Archive for the 'Trends' Category

According to the NFIB, more small businesses fear inflation than the lack of business credit.
That’s a fairly rare phenomenon in the US because it’s usually funds for expansion that are the limiting factor in business expansion.
But when inflation is the worry, the question becomes not just “can we bring in more dollars?” but rather “after […]

I blogged about this previously… isn’t it more than a bit disturbing that when you try to stop drinking soft drinks and start drinking water, you’re getting other people’s drugs?
Gross.
One of the things I try to do is drink more water to reduce sugar and caffeine intake, but since most “bottled water” isn’t purified to […]

Allegedly due to “online” bullying, a Kentucky Legislator wants site owners to pay a $500 fine every time they allow an anonymous post.
How site owners are going to police whether the name used to register on a site is completely crazy, but this is a good way to shut down every forum based in every […]

I emailed somebody and they wrote back and said “Chuck, you were ‘Spot On!’”
I think that means I “hit something on the Bull’s Eye” as we used to say.
I guess it’s a British turn of phrase… if I were really “in” I’m sure I’d know.
It always strikes me as a strange turn of phrase.
Maybe one […]

The “Wedding Business” is big business. In the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge area of Tennessee (Sevier County) there is a special exemption in state laws that apply to the rest of the state just to accommodate the tourist trade there for weddings.
Weddings are joyous events and people sink thousands of dollars into the preparations. Accordingly many businesses […]

My wife and I were out with her parents on Saturday night at an oriental restaurant that is usually busy, but the other night it was absolutely CRAZY! My mother-in-law noted “No recession in sight here!” And, that night, at least, there was a mass of happy diners!
But whether the economy in general is “in […]

No, not in a strange foreign country with impure wells… right here in the USA! It has little to do with how to work at home but this does effect how you feel. Perhaps you’d have the motivation and strength to work at home or in self employment if they water you were drinking weren’t […]

Warning: This product is not in good taste, but then again neither is much about this election. Even Tom Hanks is reported as saying he’s already “bored”… So join the crowd!
Note: This image has intentionally been moved down the page to spare the eyes of all children who love the book “Why Mommy Is A […]

Google stock took a tumble because people aren’t clicking on as many ads these days.  eMarketer has a good article on this topic.
Actually, nobody’s sure what’s really going on, but the stock market responds short term to rumor as much as reality.
Google is still the best at protecting advertisers against accidental clicks and click fraud […]

It’s important to read Kotkin’s “Tale of Two States”.
This is not for lack of trying. Ohio and its cities have worked to lure jobs through tax abatements and downtown development projects. Cleveland, in particular, has tried to sell itself as a “comeback city” and has developed a gentrified Potemkin village, but in 2004 it actually […]