Happy New Year 2011

Excel VBA and Macros

Anyone who needs to learn how to use the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and macro features of Excel (Microsoft) should consider the video training linked below...

Power Excel 2010

Anyone seeking to learn Excel 2010 (Microsoft) as quickly as possible should consider using the Power Excel 2010 video training linked below:

Searching for Growth in America

Evidence of Military-Industrial Complexity

According to the Bryan Bender of the Boston Globe:

The Globe analyzed the career paths of 750 of the highest ranking generals and admirals who retired during the last two decades and found that, for most, moving into what many in Washington call the “rent-a-general’’ business is all but irresistible.... From 2004 through 2008, 80 percent of retiring three- and four-star officers went to work as consultants or defense executives, according to the Globe analysis. That compares with less than 50 percent who followed that path a decade earlier, from 1994 to 1998.

Source: Bender, B (2010, December 26), From the Pentagon to the Private Sector, Boston Globe.

Well Said...

"There is no science without fancy and no art without fact."

~ Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (1899-1977)

The Good Cause...

The American Legion
Preamble to the Constitution

For God and country we associate ourselves together for the following purposes:

• To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America;
• To maintain law and order;
• To foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism;
• To preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the Great Wars;
• To inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation;
• To combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses;
• To make right the master of might;
• To promote peace and goodwill on earth;
• To safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy;
• To consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.

The American Legion Preamble has been the beacon light of The American Legion for more than 90 years. It has been amended only once in all that time. That amendment consisted of adding the letter "S" to the word "war." It makes the Preamble read today "Great Wars," so as to embrace all wars.

I am proud to be a member (paid up for life) of the American Legion. Follow the link below to learn more.

The American Legion

Related Posts

Restoring the American Dream

As America looks to the future in a post-recession world, the nation must begin to face the realities of economic restructuring in order to compete in the emerging global economy. I commend Dr Fareed Zakaria's special report entitled, Restoring the American Dream, as instructive for the future. Dr Zakaria's call for new investments in education, training, and innovation are particularly persuasive:

Special thanks to Dr Gary Robinson for bringing Dr Zakaria's report to my attention...

Warming Hearts...

Lola peeks from beneath her quaff...

Lola the Yorkie-Poo

What is "Junoon"...?

I just finished reading Razi Imam's new book, Driven: A How-To Strategy for Unlocking Your Greatest Potential (2010). According to Imam (pp. 46-47):

The word, Junoon, comes from the Urdu/Arabic language... The current English language lacks a single word to describe the concept, so the best we can do is describe it in three words: Junoon is a state of obsession. It's a trasnformative, all-consuming mania: a kind of craziness, if you will, that envelops your mind and heart to achieve yoiur goal.

To live within the state of Junoon is to concentrate passionately on realizing your mission and transcending day-to-day human motivation to a degree that seems impossible to those around you. Being in this state coalesces and magnifies your ordinary strength of will and determination, and turns you into a person who rises to challenges in ways that others can't even imagine. You hold nothing back. You put your all and everything that you do, and through your investment of your entire being, you find ways to surmount the most daunting of circumstantial barriers with incredible energy.

Imagine that you're so obsessed with accomplishing something for the greater good that you feel utterly consumed with getting it done. You are inspired by a mandate from the universe, and allow nothing to stop you from achieving your objective. From morning to night, you live within your passionate concentration and desire. This is what it's like to live in, and act from, the state of Junoon.

Anyone who has ever experienced Junoon during their lifetimes will quickly recognize themselves in this book. Junoon is a fascinating term and concept, which will likely find its way into the English lanaguage and lexicon.

Source: Imam, R (2010), Driven: A How-To Strategy for Unlocking Your Greatest Potential, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.

The Language of Business Intelligence

Vernon Prior has released a new edition of his glossary of terms used in competitive intelligence and knowledge management. Follow the link below to download a copy:

Source: Prior, V (2010), Glossary of Terms used in Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge Management, Institute for Competitive Intelligence.

Well Said...

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance."

~ Will Durant

Dr William James Durant (1885-1981)

Merry Christmas 2010

To everyone in my life, please accept my best wishes for a wonderful Christmas day with my warm regards to you and yours during this yuletide season...

Well Said...

"I'd like people to remember me as someone who was good at his job and seemed to mean what he said."

~ Jimmy Stewart

Brig Gen James M Stewart, USAF (1908-1997)

Brig Gen Stewart enlisted in the US Army as a private in 1941 and rose to the rank of Colonel in the US Army Air Corps during World War II with credit for flying 20 combat missions over Europe. Following the war, Brig Gen Stewart served in the US Air Force Reserve achieving flag officer rank before his retirement in 1968.

Visit the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Are States Too Big to Fail...?