Glenn Shepard’s Personal Blog

While I’m always skeptical about chain e-mails, this one captured my interest. Amoco merged with BP in 1998, which causes me to question this even more. But if anyone has any insight on the validity of this, I’d like to hear from you.
===========================================================
> The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor. An interesting thought is to boycott their gas. These companies import Middle Eastern oil:
> Shell…………………….. 205,742,000 barrels
> Chevron/Texaco………144,332,000 barrels
> Exxon /Mobil…………..130,082,000 barrels
> Marathon/Speedway..117,740,000 barrels
> Amoco……………………..62,231,000 barrels
>
>
> Here are some large companies that DO NOT import Middle Eastern oil:
> Sunoco …………… 0 barrels
> Conoco……………. 0 barrels
> Sinclair……………. 0 barrels
> BP/Phillips………. 0 barrels
> Hess……………….. 0 barrels
> ARC0. …………….. 0 barrels
> Also: Pilot, Flying J, Love’s, RaceTrac, Valero

Looks like I’m going to have to go down to Tennessee’s Capitol Hill and educate the idiots there (aka  Some of our state legislators). A state house subcommittee tabled a bill to outlaw texting while driving. A recent study showed that 66% of drivers age 16 – 24 admit to texting while driving, which means that a lot more are doing it. The Capitol Hill idiots’ excuse was that it’s also dangerous to eat while driving, and that it would be difficult to enforce. What they missed is that it only takes 5 minutes to eat, but these kids are addicted to texting nonstop. Even though they’re right that it would be hard to enforce such a law, there will still be a certain level of automatic compliance, and that can save lives. How many children’s lives have to be lost before we do something?

P.S. That last sentence will be part of my testimony before the House subcommittee (aka The fore mentioned idiots) when they reconvene next year.

Last night in the season finale of the celebrity edition of “The Apprentice”, Donald Trump had to choose between country music superstar Trace Atkins and Piers Morgan. Trace is laid back, and the most likable guy you’ll ever meet (not to mention a fellow Nashvillian). Just about everyone, including Gene Simons of KISS, voted for Trace.

Piers is a tabloid editor and judge on numerous talent shows, such as America’s Got Talent. He’s brash, ruthless, and makes lots of enemies.  He also blew everybody else away in fund raising, and chose the most worthwhile charity I know, the Center for the Intrepid (Please go to  http://www.fallenheroesfund.org/common/page.php?ref=press_kit)

The Donald chose Piers as the winner. I pondered is there was anyway he could have justified selecting Trace, and then it hit me. It’s what I’ve been teaching business owners, managers, and people who want to become speakers or authors for years – “First, have great clarity of purpose”.  If the only mission was to raise money for charity, Piers won hands down because it was simply a numbers game.

But had they not been competing for charity, and been regular contestants trying to get a position working with the Trump Organization, Trace would have won. Reason: While Piers raised the most money, he also burned bridges and destroyed relationships. For a one time, winner takes all contest, that might fly. But if he would have needed to work with others on an ongoing basis in the future, such as managers do, he would need to choose his battles more carefully. Trace built relationships, and his people wanted to please him. Piers just said things in a way that made people want to hurt him.

(NOTE TO SELF: Man, that’s good stuff. You ought to use that in your speech next week.)

A study that was reported widely last year by many credible sources such as Forbes put the U.S. at #9. But a report that came out this week puts us at #1. It also states that the increasing availability and consumption of fast food has caused Mexico to become the second fattest nation in the world.  Soft drink consumption in Mexico has increased 60% over the last 14 years, and health officials predict Mexico could  become the fattest country in the world within 10 years if trends continue. Currently, 71% of Mexican women and 66% of Mexican men are overweight. Interestingly, I haven’t seen where Canada ranks on the list. Maybe our neighbors to the north are more disciplined than we are in the states, and than our neighbors south of the border.

“It is not the duty of the government to bail out those who behave irresponsibly, whether it be big banks or individuals.”

John McCain

========================================================================

Well said Senator McCain!!! In “The Millionaire Next Door”, Tom Stanley pointed out that the average first generation self-made millionaire in the U.S. lives in a neighborhood where he makes seven times what his neighbors make. In other words, they live beneath their means.

I don’t know why government officials such as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke think it’s a good idea for government to become an enabler by “helping” people to stay in homes they can’t afford.  Apparently he’s never learned that when there are benefits to being irresponsible, but no consequences, people — and companies — will continue to behave irresponsibly. The Average Joe who makes Average Joe wages but tried to live in a house that they knew darn well they couldn’t afford should not get to stay in that house. They were living beyond their means, and it’s not yours or my responsibility (as taxpayers) to bail them out. Nor should we bail out companies like Bear Stearns that made irresponsible loans. We didn’t bail out Enron, and I’ve met several people in Houston who lost their life savings from that debacle.

–G.S.
 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ38N8OUg3Q&hl=en]

I don’t think Obama is a “racist”, but I am amazed at how he mishandled two racial issues that now have him tumbling in the polls.

The first was the flap over Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor of 20 years. Amongst other things, Wright accused the U.S. government of creating the AIDS virus to attack black people.

Then in an interview with a Philadelphia radio station last week, Obama referred to his white grandmother as “ a typical white person” who would be scared if she ran into a black person in an alley somewhere. Had a white person referred to “a typical black person”, he or she would have been crucified.

How do we know this? Because Ross Perot lost his momentum when he referred to “your people” in a speech to the NAACP. How ironic it would be if the first black man to overcome racial barriers and make a serious run for the presidency lost his chance because of his affiliation with a radical racist pastor, or a comment he made to a radio station.

People always tell me about the “occupational hazards” of their chosen careers, which they did not consider when they first began. For example, I met an RN in Atlanta who’s in her sixties and has nothing saved for retirement. Fortunately, the need for nurses driven by us aging Baby Boomers creates job security for her as long as she wants to work. But after decades of making the rounds in hospitals and gaining about 100 pounds too many, she has a hard time being on her feet all day.

Last week in Oklahoma and Texas I faced a perennial challenge in my career – vocal strain. I was virtually whispering into the microphone by the last seminar in Texas. Now in recovery mode, I haven’t spoken a word all weekend. I communicate by writing notes, and my wife has to communicate for me when we go out in public. People stare at us strangely when she speaks for me, but there’s a liberating feeling and simultaneous solitude in not speaking  for a period of time. I also think about the saying that it’s better to remain silent and let people think you’re an idiot, than to open your mouth and confirm that they’re right