Fortune 100 company. They are certainly not in the "100 Best Places to Work" list, but they cannot determine the cause. Spurious surveys to make themselves feel good, with faked results and continually contemptuous workers are the r

Tragic Tales 4: No Tomorrow

Buona sera. I thought I was done with writing about "Monica", but there are a few more important points to add. She was overly fond of money. In fact, lies were a means to acquiring more money and not parting with her own. One of her biggest secrets was that she had some money stashed away that only she knew about. Money changes people. They get greedy and want more. It's almost strange, you don't have to be rich to be greedy, and you don't have to be poor to avoid loving the stuff. What was she holding onto her money for, anyway? Tomorrow? Monica did not have any more tomorrows. Ironically, her money went for her own burial expenses. "...say you'll be all right come tomorrow, but tomorrow might not be here for you..." — Lynyrd Skynyrd Monica made her plans. We all have our plans, dreams, hopes, expectations, dreads, fears, whatever. But I have to be very direct with you: Today may be your last day on Earth. Like these people: Michael

Tragic Tales 3: Secrets

In a way, these three articles are different aspects of the same thing: Selfishness. I told you how "Monica" had died, and what is inside of people comes out, whether greed or kindness. Relatives act like vultures, wanting "stuff". For cherished memories? I doubt it. After all, a used microwave or television set is not really a "keepsake". And an abundance of items turns into clutter that eventually has to be discarded in one way or another. (Hint: If something breaks, runs down or simply has to be removed, you are not losing the memory of the person as if their spirit was attached to the object(s)). Also, I told you that people alienated from one another because of lies she had told to and about them were learning some truths and clearing the air. Reconciliations, and in some cases, new friendships, have begun to form. That's the bright side. But discovering the lies that were told has been a torment to friends and family. Now for this third par

Tragic Tales 2: Lies

In our last installment, I told you about a death, and the way people act. Some show their true colors and get greedy for the possessions of the deceased, others put aside their differences and can actually begin a process of reconciliation. Truth comes out; you can't hide it forever. And a great deal of what happened is knowledge rapidly gained "after the fact". "...be sure your sin will find you out." — Numbers 32.23b (NASB) Now I have to be cagey. As I already told you, I am calling the deceased "Monica", and (with certain obvious exceptions), I do not use real names in my article. She did not live to see her thirtieth birthday. Monica's parents were divorced when she was young, and each had remarried. That is very important to this narrative. Monica's mother, Martina, married Larry. Her father, Jimmy, married Faith. Monica had mental problems (and my personal suspicion is that those were complicated by demonic oppression, but never min

Tragic Tales 1: Death in the Family

It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens. — Woody Allen Looks like I've found a new series to write about. I'm going to ask you to tolerate awkwardness in this post because I'm running on fumes. With all of the deaths that have happened around me, including recently, this is the first time that I've been in the middle of helping with making arrangements for a funeral, burial, cleaning out an apartment and so forth. On Saturday, July 31, we went to the scene of a death. Lots of shock, hysterical crying, getting people notified, talking to police, all that. No foul play, it seems to have been a matter of losing track of how many prescription pills and how often to take them, and it became fatal. She was in her mid to late 20s. That's all you need to know. As my regular readers well know, I do not use real names for the protection of people; I can make my points without risking anyone'

Science and Faith

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"For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; and as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries." — Robert Jastrow, from God and the Astronomers

Difficulties for Atheists, Evolutionists and Other Unbelievers

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Buon giorno. Today, I'm going to ask you to spend some time (I have audio clips) and do some thinking (the audio clips contain arguments). I was listening to Rev. Matt Slick of CARM . (He has a radio show called "Faith and Reason" that takes callers and discusses atheism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, Islam and other heresies.) On the broadcast for July 22, 2010, they were discussing some things that frankly, I do not understand. I'm planning on listening to the podcast a few more times until I can get the hang of them. So if you want to argue about what is presented, don't ask me, capice? Like I said, Matt takes callers. If you want to challenge him and have a debate, fine, call him up when he's on the air and go for it. He loves that kind of thing. The times and phone numbers are here . You can also send him hate mail, (he loves that, too), or call, or whatever. That link is here . But I'm telling you not to debate with me, because I don't ha