Category: News and Politics
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More on the education divide in the U.S.
I’ve written in an earlier bog post about the unprecedented ‘education divide’ where the level of formal education is now the most highly correlated indicator of a person’s political beliefs. Yesterday The Wall Street Journal ran a story about that same phenomenon with a series of findings by the Bowling Green State University National Center for Family…
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‘Ignorance is bliss’ but stay away from public leadership
“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” – Albert Einstein One in three Americans admits that they did not read a book in the last year. Donald Trump is among them. He reportedly admits that he hasn’t read a book in 50 years. I suspect that his supporter…
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Where does electricity come from?
With electricity being such an important part of our daily lives, I am surprised how many people do not know where it comes from. The #1 source of electricity in the U.S. is coal. Natural gas obtained through fracking is expected to be the #1 source within the next 25 years. Here in Pennsylvania, the largest…
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New rules for nonprofit financial statements
On Thursday August 18, 2016 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued new guidance on financial reporting for nonprofit organizations. The FASB is the governing body responsible for developing the financial statement standards used by the accounting profession. The new rules affect charities, foundations, colleges and universities, health care providers, religious organizations, trade associations, and cultural…
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Aetna oddities
News is emerging that Aetna attempted to strong-arm the U.S. Justice Department last month before pulling out of the individual health insurance exchanges. That doesn’t seem like a smart strategy under any circumstance and of course it did not work. I recall sitting in an Aetna corporate strategy presentation in the late 1980s and recognizing…
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CPA licensing issues
In the aftermath of my recent unplanned involvement in investigating CPA license reciprocity issues, state licensing and peer review requirements, I conclude four things: 1) The stated intention of the AICPA’s mobility project is largely usurped by the states that do not wish to lose control and revenue from the practice of accounting within their…
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Insulting Pennsylvanians: enough BS already
I’m still astounded by Trump’s accusations over the weekend about voter fraud in the banana republic of Pennsylvania. Even if he is completely ignorant on the topic, his advisors must be aware that there isn’t a single case of documented voter fraud in recent PA history even after substantial (and expensive) investigation and litigation in…
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Crowdfunding article bibliography
Are you a small business owner thinking about crowdfunding? Crowdfunding issues have become an increasingly frequent part of my day-to-day discussions with small businesses – both for profit and nonprofit – and the investors who finance them. Many of my recent blog posts reflect this trend. Most of these blog posts focus on very basic concepts of…
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Leadership involves politics: politics involves dealing with diversity
reposted from my editorial on BaySave’s blog: In the past few weeks many of our nation’s business leaders and scientific groups have come together to issue boldly worded political statements. On June 28 most of the world’s leading scientific groups issued a joint letter to Congress. This week 146 silicon valley business executives issued a joint…
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Top 10 things for a Philly native to do during the DNC
Top 10 things for a Philly native to do during the DNC: Be really careful about timing travel through the city. Use a traffic-enabled GPS before even getting into the car. Buy a drink at 3:30AM just because you can. Watch out for those wide Humvees with roof-mounted machine guns on the Schuylkill expressway. Listen for…