Tony Novak CPA

Category: Values

  • An extraordinary 30 year wrestling memory

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    Tony Novak
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    Thirty years ago in Doylestown Pennsylvania I was privileged to be part of the most successful team ever at Del Val University, and, I suspect, one of the most distinctive performing teams in the NCAA. We were a Division 3 team and we started the season by surprising some Division 1 teams in pre-season tournament…

  • Philadelphia Folk Festival Checklist

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    Tony Novak
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    Over the years I’ve put together this checklist based on experience, mostly learned the hard way, and am posting it here today – on this 50th anniversary of Woodstock and 58th launch of the Philadelphia Folk Festival – in the event that someone else might find it useful. As I approach 60 and celebrate the…

  • Legal requirements to release the tax returns of candidates for public office

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    Tony Novak
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    In the aftermath of revelations about the president’s financial scandals, a number of states are moving forward with bills that would require all candidates for public office to release tax returns in order to be listed on the ballot. This blog post does not attempt to list the states, the bills or their status. We…

  • The best advice

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    Tony Novak
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    The best advice I can offer locally to help improve our world: 1. Get a local library card. 2. Get the Libby app for your smartphone or other device. 3. Get on the waiting list to borrow popular titles. 4. Take advantage of audiobooks; most of us have more listening time available than reading time.…

  • Rest in power @1pissedPolack

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    Tony Novak
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    Amy Jean Wojtaszek, age 44, of Aberdeen, Maryland died this past weekend. I knew her only on Twitter as @1pissedPolack where she was a powerful activist with over 44,000 followers. I was just one of them, often amazed by her world view. But I actually cried when I read a eulogy that said “rest in…

  • Reframing the language of leadership: words that matter

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    Tony Novak
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    Words supported by action matter more in leadership than anything else. Economics, money, tax policy and other topics often visited in this blog pale to the importance of the credible and meaningful words in our leadership conversations. We now face a critical choice defined by the words we choose to use in that public conversation.…

  • Do not despair

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    Tony Novak
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    I took comfort in John McCain’s final message this week. I do tend to despair in seeing that our lives, our finances, our whole planet are in far worse shape than ever before while some of those around us don’t even recognize the problem. Many of the people who continue to enable government to destroy…

  • Aging gracefully

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    Tony Novak
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    Proposition from an online friend: “I believe the world is no worse than it ever was. Everything is just more exposed now. Have faith and look for the good.” My Response: “That’s a great positive motivator. Unfortunately, as an evidence-focused guy I don’t see that the data supports that first conclusion.Yes, the data is more…

  • The Impact of “Funny Numbers”

    The Impact of “Funny Numbers”

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    Tony Novak
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    Will the ‘tone at the top’ trigger an increase in tax fraud? There are a few topics that I don’t talk about or write about in this blog. It’s usually because they are some combination of distasteful, unethical. illegal, immoral, controversial and a ‘no-win’ situation. One of those topics is accounting fraud. I covered the…

  • A fight between two wolves

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    Tony Novak
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    This caught my attention and is simply a copy/paste from a friend. I don’t know the original source. An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he…