Bill John knows leadership. He is a Vietnam Vet credited with a Mig kill as a naval aviator and who later commanded a combat ship. I asked him how he identified future leaders.

Past success in sports.

Your Business Blogger is honored to advise senior leaders. I once had a conversation with Bill about mentoring managers.

Rules-bound games are the key. Leadership skills start early in sports, he said. Sports leaders pull their teams together to reach a common objective. They learn these skills at a young age... and are accurate predictors of leadership talent.

The Dude with the Wildcats a few seasons ago

Bill John's analysis mirrors the philosophy from another military hero, General Douglas MacArthur, who was the West Point Superintendent for three-years in the early 1920s.

From AmericanHeritage on MacArthur. It is noted that some of,

...[H]is eloquence is on display over the main entrance to the gymnasium. Some blank verse that he penned as Supe memorializes the strenuous regimen of intramural athletics that he imposed on his alma mater:

Upon the fields of friendly strife

Are sown the seeds

That, upon other fields, on other days

Will bear the fruits of victory.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Management Training Tip: When evaluating new entry-level management trainees, ask about sports participation.

Be sure to visit the Panzer Commander who plays all manner of contact sports. And asks the question no parent would like to hear, Dad, what's my blood type?

Full Disclosure: Bill John is a cousin.

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Causation or Correlation? Homosexuals are taking over the leadership of the Episcopal Church. And the main stream church is losing membership.

Rodney Stark in The Victory of Reason reminds us that the Episcopal Church lost 55% of its membership from 1960 to 2000.

Gary Bauer emails,

For the Episcopal Church, the breaking point was the 2003 ordination of an open homosexual as a bishop and the willingness of other church leaders to embrace same-sex “marriage.” For those who believe in the church’s historical teachings on human sexuality, teachings firmly rooted in the Scriptures, this was a bridge too far, and it set in motion what appears to be a major schism within the church.

The Reverend John Yates, rector of the 275-year-old Falls Church, told his congregation, “This whole situation isn’t about us. It’s about the next generation and the next and the next. … For the sake of the children, we must be faithful to Christ.”

The Yoest's visiting Truro Episcopal Church December 2005

Mainstream churches, like Mainstream media are declining and dying. But not conservative churches such as the Presbyterian Church of America. Of which we are members, of course.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Karl Rove mentioned in off the record remarks heard by Your Business Blogger, that he read and recommends Rodney Stark's book. Which would be another reason liberals will hate it. And normal people will love it.

See the Washington Post.

More on Rodney Stark at the jump -- he's proof that something good can come out of the University of California, Berkeley.

Continue Reading »

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Gerald Ford Pardoning former-President Nixon
Credit: National Archives and Records Administration And Gerald Ford has died, too.

By all accounts, he was a good and decent man. And we were fortunate to have such a man serve as President when history knocked at his door.

It won't take long for pundits to skip over the "good and decent" and get to the question that ultimately defines his presidency: should he have pardoned Nixon?

On this one, Jack and I actually disagree, which is fairly unusual.

I think Ford did the right thing in using the pardon to get the country moving forward again.

Jack, not surprisingly, says Ford should have held Nixon accountable and emphasized that no man is above the law.

Comments are open.

Posted at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

James Brown ca 1965 James Brown is dead at 73.

I'm so glad I got to hear him sing in person last year. He was an amazing performer.

UPDATE: Yes, he was an amazing performer. But. How do you want to be remembered at the end of your life?

Brown is survived by his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, one of his backup singers, and at least four children two daughters and sons Daryl and James Brown II. . .

At least?

Seems like the precise number children you've contributed genetic material to should be one of those things that, well, ought to be fairly easy to nail down. Just for the record, if nothing else.

Posted at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lucas McDonnell in the UK is hosting the Business, Technology and Knowledge Blog Carnival. Go visit.

And while you are there see Refer to This Rule When You Are About to Reduce Your Product Price by GAMEPRODUCER.NET, a Daily Game Development and Production Resource

Be slow, very slow to lower prices to pick up sales. If you must fiddle with your pricing, try raising the price until demand (really) drops off. Then you will at least know that there is some elasticity.

Full Disclosure: Your Business Blogger buys business cards from Hugh MacLeod who blogs at Gaping Void. And so should you. Unpaid referral.

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No ‘cookie-cutter’ solutions: Family expert Charmaine Yoest says creativity, flexibility are keys to resolving work/family issues

Charmaine Yoest acknowledges that creative solutions to juggling work and family are never easy. “That’s part of why I study it as an issue.”

By Elizabeth Kiem [from May 14, 2004]

Charmaine Yoest, a doctoral candidate in U.Va.’s Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics, is an up-and-coming young expert on family policy issues.

Charmaine Yoest
Photo by Andrew Shurtleff By normal counts, her 10 years at the University have been hyper-productive: Her papers on the subject are prolific, as are her media appearances, congressional testimonies and academic presentations. She has written a book on working mothers and is completing a second on parental leave policies.

But Yoest's career must be viewed in the context of a not-so-typical doctoral student’s family life -- she is the 39-year-old mother of five children, ranging from age 10 to infancy.

"I hope it’s inspirational to some," she said of her ability to pursue her studies and career even with a full capacity mini-van. "Obviously I couldn’t do what I’ve done unless my husband was willing to live a nontraditional life as well."

Yoest acknowledges that her domestic situation, with close family near by to step into the child-care breach and a husband willing to reduce his workload significantly to help raise children, has been unusually conducive to her career. Nonetheless, she would like to see more families adopt a "nontraditional lifestyle" to accommodate childrearing and professional equality among the parents.

There is such an emphasis on work and family that sometimes the family gets lost because people are so focused on ‘how can we facilitate work? she said.

A regular on the political talk-shows, Yoest is careful with her words, aware of just how politicized the debate has become. She is quick to emphasize that her pro-family stance in no way negates her advocacy for women to pursue careers and advanced education, as she has done. The mission, she says, is to find creative ways to do both -- and women require the participation of spouses and employers to do so.

Continue reading at the jump.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Originially published by UVA Insider May 2004.

Continue Reading »

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Rocky
at the base of the steps Your Business Blogger was in Philly recently and wondered about the Rocky statue that was briefly at the top of the 72 steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Since September, the statue is now at the base of the steps.

So I decided to ask the man who might know, Sylvester Stallone.

Why? I asked him.

Rocky Sly says, It's better where it is -- at the base of the steps. At the top was the completion -- the end -- but it's not the completion that counts -- it's the journey. The Effort; The Passion.

Or, as Rocky says in the movie, The Beast trying to get out.

The step-climbing, the process, the journey, reminded me of Earl Nightingale's definition of success: The progressive realization of a worthy goal.

Success on this side of eternity and finishing the fight, the race, for the other side of eternity. The passion and The Passion.

The new Rocky movie was about the beast, the fire in the gut getting out and lighting up the world.

The Completion and incidentally, The End.

Your Business Blogger and Charmaine were guests for a premier showing of the film in Your Nation's Capital a few weeks ago. A must see. Blood and a beating and a victory...although not quite what you would think. And not quite a tie.

The pre-screening was at the Regal Theater on K Street in Georgetown, DC.

After the viewing, we were invited with a few dozen of our closest new best friends to meet Sylvester Stallone at the Four Seasons.

I made a little wager with Charmaine: when Rocky walked in, he'd get a standing O. Charmaine said O, no -- it will be respectful silence.

As it happened, we were both right; both of us winning. (A nice way to end a marital debate, as well as a movie) When Sly walked in (with only three handlers, security out of sight) there was enthusiastic applause -- but not standing and shouting as I would have thought, and I almost did, Charmaine enforcing a restraining order on my arm...

Sylvester Stallone at three score years and zero body fat and six Rocky movies (Rambo et.al. aside) strolled in wearing a comfortable-looking blue long sleeve shirt and blue jeans and funky shoes Charmaine could not ID. He sat at the head of a long conference table to talk about The Final Rocky Movie.

His Faith made him do it. And Jesus was in the details.

The music score kept up the motivation: A big score for a little man, he says.

The music alone is enough to have Rocky Top any opponent.

Rocky Balboa at the Top
Museum of Art, Phildephia
Totally Rocky.com But not without effort. Stallone says that he's one of three Republicans in Hollywood -- and that influences getting work -- don't let anyone say otherwise.

No wonder Sylvester Stallone was comfortable in Washington, DC: Congress now looks just like Hollywood...

Except Hollywood might have more conservatives than Congress.

Sly (we are on first names, natch) is a real professional at work, especially in how he worked the room. He is immediately likable. I'd vote for him. And see his movies.

(And he embodies the difference between liberals and conservatives:

Reagan was an Actor who became a Politician.
Clinton was a Politician who became an Actor.

Stallone is genuine. Authentic. Transparent.)

He spent some 40 minutes sharing his Faith and eternal values and how that made the movie moving. He loves Jesus and Liberals hate him. (Both Jesus and Rocky.)

The Diva and The Dude with
Art in Philadephia There is room all over Philly for all manner of "art" but not Rocky at the Top of the Museum of Art. The Rocky Statue is not considered art but only a "movie prop."

ROCKY
A. Thomas Schomberg, 1982 Where marketing meets real life.

DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer, says in Stallone still packs punch with Rocky

Besides filming most of the movie in the city, mostly in Kensington and South Philadelphia, Stallone has made several trips the last few months. The Rocky Balboa statue returned in September to the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, not far from the steps where the fictitious hard-luck fighter made movie history. And Stallone promoted the movie at a Philadelphia Eagles game earlier this month, earning another boisterous reaction.

Not many movie characters are as synonymous with a city as Rocky and Philadelphia.

Rocky Balboa
Faith Based Resource Kit
GET THE BOX
free Also see Faith Based resources

Thank you (foot)notes:

Management training tips and for more on Philadelphia and business, see:

John Wanamaker, Half of my marketing budget is wasted...problem is...I don't know which half.

Benjamin Franklin, A success story -- read how Franklin got Benjamin's.

John Kerry, Learn how swiss cheese cost him the election at Pat's Steakhouse.

Clowns in Philly, What two groups of people should never be at a negotiation table?

Rocky Balboa is in theaters now. And be sure to stay to the very end -- terrifc clips of common tourists running and boxing at the top of the steps. Required activity when visiting Philadelphia. Like eating at Pat's.

Full Disclosure: 2 movie tickets were provided at no charge, no popcorn and no request for a favorable review. I did attempt to sell out. The PR team didn't bite.

See Movie Review: Rocky Balboa.

In Brief: ROCKY BALBOA

RottenTomatoes has more.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Adam and Andrea are hosting a timely Carnival. See: The Carnival of Christmas II Official Announcement.

Use the Blog Carnival submission form.

Thank you (foot)notes:

And see Christmas Alliance 2006 by Random Yak

And be sure to watch The Nativity Story this Christmas Season.

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Tucker Carlson Charmaine will be on Tucker Carlson today, Wednesday to talk about sex. The out-of-wed-lock kind.

The AP reports, Wait Until Marriage? 'Extremely Challenging'

A 2002 survey of about 12,500 men and women found that 97 percent of people who were no longer virgins at age 44 had sexual intercourse for the first time before they married.

By age 20, only 12 percent of people interviewed had married, but 77 percent had sex, and 75 percent had sex before marriage. By age 44, 99 percent of people were no longer virgins, 95 percent reported having had premarital intercourse, and 85 percent had married at some point.

MSNBC Charmaine has another take on the topic. Tune in today and let us know what you think. Hit time is 4:20 Eastern.

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If you would like to be added to our good-guy Christmas Card list please email us.

Read about London's John Calcott Horsley and the business of the first Christmas card at the jump. And the original meaning of "merry."

Continue Reading »

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WebLog Award Results
Best Business Blogs The results are in and Club for Growth runs away with the top honor.

This is due in no small measure to my every-Tuesday-lunch-buddy Andrew Roth who runs Government Affairs for the Club for Growth, here in Your Nation's Capital.

But if there was an award for Class Act, it would go to Tom Blumer at BizzyBlog.

He would be an accountant Your Business Blogger could trust.

Tom Blumer, CPA

And so should you.

Thank you (foot)notes:

See more on Andrew Roth and Tom Blumer at the jump

Continue Reading »

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A Democrat can vote as many times as he wants, but only within 24 hours. Vote early and vote often.

Reasoned Audacity is one of the top ten finalists for Best Business Blog.

This is the last day for voting. Please visit The Weblog Awards 2006 at Best Business Blog and vote for Reasoned Audacity.

We will be in your debt.

Please also consider these other finalists:

Blue Star Chronicles

The Corner at NRO

Median Sib

Mary Katherine Ham

Nehring the Edge

Imago Dei

CDR Salamander

Media Blog on NRO

Evangelical Outpost

Ruthlace

Democrats are welcome.

Thankyou (foot)notes,

The Vote Early and Vote Often tag line is often attributed to Chicago politics. See Bandersnatch.com

Democrat Richard J. Daley, former Mayor of Chicago,

Gentlemen, get the thing straight once and for all -- the policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder.

We shall reach greater and greater platitudes of achievement.

Read the 10 Chicago Rules of Political Fund-Raising at the jump.

Continue Reading »

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The Carnival of Entrepreneurs The new carnival is expertly hosted by Canadian Ben Yoskovitz. Go visit and learn.

Remember that carnival hosts work only for visits and links -- the only currency in the blogosphere. Go visit Ben.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Also visit Ben Yoskovitz at Instigator Blog. Read more at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Web Log Awards
Finalist Please remember to vote for Reasoned Audacity for Best Business Blog. We will be in your debt. Thank you!

Alexis de Tocqueville In the United States associations are established to promote the public safety, commerce, industry, morality, and religion, wrote Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America.

If Tocqueville were driving today into Anytown, U.S. of A., the first road sign he might see would be for local Rotary. And he would not be surprised at the mission of this civic organization.

The Business Monthly 'Service Above Self'

In 1905, attorney Paul P. Harris gathered three friends together in downtown Chicago as professionals with common interests for the common good. The group expanded and began to rotate meetings among members' offices, lending the name of "Rotary," with a wagon wheel (now the familiar cogwheel) as the logo. As the membership grew, they realized that internal networking was not enough. Harris wanted to serve more than just that group.

Rotary International is recognized as the world's first service club. The organization's first contribution to the community was a horse. A local preacher's "transportation" died and the congregation could not afford another. The Rotary stepped in. Harris's Rotary then built the first public restroom in Chicago and the Rotary began to grow.

Rotary members donate their time, talent and treasure to the local communities.

Succession Management...

Thank you (foot)notes:

This article was orginally published in The Business Monthly as Rotary Governance this year.

Continue Reading »

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Charmaine on ABC News Charmaine appeared on ABC News last night. She was interviewed on the "Christmas Wars" where Seattle airport removed Christmas Trees.

Even the airport Santa Clause was concerned.

And now, airport management, has re-installed the trees.

Watch the video here.

And please be sure to vote for Reasoned Audacity for Best Business Blog!

We will be in your debt.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Stop the ACLU has more.

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Gozzoli's Augustine III. The Christian Individual: Augustine

As has been often noted, the problem for Platonic and Aristotelian political theory is that they venerated a social hierarchy with a foundation firmly established on inequality and misogyny. The family could be relegated to meaninglessness because the individuals involved in the institution were consigned to irrelevancy in the classical teleology. In Schochet’s formulation, the family served as the “rudimentary form of association,” but this did not confer value on it – the family was not a “building-block” of society, rather it was the raw material. Since the state was formed by a rudimentary, natural coalition of families, the family and the state were in one sense equivalent. But this was an equivalence much like the relationship between logs and a fire: the logs are used to provide the material for the fire, but they are then consumed in the generation of the heat and the flames.

The rise and spread of Christianity challenged, and ultimately overthrew, this paradigm. With Jesus Christ’s teaching that men and women, slaves and free people are all equal before God, the individual was no longer dispensable. Elshtain argues that Christianity directly challenged Aristotle:

Christianity defied [Aristotle’s] rigid categorical separation of human beings by declaring that the potentia of every single human being was as great as any other and equal in God’s eyes. . . One reason the figure of Jesus remains important to political thought is his insistence that the realm of necessity. . . is not a despised forum for human endeavor. . .

Thank you (foot)notes:

This work was originally published by Charmaine at the University of Virginia.

And be sure to vote for Reasoned Audacity for Best Business Blog.

Also see Part 1
Part 2

Continue Reading »

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ABC World News Tonight Charmaine will be interviewed on ABC about Seattle Airport's take down of the 15 decorated evergreen trees (also known as Christmas Trees this time of year).

Hit time is tomorrow Tuesday the 12th tonight Monday. Tune in and get ready to get angry.

See the backstory at ABCNews.

The Washington Post has the AP story.

And please remember to vote for Reasoned Audacity for Best Business Blog.

We thank you for your vote!

Charmaine and Jack

Thank you (foot)notes:

Check local listing for ABC World News Tonight.

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The Business Monthly The Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, had a unique analysis of America.

And the Rotary underscores, even today, the generosity and the indirect, intangible rewards of American associations.

The following article was originally published this year by The Business Monthly.

The Rotary: Making a Difference

By Jack Yoest

The teacher's lounge in Belle Grove Elementary School needed work, lots of work, but no one really saw the need. After all, only teachers frequent the lounge.

But the Glen Burnie, Maryland, Rotary Club stepped in with the time, talent and treasure of its members and refurbished the rest area for the educators. The Rotarians spent a weekend gutting and then rebuilding the room. They saw this as the perfect project -- make a difference toward improving education, with no one really noticing except the teachers and the students.

Patrick Perry, Glen Burnie Rotary president, said, "Our club intends to undertake a similar project this year for [another school]. Please don't publicize -- this will be a surprise for the teachers."

Rotary is known as an international organization of business and professional leaders. But what is less well known are the good works of the local clubs. District Governor Pat Kasuda, who shepherds the 69 area Rotary clubs, said, "We only see a need and want to give back to the community."

Continue Reading »

Posted at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Voting is now open. Please visit The Weblog Awards 2006 at Best Business Blog and vote for Reasoned Audacity.

We will be in your debt.

Please also consider these other finalists:

Blue Star Chronicles

The Corner at NRO

Median Sib

Mary Katherine Ham

Nehring the Edge

Imago Dei

CDR Salamander

Media Blog on NRO

Evangelical Outpost

Ruthlace

Please remember to vote every 24 hours. Thank you!

Posted at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Charmaine will be interviewed on CNN's ShowBiz Tonight, tonight. She will be discussing the Britney Spears antics marketing campaign.

Hit time is 11pm Eastern. Please tune in or TiVo and let us know what you think.

Posted at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Voting begins Thursday 7 December. Please visit The Weblog Awards 2006 and vote for Reasoned Audacity.

We will be in your debt.

Posted at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Dude pulls out
the offending nail This is a cross post from The Dude's Panzer Commander. Alert Readers will note his new Google Ads.

Fix a Flat

Today, I was really bummed out. The warm weather was gone and with it, 1 air-filled tire in The Business Blogger's 1987 Mercedes. So, we couldn't use the Mercedes for the day. But thanks to Fix a Flat (this is a non-paid advertisement) My father and I were able to fix the tire in 20 minutes.

The instructions were:

(1) If possible, remove foreign object from flat tire( it happened to be a short nail; easy to pull out with pliers)

(2)Shake can vigorously for 30 seconds before screwing on the nozzle to tire valve.

(3)If possible, move car slightly so that the tire valve is in the 6 o' clock position. Screw the plastic nozzle clockwise on to the tire valve with can upside down and vertically aligned to the tire valve system. Contents of can will automatically discharge into tire.

The Dude applies the fix(4)After can has discharged, unscrew nozzle.

(5)Watch to make sure rim is lifted off the ground.

(6)Only if rim is off ground, DRIVE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY a short distance-2 to 4 miles, (dang, then whats a long distance???) to allow tire pressure to increase (???) and sealant to spread evenly inside tire.

So, the fix a flat thing works, so use it if you got a flat. But one question you might ask... "why not use the spare?" Well, I used the spare one time with my father, it took at least a day or 2. But the Fix a Flat really saves you that trouble, and time of changing a flat.

Posted at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Plato and Aristotle by RaphaelII. Classical Political Theory: Plato and Aristotle

While as moderns we tend to congratulate ourselves on having discovered gender equality, and imagine the past to be a wasteland of misogyny and hierarchical patriarchalism, the really radical explorer of equality was one of the earliest political theorists, Plato himself. (It should be noted, however, that this was a theoretical exploration that extended only to elite men and women.) When he constructed his model utopian Republic, Plato envisioned a society marked by a strict equality between men and women, at least among the leadership philosopher and guardian classes. Shorthand descriptions of his schema usually refer to “philosopher-kings,” but Plato himself was careful to underscore that his template for leadership was gender-neutral. After Socrates finished describing the education necessary to produce the leaders of the kallipolis, Glaucon comments: “Socrates, you’ve produced ruling men that are completely fine.” To which Socrates responds: “And ruling women, too, Glaucon, for you musn’t think that what I’ve said applies any more to men than it does to women who are born with the appropriate natures.”

Thank you (foot)notes:

This work was originally published by Charmaine at the University of Virginia.

And be sure to vote for Reasoned Audacity for Best Business Blog.

Also see Part 1

Continue Reading »

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Nehring The Edge: Is it a sin for a moron to call an imbecile an idiot? hosts THE CARNIVAL OF CINEMA EPISODE IX: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO. Go visit for the latest in reviews.

Our favorite is The City of God: St Augustine, Hobbes and Brazilian moviemaking by Westminster Wisdom.

These guys are smart.

Augustine in His Study by Carpaccio

Thank you (foot)notes:

Be sure to visit Nehring. Carnival hosts work only for links and visits. The blogosphere owes them.

Posted at 7:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)