Category: Columns
This story's category is Columns.
Portrait of an Addict
as a Young Man
Bill Clegg, Little, Brown, 240 pages
It seems so benign.
Seriously, what's the harm in a bite of chocolate? A grande latte? One more can of cola, yes to the caffeine? A bakery donut with sprinkles?
None, that's how much. Life goes on if you partake. The world won't come to a complete standstill if you indulge in that seductive, legal-but-forbidden treat.You know it. Everybody knows it.
We all have our addictions - some more innocuous than others.
While the United States grapples with the devastating effects of a tragic offshore oil spill, states on the Atlantic coast are turning their focus toward the development of a different kind of energy off their own shores.
Offshore wind energy has the potential to provide 900,000 megawatts of power, an amount nearly equal to the United States' current total installed electric capacity.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of small business for a nation's economy. In the U.S., small businesses are credited for creating most of the nation's new jobs, employing about half of the nation's private-sector work force, and providing nearly half of the nation's nonfarm gross domestic product.
Although modern medicine has greatly lengthened the average lifespan, it also has created situations where more people spend a longer period of time in an incapacitated state prior to death. An adult who is unable to handle and manage his or her finances must be assisted by an agent or fiduciary of some type. If the incapacitated adult executed a power of attorney prior to the incapacity, the agent named in the power of attorney will be able to act on behalf of the incapacitated individual.
Damned if She Does,
Damned if She Doesn't
Lynn Cronin and Howard Fine, Prometheus Books, 272 pages
You always thought you were on the right track.
You got good grades and attended a good college. Achieved a degree, went on strategically - chosen interviews and landed work that led to a better position that eventually got you your dream job.
And it's turned into a nightmare.
You have probably experienced concerns about employee motivation during the downturn of the economy. You are not alone. Survey after survey show as many as 70 percent of employees are less motivated today than they used to be. Part of the struggle for business owners or managers today goes beyond the facts - fewer employees to do the work, customers looking for the lowest prices or just not buying, slashes in operating budgets - to a lack of understanding as to what motivation actually means to employees.
A good friend speaking at a recent planned giving seminar stated that each year the amount donated through bequests is greater than all corporate donations in the U.S. Someone at the seminar said there was a simpler way to make the point. When asked how, the seminar participant said, "Dead people give more than businesses." No matter how it is stated, planned gifts produce significant resources for nonprofit agencies nationwide.
Ownership of architectural plans belongs to the creator of those plans, not to the person whose house is being built from the plans, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary.
For example, homeowner #1 retains and pays an architect to design homeowner #1's dream house, which is subsequently built according to plans prepared by the architect. The architect puts the copyright notice on each page of the plans, but does not register the copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office.
Marlo Calloway, a human resource specialist with Tidewater Community College and committee member for the Southeastern Virginia chapter of the American Society for Training and Development, will moderate a panel of experts in the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance process at a working luncheon on Tuesday, Aug. 10.
The financial environment for local businesses seems to be struggling along at best. It appears most businesses are just getting by, making just enough to pay the employees, pay the rent and pay the taxes. Not much left in there for profit. With dwindling profits, the sales of commercial properties are also way off from years past. It appears that buying a building is the furthest thing from most business owners' minds. Besides, who's lending any money these days?
