Tag: USA Today

Ignore it!

Willful ignorance, kicking the can further down the road. Hoping it lands on someone else’s front yard.

Problems got ignored,  because if solved, it’s gonna cost. Penn State pedophile problem is one.

One of us vs societal rule of law, subjectivity vs objectivity, warm feelings vs calm rationality.

I read JoePa’s son’s op-ed in USA Today. He asks for suspense of disbelief until the full investigation is out (email in context etc….).

In short, we need time. Kick the can a little further down the road once more.

Don’t ignore it, but also, don’t just immediately jump to conclusion.

Moral dilemma.

Beaver Stadium was adding seats. Can’t just tear them down.

Moral rehab vs mortar remodeling. If you look back, you will turn into salt.

Just ignore it?

Tragedy comes in three for me: 1975 Saigon evacuation landing at Penn State – devastated. Three-Mile-Island internship 79 – terrifying. Now FootballGate.

I want to ignore it. Then it creeps up. Like an unwanted member of the family.

Hoping there is no such thing called Thanksgiving, so you don’t have to face him/her. Meeting with Jesus. Court date. Press inquiry. Public debate.

Can’t ignore it now, ever.

Trading down: Gap to Goodwill

You know how good the economy is by seeing how many Hummers are on the street. But we 2.5 per cent growth 1Q 2013, we go from Hummers to Hyundai, from Gap to Goodwill.

With 90% debt level, half-a-million debt per man woman and child, trading down is the least of our worries (Patriotic millionaires asked to pay more tax, instead of token donation of used computers or running shoes for write off).

Meanwhile, BRIC countries push up energy and environmental demand resulting in higher food costs.

Every summer, a bunch of senior citizens died of head exhaustion in their lonely Chicago apartments.

We said Goodbye to Dr Death. You can catch Al Pacino portraying him on HBO.

Here is our near-term play-outs : consumers retrenching i.e. value-shopping (Costco, Wal-Mart), the reincarnation of IKEA (renters nation) and office furniture, DIY online shopping (prosumerism meets e-com). In Micro Trends, the author already noted the return of knitting among teens.

The productivity movement is moving out of high-end enterprise, down to SME and public-sector (right!).

And the return of pig-ear antenna in our living rooms (Archie Bunker).

At the conclusion of President Obama town-hall style at Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg offered his signature hooded sweat saying “in case you want to dress like me” (the joke in context was that President Obama was the only one who made Mark sweated out in suit and tie).

Japanese business men were asked to dress down to save energy.

If you are familiar with Japanese business protocol, you will know how off-script this is (loosening a tie while partying already was too much. Now they are in Hawaiian shirts).

Brazil, however, has no problem with these new austerity measures: they look at this as a prolonged extension of their Mardi Gras. So much for trading down in post-Recession era.

Just make sure to buy supplies in bulk. And no traveling this summer to ease energy pressures. No wonder online ad spending is on track to double-digit grow. That’s where the action is. And where talents are flocking into, one recruitment tweet (CV) at a time. Even resume email service has disappeared as twitter now takes over. Elevator speech has “traded down”.

The tough gets going

Steelers‘ number 33 and 34. Back to basics. One yard at a time to Super Bowl.

On the field or off it, we have to retrench and defragment. USA Today cover story features “the faces of today’s unemployed”, showing a nuclear family, sitting in the back of  the family pick-up truck, with two beautiful young daughters, a wife and a Dad who couldn’t turn to face the camera.

What have we done to ourselves?

Instead, we managed to distract ourselves with I-pod and I-pad, scrapbook and Facebook. User-generated content but not corporate-generated income.

World leaders are heading to Davos on private jets, while world factory workers take a nap on the last train home (Chinese New Year).

Instead of  having another Sputnik moment, we can barely have a picnic moment in the park, whose benches often serve as home for the homeless.

Each demographic cluster has its own “medium” of expression. In this case, card-board signs that say “anything helps”.

The longer the red light, the more time for guilt to build up (they should be in Davos street corners this week holding those card-board signs. Better donor pool).

I have noticed that:

– Star Wars and Apocalypse Now re-release (Blu Ray), the former made it as memorabilia for future generations.

– Men grooming sector surges with the rise of unemployment (first in Japan and now in the West).

– Virtual funerals, instead of “the Big Chill” reunion (In traditional China, they even hired mourners to jazz it up).

– McDonald did well during the Recession, so they can afford to raise the price, while Arby’s is up for sale.

– The life cycle of tech companies (or their CEO’s) is shortened as compared to brick-and-mortars’

– Starbucks’ new logo is not the answer to boost sales. Another bubble is.

– Facebook photos, men in long shots, while women in close-ups

– Amazon keeps plugging away, under the radar, to position itself for virtualization and cloud computing

(while letting Google, Facebook and Apple steal the headlines).

– Yahoo, AOL and My Space already look like dinosaurs from Web 1.0

– China is leading in solar panel manufacturing. This plays to their strength (very similar to India’s momentum post-Y2K).

So, we are content with old institutions e.g. Larry King Show (whose guests feel like they are on America Got Talent), Regis Show and Tonight Show while Boomers seek familiar routine and route (35 miles an hour speed limit, same channel on TV, same store for breakfast. No wonder they can afford to raise the price. No place else to go!).

Some old tricks still work, as the case with the Steelers’ that got them to the Super Bowl. Makes one wonder if we should bring back Reagan-Thatcher’s strong-handedness (whose inflationary consequences are still felt today). This time, it is going to be without Mr Stockman.

All about finishing!

How would you like to keep up at third place, just to have your legs give in at the last-minute? That’s what happened to SF track star, who managed to crawl to the finishing line.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/injured-high-school-runner-crawls-finish-line-push/story?id=12298473

In the late 70’s, it’s all about running. Then we learned more about knee injuries. So we took up aerobics (complete with sweat bands and outer underwear). Now, it’s home gym, home office and home theater. When I grew up, the only thing I knew was homework. The rest was done outside of the house. Talking about in-sourcing.

On a more sober note. USA Today has an expose on “downshift” trends i.e. under-employment or stay-at-home Dad (9.8-15% if counted those who gave up looking).

What have you done lately?

Complementing my skill set with community college classes? Learning how to text, talk and chew gum?

Reading “An Inconvenient Truth“?

My parents were born a century ago, into a world of 1.8 Billion people (Happy Fathers Day).  We now live in a world of almost 7 Billion (BTW, Vietnam population just reached 92 Million). And the tallest building is now in Dubai (out in the desert, remember Ishtar?) while the largest cruise ship is Oasis.

Transformers are no longer content with being on-screen. It seeks to jump off it with warfare apps and special ops.

What does change have to do with “all about finishing?” It has everything to do with it. Technology and globalization is supposed to enhance life and not weigh it down. Many of us feel less joyful even in the midst of the holiday season. Then, a video clip lifts our spirit. I got inspired seeing the runner finish the race for her coach and team.

I understand reshuffling. But the assumption has been that we only have one deck of cards, and that we are all under the reign of Pharaoh (pyramid  w/ less room at the top).

When 7 Billion people all demand life-style change, that’s a lot of  opportunities for every one (remember the early prediction about computer – that the world could use a few of those mainframes).

Founders Collective now invests in early stages and in serial entrepreneurs

(because people of innovation won’t sit still after having sold their first business).

So much has been about “first impressions”. It’s time we zoom out to see the big picture. It’s all about finishing. It’s all about results.

The Happy Ending to our runner’s story took place inside the Emergency Van after the team photo-op.

Run Lola run.