Archive for June 17th, 2010

How’s your productivity today ? … More or less than $1 billion per minute?

June 17, 2010

Show ‘em you’re boss – Step #1

Summon the top execs of a (foreign) mega-corporation to the White House.

Show ‘em you’re boss – Step #2

Demand that they ante $20 billion into a recovery slush fund.

Show ‘em you’re boss – Step #3

Leave the meeting after 20 minutes.

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Productivity = $1 billion per minute = pretty good

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Implication: If O can keep up the pace, the National Debt will be gone in no time.

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Question: Why did BP ante in without a fight ? 

Dumb or something up their sleeve?

I’m watching their sleeves …

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN16174261

Posted in Energy, Obama Administration | 1 Comment »

20/20 Hindsight: Obama’s critical mistake … coming from me, this will surprise you.

June 17, 2010

Here’s a take I haven’t heard from the pundits …

Obama is getting slammed – justifiably if you ask me – for flailing (and failing) as an executive.

Even Lib Dems are raising the competency issue.  Much chatter about his complete lack of executive experience and his entourage of lawyers, academics, and politicos. 

Not a business exec or “operating person” in sight … think goofy Joe Biden dishing stimulus money to non-existent zip codes or creepy Ken Salazar threatening BP or clueless Robert Gibbs spouting nonsense about what corporate boards do.

Obama fashions himself as a CEO. 

My take: he’s more akin to a non-executive chairman of the board … think Tony Hayward’s boss at BP.  A mega-high altitude thinker who occasionally prods the organization for better performance.

But, I’ll give Obama the CEO title.

What he’s missing is a strong, operations-oriented COO reporting to him.  Somebody who’s into details, has mental toughness, and has a propensity to get things done.

Somebody like – here it comes – Hillary Clinton.

Can’t you imagine her on the Gulf right now – kicking butt without waiting for a committee to tell her who to target – working 24 hour days to make stuff happen ?

I disagree with  Hillary on practically all policy issues and question her motives, but I’ve always conceded her aggressiveness and qualifications.

Obama ruled her out as VP because he felt threatened by her (my opinion) and because he didn’t want to operate in Bill’s shadow (Obama says).

The irony is that now Obama is counting on Bill to save the Dem’s butts in the November elections.

Imagine what the Obama administration would be like with Hillary running the operations …

Posted in Leadership, Obama Administration | 1 Comment »

Subway claims only their’s is a footlong … depends where you measure from, I guess.

June 17, 2010

Punch line: The term “footlong” has been around for decades – maybe centuries. 

But Subway, fresh off its $5 footlong promotion, is trying to claim the phrase is proprietary and suing other folks who use the term.

Come on, Subway …  go fight McDonald’s, not push-cart vendors.

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Excerpted from BrandChannel: Did Subway Put Its Foot(long) In Its Mouth? ,  May 19, 2010

Subway successfully positioned itself via its Jared Fogle healthier eating campaign as the antithesis of “fast food.”

Launched in 2008, the chain’s $5-footlong deal has become its most successful campaign ever.

Now, Subway is moving to protect its “footlong” golden goose …

Subway is sending cease-and-desist letters to hotdog vendors using the term “footlong” to sell their wares.

In one case, Subway even targeted a hotdog vendor that has been selling “footlong” dogs for 40 years.

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A patent attorney points out, “Federal trademark law prohibits federal trademark registrations on words which, when used in connection with the goods, are merely descriptive. A cursory Google search reveals over 6,000 uses of the words ‘footlong sandwich’ apart from the term ‘Subway.'”

Full article:
http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/05/19/Subway-Sues-Over-Footlong.aspx

Posted in Food & Drink, Mktg - Brands | Leave a Comment »

The teams played to an exciting nil-nil tie … huh ?

June 17, 2010

Whew, it’s not just me thinking that soccer can be a bit of a bore these days.

You gotta wonder about games that get their oomph from drinking, fighting and incessant loud horns.

Yeah, we American sports watchers like a lot of action – grand slam homers, long TD passes, 3-pointers from downtown, etc.

So, a game where rare scoring comes on fluke plays — ref calls, penalty and corner kicks, goalie muffs –- just doesn’t get the old heart pumping.

But, the rest of the world seems to have World Cup fever.

Must be an explanation …

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WSJ: The Fading Art of Goal Scoring, June 14, 2010

With just 18 goals in 11 games, this World Cup is on pace to record a record-low 105 goals, down from 147 in 2006, 161 in 2002 and 171 in 1998.

“Football is more and more about keeping the ball rather than scoring goals.”

This trend could make a sport that many people regard as boring even more so.

The average number of World Cup goals has been declining steadily for the past 60 years, from a high of 5.38 goals per match when West Germany won the trophy so thrillingly in 1954, to 2.3 in Italy’s more phlegmatic triumph in 2006.

There are a number of factors behind this reduction: Defenses are organized better and players are fitter than they were 50 years ago, when the halftime interval would see gasping players reach for the nearest pack of Marlboros.

“Keeping possession is now the most important thing in football.”

“Managers are looking at the game and saying we don’t want goal scorers, we want people to keep hold of the ball.”

“But isn’t scoring the point of football?”

Full article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704324304575306532213696808.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLESecondNews

Posted in Sports & Athletics, Sports - Games - Recreation | Leave a Comment »