Last year we were quite active and successful, but then Management caught on and put a stop to that. Can't have laughter and joviality apparently.

Anyway, the "committee" is poor, puny reflection of its former self. I will likely see this next activity through and then drop out.

It can be great fun if roadblocks aren't constantly put in the way, and the payoff can be fantastic; people getting to know others with whom they might never otherwise interact. Gratifying.

Nothing rubs me the wrong way more than having to train a consultant making $600-800/hr, who are flown in from long distances so they could bill more hours than the same person working here in town.  So not only do we get stuck with the bill, we put them up for the entire time and pay all travel costs.

This year we decided to drop the consultants who were billing more dollars than that the actual employees.  We hired two people and so far we are miles ahead.  I only have to train once, and not stay into the wee hours because they aren't trying to set billable hour records.

But then they decided to hire consultants to design a new system, the down-payment was $500k and I bet my last dollar what they sold and what we get aren't even in the same ballpark.  Final cost will be, and this is me guessing, three times the original quote.

Whenever I hear this line, I think of consultants:

And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams

Because nothing, and I mean nothing is ever their fault and the people around here just buy it up.  They love them because they take us out to lunch every day.  Never mind they bill us back for it, a free lunch to some people will damn hear get them to name their first born after them.

This is my experience with accounting, namely tax consultants with one of the big four at Corporate America.  They are leaches who make ridiculous sums of money doing what anyone in the field can do.  And when I say they, I mean the partners, as per hour the actual workers bees makes less than most in the industry.  

But the sad and simple fact of the matter is that there are many so-called "consultants" out there in the business world and political arena, who shouldn't be trusted to get your lunch order right, never mind tasked with the oversight and operation of a program or project.

Nevertheless, such "consultants" have often managed to build a business by capitalizing upon personal relationships, aka "name dropping," and many have actually done quite well for themselves in that regard, if not for their sometimes-unfortunate clients.

While they might see themselves as the gold standard for consulting and will often charge accordingly, in fact these are some of the truest a$$-kissers you'll probably ever find in this lifetime. They're more than likely to curry personal favor by telling you what they think you want to hear, rather than impart something which you actually need to know.

(And when it comes to political consultants and the two major parties, I swear to the heavens above that the interlocking relationships between clients, contractors, consultants and the media are often so incestuous, "Dueling Banjoes" should rightly be playing in the the background whenever they get together. I won't consider such consulting as a career option, because I consider its quid pro quo aspect to be generally unethical.)

That's why it's always important, before you engage the services of any consultant -- or any other professional for that matter -- to ask for professional references who are not either relatives or personal friends of that person. Then you need to follow up with those references personally, and not be afraid to pose specific questions to them regarding that person's (or firm's) performance.

I know that it sounds like what I'm saying is so commonsensical that it should be painfully obvious to almost everyone, but you'd be surprised how many people don't really perform any due diligence before hiring a consultant, lawyer, etc. At that point, if you choose to go on blind faith or personal hunch alone, it becomes a hit-and-miss proposition for you and your firm / organization.

If you've hired me on that faith or hunch, I can say to you without hesitation that the odds are very much in your favor that you'll be quite happy with my work and results. Further, I will refer you to current and former clients, if you haven't already asked for those references.

But if you've hired the nephew of your board president's old college teammate and still-good buddy on that sole basis alone, well, the very best of luck to you.

Okay, that's enough lengthy dissertating for the week. Have a great weekend, kdog. And when you raise your glass or bong in toast, please remember your good buddy in the islands, who'll be too busy packing for our impending move to imbibe much right now.

What gives?

To answer this seemingly, intractable, question let's take it away from the Harvard/ Wharton, Wall Street, Boy-Geniuses, and  ask some simple Main Street observers.

Is it possible, even theoretically possible, that all those Billions of dollars in profits, and Government largesse, going to only the top 0.01%, who then hoarded all of it for themselves and spent nothing on the future had something to do with it? Could it be that by squeezing their workers for lower wages, lower benefits, and lower security added to this contraction? Did any of the movers and shakers even ask the question, "how can the consumer buy our products when we've taken away any disposable income they might have had, and who are struggling to barely survive? Did even one of these "Wunderkinds" ever hear the fable about, " Killing The Goose that laid the Golden Egg?"

Seems so simple, doesn't it? And, yet, the Masters of Wall Street, Corporate CEO'S, The Secretary of the Treasury, The FED Chairman, and, even the President, are stumped. All that money, taken from average, middle class citizens, and handed over to the already filthy rich, and they have the balls to ask, as if it's a serious question, "what's wrong with American Consumers? After all we did, what more do they want?"

The Republicans say, "more of the same; cut, cut, cut."

The Democrats say, "What? Can you repeat the question?"

Also, we're moving to Hilo, which is on the eastern (windward) side of the Big Island, so I'll be hopping back to Honolulu from there, and not from Kona, which is in West Hawaii. The two towns are about 90 miles apart via the new Hwy. 200 -- aka "the Saddle Road" -- through Puhakuloa, and it's a two-hour drive between them. But while the tourist industry is anchored in Kona, nearly 50% of the island's population of 195,000 live in and around Hilo, which is easily the larger of the two towns and also serves as the county seat.

Each side of the island also has its own airport. Kona International Airport is serviced by all the major air carriers, which fly from all across the country. But in Hilo, Hawaiian Airlines enjoys a virtual monopoly and United Airlines flies one daily roundtrip to and from Los Angeles.

Hawaiian presently flies 21 daily round-trips between Honolulu and Kona, and another 18 daily round trips between HNL and Hilo. But while flights between Honolulu and Kona are 80-85% full of tourists, nearly 70% of all passengers flying between Honolulu and Hilo are Hawaii residents. So as you can see, each airport serves an entirely different market from one another.

So whenever we'll be flying to the U.S. mainland or elsewhere, we'll probably go first to Honolulu and connect there, rather than drive the 90 miles to Kona and catch a direct flight. It's just a lot easier and faster.

Tsarnaev is not in the courtroom at this time.

He is just entering courtroom. Twitter #JimArmstrongWBZ  #Tsarnaev
AND is local Boston TV
Judge and Jury in just now

MT said Jack was disturbed.   Personally I think that totally understates what he is.

With no clear front-runner and Bush so far unable to consolidate his path to the nomination -- his fumbles over the Iraq war and his brother's legacy further exposed his vulnerabilities -- the GOP's internecine battle could stretch well into the spring of 2016.