Monday, April 21, 2008

Marx and Michael Scott


Check out "Gaper's Block's" musings on "The Office". I always love Michael's philosophy about business. Remember when he goes to Ryan's business school and is frustrated by all the questions about Dunder Mifflin's business model:

"You know what? Dunder-Mifflin is here to stay... David will always beat Goliath."

"But there's five Goliaths — Staples, Office Max—"

"Yeah, yeah. You know what else is facing five Goliaths? America. Al-Qaeda. Global Warming. Uh, sex predators... mercury poisoning... so what, do we just give up? Is that what we're learning in business school?"

"But in the big picture—"

"Dunder-Mifflin is the big picture; can't you understand that? No, you can't. Because you're too young. And Ryan has never made a sale."

Later in the episode, when Ryan thinks he is being fired, Michael reassures him: "A good manager doesn't fire people. He hires people and inspires people. You don't get it — people will never 'go out of business.'"

I love that last quote. (See my True Value entry).

To read the whole article, click on my entry title.


Monday, April 14, 2008

Gun Violence Out of Hand in Chicago


A cougar was shot Monday evening in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on the North Side, Chicago police said.

The incident occurred some time after 6 p.m. near North Hamilton Avenue and West Roscoe Street, according to Belmont District police.

The condition of the cougar was not immediately known and police could not say who shot the animal, and why.

Further details were unavailable.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

True Chicagoan: Russ Stewart


Recently, I got into understanding the inside of Chicago and County politics. Russ Stewart is someone who has helped me understand all the wheelings and dealings behind my friendly neighborhood aldermanic, state senate and representative elections. He provides down to earth commentary and electoral predictions about the whole political scene here in Chicago and the northwest side, where I grew up. He has been doing this for Nadig newspapers for over 30 years. So if you want an unbiased, True Chicagoan anaysis, check out his article online. http://www.russstewart.com/chicago_politics.htm