A book to read. Warsaw 1920: Lenin’s Failed Conquest of Europe
Wow. What a good read. Especially if you like obscure but interesting history. I had no clue that in 1920 that Lenin decided to invade Poland (which had only recently become a country again after being split between Russia, Germany and Austria for over a hundred years). The history of Poland is interesting in itself (pick up James Michener’s Poland if you want a relatively easy historical lesson told in a good storytelling way).
This is a short book. It shows how close the new Soviet Union came to including Poland (and more geography if they had been successful and kept on going) as early as 1920. It also shows Poland’s resourcefulness (they didn’t really have a qualified experienced general) and fortitude in the face of some fairly overwhelming numbers. If you are interested in obscure historical moments that had an impact (because some things happened in this war that affected Soviet attitudes in WW2) then pick up this book.
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its all about the balance sheet, baby
January 12, 2012 - 8:58 am
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, africa economy, america is addicted to spending, America’s character, behavior in new economic world, capitalism and morals, capitalism communism, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, china economy, communism embracing capitalism, decision making, depression versus recession, economic center of gravity, economy, effect of recession, enlightened conflict, enlightened reading, government, haves versus have-nots, history, ignorance, impact of recession, it is tough but how tough, learning, life, life lessons, livret savings, making shit is good, moral fiber, optomism versus pessimism, optomistically cynical, persepctive on economy, perspective, poverty, recession, recession affecting shopping behavior, relationships, resiliency, respect, responsibility, saving money, saving takes a change in attitude, saving versus buying, seeking new experiences, spending money as soon as we have it, story of two americas, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, the decline of europe, the economist, the have nots, the haves, this i am today, time magazine, today’s economy, truth, words
Posted in Business Thoughts, Rants and Observations | No comments
So. This is about the American economy and a plea for all of us to quit bitching about how the government is the fault for all our economic woes. Yeah, sure, the government could (and should) take some actions to help … and improve their own balance sheet. But. The combination of the US population [...]
poverty redefined?
January 8, 2012 - 12:03 pm
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, africa economy, America’s character, behavior in new economic world, capitalism and morals, capitalism communism, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, china economy, communism embracing capitalism, decision making, depression versus recession, economic center of gravity, economy, effect of recession, enlightened conflict, enlightened reading, government, haves versus have-nots, history, ignorance, impact of recession, it is tough but how tough, lack of opportunity defines poverty, learning, life, life lessons, making shit is good, moral fiber, optomism versus pessimism, optomistically cynical, perspective, perspective on economy, poverty, poverty or deprivation, poverty redefined, recession, recession affecting shopping behavior, relationships, resiliency, respect, responsibility, saving versus buying, seeking new experiences, spending money as soon as we have it, story of two americas, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, the have nots, the haves, this i am today, today’s economy, truth, West Wing, words
Posted in Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | No comments
So. The US Census Bureau has redefined poverty in the USA. Its kind of like having someone give you a new report card for a past semester. Whoa. (I am certain this was a West Wing episode … it was) It’s from a Season 3 episode called “Indians in the Lobby” where two White House [...]
the appeal of ron paul
January 6, 2012 - 8:37 am
Tags: 20somethings, abraham lincoln, becoming a president, being black and white, Business Thoughts, character, common sense, communication, decision making, democracy, elections, enlightened conflict, ethics, government, having a point of view, history, House of Representatives, leadership, leading america, life lessons, old people who talk young, patrick henry, perception versus reality, piers morgan, plain speak, politicians make my head hurt, politics, quotations, quotes, respect, ron paul, ron paul is not a nutcase, Senate, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, this i am today, truth, words
Posted in Rants and Observations | No comments
So. I typically don’t write about politics because, well, I typically believe if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all. In addition politics-speak makes my head hurt. Its kind of like listening to a new business guy called the ‘king of Babble-on” (Babylon so you get the full reference). It [...]
economic center of gravity
January 4, 2012 - 8:51 am
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, africa economy, America’s character, behavior in new economic world, capitalism and morals, capitalism communism, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, china economy, communism embracing capitalism, decision making, depression versus recession, economic center of gravity, economy, effect of recession, enlightened conflict, enlightened reading, government, haves versus have-nots, history, ignorance, impact of recession, it is tough but how tough, learning, life, life lessons, making shit is good, moral fiber, optomism versus pessimism, optomistically cynical, persepctive on economy, perspective, poverty, recession, recession affecting shopping behavior, relationships, resiliency, respect, responsibility, saving versus buying, seeking new experiences, spending money as soon as we have it, story of two americas, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, the decline of europe, the economist, the have nots, the haves, this i am today, time magazine, today’s economy, truth, words
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There is an awesome study completed in late 2010 called “Global Economy’s Shifting Centre of Gravity.” Ok. Maybe not awesome to some people … but to me? Fascinating reading (I actually read it over my vacation which included some cocktails while reading & making notes). Here is the net: - In 1980 the global economy’s [...]
2011 best tv ads
January 1, 2012 - 5:42 pm
Tags: 2011 ads, advertising, agency, best tv ads, book recommendations, brand, branding, Business Thoughts, campaign, chipotle tv ad, communication, respect, strategically sound ads, Stuff I Like, the force tv ad, truth
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So. It is the end of the year … but .. at the end of November (I think) AdWeek magazine (the people magazine of the advertising industry) published their top 10 television ads of 2011. As Adweek states … it doesn’t seem that long ago that we were watching the “super bowl ads” and assessing [...]
Pravda, Putin & Poverty in the USofA
December 15, 2011 - 4:22 pm
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, America’s character, behavior in new economic world, capitalism and morals, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, character, decision making, depression versus recession, economy, effect of recession, enlightened conflict, enlightened reading, give consumers a choice, government, haves versus have-nots, history, ignorance, impact of recession, it is tough but how tough, learning, life, life lessons, Lost Ground, making shit is good, moral fiber, optomism versus pessimism, optomistically cynical, persepctive on economy, perspective, Pew Research, pravda newspaper, pravda the russian USA Today, reading pravda, recession, recession affecting shopping behavior, relationships, resiliency, respect, responsibility, saving versus buying, seeking new experiences, spending money as soon as we have it, story of two americas, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, the decline of europe, the economist, the have nots, the haves, this i am today, time magazine, today’s economy, truth, words
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The new Economist has Putin on its cover and it made me think about checking out what the Pravda had to say. God almighty I love taking a couple of minutes and reading the Russian paper Pravda online every once in awhile. As a reminder. Pravda is kind of like russia’s version of USA Today [...]
getting different points of view
September 16, 2011 - 7:19 am
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, America’s character, behavior in new economic world, capitalism and morals, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, character, decision making, depression versus recession, economy, effect of recession, enlightened conflict, generations changing behavior, give consumers a choice, government, haves versus have-nots, history, ignorance, impact of recession, it is tough but how tough, learning, life, life lessons, Lost Ground, making shit is good, marketing, moral fiber, optomism versus pessimism, optomistically cynical, persepctive on economy, perspective, Pew Research, recession, recession affecting shopping behavior, relationships, resiliency, respect, responsibility, saving versus buying, seeking new experiences, spending money as soon as we have it, story of two americas, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, the decline of europe, the economist, the have nots, the haves, this i am today, time magazine, today’s economy, truth, words
Posted in Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | No comments
Whew. If you ever want to get a really different point of view go read the Pravda (a Russian newspaper. http://english.pravda.ru/). The newspaper was originally the voice of communism and while it currently claims to have no resemblance to the original communist Pravda its mission remains “to report the truth and nothing but the truth” [...]
different point of view part 2
September 16, 2011 - 7:19 am
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, America’s character, behavior in new economic world, capitalism and morals, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, character, decision making, depression versus recession, economy, effect of recession, enlightened conflict, generations changing behavior, give consumers a choice, government, haves versus have-nots, history, ignorance, impact of recession, it is tough but how tough, learning, life, life lessons, Lost Ground, making shit is good, marketing, moral fiber, optomism versus pessimism, optomistically cynical, persepctive on economy, perspective, Pew Research, recession, recession affecting shopping behavior, relationships, resiliency, respect, responsibility, saving versus buying, seeking new experiences, spending money as soon as we have it, story of two americas, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, the decline of europe, the economist, the have nots, the haves, this i am today, time magazine, today's economy, today’s economy, truth, words
Posted in Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | No comments
Ok. I admit. I haven’t picked up a (Time or a Newsweek magazine in a very long time. I read the Economist and the Guardian and Pravda and Financial Times (among several international rags) to get a global perspective. So when I picked up a Time magazine out of curiosity it provided a slightly different [...]
b2b selling, heck, selling in general
September 1, 2010 - 9:40 pm
Tags: a good business concept, alignment, b2b, b2b is not rocket science, b2b marketing, b2b versus consumer, book recommendations, brand, branding, business, business differentiation, business innovation, business marketing, Business Thoughts, clarity, common, communication, core competency, decision making, decommoditizing, differentiating in commodity like categories, distinct, distinctness builds value, emotional, fragmentation, functional, fundementals of evaluating buying process, hybrid sales and marketing, learning, managing business, managing customer information, managing sales cycles, marketing, sales versus marketing, short term and long term results, upside down traditional marketing funnel
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Yes. I have an entire white paper on b2b marketing. But. Some things just need to be said again (and again and again and again). For some reason there seems to be a wacky belief that b2b marketing is so radically different from consumer marketing that … well … if you can do one well [...]
choosing the right word
August 29, 2010 - 11:22 pm
Tags: book recommendations, business, Business Thoughts, choose the right word, communication, effective communiction, great thoughts, leadership, learning, lessons, messaging, quotations, quotes, respect, responsibility, speaking, Stuff I Like, truth, using the right words, words
Posted in Favorite Quotes, Rants and Observations | No comments
“Where the emotion has found its thought and the thought has found the words.” Robert Frost I love this quote for a number of reasons. Let me focus on two. First is I do love words and I truly envy people who know how to take a seemingly mixed bag of words and put them [...]



