The Economy Is Here

It was officially announced around 1:30 PM my time. We are in an economic recession. We have been in it for at least the past year. According to the KNX 1070 website nugget:

It's official. The US is in a recession and has been since December. The price of oil slides below 50 dollars a barrel. Stocks sell off, giving back about half of last week's gains. Analysis from Jon Najarian, CNBS contributor and founder of optionmonster.com, John Kilduff, VP at MF Global, Dr. Irwin Kellner, chief economist at Marketwatch.

What a revelation! That is essentially the same news (and information) I've been providing you for the past three years.

Backing up this realization is the economic forecast (still to be completely published) I made of the Employment Industry for this year. Pieces of that forecast managed to make it to the light of the Internet in February at sites such as HR.com, Associated Content.com, OnRec.com, Entrances Forum, and a few other places. The full forecast can be found on the Executive Recruiting Entrances in the Articles section. Watch for the links to go live on this four-part discussion. (Yes, blantant advertising and self promotion.)

KNX 1070 radio news is my sole source of entertainment these days. Therefore, it is also my sole source of audio news. The way they handled why there's been such American oblivion during this time was journalistically professional. They provided snippets of President Bush's statements to the nation over the course of selected time periods throughout these past 12 (to 15) months. At each juncture, Bush says we are doing fine and are not in an economic recession. The nation is economically sound and there is no reason to fear.

Can anyone recall the press conference Bush gave in March 2007? Bush made a statement about the strength of the nation as well as the ability of Americans to avail theirselves of going anywhere they wanted. One of the reporters interrupted the President to ask whether he was aware that gasoline was then nearly $3 per gallon. The President was not aware. In fact, he demanded to know who had put out such information as it simply was not true. Gasoline, on average, was about $2.50 per gallon. This past March Bush was still not willing to admit that gasoline prices were over $3 per gallon and prohibitive to those who are unemployed and seeking work. It was too costly to go to work!

This makes a strong statement about the type and style of leadership under which this nation has struggeled and strived for the past eight years. What's troubling is that as a nation, no one took steps to more than urge our national top employee to take a more cautious and informed look at the situation. No one insisted on better measures to pull things into safer waters. And finally, no one during any of these eight long and arduous years ever took steps to remove the leader who was methodically taking us to the last two inches of the edge of the precipice on which we hang.

It is now time for us to review history. We need to examine the many programs developed by the despised president of the 1930s and replicate some of the infusion methods used then. It is time to look at the person standing before you who wants to work, not the race, gender, sexual preference, neighborhood. Yes, it's definitely prudent to take into consideration education and intelligence. They should be considered in a fair and prudent manner, not with the historic bias that has led us in the past. As I said, it's more than time to look at the person standing before us and consider how many of the tasks that need to be performed, how many of the decisions that need knowledge, experience, and prudence can be performed by that person at an economic price -- that returns value and well being.

But then this reasoning is putting the cart before the horse. I've managed to move from the fact that the weather is a 10-hour hail storm to talking about how to rebuild our house. Time to sit down and catch my breath and thoughts for a moment.

But take heart, my dear readers. It was definitely not your imagination. We are truely in a recession (at best) but we've been in an economic depression for at least one year.

A Clearly Written, Accurate Report

Communications are extremely important among us. When they're verbal, our listening skills are tested to the nth degree. Our recall of what was said, the meaning of the terms used, and the order of any instructions given all have significance.

If the communication is written, it has even more enduring life and reference. Using the wrong term to identify someone or something could lead to a lot of misunderstanding, make follow-up actions go the wrong way, and even damage reputations for a very long time.

For those of you who are astrology aficianados, you already know that Mercury is in retrograde. Just to fill you in (in case you're not an astrology nut), when Mercury is in retrograde, communications are extremely poor. Contracts entered into at this time will be done improperly and need to be redone. Telephone tag is the name of the game. Electronic devices will malfunction. And communication life will be in chaos until Mercury goes direct -- about six weeks later.

With this in mind, imagine how interesting it was for me to find an official report written by a government employee. There seemed to be a sincere effort to bring truth and justice to those involved, but when the report was read with an active reader's mind, some major questions kept coming up and the credibility of the one giving the report was tolled. Here's an example:

"The vict and the susp were engaged in a verbal dispute."

I talked with someone at the scene. What was reported was that the victim was engaged in a conversation with a visitor and telling anecdotes about things that had happened at the residence over time. One anecdote involved the suspect. The suspect became annoyed at the revelation of the grossness of their behavior and made a threat. The victim challenged the suspect to follow through on the threat.

"The vict then began to strike the vict approx 10 times with her fists to victs face."

This sentence makes any reader want to know why the "victim" began striking herself and especially why so many times. Well, there are masochists and people who will do whatever is necessary in order to obtain pain killer medication. Perhaps that was the reason the victim was striking herself in the face so many times. According to the person who witnessed the incident, it was the suspect who began shouting threats; she was not being threatened. It was the suspect who began the verbal altercation. Instead of walking away from the challenge to live up to her boasts, the suspect decided to use brute force hit the victim.

"The vict fell down and the susp continued to punch and kick the vict."

At least there's helpfulness at this site. Wasn't it nice that even though the victim finally knocked herself down from pummeling herself, the suspect was willing to continue the beating, as well as kicking her. That is true generosity.

Well, it looks like things turned from being self flagellation to a multiple personality free-for-all. If that's the case, don't go to the place where this incident occurred. You won't know which personality you're dealing with nor which will be present. Not only that, if it's the masochistic one (or the multiple one), they're liable to pull you into the frey.

Unfortunately, this report was not written with care and little attention to accuracy. As you may gather, neither of the parties were in a position to proofread what was written and ask for corrections to the narrative. If the victim is looking for redress and credibility, her ability to get either are squelched. It isn't terribly clear who was assaulting whom. Except for the labels, it sounds as though only one person was attacked and a bystander was the one who perpetuated the it.

Mercury is in retrograde for six weeks. It went into this phase on September 17. Until it goes direct, double check your written reports, be careful of using run-on sentences, and strive to be as clear and accurate as is possible. Remember, your report will govern how others respond.