American Exceptionalism – Page 7

January 16, 2016

Categories

A Trip Into The Shark Tank

I’ve written before about Shark Tank, the television series that premiered on ABC in August, 2009. The show which is currently in its 7th season, features business owners who make presentations to five potential investors. The investors are referred to as “sharks.” Each of the sharks is an experienced entrepreneur who became wealthy by successfully starting and growing multiple businesses.

December 12, 2015

Categories

Star Wars and The Age of Entertainment

On Saturday, December 5, 2015, people started lining up at the TCL Chinese Theater IMAX (“TCL”) in Hollywood, California. Their plan was to camp out until the evening of December 17, when they would be allowed to enter the theater to watch the newest Star Wars movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

October 3, 2015

Categories

Did Pope Francis Ever Cruise Main Street?

One of the greatest technological breakthroughs of the past 100 years was the perfection and mass production of the automobile. Although the initial design of a steam-powered “motorized carriage” dates back to the 18th century, it was the invention of the internal combustion engine that allowed the automobile industry to dramatically change our way of life.

August 22, 2015

Categories

From Whiner to Winner

Last week, I wrote about how I was able to convince a prosecuting attorney to agree to reduce a felony charge to a misdemeanor for a client who had been accused of committing a serious crime. The attorney accused me of being a whiner when I refused to stop pushing him to work with me. In the end, I got what I wanted; he agreed to reduce the charge.

April 18, 2015

Guidelines For A Disgraced Congressman

If you pay attention to the news, you know about the recent resignation of our local U.S. Congressman, Aaron Schock. Schock is currently under investigation for violating federal law while he was in office. Some of the violations include using campaign funds for his own personal benefit, overcharging the government for mileage expenses, and flying around in private jets that were owned by individuals or companies who donated money to his campaign.

September 13, 2014

Categories

It’s Good When They Hate You

Earlier this month, at the age of 81, Joan Rivers passed away. I first became familiar with Rivers in the 1970s, during my high school years. I was a fan of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and Rivers was selected by Carson to fill in for him whenever he was gone from his television show. Back then, there were only two female comedians who had any notoriety: Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers.

August 2, 2014

Categories

Creative Destruction

One of the things I wanted to cover in my series of articles concerning Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com is the process of creative destruction. Have you ever heard of “creative destruction”? It’s a term that was originally used by an Austrian economist, Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950). Schumpeter described creative destruction as an essential process that takes place in a free-market economy, wiping out entire industries after new technologies are discovered and put into place.

July 9, 2014

Categories

A Lesson From Amazon.com

If you use the Internet to shop for items, there’s a good chance you’ve purchased products from Amazon.com. With 96 fulfillment centers located throughout the United States, Amazon is a financial threat to a number of local and national businesses. Products that are ordered from Amazon are routinely delivered to customers’ doorsteps within one to three days.

November 23, 2013

Categories

Protection From A Tornado

The recent tornado that ripped through Washington, Illinois, destroyed the home of my office manager, Kenna. When she heard the sirens and realized what was going on, she barely had enough time to wake her daughter and get her out of bed to run down to the basement of their house. As soon as they got down the stairs, the tornado took out her daughter’s bedroom and then tore through the rest of the house. If Kenna had delayed her decision to get her daughter out of bed by five seconds, neither one of them would be alive today.