This will be my lasting posting on this site. Over the last few months I’ve dropped off in my postings. This doesn’t mean I’m done blogging. Far from it. In fact, I’m blogging over at EADDblog, PAWatercooler, and several other blogs. You’ve got the links on the right side, so [...]
First, “keep you friends close, and your enemies closer,” is one of the lessons that Michael Corleone learned from his father. [...]
Being someone who has an extensive background in politics, I would be remiss if I didn’t write an article on the lessons learned from this past Tuesday’s election.
Here’s a few lessons/reminders that apply to politics, and certainly apply to business.
First, for professionals, election night signifies the beginning of the next [...]
It’s now November. There are two months left in 2008. I’m going to take this opportunity to ask you a series of questions. The point is to make the most of the rest of 2008.
Are you one track to meet your strategic goals for 2008?
When’s the last time you looked [...]
This past week I got to read a story to my oldest daughter’s kindergarten class as part of the class’ secret reader program. I went all out for this - dressing up as a pirate. I read “Roger, the Jolly Pirate” to the class. I even brought a treasure chest [...]
Over the last couple of weekends I’ve had the opportunity to do some traveling. As you [...]
The marathon is over. As usual, I learned a few lessons from the race that I’d like to [...]
This was a good week when it comes to goals. I was pleased to accomplish several of my [...]
I read an excellent piece on the federal bailout proposal by Steve Chapman in the Chicago Tribune. Here are some snipits from the article:
Nor is there any guarantee the plan would work. The cover of the latest issue of Fortune magazine hails the “steely-eyed Treasury chief” under the headline [...]
Have you ever thought about the habits that you have and how they affect you, your business, and [...]
As you are well aware by now, I drove up to Rochester, NY to run in [...]
Over the last few weeks as I’ve been working on implementing my strategic plan, something has [...]
Every once in awhile you have one of those weeks that just wow you. That’s happened this week. So many good things happened this week that it can only be summed up with “wow.”
Meetings with suspects and prospects, a great teleclass, excellent meetings with clients, great networking events, moving forward [...]
This past Saturday morning, I woke up at 4:45am so that I could be out the door by 5:30am for my latest training run - 22 miles.
I can’t think of a training run, especially a distance training run, where I haven’t learned something. What I learned Saturday was the notion [...]
So often in life, what we know to be true can only take us so far. Many times, if we are to go to that next level we are seeking, we have to start thinking differently.
The old saying that sums this up goes something like - What got you to [...]
The Republicans are making an effort to remove Bob Barr from the ballot. They are using Cumberland County GOP chair Vic Stabile as the means by which to do this. I know know Vic well enough having been a Committeeman in Cumberland County as well as the past chair [...]
Our oldest daughter, Emma, will be entering Kindergarten this year. This past Friday, I took her over to school for bus orientation. This is the time when all the new Kindergartners have an opportunity to practice getting on and off the bus, how to sit on the bus, learn about [...]
In a weak economy, businesses need to ask themselves some tough questions - like what are we selling? And no, you don’t get credit for the simple answer of naming your product or service. Those are just means to an end. So the question is really, what are you really [...]
It’s been said that change is the only constant. I wholeheartedly agree. If you know me, you know I not only embrace change, but thrive on change. The key to successful change, I’ve found is being willing and open to making adjustments when the circumstances change. In otherwords, if you [...]
I wanted to let everyone know that there’s a really neat political networking site - PoliticalNetworker.com. It’s a great site. First off, it’s free to use - a big plus. My first impression is that it is professional looking, it’s easy to use and is completely focused on politics [...]
It’s been said that knowledge is power. That’s not exactly true. Applied knowledge is power. Over the past week, it’s easy to compile the list of things that you’ve actually learned. The next step is to ask yourself some important questions:
So what did you learn today? What will you [...]
When you look at most successful businesses and organizations, a key characteristic is that the leaders of these organizations know how the organization or business is doing at any given time. They know because they measure, not just results, but more importantly activity and key indicators. I wrote a short [...]
I wrote a post about dealing with unexpected events - those things that are out of our control. Unexpected things are like wrenches in our plans, however they are also the things that let us know that we are alive. Only people who are alive have to deal with unexpected [...]
I didn’t see McCain’s speech, but I heard enough snipits and read enough about it to feel comfortable enough to comment. What I take away from it was that Sen. McCain is in self-absorbed dream world. McCain’s speech covered just about every issue there is, and that’s the problem. It [...]
Grassrootspa.com posted Tony Phyrillas’ article about meeting with John Perzel to talk over his legislation for adding 10,000 police officers to the state. At the end of the article Tony asked Perzel about the pay raise. Of course he’s unrepentant. At the very end, Perzel also stated that [...]
I wrote a post on managing conflict. When it comes down to it, regardless of the obstacle, what matters is how we look at the situation. Do we respond with an emotional reaction, or do we see the experience as a learning opportunity?
This past week, I was presented with [...]
Yesterday when I saw that we were in a near full moon, I knew that it didn’t bode well for conservatives. Tonight’s results confirm that. As I’ve stated before, election night is usually pretty depressing for me - my favorites usually don’t win. At any rate, tonight the establishment triumphed [...]
Recently, I wrote a post on the idea of change and status quo. The deeper issue is control - what is control? What do we have control over? How do we use this? How does control affect entrepreneurs? All great questions.
Here’s a short part of the post:
It?s been said [...]
I?ve been invited to be a panelist for the the Identity and The Body Politic Forum at the Good Life Cafe, on N. Hanover St. in Carlisle this evening, April 16th. The program starts at 8pm. Come join the discussion - it should be a good time.
You can [...]
I posted an article on my EADDblog about urgency and putting out fires. I based it off of a blog post from Seth Godin on the subject. It’s really an excellent piece and worth the read. Here’s a piece:
You can have grand visions for remodeling your house or [...]
Over on my EADDblog, I posted an article about signing up for the Hartford Marathon, why I decided to run another marathon and how it relates to business. Here’s an excerpt:
The marathon signifies so many things to me - perseverence, dedication, development, pushing yourself to your limits and beyond, [...]
A friend of mine, Ryan Shafik, sent me this video that the Harrisburg CBS Affiliate did on the Smoke Freedom Day. Enjoy! You may recognize some of the people in the video.
I think Ryans analysis can be used for more than just smoking bans. I dont have enough [...]
A colleague sent me an excellent 10 minute video. It’s a segment from Oprah, not a show I typically watch, but the segment is a great reminder and more. Randy Pausch is a professor at Carnegie Mellon Univ. who knows that he only has a few more months to [...]
We all know the importance of setting goals. Goals give us direction. Goals keep us going. However, how attached are we to these goals?Its one thing to set goals, but how often do we become so attached to the outcome, that we lose sight of what we should be focusing [...]
Last week was quite the week for me. Monday was tax preparation day, Tuesday was filled with travel and meetings, Wednesday I was sick as a dog, Thursday was a catch-up day, and Friday was another snow filled day. Needless to say, this was not the typical week.
Every once in [...]
Im one of those 90% who dont care about the Oscars. In fact, I couldnt really tell you the difference between an Oscar, a Grammy, a Peoples Choice Award, or any of the other awards that are given out. I can tell you that the American Country Music Awards are [...]
What a nice speech that John McCain gave at CPAC. Im still not buying. One speech saying things that appeal to conservatives and were all just supposed to jump aboard the the straight talk express because if we dont it will supposedly be the end of the world as we [...]
Chuck Muth, a conservative activist who writes a regular e-mail newsletter on conservativism wrote the following:
Slit a Vein or Vote for McCain?
By Chuck Muth
February 3, 2008
On the eve of Super-Duper Tuesday, some Drive-By Muthings.
* While the conservative knock against Mitt Romney is that he started out as a [...]
Check out this news story below. I’m willing to bet to that this happens in more places thanTexas - like PA for example.
[www.youtube.com]. Enjoy!
[...]“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
American civil rights leader
It’s been awhile since I did any political commentary - so here goes:
Here are my thoughts about the state of the Presidential primaries. First off, I can now confirm that I am out oftouch with the rest of the Republican Party, which is why Im glad I became an Independent [...]
Today on The Keystone Report, host Matthew Best welcomed Dr. Paul Kengor back to the show to talk about his latest book, The Judge: William P. Clark Ronald Reagans Top Hand.. Dr. Kengor is a professor of Political Science at Grove City College in Grove City, PA. He is [...]
Everyone’s talking about the Caucus results, and so will I. First off, why is this tiny state given so much weight in the primary process? Same goes for New Hampshire. We have the oddest election system I can think of where two tiny states have such a major role in [...]
Today on The Keystone Report, host Matthew Best interviews Dr. Mary Zennett of Citizens for Health Reform. Dr. Zennett (Dr. Mary Z) is a Doctor of Medicine and a student of health reform for many years. As founder of Citizens for Health Reform, she is committed to improving the health [...]
I had an opportunity to interview Dr. Paul Kengor, professor of Political Science at Grove City College, for the Keystone Report. Dr. Kengor is the author of God and Ronald Reagan, God and George W. Bush, and 3 other books. His most recent book is entitled God and Hillary Clinton. [...]
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can,begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
German dramatist, poet & novelist
I know, I know, it’s an odd title. I’m referring to all the high drama that goes on every day within the inner circle of politics. Just go to any major news site - grassrootspa.com is one of my favorites - you’ll see “important” people grandstanding on (insert your favorite [...]
I love this YouTube Video for one simple reason - I identify with it. I’m someone who have no respect for the status quo. In fact, all the things that the narrator describes, fits me to the T. Enjoy.
[...]A new Keystone Report podcast is now up. You’ll hear an interview I did with Dr. Michael Coulter, professor of Political Science at Grove City College, in Grove City, PA. We spoke about election results from this month’s election. Enjoy.
[...]I’m talking about the automatic payraise that State Legislators will receive on Dec. 1. My question is for what? I know it’s hard work resisting change and reform, but does this work warrant a pay raise? Or maybe the pay raise if for all the hard work of keeping government [...]
It’s nice to see people being nice to other people over the Internet. One such good example is Bill Columbus. Bill is a cartoonist. I met Bill at a Chamber of Commerce function a couple of months ago, thought his business was interesting and decided to see if I could [...]
I interviewedBrett Lieberman of the Harrisburg Patriot-News about the election results from Tuesdays election, November 6. We discussed the state-wide judicial retention races, the changes in the county courthouses, highlights of the races in the south eastern part of the state, and the impact that this years election will have [...]
Well, the judges held on - pretty well actually. I’m a bit surprised by the margin to be honest.
In Carlisle, the results are listed below. The top four vote getters are bolded. I’m pleased with the results, especially since I provided strategy advice to Sean. Even I’m a pleasantly surprised [...]
I’ve had some time to think about what will happen tomorrow. Here’s my predictions - no one in their right mind can possibly say what is going to happen with the statewide races. How mad are voters and will they take out their frustration on judges by actually going to [...]
Arguements can be fun, especially in political or policy debates. It’s been fun watching the arguements surrounding the retention votes of judges for this year. Groups from all sides are making arguments on why you should or shouldn’t vote for the retention of judges. They all claim to have some [...]
I’ve had a pretty full schedule lately - hence, not much time to post anything. I didn’t want you to think I had fallen off the face of the earth. I’ll write more soon.
[...]
I’ll be doing a booksigning today for my newest book - Speaking of Success. The booksigning will be taking place at Cornerstone Coffeehouse at Techport. Cornerstone is located at 421 Friendship Rd., Harrisburg, PA 17111. I’ll be there from noon until 2pm. Stop by and say hi and join me [...]
I completed my fifth marathon on Saturday- the Baltimore Marathon. I finished in 4:58:10. Not my fastest marathon by any means, but not my slowest either. Actually, I was really pleased considering I have been dealing with a lagging injury to my hip. It bothered me between mile 16 and [...]
Next Tuesday, Oct. 16th from 1pm to 2pm, I’ll be featured in an interview with Michelle Ulrich from The Virtual Nation. Michelle will be asking me about EADD - Entrepreneurial Attention Deficit Disorder.
The teleclass is free, you just have to register for it. You can do that by clicking [...]
The newest podcast of The Keystone Report is now available at [pa.goodpoliticsradio.com]. I decided to interview PA State Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York. he recently introduced legislation that would ban “texting while driving-” or the practice of a driver reading or writing text messages while driving. the subject caught my [...]
You’ve got to give Russ Diamond credit - He’s made it a possibility that more judges will be non-retained on election day. Russ is a great example of what entrepreneurism is all about. How you ask? Think about what an entrepreneur does - takes an idea that others think is [...]
My first book was just published. It’s called Speaking of Success. There are other authors involved in this book as well - people like Ken Blanchard, Jack Canfield and Stephen Covey. It’s a book about success, just as the title implies. If you are a person who seeks success or [...]
By now, anyone who delves into politics has heard this rumor. Chris Lilik at GrassrootsPA posted it on his blog first from an article in the American Spectator.
The comment section on GrassrootsPA has been active with all sorts of comments both positive and negative. I love the idea of [...]
Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard about Moveon.org’s ad in the New York Times. Forget about the content of the ad and what the ad is about - there are some great lessons to be learned from this whole episode.
Lesson 1 - You’ve got to hand it to [...]
I received an e-mail today about another GOP Presidential debate. This one is sponsored by WorldNetDaily. It’s supposed to be a Values Voters Debate. What’s interesting about this one is the whining that the sponsor is doing because the first-tier candidates are going to be no-shows.
Which leads to a nice [...]
I’m usually all that impressed with polls - especially presidential polls months out from any kind of real election. I came across one poll though that I thought was interesting. It’s a poll that Unity ‘08 put out on our current political selection process. When you look at the demographics, [...]
I ran the Harrisburg Half-Marathon this morning. I finished in 2:07:09. That’s a 9:42 pace.
[...]I’ve been receiving Richard Viguerie’s e-mails for awhile. I’ve found him to be rather, how should I put it, rigid. I’ve been truly enjoying the last few e-mails over the last couple of months. He’s been attacking Fred Thompson. If I were on the Thompson campaign I’d be rejoicing. Here’s [...]
Today my wife and I attended the funeral of Scott R. Ball. Scott was a Pennsylvania State Trooper and Master Seargent with the National Guard. He was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan on Aug. 27th. It was a moving funeral - more moving than I thought it [...]
Labor Day is one of those interesting holiday’s that no one really understands how to celebrate. We have plenty of holidays that fall into this category. It’s kind of ironic to me that we celebrate our labors by taking the day off from labor.
I’ll be utlizing the time this year [...]
For those of you who are long time readers of this blog know, I am a distance runner, having run four marathons over the last four years. This year I’m scheduled to run the Baltimore marathon on Oct. 13. The past month I’ve been dealing with injury. I haven’t been [...]
As regular readers will notice, I’ve been a courage kick lately - writing about it, doing light research on it, etc. Today will be no different. This post is about a different type of courage that I’ve experienced jsut recently. At the end of July I went down to Baltimore [...]
I’ve been doing a great deal of inner searching these last few weeks. I’ve come to know several things - some of which I’ll share here. (Here’s your editorial warning - some of this gets pretty spiritual, so if that’s not your cup of tea, that’s ok, but you probably won’t enjoy [...]
I recently looked up courage on Wikipedia. Here’s the entry.
There is plenty of information about courage. All sorts of links to items that are courage related. You’ll find information about Aristotle’s thoughts about courage and the Catholic Church’s teachings about courage and other virtues, all the way to social [...]
