Staying Focused

Comments (Archived):

1. There may be a relationship between ‘crazy’ and proximity. The further away it is the crazier it may seem to be. The closer it is the less crazy. Granular detail can only be observed up close, and the granular detail may say that it’s not crazy at all.What happened yesterday? I was far too focused to notice.

   1. UK politics are so fun to follow. I’m craving for Bercow’s speech. 🙂

      1. Pantomime, and i know which end of the horse he is.

         1. I wish we could met at the pub for the juicy details.The problem is the rather long walk, even on a bike.11,556 km :-)Proximity.

            1. 🙂

   2. Can’t say I understood this post. What crazy stuff all day long ? #notrhetoricalhttps://www.youtube.com/wat…

      1. NYC syndrome? It looks crazy to me, but i’m so far away.

2. (this’ll be fun watching the guesses here as to which precise event yesterday you mean 😉 )

   1. There are so many possibilities and I am tuning out all of them

      1. It’s never boring.

      2. As an aside, this is kind of an interesting use case for John Batelle’s “The Recount”, as you wrote about here, as each day it produces an archive of big news items from that day: https://edition.cnn.com/201…eg: someone could see today’s post, and for hints, lookup what was topical on Sep 24.

   2. Couldn’t tell if he meant “in general” or something in specific. Although, assumed the former.

      1. mmm, kind of specific and ominous: “I know what happened yesterday”. Like the horror movie title “i know what you did last summer.” :)but sure, “yesterday” here could be figurative and ongoing, rather than literal.

3. Something tells me there is a low risk this post gets anyone put in jail…Good reminder for everyone to focus on the things you can control and not invest time in the things you can’t.

4. I focus as best i can on the pieces i have a metric for my own success in what i’m doing.

5. I am trying to sell to one of my clients the concept of “the silent hours”.The idea is to agree on certain hours, one or two, where nobody should interrupt each other in any way. Turn off your phone or give it to a secretary, put on your sound cancelling headphones if necessary. Tell friends and even family about it. Then focus.How many tasks or missions can one handle effectively in this interruption economy?

6. This saga has all the elements of a great tragedy. The Fatal Flaw, the bigger they are…and external forces. I’m ready for the end of this play!

   1. .The saga is already over. We are in the “bayoneting the wounded” phase of operations.It will all be fine and Pres Trump will be handily re-elected.You’re welcome.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

      1. Part of a good con is that those played the worst will never admit to being played.You’re welcome

         1. .Please, God, play me harder and longer cause I am loving this economy and the policies.The economy, the unemployment, the increases in income, the Wall, the end of stupid wars, the finally confronting China, the recognition that Iran is a huge threat, the new trade deals, telling the world that the USA is no longer the world’s wallet — yeah, play me like that.Part of a good con is talking with your mouth full from the largess of the con.Choke on the good times, amigo.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

            1. Trump isn’t immune to self-destruction. He’s admittedly danced quite well to date, but this feels different. The transcript is incriminating, while no doubt they’ll be add’l info that incriminates him (and possibly others) more deeply . Watch Mulvaney, Pompeo walk the blank without a safety net. Beyond involving his personal attorney, Rudy “I Crap The Bed Everyday” Giuliani, Trump’s presumption that Barr would again serve as his cheerleader is quite telling. Of course, the DOJ (and Barr) have since distanced themselves from any part of this. They’ll be a bunch of other folk trying to distance themselves from this too, as best they can. Nobody is taking a bullet for this guy, you watch. He’s gonna become an island without a bridge to the mainland.

            2. .Trump will serve out 8 years. Period.You have been so wrong for so long on all matters pertaining to Trump that it is not fair, but I will — “I have $100 for your favorite charity. Do we have a bet?”Mueller gave Trump a proctological exam of excruciating detail. Nobody in the US Congress can hold the guy’s jock. They’re going to find something he didn’t?Meanwhile, the guy is knocking down the ten pins of policy on a regular basis.Eight years.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

7. To get informed on a time budget Reuters has an app that asks you how much time do you have, then it builds a news stream of that length. Neat.Focus is all about time management… AVC is very distracting! :-)https://www.reuters.com/too…

   1. https://www.reuters.com/too…”All the news that fits your screen”I wonder what Paul Reuter would think about that?I wonder what Noam Chomsky would about think?I wonder what the NYT would think about that?

8. Of course.

9. Yes, and we don’t know the real story about Trump and his conversation, or the way Biden tried to get the Ukraine’s to do his bidding because of the spin machines. https://www.chicagotribune…. John Kass at the Trib was pretty spot on

   1. What is more amazing is watching the news-media cover up of the Biden stuff. I am pretty sure they started this because Biden is caught dead on tape bragging that he blackmailed the Ukrainian government with $1B of taxpayer dollars. If we had an honest news media he would be gone.

      1. All the newspapers and new stations clearly state that Joe Biden DID NOT TALK with Hunter about his business dealings. IPSO FACTO, not conflict of interest. Really simple right . . . . .they literally say it and do not question it one iota

   2. > Yes, and we don’t know the real story about Trump and his conversationSURE we do: The pattern is now 100% fully clear.Somewhere there is a little Democrat war room. Everyday they look at events. From once a week to once a month or so, sometimes longer, they pick an event and GO FOR IT: They take the event and make up, cook up, stir up, fake up some big claim of Trump doing something wrong. Then they put together essentially a little packet, game card with accusations, wording, etc. and in effect pass it out to their buddies at ABC, AP, Bloomberg, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, NYT, WaPo and a few more along with selected Democrat politicians to gang up, pile on, repeat 24 x 7. They did it for Russia, separating children, racism, sexism, meeting at Mar a lago, …, and now Ukraine.It’s propaganda at least as intense as the Nazi Dr. J. Goebbels and his, IIRC,”If you repeat a lie often enough then people will believe it. Eventually even you will come to believe it.”The media list above and the Democrats have lost all credibility. There’s no sense in paying any attention to them at all.Apparently Trump recently said that this situation is good for his reelection but bad for the country — I believe him.The Democrats and the media have left the field and are no longer relevant to reality. So, Trump is about the only credible voice we’ve got.As Trump noted, that’s bad for our country: We NEED (i) credible media to have “informed citizenry” and (ii) two healthy parties to have good competition of ideas, and now we are missing both (i) and (ii).Yes, yes, yes, I know; I know: Trump’s voters are the contemptible, irredeemable, deplorable Walmart shoppers, and everyone with annual income well up in six figures or more wants to pretend that Trump is not, say, socially acceptable. And the alternatives are? And may I have the envelope, please?

      1. I have never heard from any Democrat supporter (including any on this blog) that criticizes this approach. Apparently governing the country by attacking Trump 24/7 is a totally justified use of public funds. Now the “impeach” literally requires them (The House) to do nothing until the process is “over” – which it won’t be – ever.Seriously, is there anyone on the left that thinks this is a waste of time?

         1. So a sitting President asks a leader of a foreign country to conduct a criminal investigation (a “favor” he calls it) of a political rival in collaboration w/ his personal attorney and you’re okay with that? Asking for a friend.

            1. The facts do not support this. Let’s assume they did. Would you then support impeachment of Obama for privately promising favors to Putin “after I am elected”? Or would you support removing Biden for using his power as VP to blackmail the Ukrainian government to stop investigating his son?Both of these are factually established. The Trump harassment is still hearsay from a “witness” who admitted he was not actually there.

            2. The transcripts aren’t hearsay, they’re heresy. Defending the behavior of one person by citing the behavior of another is hardly a strong defense. If Obama, Biden, etc, committed a crime, then there was (is) ample opportunity to explore and investigate by legitimate authorities empowered to do so, but certainly not by a rogue President w/ a political motive. I’m pretty sure we’ll discover add’l info that explicitly demonstrates internal premeditation in advance of this call. Mulvaney, Pompeo, etc., will not take a bullet for this guy. You watch. This also isn’t Russia/Mueller where Trump was tangentially involved (other than obstruction), his fingerprints are all over this. Only time til someone characterizes the call, etc., as “opposition research.”

            3. .Trump will never get the nomination.Trump will never get elected.We will get Trump with some last minute salacious women touching accusations.We will never accept the 2016 election results.Trump is an illegitimate President.Trump colluded with the Russians.We will trap Trump with some kind of bullshit dossier.We will get Trump with an Independent Counsel.Yeah, obstruction of justice.Mueller will give us Trump’s head on a pike.Ooops.OK, we will give them Hell on SCOTUS appointments.We will get Trump with some kind of bullshit whistleblower complaint from some guy who heard it from his barber who heard it from his drug dealer.Trump will call our bluff on the transcript. Ouch.We will pretend we are in the midst of an impeachment investigation, but we won’t take a vote in the House on it.We will impeach that bastard. Maybe not.If so, the Senate will never, ever, ever remove him from office thereby revealing the vacuousness of the game.Trump will be re-elected handily and serve out his entire 8 years.Meanwhile the economy will be gangbusters, the SCOTUS will take a turn toward the right that will take half a century to be challenged, manufacturing jobs will make a positive move, we will build the wall, immigration will diminish by working with Mexico, unemployment will be the best ever for all, blacks, Hispanics, women, incomes will go up, wars will end, we will get NATO to pay their fair share, we will stop kicking the can down the road and address Iran, China, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Russia, things will be pretty damn good in the United States of America.The electorate will look at the feckless Dems and ask, “What the fuck have you done for the American people lately?””We investigated the Hell out of Trump. Isn’t that enough?”The Dems will wander the desert looking for a leader and some way to fuck Trump up.Come 2020, the Reps will own the WH, the Senate, the House.Or, you could just accept the outcome of the 2016 election and move the fuck on.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

            4. “Past performance is not indicative of future results,” so says my broker. Trump should be skating on smooth ice without the aid of a Zamboni, but he seemingly can’t. Why? Cause he’s his own worst, self-destructive enemy. He keeps stepping in it, and at some point they’ll be no exit strategy. Barr saved Trump’s ass, plain and simple. There was no brilliant play on Trump’s part there, just plain old luck. His luck will run out, only because he’s perpetually (and often unnecessarily) playing with fire.

            5. .Yawn.Candidate Trump won the 2016 election.President Trump will win the 2020 election.President Trump will serve out every day of his 8 year term.President Trump will end up on Mt Rushmore. [OK, I admit I’m just poking the bear on that one.]It’s going to be fine.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

            6. The transcript, declassified and not redacted, is on the way out: So, let’s see the actual transcript and go from there.BUT, there’s a pattern, a big bucket of sewage: JLM here just gave a list of the old well-known floaters in that bucket. Now the Dem-media cabal want to claim another floater in the bucket: It’s the same bucket of sewage from the same source, so far proven to be 100% “not that light stuff but that chunky industrial waste puke” toxic waste sewage. You can touch that floater if you want, think it’s a tasty chocolate candy bar, and take a bite, but I want to stay far away from that whole bucket.

            7. Okay. Let’s take this one all the way if you are up for it.My proposal: 90% of what you have heard from the media about this is a lie. There were no threats and no quid-pro quo. No mention of Biden “8 times”. What Trump referred to was a previous investigation into Hunter Biden, which was squashed by then VP Biden in a blatant abuse of power.If we find out you are wrong, that the media has been lying, you will donate $5 to the “Stop Trump Impeachment” campaign. If we find out I am wrong, then I will donate $5 to your favorite candidate or cause.Are we on?

            8. I’ll gladly make a bet w/ you, but we need to clarify what we’re actually betting. There doesn’t need to be a quid pro quo or threat for unethical or illegal behavior to have occurred by Trump, that’s just how he’s spinning it. A quid pro quo or threat would certainly make any charge of illicit behavior stronger, but Trump’s asking a foreign President to investigate a potential political opponent in collaboration w/ his private attorney—in and of itself— is not only unethical, but of questionable legality. There also doesn’t need to be a 8x Biden reference to acknowledge there’s a prob here, though multiple references would certainly make for a stronger claim. (Btw, the “transcript” released today is not a word-by-word verbatim of their 30 minute conversation. If you read the transcript it times out to only a couple of minutes, so it really doesn’t address if multiple requests were even made). So again, I’m not exactly sure what the parameters of any bet would be, but I’m certainly open to the idea.

            9. I apologize for letting this slip. A lot has happened since then.Here’s an honest question: Are you aware of the details of the Biden issue that Trump was referring to in the call? (Details of which have been released.)Biden has admitted on tape that he threatened to withhold US funds to Ukraine unless they fired the prosecutor who was investigating his son for corruption with Burisma holdings. (Essentially admitting to what hey are accusing Trump of doing.)To add, Biden has vehemently denied any knowledge of his sons foreign affairs. But (oops) there are pictures of Biden, Hunter and the CEO of Burisma playing golf (and ) records of Hunter flying on Airforce 2 to China to make deals.I am genuinely curious. The media is actively trying to cover this up. Have you seen these details?

         2. .First, I would like to see Pres Trump impeached. I have said that for some time now. Let’s get it the fuck on and done with.Understand what happened yesterday — NOTHING.Speaker Nancy Pelosi did NOT announce that there was an impeachment investigation underway. That would require a vote of the House of Represenatives and about 40 some Dems who won election in districts carried by Pres Trump would have their shit in the wind.What Nancy did was to say, “OK, Jerry the Hutt Nadler is conducting an investigation at the Judiciary Committee.”Old news, amigos. Jerry the Hutt told us that the first day he returned for this session.Why is the declaration of a vote by the entire House significant? Because under a precedent established during the Nixon impeachment investigation — authorized by a vote of the House — the Judiciary Committee can petition to receive and review otherwise secret grand jury testimony.In the Nixon impeachment, the Judiciary Committee got its hands on the grand jury testimony. Some say it was pivotal, but nobody really knows because Nixon resigned.One thing I can assure you of — Donald J Trump is never going to resign. He has a thicker ass than anybody in the Congress has teeth.One other thing I can assure you of — the Republican controlled Senate is not going to deliver up 67 votes to remove President Trump from office.So, let’s get the impeachment the fuck on. Now. Today. Nancy, I’m talking to you, chica. Get some sack and impeach that asshole.It will never happen.As an aside, can you let me know what legislation the House has passed in the last 8 months? Asking for a friend.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

         3. Look at the upside!!!!(1) No doubt all the very best brains in the Democrat party and their buddies in the list of media royalty are doing the very best they can to find something wrong with Trump, some reason to resist him now, impeach him now, or beat him in 2020.Well, so far this Dem-media scavenger hunt and proctoscope all the way to the wisdom teeth has found nothing serious, found only nichts, nil, nada, zip, zilch, zero.So, in effect the Dem-media are saying that both Trump and the country have NOTHING wrong bigger than a speck of dust on a hair on a flea on a fly somewhere on a hilltop in Yellowstone. That’s one heck of a clean bill of health!!(2) The Dem-media, zero credibility and irrelevant, can’t get any worse which means that any change will have to be an improvement. And for the likelihood of change soon, more generally, abstractly, and indirectly Darwin is on the case and is quite reliable in finding solutions!(3) Trump is in line to win big in 2020. The more Pelosi, Fauxcahontas, and the Squad, Crew, Ditzy Club or whatever they are called say, the better Trump will do.Trump should win both houses of Congress by good margins in which case the Dems will have to pick some new leaders and new directions which necessarily can’t be either just as bad or worse. E.g., their Green New Deal (GND), as I posted, will cost $95 T or some such, nearly all waste. Since Fauxcahontas was one of the sponsors of the “sense of the House” or some such, GND vote, Trump should donate to her primary campaign for POTUS!!On impeachment, Waters will do what she’s done since Trump’s election: She will get some headlines that the Dem-media cabal like. Pelosi will pretend to go along. They will try to keep impeachment in the news right up to the 2020 election. But if they send a bill to the Senate, with the Republican majority Trump will get off right away; so, the House won’t do that.Since the Dem-media have no better faked up issue than impeachment, they will use it, but the voters can see through that nonsense right away. Nearly no one is being fooled; it’s just that the Dem-media don’t have anything better to fill the media time.

10. I think you see a version of this in sports a lot where a player makes a bad play but they don’t let it affect them on the next play. Like it never happened. The good shooter just keeps shooting cause the next one is going in. Easier said than done.

11. I feel that it’s my responsibility as a citizen to stay informed, especially in times like these. That said, once a day is plenty. I like to scan headlines and read an article or two and an op-ed or two after the kids are in bed.

    1. same

12. Great post.There’s an old concept in Judaism that speaks to this concept of “what in our hands”, mainly that one should focus on what’s in your hands, what’s in your control, and as one focuses on that one’s control grows. But how it’s useless to focus on things out of one’s control.

13. Noted—focus on what you can control!

14. Meditation can be wrongly done – where instead it is in fact your ego mind distracting yourself from thoughts and feelings that are trying to come up, to calm down by suppressing/repressing in order “tune everything else out.”Distraction is a good short-term coping mechanism, however doing so long-term is unhealthy and has consequences.

15. I manage a $billion+ foundation’s assets, and perhaps the best answer to “what’s your edge” I’ve ever heard is the ability to remain calm and act logically when everything is going crazy. It’s just not something the overwhelming majority of people can naturally do. This post should be included in a “best of” AVC list.

    1. You might have reviewed one of the policies of James Simons: As I understand it, if a staff person rushed in and claimed that he had a great trade in mind because of, say, some news story, then no one else would pay attention or authorize the trade.Instead, each trade came ONLY from a programmed mathematical model using their huge collection of data with lots of testing that a proposed trade, or one proposed from being obvious from the model, would make good money.This way, intuition, guesses, reactions to what was “going crazy” were all just irrelevant, ignored, no problem, no temptation, nothing to be nervous about unless there were the solid results of a model and its testing.

       1. I believe good investment ideas build slowly over time and are based on rigorous research and contemplation; this is certainly how Renaissance works.Apart from market panics, there are rarely fat pitches to be had without significant work, and even when presented with a fat pitch you have to be prepared to act. From the outside, it may look like gut or instinct. From the inside it’s like bankruptcy: at first, slowly; then, all at once.

          1. Simons is a good mathematician; thus, I suspect that what he was doing had a prerequisite of some good math.I doubt that the math prerequisites included much on differential geometry, e.g., the Chern–Simons result.I’ve heard rumors that he liked the math in, say,Ioannis Karatzas and Steven E. Shreve, Brownian Motion and Stochastic Calculus, Second Edition, ISBN 0-387-97655-8.but I doubt it.Maybe one of the main prerequisites wasDavid R. Brillinger, Time Series Analysis: Data Analysis and Theory, Expanded Edition, ISBN 0-8162-1150-7.and maybe, or maybe in part at times, but I’m suspecting that mostly not.And I’m reluctant to believe that he was using the Kakutani connection between Markoff processes and the Dirichlet problem in, say,Robert M. Blumenthal and Ronald K. Getoor, Markov Processes and Potential Theory, Dover Publications, ISBN-13: 978-0-486-46263-9.sometimes seen as the foundation of a lot in exotic options.Surprisingly maybe closer would actually be L. Breiman’s relatively empirical and pragmatic CART, i.e.,Leo Breiman, Jerome H. Friedman, Richard A. Olshen, Charles J. Stone, Classification and Regression Trees, ISBN 0-534-98054-6, Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole.But my best guess is that he worked with basically events he detected with anomaly detectors and then evaluated with math a little like some of the above.

16. .You will recognize your Dickens A Tale of Two Cities from 1859 which informs us even today as to what is going on in the world.”It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”We live in one of the most interesting times in US/world history — we are a great nation, we are in a great economy, we are at peace domestically, we are at war in a foreign land, we are contentious with each other, there is more information available to the individual since the beginning of time, evil is afoot in the world (talking to you, Iran), good has never been more recognizable.This is a great time to be alive in a great country.As to me — I am in the middle of that maelstrom, drinking from the fire hose of knowledge, trying to learn as much as I can.Focused? I am focused on the breadth, depth, vigor of life.There has never been a better time to be unfocused. There is so much to learn and do. I refuse to stand on the sidelines and watch. I am jumping into the mosh pit of life and tasting everything I can.The Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times” — that is us and I am digging it.Go, you timid souls, be focused and thoughtful and careful and manage your time carefully while I drink your portion of the wildness of life and reap the whirlwind. Go be happy with your orderly memories, while I live with my scars.We all have one life, live it like a boss.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

    1. We are not at peace domestically. The social, political and economic/financial imbalances are extreme. It cannot last.

       1. .Violent crime rates continue to trend down. Even murder rates of law enforcement officers are down — look at the FBI stats.We passed the First Step Act which brought controversial sentencing imbalances into better focus and which freed tons of non-violent drug criminals from jail.The social, political scenes are frothy to be sure — let’s see it was Mueller, then Kavanaugh, then impeachment — frothy but inconsequential.This is the result of the Dems and the #NeverTrumpers penchant for refusing to accept the 2016 election. I think Hillary is up to excuse #2,019 as to how she was screwed out of the presidency. That will never change.When Pres Trump is re-elected in 2020, she and her ilk will still be carping. Totally predictable, background noise of no consequence other than providing fodder for the media.We have an election coming up and we are engaged in the usual nomination followed by election dopiness.While there is certainly a lot of noise, the signal is pretty damn predictable.Once we get beyond the Ukraine Phone Call CRISIS — please imagine me screaming that term at the top of my voice aided by a bullhorn for emphasis — there will be something else.As to financial/economic matters — we continue to live in the best economic times in the last two centuries.There has never been a better time to be an American since the Nation’s founding.Are there things to improve? There will always be. These are damn good times.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

17. Scandals, dirty deeds, mistrust, covert operations, illicit behavior, rogue lawyers, perpetual denial. Wow, that Demi Moore sure leads an interesting life.

18. I think more and more people are choosing this route. I play with my kids (while they still want me to.)To me the shame is that the “news media complex” always focuses on the latest doom and gloom, latest scandal, latest take-down. In the meantime there are millions of people doing great things with a big heart that go virtually unnoticed.I always wondered if someone started a service called “one good thing” – and published one uplifting story a day – if anyone would subscribe! It probably already exists – but never gets above the noise.

    1. DJL:strange how that thinking wasn’t applied to the eight years of obstruction, deficit hawk yelling and conspiracy theory pushing on POTUS 44. We knew then & clearly now know the reasoning or lack there of for those actions.Captain Obvious!#UNEQUIVOCALLYUNAPOLOGETICALLYINDEPENTANT

19. Your approach is correct for the average man. And I hope to do the same. Ignore all the events – but accept the fact that Trump’s energy and ability to deal with stress is super human – he makes Bill Belecheck seem like nervous wreck. By this time bush jr, Obama, Clinton all aged 10-15 years. On a human level this is the real story. On a political level – Trump has shined light on what any man can see is a political complex that is ignoring the constitution.

20. CONTRIBUTORS:The appropriate words should beheedlessness, indifference, nonchalant, sangfroid, apathetic, uncoupled, etc.The reason the country is in the Twilight Zone. The Jim Jones Koolaid drinking & fascist infatuation is rampant.Criticism is something we can avoid easilyby saying nothing, doing nothing,and being nothing.Aristotle–Captain Obvious!#UNEQUIVOCALLYUNAPOLOGETICALLYINDEPENTANT https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

    1. .Who knew the Twilight Zone had such a great economy? Such low unemployment? Such a strong stock market? Such low interest rates?Granted those are real things, not make believe. Still.I think I like the Twilight Zone.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

21. Wise MO.

22. In a famous story by the great Ray Bradbury (the name of which escapes my elderly brain at the moment) the main character compulsively and exhaustively reads all the daily newspapers… except not on the day they come out. No, this character only reads the newspapers one day after they are published, because even just one day later, all that head spinning stuff already seems a bit silly and distant.

    1. love it

    2. A similar thought is that it’s easier to catch up than to keep up. The important stuff will rise above the noise and get noticed. It doesn’t need to be absorbed at the moment of release.

23. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…Distance is no more a measure of proximity anymore …Though the number says … I am too far.The image (NET) says … I am just 2-3 inches away.If it is anything to do with the economy in NY (U.S) we will definitely feel it in this corner of the world as well….because NETwise we are very close.P.S. liked the ‘order’ of your focus list.

24. My only thought is that is original cabinet was full of leakers and back stabbers. I don’t mind him firing them in the least. We will see how it all plays out.In my opinion, the Democrats are going to need more than “get rid of Trump” as a campaign strategy. They have tried it for 3 years and it is not working. The “buffoon” is still in there – still working on real issues (economy, trade, prescription drugs, border) – while they flounder.

    1. Not sure the leaks came from former cabinet members, but if so you have to ask why were they leaking? I think Mattis, Tillerson, McMaster, etc., were astonished by what they were seeing, frankly.For the record, I’m by no means a staunch Democrat. I’d strongly consider voting for a Romney, a Kasich, etc., and maybe others if they were in the hunt. I also don’t buy into Trump’s asserting success for the economy and other metrics. Trend lines are more important than isolated points in time, and the data shows a continuation of a broader trend. I also think tariffs are a disaster. Yes, something needs to be done w/ China, but longterm this isn’t helping anyone, especially farmers. The guy is nuts, and so self absorbed he can’t discern the diff between victimization and ethical/moral concerns.

25. Awareness is one thing, Focus another. I think it all boils down to your priority. Unfortunately, we have limited time – so we really need to value that more.