James L. Paris's Blog, page 79
June 22, 2017
Are You as Busy as Elon Musk? Maybe You SHOULD Be
How bad DO you want success?
Do you want it as much as Elon Musk?
If you���re not as busy as he is, the answer is ���probably not.���
Actually, that���s unfair. Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, is one of the world���s great entrepreneurs and visionaries, at present, and so it makes sense that he might also be one of the very busiest people anywhere. For most of us, it is not necessary to have such grandiose objectives (like running a company devoted to achieving the colonization of Mars) to still realize accomplishments that qualify as examples of resounding success.
Still, if you are plugging away each day at making the most of your own pursuits, it might not hurt to take a peek at just what an average day looks like for a guy like Musk, to see if there might be more you could, or should, be doing on behalf of your own interests.
Courtesy of Business Insider, here���s a rundown of Musk���s day:
Elon Musk gets up at 7 a.m., and typically skips breakfast. But breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? Well, evidently the super-successful Musk does not agree.
He does make time for a shower, however. In fact, Musk has said it is his most important daily habit.
The key to Musk���s success, in his estimation, is his insistence to work as many hours as he can each week. During what is, for him, a regular workweek, Musk will put in about 42 hours at Tesla, and another 40 at SpaceX.
Something else Musk does that���s key to his productivity: He spends as little time as possible answering phone calls and dealing with emails.
Still, it���s not like he can avoid those mediums of communication entirely. A few years ago, Musk mentioned that he spends time on email while he���s hanging out with his kids.
���What I find is I���m able to be with them and still be on email. I can be with them and still be working at the same time ... If I didn���t, I wouldn't be able to get my job done,��� said Musk.
On that note, Musk says he���d be nowhere if he did not multitask. In his view, multitasking and working as many hours as possible is what allows him to keep on with his Herculean efforts.
When he finally does go to bed, it���s around 1 a.m.
Wow.
It appears the rest of us aspiring to greater levels of success need to get to work, because, compared to Musk, it seems we���re just goofing off right now.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
June 21, 2017
Woman Says Target Employees Offered No Aid When She Was Being Filmed By Man in Fitting Room
Like Target needed this right now.
Recently, a Houston woman was changing in a Target dressing room when she noticed a man starting to film her. Even worse, the woman claims that when she noticed what was going on and screamed for help, none of the employees intervened on her behalf.
Speaking to ABC13 Eyewitness News in Houston, the woman detailed, ���In the mirror, I saw the reflection of the cell phone.���
At that point, she buttoned her blouse and set out after the perpetrator, who was fleeing the store while pushing a baby stroller.
Video of the incident depicts two Target employees in close proximity to what was unfolding, but appearing to do nothing.
As the victim was pursuing the man through the store, her screams did catch the attention of a male shopper, who chased the man outside the building. He managed to catch up with the voyeur just in time to take his picture.
That shopper, Russel Sevier, said, ���Nobody was doing anything, so I ran all the way down to the end of the building. We heard someone yelling, ���This man is crazy. Lock the door.������
���I really think they should separate the men and women���s fitting rooms, so this won���t happen,��� Sevier added.
Seems like a good idea, but this is Target, after all, so maybe it���s best that no one assumes they���ll establish any sound policies when it comes to bathrooms and fitting rooms, and just proceed on that basis.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Moms Now Asking Their Babies��� Permission to Hold Them���So They Don���t Grow Up into Rapists
Apparently, the pit of social lunacy really is bottomless.
According to Heat Street, there appears to be a trend afoot among the particularly aware and progressive mothers out there that involves asking their babies for permission before they pick them up.
And that���s not even the weirdest part of this.
If you���re thinking that maybe the weirdest part is that these moms say they can sense when their infants are giving their approval to be picked up, it���s not that, either. Admittedly, that���s pretty goofy, but, no, that���s not the weirdest part.
The weirdest part is that these moms declare that when they scoop up their own babies without first getting approval to do so, they are helping to perpetuate ���rape culture.���
Here is one mom, a woman name Nisha Moodley, saying that very thing.
���I don���t ever want my son to be a sexual perpetrator or the victim of one, and the best thing I can do is honor his choices about his own body,��� says Moodley.
Chiming in on social media, another mother, Robin Weir, wrote, ���We do this too��� makes it feel more like we���re doing things ���with��� him rather than ���to��� him.���
To him?
Even more disturbing than the bizarre idea itself is the number of people enthusiastically giving it oxygen. An Instagram post from Moodley, wherein she details her thoughts on this concept, has over 700 ���likes��� thus far, and it even scored her an interview with Yahoo! Beauty.
Down, down, down we go���
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
June 20, 2017
Bill Cosby Hung Jury - No Surprise
On this episode Jim discusses why he believes the Bill Cosby jury was deadlocked. Also, the mystery of how a giant cargo ship was undetected and crashed into a U.S. Navy destroyer, Illinois may have to file for bankruptcy, Litcoin nearly doubles in price in 24 hours, solar panels still don't make financial sense, and Amazon buys Whole Foods.
CIA Asset Confirms Lee Harvey Oswald Worked For The Agency (JFK Assassination)
Special guest, Pulitzer Prize winner, Carlos Harrison and co-author of Trained to Kill: The Inside Story of CIA Plots against Castro, Kennedy, and Che. Veciana transformed himself from an asthmatic banker to a bomb-making mastermind who headed terrorist attacks in Havana and assassination attempts against Castro, while building one of the era���s most feared paramilitary groups���all under the direction of the CIA.
Antonio Veciana fought on the front lines of the CIA���s decades-long secret war to destroy Fidel Castro, the bearded bogeyman who haunted America���s Cold War dreams. It was a time of swirling intrigue, involving US spies with license to kill, Mafia hit men, ruthless Cuban exiles���and the leaders in the crosshairs of all this dark plotting, Fidel Castro and John F. Kennedy.
Veciana transformed himself from an asthmatic banker to a bomb-making mastermind who headed terrorist attacks in Havana and assassination attempts against Castro, while building one of the era���s most feared paramilitary groups���all under the direction of the CIA.
Texas Law Says Attacks on Cops Now Constitute a Hate Crime
Governor Greg Abbott continues to tell progressive America: ���Don���t mess with Texas.���
While so-called ���hate crime��� laws have long been a source of controversy, with many believing they essentially punish thought by ascribing extra penalties due to the motivation of a violent crime, rather than solely for the crime itself, there is no denying they���ve gained traction in America���s criminal justice system over the last couple of decades.
Taking a cue from that trend, Texas recently decided to use the sensibilities behind hate crime laws to grant extra protections to their law enforcement officers, passing the Police Protection Act. Governor Abbott put his pen to the measure last week.
As reported by Guns.com, the new law affords police and judges the same special consideration as those persons who are criminally victimized on the basis of race, color, disability, religion, national origin, gender, or sexual preference. It essentially makes cops and judges a protected class, for the purpose of charging those who commit crimes against them.
Effective September 1, assaulting a law enforcement or officer or judge could land someone in the slammer for as much as 20 years, and if the assault causes significant injury, the perpetrator could spend the rest of their life behind bars.
���The men and women in uniform risk their lives every day to protect the public, and it is time we show them the State of Texas has their back,��� said Abbott about the measure. ���Texas will no longer tolerate disrespect for those who serve, and it must be made clear to anyone targeting our law enforcement officials that their actions will be met with severe justice.���
However, many civil rights groups are not at all pleased with the new statute, viewing it as a misguided application of the spirit of hate crime laws.
���Although the work of peace officers is incredibly important, and many put their lives on the line every day, their inclusion into this statute meant to address bias and prejudice is inappropriate,��� said the Texas Civil Rights Project.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
The Color of Your Home Can Be a Key Determinant of Eventual Sales Price
Are you looking to move?
A lot of people are right now. After many years of staying put, largely because home prices tanked so badly during the Great Recession, more people are once again interested in putting on their walking shoes and finding another place to live now that values have recovered enough to allow mobility.
To do that, though, you have to sell the house you���re in, presently, and to do that, you have to pay attention to what makes a house more palatable to potential buyers.
Like the right color.
It turns out that colors can make a big difference when it comes to how much you can land for your present digs.
As reported by USA Today, the popular online housing marketplace Zillow decided to look at over 32,000 photos of sold houses to see what sort of impact the color of those residences had on the prices at which they ultimately transacted.
The big loser? Interior walls painted a shade of terracotta. It seems that while last year houses with walls painted that color sold for about $800 less than the sales price predicted by Zillow, houses that sell this year with walls of that color are going for over $2,000 less, on average.
���Painting walls in fresh, natural-looking colors, particularly in shades of blue and pale gray, not only make a home feel larger but also are neutral enough to help future buyers envision themselves living in the space,��� said Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell.
Don���t forget about the exterior, either. According to Zillow���s research, navy blue or slate gray front doors can mean that you see over $1,500 more at the closing table. Also popular right now, as an exterior color, is ���greige,��� a clever mix of light gray and beige.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
June 19, 2017
Otto Warmbier���s Dad: Obama Administration Told Me to Keep Quiet, Not ���Offend��� North Korea
As reported by The Christian Post, Fred Warmbier, whose 22-year-old son Otto was recently released from a North Korean prison in a coma after suffering what has been described as a ���severe neurological injury,��� is publicly calling out the Obama administration for having pressured the elder Warmbier and his wife to keep quiet about their son���s ordeal to ensure they did not ���offend��� the North Koreans.
Speaking at a press conference this past Thursday, Fred Warmbier said that from the moment his son was first detained, he and wife Cindy were told by the ���past administration to take a low profile while they worked to obtain his release.���
���We did so without resolve. Earlier this year, Cindy and I decided that the time for strategic patience was over. We made a few media appearances and travelled to Washington to meet with Ambassador Joe Yun at the State Department,��� Warmbier said. ���It is my understanding that Ambassador Yun and his team, at the direction of the president [Donald Trump], progressively pursued resolution of the situation. They have our thanks for bringing Otto home.���
���We tried to stay low. We were advised that it was important that you don���t upset the North Koreans,��� he added. ���So, we followed that logic and there came a time when that doesn���t seem to have any impact. So, we went public with an interview on Tucker Carlson���s show and we did a couple of written pieces and very quickly, we have Otto home.
���op of Form
We [the Warmbier family] are not burdened with whatever North Korea says or does at this point,��� Warmbier later added. ���And, I am so happy for Cindy, myself, my community, this community has been amazing. ... We have been forced to be quiet and act different because we didn���t want to offend them.���
While the North Korean government is claiming Otto Warmbier fell into a coma after a reaction to a sleeping pill he took after contracting botulism, his father isn���t buying it, saying that his son suffered brutal treatment at the hands of his captors.
���North Korea is a pariah regime, they are brutal and they are terroristic,��� Warmbier said at the press conference. ���You can���t believe anything ... We don���t believe anything they say. We see the results of their actions with Otto.���
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Former Rival Rubio Hails Trump Reversal of Obama���s Cuba Concessions
Though bitter rivals on the campaign trail, it appears Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is an enormous fan of President Trump when it comes to his stance on Cuba.
As reported by the Washington Examiner, the president was in Miami on Friday to announce rollbacks of Obama���s liberalization of American policy toward Cuba, and Rubio was right there with him.
Rubio took to the podium before Trump, and used the opportunity to contrast the leadership of the current president with that of his predecessor on the matter of the Cuban government and its people.
���It struck me as the plane landed and we were getting into the cars that brought us here, and we look at the president coming down the steps,��� Rubio said, ���he was greeted by dissidents, by freedom fighters, by people, some of whom and on the island of Cuba have suffered greatly in the hands of this repressive regime.���
���And less than a year and a half ago,��� he continued, ���an American president landed in Havana, greeted by a regime. A year and a half ago, a president, an American president, landed in Havana, to outstretch his hand to a regime.���
���Today, a new president lands in Miami to reach out his hand to the people of Cuba.���
Among the policy changes is a prohibition against any commercial transactions that benefit the Cuban military and security services. The military has a financial interest in many of the country���s hotels, for example. Trump���s new policy will ban Americans from staying at any such hotels, although they can continue to lodge at hotels not owned by the military, as well as at private residences. The point of the move is to keep American dollars from directly benefitting Cuba���s military, which it is estimated, controls roughly 60 percent of the economy through its management of a wide variety of commercial operations.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
June 18, 2017
Pennsylvania Becomes Ninth State to Move Away from Pensions for Public Workers
Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed a bill making the Keystone State the ninth to replace the traditional pension system for state employees with a ���hybrid��� retirement account that combines a pension structure and 401(k)-style plan.
The new law marks a continuing shift away from the burdensome, pension-based retirement systems for public employees threatening to drive states and municipalities into bankruptcy.
Taking effect in January 2019, the Pennsylvania law will vastly reduce the burden of state taxpayers presently obligated to collectively serve as the guarantor of the pension benefits for public employees.
As reported by CNN Money, Pennsylvania joins Rhode Island, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia in creating a multi-faceted structure wherein state workers contribute to one plan, similar to a traditional pension, that will provide a guaranteed payout at retirement, and to a second that���s similar to a 401(k), which employees can carry with them if they happen to move on from working for the state. States that have passed the plans will continue to make contributions on behalf of their employees, but the total obligation will be greatly reduced.
In a statement, Gov. Wolf bottom-lined the importance of the reform measure, saying, ���Let's be clear: This plan addresses our liability in the only real and responsible way possible, by changing the structure of pension benefits.��� Pennsylvania���s pension fund, which was running a $20 billion surplus in 2000, posted a $70 billion deficit in 2015, according to CNN Money.
Those hired for high-risk jobs in Pennsylvania, like police officers, will remain, at least for now, in the traditional pension system. All other new hires, such as teachers, will be moved into the new system.
As with so many other states, Pennsylvania found its pension structure in particular jeopardy after the 2008 economic collapse. Additionally, commitments made to significant benefit increases, including some that were retroactive, helped put Pennsylvania���s system, as well as the systems of several other states, at grave risk of default.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
