Central Banking – The Fix Was, Is and Will Be In

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I caught a lecture on a podcast I enjoy from The London School of Economics. The author of The Man Who Knew: the life and times of Alan Greenspan. The lecture and book is a fascinating discussion on the role of central banking in the world economy.  Give it a listen HERE.  From the lecture notes:

Drawing on five years of untrammelled access to Greenspan, his papers, and his professional and personal intimates, Sebastian Mallaby has written the definitive study of the preeminent financial statesman of the post-war era. Reckoning both with Greenspan’s monetary decisions and with his approach to financial regulation, Mallaby grapples with the central mystery that Greenspan’s life presents to us. Why did a man so universally celebrated forge a financial system that proved so fatally unstable? And how will his successors protect us from a future crash?

greenspanMallaby spent 5 years researching and writing his book. He details Greenspan, the man who was a close friend of Ann Rand and editor on the libertarian manifesto, Atlas Shrugged.  Mallaby chronicles  the missing Greenspan doctoral thesis from 1958.on the role of central banks on asset bubbles which was discovered 40 years after it was written in a basement of an Ann Rand fan. He cut his teeth in politics under the messy presidency of Richard Nixon and he rose to become the Maestro of the Federal Reserve.  Greenspan understood power. He knew how to place a well timed leak and for 18 years as Fed chairman and 3 years as Ford’s economic advisor  he presided over the largest economy in the world. Through Presidents and booms and busts Greenspan had his finger on the key metric that kept America on top of the global mountain, he controlled  the Fed Funds Rate.  Wall Street managed to the ‘Greenspan Put’ and got comfortable taking ever greater risks because Uncle Alan had their back.

What I learned from the lecture (and I highly recommend spending time at the Q&A section about mid way through) was that Greenspan to Bernancke and now Janet Yellon to  Geitner/Paulson (in the Administration) have implemented a 30 year school of thought that bubbles happen and Central Bankers are the remedy. From the Dutch Tulip Mania in 1637 to the 1929 and 1987 stock crashes, the Dot Com bubbles and culminating with the housing crash of 2008, markets get frothy and assets move to inefficient industries.  The recession/depression and the bust are natural parts of an economic system. The downturn purges out the inefficiencies and capital moves to efficient markets. But what if the inefficiencies are actually created by the very remedy that is being used to fix the inefficiency?

Greenspan had the fortune of presiding over an economy that was experiencing a massive expansion lead by a baby boom, the advent of 401k legislation and an American centrist world fueled by the Petro Dollar. He was hailed as a genius. I remember reading about his technique of hours in the bath tub studying obscure data points like the number of light duty moving trucks sold in a given period.

As bubbles got bigger, the Feds ability to manage the corrections turned out to be more and more difficult. If you aren’t interested in the role of central banking in a capitalistic economy, I don’t blame you. Understanding the nuances of how a group of regional Federal Bank Governors impact your life takes some research.  For beginners, watch the Big Short. The movie breaks down, in laymen’s terms, how interest rates, regulators, rating agencies and greed fuel bubbles. It’s a historic look at the housing lead crash that almost took down the world economy. What’s scary is, we haven’t learned out lesson. Too big to fail banks are bigger than ever. An attempt to reign in banking via Dodds Frank has only made it harder for smaller, regional banks to compete. The Federal government has doubled it’s debt in 8 years from $10 trillion to $20 trillion. Interest rates have been held at artificially low rates although the economy has ‘recovered’.  (I referenced these and other issues in a recent Green Valley News editorial) The Federal Reserve has expanded it’s balance sheet from $875b pre crash to $4.4 trillion post crash.  Basically, from deficit spending at the federal level to injection of liquidity from the Federal Reserve we’ve added almost $15 trillion into the capitalist system from thin air. The run up and debt without consequences have proved fatal to prior civilizations. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the fall of the British Empire, major civilizations at the top of the world have been decimated by growing too fast, expanding military too far, taxing too much and working too little. At the pace of our global expansion of debt I wonder if the only solution is a once in 5000 year event of a debt jubilee.

Dollar Collapse: The sense of panic is palpable, and not surprising given the troubles that beset pretty much every part of the global economy. Latin America’s biggest countries are in various kinds of crisis. Japan’s Abenomics policy is widely seen as a failure. Europe has both negative interest rates and deflation, which seems like a deadly combination. US manufacturing is contracting and corporate profits are shrinking. China’s slowdown has sparked the kind of labor unrest that terrifies its leaders.

And

Add in household, corporate and bank debt and the grand total was a mind-boggling $199 trillion in mid-2014, up 40% since 2007, according to a study last year by McKinsey Global Institute.Jul 9, 2016

When these massive amounts of capital get injected into the global economy in the form of debt watch for bad things to happen.  Savers are being discouraged from putting away for a rainy day. Consumption – consumption – consumption is the name of the game.  Derivatives that supposedly push off risk are sold and resold and resold. The size of the unregulated derivatives markets is estimated to be 10 times the entire world economic output or $1.2 quadrillian. With another shock to the system the entire global economy could start turning on itself. A bubble bursting in China could spark a global panic. The freezing of liquidity that almost took down the globe in 2008. Frontline did a series of stories on the inner workings of the housing meltdown. I highly recommend:

The Meltdown aired 2/17/09

The Warning aired 10/20/09

Money Power and Wall Street aired 4/24/12

and for extra credit – Bigger Than Enron and The Man Who Knew (60 Minutes and Bernie Madoff)

In the end, plan on more debt and banking to the rescue.  Entrepreneurs are no long celebrated and our nation has been consumed with reality TV, social media,  safe spaces, black lives matter, war on cops, rich against poor, old against young, black against white. Bread and circus, send in the lions!business-formation

New business formation has dropped below business closing for the first time in a generation.  The regulatory burden on a small bank, a small farm, a small business has gotten out of control. At one point in my career I owned three different business types (trash company, hair salons and real estate). I added up all the agencies that I was regulated by, filled a form out for and cut a check to in a year. It totaled 34 different governmental groups that had some say in how I conducted business. As a small firm, managing these burdens directly affects the bottom line. The risk – reward pendulum has swung to far towards the risk side.

The recent 2016 Presidential election of Trump is a repudiation of central planning and a political class that has gotten out of touch with average Americans.  Trump didn’t win on Republican or Conservative principals. Trump won because he spoke directly to the American voter. He railed against media in the bag for the elites, he railed against unfair trade practices and he told the voters of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida that they were getting the shaft.

After years on the air, studying  politicians, some large patterns started to emerge.  Every once in a while a voice jumps through the focus grouped word smithing of modern politics. A voice that bucks the current way of thinking. When I catch one of these moments I find myself yelling at the computer/tv with an exclamation of FINALLY!  One of these moments came from Chuck Schumer post 2014 Democratic losses in the mid term.  From the National Press Club, the 2nd ranking Senator in the US and with the retirement of Harry Reid, Chuck is set to be the highest ranking Democrat in the United States.  In the hour speech Schumer Schumer gave a preview of the rise of Trump. “People lost faith of governments ability to work, and then blamed the incumbent party, the Democrats, for the inability to act”. Genius, if he can get his party to move to these ideas we will see the Democrats back in power within a few election cycles.  Unless Trump can drain the swamp watch for a short lived time in power.


Speaking of Chuck, fast forward to 2016 and the Democratic convention. Chuck was riding high with all the polls pointing to a Hillary victory:

These liberals were borderline delusional — a delusion evinced by Chuck Schumer, the establishment senator from New York who was hoping to become majority leader, but has had to settle for minority leadership. “We’re going to have a Democratic generation. [President Obama] helped create it. But it’s just where America’s moving demographically, ideologically and in every way,” said the senator in an interview with Politico Magazine during the Democratic National Convention last summer. In July, Schumer made another rosy prediction at a forum hosted by the Washington Post: “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”

As we know know, Wisconsin and Ohio went to Trump. Arizona, which was supposed to be in play had a 85,000 vote margin to Trump. In a shocker, Hillary only won bright blue Minnesota by 40,000.

For another perspective on the Fed and the ways our financial system is manipulated the following interview from Rich Dad Poor Dads, Robert and Kim Kiyosaki talk with Ron Paul and Fed Insider and author of Fed Up – Danielle DeMartino

Here’s the interview

Rich Dad Podcast 

 

 

Ready To Lose Some Weight? – Here’s How

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Fat Christmas Middle School

I’ve been overweight all my life.  Before it was cool to be obese I was the fat kid.  I don’t remember scale weights and ages but I can tell from pictures that fat has been a part of my life since I was born.  I have lost and gained again for years.   For the past 10 years, I’ve been better at finding a workable balance and my weight has stayed fairly stable.  I’m never going to fit a pair of skinny jeans but I keep a close eye on moving my belt notch.

I’ve learned a number of concepts about weight gain and how to lose and maintain a healthy weight.  While working in the medical field, I saw the impact of obesity on a patients health. I watch physicians explain to patients that their obesity was the cause of health problems but learned that there were no real tools to help that patient shed the weight and get their health back in control.

As the eternal entrepreneur, I started a weight loss business, QMed Weight Loss. QMed was a service where a patient could be referred to by a physician to a department in their own practice.  The goal was to convert the success rate from 1 in 10 patients who actually lost weight when instructed by a physician to 1 out of 2. While building QMed I acted as a test subject.  I researched the latest fads, bought and reviewed over 1500 diet books.  I looked for patterns and narrowed down the theories that made sense and had scientific foundations.  I ran the program on over 150 patients and had the most advanced tools to measure success. I ended up building a program that worked for dozens of patients. This article is a summation of a lifetime of research, personal experience, and theories on weight loss.   If this helps you on your journey to lose weight and get healthy then I’ve done my part. Even knowing what I do, it’s still hard to stay disciplined, day in and day out, for a lifetime. (QMed patient video diary – HERE)

  1. It’s ALL about what you eat!

    – I’ve spoken with personal trainers, nutritionists and done the research and the consensus is that 80-90% of weight loss or gain is what you eat and NOT exercise.  Calories in and calories burned isn’t the solution to weight loss and weight maintenance…..it’s all about what you eat.   That being said, High Interval-Intensity Training helps and major weight lifting and muscle mass can change your bodies set point for resting calories burned but the effort is great and the time to see results is long.  Watching what you eat is the most important factor in losing weight PERIOD. Here’s a video I made that breaks this down.

  2. Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup absolutely has to be avoided to lose weight … and highly moderated to maintain weight.  There are dozens of studies on sugar and inflammation, cancers and dozens of other chronic ailments. Sugar is a rapid fuel that quickly moves into fat.  High Fructose Corn Syrup is actually much worse than pure cane sugar.  Fructose Corn Syrup is found in many everyday items. The human body didn’t evolve to metabolize the large doses of plant-based sweeteners.  Google the rise in obesity to the prevalence of High Fructose Corn Syrup and you’ll see the correlation.  Follow the money from corn growers to Congress and you can see how this epidemic was built and protected by powerful interests. If you want to reduce weight, I suggest removing ALL carbohydrates. To maintain, eat only whole grain carb based foods in moderation.  Carbs convert into sugars and spike the pancreas into creating insulin. Insulin that doesn’t get burned moves to fat. Shut down the pancreas, then shuts off insulin which forces the body to burn fat for energy.  Look for your body to move into ketosis for maximum fat burning. You can buy test strips to measure when you’ve gone into ketosis but typically you’ll notice pungent urine and bad breath.
    Some more research on sugar…looks like the industry may have taken a page out of the tobacco companies play book – HERE – For more on insulin and obesity, a friend of mine Dr. Maximov explains – HERE  and Cholesterol explained HERE

    My skinny bartending days.

  3. Animal-based fats GOOD – plant-based fats BAD!

    Once again, we as a species evolved eating natural food items grown, foraged or hunted.  The switch from animal lard to vegetable-based cooking oils was the other point where obesity in advanced societies spiked.  Give a listen to Malcolm Gladwell’s interview on the flaws in the government study that showed the negative effects of linoleic acid, found naturally in vegetables but harmful in vegetable oils had on our societies health. Listen to the story, Basement Tapes – HERE.

  4. Eat like the Cavemen Ate! 

    I’ve bought and read hundreds and hundreds of diet books.  I boiled down an entire library to about 20 books that actually made sense and that were easy to follow.  The hands-down winner for weight loss and weight maintenance is the Paleo or Caveman diet.  The theory lays out that we evolved into humans eating a certain type of food. The addition of refined and processed foods isn’t natural and our bodies are breaking down because of what we are eating.  Please watch  Gary Taubs and study his findings of looking at societies and what happened to them when the western diet was introduced.  Taubs does an amazing job looking at our societies anthropologically to explain the high incidence of chronic disease related to a diet that departed from how they evolved.

Those are the big ones.

Here’s some of the other things I learned and ideas you may want to incorporate into the big 4 items above:

  1.  Notice I didn’t talk about calorie consumption. Restricting calories works really well for 30 days, slows from 30 to 60 and moves to a crawl from 60 to 90.  We put 100+ patients on the Dexa body scan and monitored their body composition and 30-day intervals. What we found, especially in patients with a Body Mass Index over 36 was major weight loss in the first month with virtually no muscle loss.  The second month saw slower weight loss and a bit more muscle loss (60-40% ratio) and the third month we saw much slower weight loss and larger muscle loss (40-60% fat to muscle). Losing muscle is a big negative because there are studies that show that the muscle loss slows down metabolism.  So what I learned is that you can trick the body with drastic weight loss (say 500-750 calories per day) for about 60 days before you body sees what’s going on and moves into hibernation mode.   So if you’re really ready to lose go drastically for 30 to 45 days then transition. There are calculators to determine how many calories you should burn a day to maintain or lose weight. Remember, calories alone aren’t the only thing to watch, keep away from sugars and plant-based cooking oils.  Animal-based proteins, like bacon, will have high calories but you can still lose weight enjoying those foods.
  2. Calorie restriction SUCKS then it DOESN’T!  Of all the patients we ran through the Optifast 700 calorie program (including me), to a T the experience went something like this;  The first 1-5 days were fine and because we were committed financially and emotionally the shakes weren’t that bad. Usually, around day 6 or 7, the majority of patients really felt hunger. Every part of their mind and stomach was saying FEED ME! Once the 8th day hit, patients could cruise along indefinitely.  Typically the hardest times were family gatherings when the food and social interactions mixed.  Patients that did this program found more energy, better sleep, and better mental sharpness.  This has to do with the removal of sugars/carbs and the bodies movement into fat burning.
  3. Hormones are something to consider.  When we brought patients into our program we asked about the onset of obesity…when it the pounds started creeping on. If the answer was during para menopause or menopause or in men, starting in the mid 40’s we looked for hormonal imbalances that may explain part of the weight gain problem. There is a lot of research on hormone therapy and it’s not for everyone. A good friend of mine, Dr. Dan Mihayi’s lecture on hormones – HERE
  4. Intermittent Fasting – I’m not quite convinced on this but intuitively fasting makes sense.  Again, as we evolved, humans would go days without food.  There is a number of people that are seeing success in an 18 hour fast with 8 hours of eating per day.  Google this topic a bit and make your own decision. Try it. Popular Mechanics – HERE
  5. Emotional Issues – In order to get to the WHY of obesity, we have to look at the WHY we eat.  Pick an emotion or state of mind and I’ll bet someone has a food trigger. Mad, Sad, Glad, Bored, Scared, Lonely are a few of the big ones. Deeper wounds from childhood or failed relationships can be triggers too.  I suggest that you find out your triggers and first identify them and second learn to control them if you’re serious about long-term weight.  For me, travel is a time that I put on pounds. I’m out of my routine and I make bad choices. At home and work, the routine makes losing and maintaining weight a breeze.

    Highest Weight Ever…15 years ago!

  6. Some people can eat what you eat and not gain weight.  It sucks but it’s a fact.  I know that carbs are a killer for me.  I  searched and searched for a blood or saliva test that we could administer to a patient that would definitively tell them that they were ‘carb resistant’ but I couldn’t find one.  The large movement to gluten-free comes close but those symptoms are mostly gut related.
  7. If you have full FAT cells that shrink…. they WANT to fill back up.  HBO did a great four-part series on obesity and the big take away for me was that in order to just MAINTAIN after weight loss a person needs to cut upwards of 20% from the food intake they would normally eat before the weight gain.   This simple fact shows why so many people lose than gain back all the weight and more.  Mix in aging, metabolism slows down, hormonal changes and declining muscle mass and the fact that 90% of people regain the weight starts making sense.  I lost and held at a new lower set point for 2 years but sadly the weight came back on.
  8. Psyching Yourself Up For Weight Loss – A good friend of mine, Dr. Kevin Leman says the secret to losing weight is posting your goal and intentions on Facebook or on the company refrigerator. He pontificates that the public commitment is critical for success and stick with it.  Dieting with a partner is a big plus, having someone to keep you focused is an obviously good thing.  Have triggers that get you back on the ‘watch/lose weight train’.  For me, it’s a belt that I wear that gets tighter. For some, it’s a morning weigh in and once they go up 5 pounds they get back on the bandwagon.  For me, the scale doesn’t work. If it’s too high I feel defeated and if its a great weight loss weigh in, I feel like I can reward the efforts with a donut.

  9. The struggle continues, 10 years and holding!

    Mix in Probiotics – I’ve done a bunch of research on vitamins and herbs that boost the metabolism or promise to help you lose weight. NONE OF THEM WORK! What I did recommend is a good probiotic and a daily fiber supplement.  The probiotic helps re-establish the digestive properties in the lower intestine and the fiber helps move things through the digestive tract.  The American diet robs your digestive system of the good aspects needed for maximum nutrient uptake.  I recommend injective B12 and a B Complex if you can find and tolerate the weekly injections. This book and this great lecture HERE

  10. Know Your Trigger Foods There are certain foods that you love and that you can’t live without.  Typically it’s not celery and carrots, for me, it’s bread, pasta, ice cream, and licorice.  Decide for yourself how or if these foods are part of your life while you’re trying to lose weight. For me, during a period that I’m trying to drop pounds, I completely avoid these foods and treat myself once per month.  Tim Ferris and a personal trainer friend of mine, Dirk Nelson speak about a cheat day. The cheat day is a day of gluttony where you can eat anything! Conceptually, the idea of jolting your body makes sense because I’ve seen how your body eventually gets wise to your restrictions and starts holding on to fat as part of a defense mechanism.  For me, this concept never seemed to work. 

  11. Burke, a friend of mine who died from apnea.

    Sleep and Obesity, Poor Health – One of the tests we ran on our weight loss patients was a week-long sleep analysis using a device that measured REM sleep.  The science surrounding poor sleep and the connection to obesity are pretty profound.  In some cases, even when you think you are getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night, the actual restorative quality of that sleep is lacking. If you aren’t experiencing high-quality REM sleep your health can be greatly affected.  On the extreme scale, sleep apnea can lead to death if not treated. The cycle of weight gain and sleep apnea is real and poor sleep must be addressed in a weight loss program.

  12. Stress – Cortisol and Weight Gain – There is a link and it’s easy to say, ‘stop being stressed’ but good luck in mastering that problem. Exercise, meditation, nature are all things that work for me. Stress typically triggers food cravings so, stress can be a double whammy.
  13. Carbs and Low Glycemic Index Foods – Carbs are everywhere! If you want to shut down your pancreas, stop or slow insulin production and move your body into fat burning mode (ketosis) then you have to eliminate sugar and high fructose corn syrup as listed above AND you have to cut out carbs.  If you think of white bread as a glycemic (sugar load) of 100 then broccoli and celery at a 15, you want to focus on eating only low glycemic index foods if you want to lose weight.  Of course, the low glycemic index foods aren’t as awesome as pasta, potatoes, and tortillas but if you don’t change what you’re eating then the weight won’t be coming off.
    More on glycemic index foods – HERE –  HERE and HERE –  HERE 
  14. Videos That Reinforce My Theories – HERE

The Lectures Research That Helped Me:

Gary Taubes made the argument that CARBS are the reason for obesity and the rise of diabetes. He brings an anthropological analysis to his argument. I happen to agree with him;

These lectures are long and detailed. Taubes looks at various societies around the world and argues his hypothesis using real data. Spend the time and learn why Taubes theories match my ideas on obesity.

Why We Get Fat: The Diet/Weight Relationship, An Alternative Hypothesis –  HERE

Why We Get Fat: Adiposity 101 and an Alternative Hypothesis of Obesity  HERE

Why We Get Fat – Gary Taubes at OSUMC  HERE

Powerful Documentaries That Motivated Me!

 These two documentaries will wake you up!
Fat – Sick and Nearly  Dead: HERE

Forks over Knives: HERE

HBO – 4 Part Series On The Obesity Epidemic In America

I also highly recommend the HBO documentary series, Weight of the Nation.  The series breaks down the biology and hereditary aspects of weight loss.  What I found striking is just how hard it is to keep weight off after you’ve been heavy.

Bringing together the nation’s leading research institutions, THE WEIGHT OF THE NATION is a presentation of HBO and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and in partnership with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Kaiser Permanente.

The centerpiece of THE WEIGHT OF THE NATION campaign is the four-part documentary series, each featuring case studies, interviews with our nation’s leading experts, and individuals and their families struggling with obesity.

The first film, CONSEQUENCES, examines the scope of the obesity epidemic and explores the serious health consequences of being overweight or obese.

The second, CHOICES, offers viewers the skinny on fat, revealing what science has shown about how to lose weight, maintain weight loss and prevent weight gain.

The third, CHILDREN IN CRISIS, documents the damage obesity is doing to our nation’s children. Through individual stories, this film describes how the strong forces at work in our society are causing children to consume too many calories and expend too little energy; tackling subjects from school lunches to the decline of physical education, the demise of school recess and the marketing of unhealthy food to children.

The fourth film, CHALLENGES, examines the major driving forces causing the obesity epidemic, including agriculture, economics, evolutionary biology, food marketing, racial and socioeconomic disparities, physical inactivity, American food culture, and the strong influence of the food and beverage industry.

Linoleic Acid and Vegetable Fats

Give a listen to Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast from season 2 – Revisionist History.  HERE

I listened to McDonald’s Broke My Heart first and found that interview just as interesting – HERE

The story revolves around a son’s responsibility to his father.  The central character in the episode is a box of files that turns out to be the life’s work of a son’s dead father. The focuses on a longitudinal study of fats in the American diet. The information is startling

A cardiologist in Minnesota searches through the basement of his childhood home for a missing box of data from a long-ago experiment. What he discovers changes our understanding of the modern American diet — but also teaches us something profound about what really matters when we honor our parents’ legacy.

Think back to the ‘low fat’ craze that swept America in the 1990’s. Everything was marketed as low fat. In hindsight, that may not have been the been the best thing for our health.

Dig Deeper Into Vegetable Oils vs Animal Fats

TIME Magazine – But in a study published in the BMJ, researchers re-analyzed data from older unpublished studies and found the link between vegetable oil and heart health may not hold. They revealed that it’s possible that too much vegetable oil could actually increase the risk of heart disease — rather than decrease it.

Vegetable based fats (High dose Linoleic Acid)

Between the years 1909 and 1999, the consumption of soybean oil increased more than a thousandfold and now supplies about 7% of calories in the U.S. diet (2). High consumption of Linoleic Acid is one of the major causes of the obesity epidemic in the developed world.  Back to the theory that we should be eating what we, as a species evolved to eat. Animal fats, fruits and vegetables from the source and moderate to limited consumption of sugars.

Healthline.com sums up my arguments against the high consumption of vegetable-based fats.

Vegetable Oil Consumption is Associated With Various Other Diseases

There are two types of fatty acids that are termed “essential” – because the body can’t produce them.

These are the Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.

It is absolutely essential for the human body to get these fatty acids from the diet, but it mustget them in a certain balance.

While humans were evolving, our Omega-6:Omega-3 ratio may have been around 4:1 to 1:2. Today, our ratio is as high as 16:1 on average, with great variation between individuals (3).

Because polyunsaturated fats are so tightly involved in the function of the body on a molecular level, it makes sense that they could affect other diseases as well.

Many of these association aren’t well studied in humans (yet), but there are both observational studies and animal studies linking vegetable oils to other serious diseases:

  • In one study, increased Omega-6 in breast milk was associated with asthma and eczema in young children (27).
  • Studies in both animals and humans have linked increased Omega-6 intake to cancer (28, 29).
  • One study shows a very strong correlation between vegetable oil consumption and homicide rates (30).
  • The Omega-6:Omega-3 ratio in blood has been found to be strongly associated with the risk of severe depression (31).

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Inflammation, and therefore vegetable oil consumption, is associated with a wide range of serious diseases and it is beyond the scope of this article to cover all of them.

I am personally convinced that vegetable oils (along with added sugars and refined wheat) are key players in the epidemics of chronic, Western diseases, which are currently the biggest health problems in the world.

 

High Fructose Corn Syrup and Sugar

Dr. Axe.com – There are so many reasons why high fructose corn syrup should be banned from our food supply. Here are some of the most highly disturbing high fructose corn syrup facts:

  • Americans consume an average of 50 grams of HFCS every day. (7)
  • HFCS now represents more than 40 percent of caloric sweeteners added to foods and beverages and is the sole caloric sweetener in soft drinks in the U.S. (8)
  • HFCS has been shown to increase the risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.
  • Consumption of HFCS increased more than 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990, far exceeding the intake changes of any other food or food group, and is a main factor in our current obesity epidemic.
  • HFCS can cause leaky gut syndrome.
  • HFCS contains up to 570 micrograms of health-hazardous mercury per gram.
  • HFCS has been shown to promote cancer.
  • The average 20-ounce soda contains 15 teaspoons of sugar, all of it high fructose corn syrup.

The Science Behind Corn Syrup

Dr. Hyman.com  – The takeaway: Cane sugar and the industrially produced, euphemistically named “corn sugar” are not biochemically or physiologically the same.

Now back to biochemistry. Since there is there is no chemical bond between them, no digestion is required so they are more rapidly absorbed into your blood stream. Fructose goes right to the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of fats like triglycerides and cholesterol) this is why it is the major cause of liver damage in this country and causes a condition called “fatty liver” which affects 70 million people.The rapidly absorbed glucose triggers big spikes in insulin–our body’s major fat storage hormone. Both these features of HFCS lead to increased metabolic disturbances that drive increases in appetite, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, and more.But there was one more thing I learned during lunch with Dr. Bruce Ames. Research done by his group at the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute found that free fructose from HFCS requires more energy to be absorbed by the gut and soaks up two phosphorous molecules from ATP (our body’s energy source).

This depletes the energy fuel source, or ATP, in our gut required to maintain the integrity of our intestinal lining. Little “tight junctions” cement each intestinal cell together preventing food and bacteria from “leaking” across the intestinal membrane and triggering an immune reaction and body wide inflammation.

High doses of free fructose have been proven to literally punch holes in the intestinal lining allowing nasty byproducts of toxic gut bacteria and partially digested food proteins to enter your blood stream and trigger the inflammation that we know is at the root of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, dementia, and accelerated aging. Naturally occurring fructose in fruit is part of a complex of nutrients and fiber that doesn’t exhibit the same biological effects as the free high fructose doses found in “corn sugar”.

The real issues are only two.

  • We are consuming HFCS and sugar in pharmacologic quantities never before experienced in human history–140 pounds a year versus 20 teaspoons a year 10,000 years ago.
  • High fructose corn syrup is always found in very poor-quality foods that are nutritionally vacuous and filled with all sorts of other disease promoting compounds, fats, salt, chemicals, and even mercury.

6 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Is Bad For You – HERE

Metabolic Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup – HERE

The sweet danger of sugar

Too much added sugar can be one of the greatest threats to cardiovascular disease. Here’s how to curb your sweet habit.

“Basically, the higher the intake of added sugar, the higher the risk for heart disease,” says Dr. Hu.

How sugar actually affects heart health is not completely understood, but it appears to have several indirect connections. For instance, high amounts of sugar overload the liver. “Your liver metabolizes sugar the same way as alcohol, and converts dietary carbohydrates to fat,” says Dr. Hu. Over time, this can lead to a greater accumulation of fat, which may turn into fatty liver disease, a contributor to diabetes, which raises your risk for heart disease.

Consuming too much added sugar can raise blood pressure and increase chronic inflammation, both of which are pathological pathways to heart disease. Excess consumption of sugar, especially in sugary beverages, also contributes to weight gain by tricking your body into turning off its appetite-control system because liquid calories are not as satisfying as calories from solid foods. This is why it is easier for people to add more calories to their regular diet when consuming sugary beverages.

“The effects of added sugar intake — higher blood pressure, inflammation, weight gain, diabetes, and fatty liver disease — are all linked to an increased risk for heart attack and stroke,” says Dr. Hu.

Fructose: This Addictive Commonly Used Food Feeds Cancer Cells, Triggers Weight Gain, and Promotes Premature Aging – Mercola.com

  • In 1700, the average person consumed about 4 pounds of sugar per year.
  • In 1800, the average person consumed about 18 pounds of sugar per year.
  • In 1900, individual consumption had risen to 90 pounds of sugar per year.
  • In 2009, more than 50 percent of all Americans consume one-half pound of sugar PER DAY—translating to a whopping 180 pounds of sugar per year!

Sugar is loaded into your soft drinks, fruit juices, sports drinks, and hidden in almost all processed foods—from bologna to pretzels to Worcestershire sauce to cheese spread. And now most infant formula has the sugar equivalent of one can of Coca-Cola, so babies are being metabolically poisoned from day one of taking formula.

No wonder there is an obesity epidemic in this country.

Today, 32 percent of Americans are obese and an additional one-third is overweight. Compare that to 1890, when a survey of white males in their fifties revealed an obesity rate of just 3.4 percent. In 1975, the obesity rate in America had reached 15 percent, and since then it has doubled.

Carrying excess weight increases your risk for deadly conditions such as heart disease, kidney disease, and diabetes.

In 1893, there were fewer than three cases of diabetes per 100,000 people in the United States. Today, diabetes strikes almost 8,000 out of every 100,000 people.1

You don’t have to be a physician or a scientist to notice America’s expanding waistline. All you have to do is stroll through a shopping mall or a schoolyard, or perhaps glance in the mirror.

Here some of the dangers of consuming sugar:

  1. Feeds candida
  2. Promotes wrinkling and aging skin2
  3. Makes your blood acidic3
  4. Can lead to osteoporosis.4
  5. Rots your teeth5
  6. Raises your blood sugar level6
  7. Contributes to obesity7
  8. Is addictive (almost as much as drugs) 8
  9. Can create the urge to binge9
  10. Provides ’empty calories’ with no nutritional value10
  11. Contributes to diabetes11
  12. Robs your body of minerals.12
  13. Robs you of energy13
  14. Contributes to heart problems14
  15. Can cause cancer15
  16. Contributes to ulcers16
  17. Can cause gallstones17
  18. Contributes to adrenal fatigue
  19. Can suppress your immune system18
  20. Raises the level of neurotransmitters called serotonin19
  21. Weakens eyesight
  22. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels).
  23. Can cause aging20
  24. Can contribute to eczema21
  25. Can cause arthritis22

To learn more about the dangers of sugar and find out if you’re a ‘sugarholic’, read Lick The Sugar Habit, by Nancy Appelton, PhD.

Looking to HACK Your Body? 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferris

Tim’s – Slow Carb Diet is one of the key features of the book.  His research into insulin production and his use of cold ice baths to rev up the calorie burning is fascinating. Here’s some of the big areas of this program:

RULE 1: AVOID “WHITE” CARBOHYDRATES.

RULE 2: EAT THE SAME FEW MEALS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

RULE 3: DON’T DRINK CALORIES.

RULE 4: DON’T EAT FRUIT.

RULE 5: TAKE ONE DAY OFF PER WEEK. ….This one makes me nervous….

I recommend Saturdays as your Dieters Gone Wild (DGW) day. I am allowed to eat whatever I want on Saturdays, and I go out of my way to eat ice cream, Snickers, Take 5, and all of my other vices in excess. If I drank beer, I’d have a few pints of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen.
I make myself a little sick each Saturday and don’t want to look at any junk for the rest of the week. Paradoxically, dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat-loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function and conversion of T4 to T3, etc.) doesn’t downshift from extended caloric restriction.
That’s right: eating pure crap can help you lose fat. Welcome to Utopia. There are no limits or boundaries during this day of gluttonous enjoyment. There is absolutely no calorie counting on this diet, on this day or any other.
Start the diet at least five days before your designated cheat day. If you choose Saturday, for example, I would suggest starting your diet on a Monday.

 

 

TED Talks that I like:

HERE

 

 HERE

 

Race To Nowhere Documentary and “It’s Your Kid Not A Gerbil” By Dr. Kevin Leman

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I’ve been immersed in a number of parent discussions this past week and I’m struck with how hard parents are driving their kids. I stumbled upon a great documentary on Netflix and highly recommend you take the time to watch it.  Check out Race To Nowhere. The gist of the documentary is the pressures we are putting on our kids.  Between excessive homework, extra curricular activities, sports clubs, religion, and the pressure to  straight A’s to get into a the top college, we are putting tremendous pressure on today’s children.

Stress coming from school, parents, peers, media, social media leaves kids struggling with the fundamental question of adolescents, which is, ‘who am I?’ If you remember back to the uncertainty and fear when you were in adolescents you understand what kids go through. Mix in the barrage of social media pressures, the 24 hour media cycle and the hyper focus parents put on getting into a good college and you can see the dilemma.

By no means are parents maliciously putting undue stress on their kids.  It is purely out of love, concern, fear of falling behind.  The burden to keep up is causing that parents push too hard and ends up turning kids into little professionals. When success is defined by good grades, trophy’s or awards we create empty kids. Kids need down time, creative play time, recess and the ability to fail and pick themselves back up.  From the movie you’ll see that these pressured kids end up as cutters or with anorexia or stomach pains.  More and more kids are turning to adderral to perform at every higher levels.

 

My friend, Dr. Kevin Leman has written on the subject of over stimulated kids. His book ‘It’s Your Kid, Not A Gerbil’ takes the topic head on. To sum up his book;

Sit down around the dinner table and talk. Play a game.

Smart families look at the calendar and realize time goes by quickly, and their kids grow up fast!

Steps to slow down:

  1. Start slowing down by looking at your calendar from last year and asking the question, “What was this like? Do I want to do this again?”
  2. Recognize the problem.
  3. Revise how your calendar will look this next year.
  4. Decide what you are willing to give up to get more family time.

In my book It’s Your Kid, Not a Gerbil, I recommend 1 activity per kid per semester.

Making the change will take some determination because once you have your family on this gerbil wheel, kids can get addicted to the rush of all the activity. In the end, your family will benefit from time to communicate, be together, get to know one another and more!

If your kids are still young, you can avoid this rat race.

Remember, the reason people get into it is often they don’t want their kids to fall behind. Ballet and soccer at 3 are not necessary! These kids need to play and be imaginative.

 

You Better Be Learning… Forever

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If you’re like me, you can point to dozens people that have showed up at the right time to teach you the right lesson. Mentors have showed up as peers, bosses, employees or partners and each has taught me something that I still value today.  In all of my  opportunities or failures there have been valuable lessons.  The skill that has propelled me forward from a very young age is the constant desire to learn, to devour information, to figure out complex subjects.   I’m an entrepreneur because I LOVE the variety, the challenge and the journey of figuring out complex tasks.  As an entrepreneur, each day is different. From the complexities of the medical industry to retail to service businesses each venture is different.  Millions of people have ideas but few get beyond the idea state. Fewer still can bring an idea to market but an even smaller number of us can do it over again and again.

fr-foster-salpointe-300x284I attribute my curiosity and  wide range of career experiences to teachers that sparked the genuine interest in learning. It’s teachers like Fr. Foster Hanley and the way he made history come alive. He taught us to research, explore and organize what we found. There were dozens of teachers that sparked a life long journey of learning and I’m grateful to each one that instilled that spark of learning.

A podcast that I listened to this week gave some great insight into the future of work.  There is a reference towards how to tool education to prepare our kids for the future. Especially interesting to me was the discussion about STEM focused learning.  In the end, what America of the future needs is critical thinkers and life long learners.  Here’s the 28 minute discussion – GOLDMAN SACHS.

Lifelong Learning and the Future of Work

Christopher WatkinsBy Christopher Watkins
September 20, 2016

Lifelong learning, Udacity

Job opportunities continue to grow in emerging spaces such as virtual reality, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and autonomous vehicles. At the same time, existing roles in fields from healthcare to finance are changing dramatically as new tools and technologies are adopted. The concept of lifelong learning is accordingly transforming from a discretionary aspiration to a career necessity. No longer is it a supplemental luxury to learn new skills, and no longer is learning new skills something you do only when you’re pursuing a significant career change. Being relevant, competitive, and in-demand in today’s fast-moving world requires an ongoing commitment to lifelong learning regardless of your role or career path.

The proven ability to keep learning

Jonas Prising (Chairman & CEO, ManpowerGroup) wrote an article recently entitled “The Job for Life Model is Dead. Here’s What Millennials Need to Know” in which he prophesied that:

Going forward, we’ll need a generation of workers who are hungry to learn and eager to keep pace with the times. They will pioneer new ways of combining business and technology to be more productive, and they’ll update old work models to match. Organizations across industries will look for curious, flexible, data-driven minds in both blue collar and white collar jobs. They’ll want people with the proven ability to keep learning and stay relevant in their field of expertise; people who actively pursue opportunities where their transferable skills might be applicable.

While Prising is ostensibly targeting millennials, his message about “learnability” (which Prising defines as the ability to grow and adapt skills to remain employable throughout one’s working life) is a universally applicable one: “In a fast-changing world, learnability is how to stay relevant and move on and move up.”

The need to retool

These sentiments mirror much of what Aaron McLean (Principal Technical Architect for IT Service Management at AT&T) details in “A Passion For Education: Aaron McLean, AT&T and Udacity.” This post offers a first-person account of what Pirsig describes in his article as “an ambitious, company-wide effort to rapidly retrain 280,000 employees” at AT&T. McLean’s descriptions of the impact this effort had on his own career, and on the careers of the team members he managed, is both deeply heartwarming, and intensely instructive. These were individuals with great jobs at a great company, yet they were still facing a critical reality—one very precisely summarized by AT&T’s Chairman & CEO Randall Stephenson:

“There is a need to retool yourself, and you should not expect to stop.”

New roles, new skills

The AT&T example offers a use case in which the dedicated talent was there, and the skills needed were clear—what remained was the actual process of skilling up the workforce. But this scenario isn’t always the case. When you consider the pace of innovation in emerging fields such as autonomous vehicles and virtual reality, the skills aren’t always so clearly defined or understood, and the talent isn’t necessarily there yet. In a recent article about Self-Driving Cars in Recode, Udacity Founder and President Sebastian Thurn discusses this new reality:

“I’m surrounded by companies that are desperate for talent. Non-traditional players are joining the field and they’re all building substantial teams. But the skill set to build a self-driving car is a multidisciplinary skill set, and that broad skill set is just not there.”

Thrun goes on to assert a sort of unwritten rule of technology:

“It’s a very simple instance of a law that is fundamentally true: technology is moving so fast, that by definition when something becomes hot, the skill set doesn’t exist.”

In that same Recode article, Axel Gern (Head of Autonomous Driving, North America, for Mercedes-Benz) points up the fact that the existing university system is not producing the needed talent:

“There’s a huge hype around autonomous driving. There are many competitors in the field. But the number of people you can hire right out of university who are being educated in the field are limited. You’re looking for experts in computer vision, robotics, intelligent systems artificial intelligence and so on.”

As one absorbs these perspectives, it starts to become clear why we’re going to need the “new generation of workers” that Prising foreshadows.

Agile talent, and the on-demand economy

Into this fray of changing needs and demands inevitably comes the idea of “agile talent,” and the growing significance of what is generally referred to as either the “gig” or the “on-demand” economy. As fast-moving technologies and quickly changing demands emerge as potential challenges, fast-moving hiring practices and quick-learning talent emerge as potential solutions.

Lauren Holliday of freelanship.com recently interviewed Jonathan Younger, a co-author of the book Agile Talent: How to Source and Manage Outside Experts, for an article entitled “The Strategy Udacity Uses to Scale Rapidly.” In her article she includes a quote from Younger, in which he offers a clear-eyed enunciation of why we’re seeing these sorts of modern revisions to pre-existing hiring models:

“Agile talent is powered by what we call, cloud resourcing. The allusion to cloud computing is intentional; cloud is a synonym for distributed computing over a network and reflects the greater ability of organizations to increase speed and efficiency by running applications on many connected computers at the same time. Cloud resourcing reflects the ability of organizations to access a global talent network that offers a greater range of skills, on a more cost-efficient basis, than is available from traditional models of employment and that enjoys a far broader variety of resourcing arrangements.”

Holliday segues from this quote into her own summation:

“Consumers have high expectations in today’s on-demand, always-on economy. The need for speed has never been greater, forcing leaders to assess whether traditional, full-time, onsite employees are still the optimal — or only — route to injecting creativity and speed into their organizations.”

Lifelong learning

The emphasis on creativity, speed, and efficiency is a theme that runs through all the perspectives gathered here, and we are now led to a seemingly inevitable conclusion—smaller, faster, smarter approaches to higher learning are a necessity for both companies and workers.

We ALL need to embrace #LifelongLearning, regardless of our roles and careers.

 

However, one question that rises in the wake of discussions around agile talent and the gig economy is this—must the two go hand-in-hand? Meaning, can the agile workers of the future fill full-time, longer-term roles? Or must they out of necessity transform into freelancers, contractors, and consultants—or what Younger refers to as “outside experts”?

If the example provided by Aaron McLean and AT&T is any indication, then the next generation of workers can continue to fill comparatively “traditional” roles (full-time, longer-term, etc.). But to succeed in those roles, they’ll need to wholeheartedly embrace a lifelong learning ethos that is proactive, flexible, and omnivorous when it comes to knowledge and new skills. Only by doing so can they remain relevant, competitive, and in-demand. At the same time, technology and the globalization of talent together ensure that on-demand hiring practices will continue to become more strategically valuable to more and more companies. So ultimately, we all need to embrace lifelong learning, regardless of our roles and careers.

The future of work

A 2016 report issued by the World Economic Forum entitled Future Workforce Strategy offers detailed insights on all the issues discussed herein, and the report is highly recommended. While the prescriptions proposed in the report are largely targeted to businesses, they’re well worth understanding for anyone interested in—and invested in—the future of work. Of particular interest are what the report terms as areas for “Longer Term Focus.” Three areas in particular are highlighted, and each is listed below, with a representative excerpt from the report’s recommendations:

Rethinking education systems

“Businesses should work closely with governments, education providers and others to imagine what a true 21st century curriculum might look like.”

Incentivizing lifelong learning

“Simply reforming current education systems to better equip today’s students to meet future skills requirements—as worthwhile and daunting as that task is—is not going to be enough to remain competitive.”

Cross-industry and public-private collaboration

“Businesses should work with industry partners to develop a clearer view on future skills and employment needs, pooling resources where appropriate to maximize benefits … Such multi-sector partnerships and collaboration, when they leverage the expertise of each partner in a complementary manner, are indispensable components of implementing scalable solutions to jobs and skills challenges.”

The proven ability to keep learning

At Udacity, we are committed to very similar objectives and strategies. Our industry partnerships are critical to the success of our approach, both in terms of establishing “a true 21st century curriculum,” and for developing a “clearer view on future skills and employee needs.” Our emphasis on skills mastery through a learn-by-doing approach is fueled by our desire to see every student we teach be in-demand. And our compact, flexible, and economical offerings are expressly built to make lifelong learning possible for all who commit to pursuing it.

If, as Prising writes, employers are going to want workers with “the proven ability to keep learning,” then it may be said that our goal at Udacity is to offer everyone on the planet the opportunity to prove exactly that—that they have the ability to keep learning!

Joe’s “Rocky Point Mexico Inside Scoop” Guide

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I’ve been heading down to Rocky Point  Mexico for over 20 years. I took a break for about 5 years because of all the media attention surrounding drug violence. In 2012, a radio station that I am affiliated with started taking passenger buses full of tourists down to make Mexico Safe Again! I travel to the sandy beaches about once per month and have explored a number of the nooks and

Sandy Beach 1995…way before condos

crannies and this post help share the best of the best in my opinion:

 

Where To Stay

Penasco Del Sol Hotel

The Penasco Del Sol is where I stay on the bus tours. The hotel is right in the middle of everything.  The staff is great, pool and right at the ocean. There are at the beginning of Ave 13th, which has taco stand and a bunch going on. Carla is the assistant manager and she is amazing and will help with anything. Get the extra foam on the beds by request.

If it’s my wife and I we like to occasionally stay on Sandy Beach at one of the condo rentals. It’s about 15minutes from town but all if the stuff is pretty close.  Sandy Beach is a different vibe as it’s not a hotel but a series of condo developments that are individually owned and rented out. To book on Sandy Beach you are booking directly from a resident/owner or through a management company.  I usually go to VRBO to start.

Las Palomas Condos on Sandy Beach

The better properties for the value:
Any of the Sonoran’s (Spa, Sun or Sea)
Bella Serena
Las Palomas (not Las Palmas) – Palomas is newer, can cool. It’s really big so depending on the weekend it can be crazy.
Avoid The Princessa and Esmerelda is half constructed and it’s been that way for years.

Beach House view from Los Conchas

If you’re bringing a big group Sandy Beach is a good central spot. You can book larger condos or a series of condos so everyone is at the same property.

Los Conchas, is the opposite direction from town but close. Those are all American houses and there are a bunch for rent. It’s a totally different feel and it’s catch as catch can for a good one. There aren’t many options for food and the roads are sand but easy to access the rest of the town.
Cholla Bay is a spot to avoid unless 4 wheeling floats your boat. I have friends with homes there and we have a great time but for a random, once in a while visit, you probably want to work up to Cholla Bay.

When you go, to eat:

Pane Vino (one of my favorite restaurant on earth…literally) It’s up on hill near Sr. Capitans (which sucks by the way) and you can see great sunsets.  If you head to Capitans, drinks and the guacamole are about all I’d order. They are seriously phoning it in on the Mexican food, which is a shame.

Max’s across from the Penasco Del Sol

Max’s – across the street from the Penasco Del Sol hotel. Max is owned by John. Great guy, American, knows us well.  Great bloody marys and Saturday Chateau Briand for 2 for $20. Pizza is good, any Mexican food dish is good, American sandwiches and burgers.  Can’t recommend Max’s enough for a great go to breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Rodeo Drive is cool shopping – Margarita and Tequila restaurant is amazing. For such a hole in the wall area it’s unbelievable.
The Friendly Dolphin near the Malecon (fish market area) is great for authentic Mexican and they price in Peso’s so it’s muy cheap.  Great beef and all the fish dishes. Where I go for good Mexican food.

The Satisfied Frog on the Malecon (at the end) is an Arizona couple and they have awesome fried chicken.

Satisfied Frog on the Malecon (Fish Market Area)

A friend of mine from Tucson owns The Boo Bar. It’s overlooking the water and worth the stop for a beer and a shot.
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Kaffeehaus,  German breakfast –

Go here for breakfast. The wait can be long but it’s really good.
Blvd. Benito Juárez García 216B
JJ’s Cantina in Cholla Bay is an institution.  The vibe during the day and into the night is completely different. Depending on what you’re up for, stop by for a beer and watch the ocean, or head in at night for wall to wall partying.

For car insurance –

Say hello to Rosie Glover and Bob Fienmen our ‘Mexican Moses’

The owner is Rosie, if anything happens she’s American and will come help you out. Here’s her email and drop my name – personal friends.  Rosie@proalliance.com.mx is her email. She’s from the Los Angeles region and has moved to Rocky Point and set up shop.

Have fun, be safe and behave just as you would in America.
Puerto Penasco lives with tourists coming in and having fun. You are safe and everyone down there is glad to see you come and enjoy their beaches.
Joe

Wake Up Tucson

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(Augus 31, 2016 – Facebook post to our listeners) Tune in this morning for the last show.

The final episode of M.A.S.H. the last episode of Seinfeld….this will be one for the record books!

It’s been a long journey with my friends Ed Alexander and Chris DeSimone. After over 7 years we learned each others hot buttons, we know how to spark a good debate and we have an awful great time together waking you up. The stories of where people listen to us, how we’ve become part of their daily routine and what our listeners have learned about local and national issues is truly rewarding and humbling to hear.

There’s a few people in local leadership that are glad to see me go but we’ve always tried to keep the criticism on the issues. I ran for office back in 2008 to make the community a better place for my children and all the small business of Pima County. Having been a serial entrepreneur, I’ve lived the struggle of making ends meet. I’ve dealt first hand with a stupid government regulation. On the show we try to give these stories a voice.

My work at Catholic Community Service lead me to run for office and then on to the airwaves. After years of working to solve the needs of the poor I learned that giving a man a fish isn’t going to solve anything. My role was to teach men to fish. For me that meant jumping into the policy mix to debate the ideas of free markets and give a voice to those that were unable to rise up. The radio shows consistent message was working to create a level playing field for everyone.

I’ve met hundreds of great people. I’ve interviewed over 1000 members of my community and I’ve been on air, live every morning for 3758 hours. For every hour live we are prepping at least two. So according to Malcom Gladwell; “an extraordinarily consistent answer in an incredible number of fields … you need to have practiced, to have apprenticed, for 10,000 hours before you get good.” I’m finally hitting the ‘get good’ of my professional radio career and I’m moving on.

I’ve always looked at where I was in life and fast forwarded to when I’m 90 years on and on the front porch rocking chair. When I have fear of a risk, or a hesitation on a major life changing decision, I always fast forwarded to the rocking chair. Would I have been better off playing it safe or taking a road less traveled. 7 years ago was one of those moments. I’m better off today having made that scary leap to jump on the microphone.

The radio show and deep dive into politics has made me appreciate the foresight that went into forming this Country. Those guys, back in the late 1700’s understood how we’d mess up governance if we were left unchecked. I’ve seen some scary patterns in men/women that are given power. I’ve watched a very few political, or academic or business leaders stand up in the face of tremendous personal attacks to do what they think is right. Whether I agreed with their direction or not I’ve always respected someone with convictions. I’ve seen good leadership and a whole of lot of bad. The more I did the show, the more I learned. If I could boil it all down, I’ve come to realize that the invisible hand of the market will always correct what ails our society; it’s just a matter of time.

Chris DeSimone and Ed Alexander will continue to wake you up each morning and I’ll be sitting in from time to time.

Tune in this morning for local and national election results and the official Wake Up Tucson break down of the primaries. KVOI.com or 1030am the Voice – 6am to 8am.

Thanks for listening, I hope you learned, I hope we made you think and I hope you laughed.

 

If you want to catch up on old shows visit KVOI.com for podcast

Weighing in from time to time on a national podcast on the intersection of business and politics, check out Politics Sucks! Let’s Talk About It.  

screenshot-www.stitcher.com 2016-09-03 07-12-06

 

Available on iTunes – Stitcher and Libysn

Small Business Giving Up

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On a national level and locally in Tucson and Pima County the small business owners are struggling more and more lately to make all the ends meet. The banks aren’t lending, the customers aren’t spending and times are difficult. It’s time to realize that small business makes the community go around and we must support our small business owners.