I had lunch with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Carl Bernstein on Friday. He was in town to address a business group and I had the good fortune of sitting at Mr. Bernstein's table, along with 6 other people.
Bernstein said the job of a journalist is to present the "best obtainable version of the truth." With the emphasis currently on celebrity, sensationalism and gossip, he said journalism is falling far short of its responsibility.
He said the press and politics are part of a civic breakdown in this country since Watergate. The press and politics, he said, are supposed to exist for the public good. "We have seen a failure of the system, of incompetence overwhelming competence," he said. "We've had a failure of accountability, and it didn't start with the Bush administration."
He said congress has completely abdicated its responsibility to provide oversight of the presidency. He said the "biggest story of the last 25 years is the wholesale corruption of our Congress and our state legislatures."
He blamed the state legislatures for gerrymandering congressional districts so that most seats are "safe" for one party. He said that in any given election, only about 100 of the 425 House seats are truly competitive.
Bernstein noted that it costs $100 million to run a campaign for senate in a large state such as California, Florida, New York or New Jersey. "That's $50,000 per day," he said. There is a big difference between a fundraiser, which is what a politician needs to be to finance a campaign, and a leader. A fundraiser, Bernstein said, says whatever is necessary to please the group in front of him so that they will be inclined to contribute money. People who are trying to raise money don't take unpopular positions on issues. They can't afford to. Therefore, we end up with a Congress full of people who don't take solid positions on issues, people who don't provide leadership. Bernstein criticized the press for not calling politicians on this deterioration of leadership. Bernstein said public financing of Congressional campaigns would solve this problem.
Bernstein is more philosophically liberal than I am, but I greatly admire his work. He started his career as a reporter at the age of 19 and has covered just about everything in the span of several decades. In addition to breaking the Watergate story in the 1970s and writing All The President's Men, he has written a book on the life of Pope John Paul II, and a book about Hillary Clinton. He has written a memoir and a book about John McCain, in addition to several big time magazine pieces for the likes of Time, Vanity Fair and The New Republic.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Thanks for the recognition
Due the the thoughtfulness of four dear friends and colleagues, I was among 10 people honored by our local Archdiocesan newspaper this past week for leadership in business. You can read about it here.
The Catholic Spirit hosted a very nice luncheon for us on Wednesday. With nearly 300 people present, MC Tom Hauser of KSTP-TV, associate publisher Bob Zyskowski and Archbishop John Nienstedt presented the awards, which were given in three categories: large company, small company and non-profit. I was one of three honorees in the small business category.
Dick, who has become a valued friend in the nearly three years we have worked together, and his wife Anne, came up with the idea to put in a nomination for me earlier this summer. They immediately approached Jackie about putting together a nomination. Jackie and I had worked together for more than a dozen years before she spun off her own business venture this spring.
At the same time, unbeknown to this trio, Christina was also putting my name in nomination. Christina has worked with me for about a year on a magazine called Family Foundations. Christina is a former Catholic Spirit reporter, so she was thoroughly familiar with the Leading with Faith awards program.
Both the nominations must have been well-written because I was notified on August 11 that I was among those selected for recognition. Within a couple weeks, Maria Wiering, a Catholic Spirit reporter, came to my office to interview me for an article. Photographer Dianne Towalski took a series of photos. I have been a reporter since my college days and have interviewed hundreds of people; for the first time, I was on the other side of the notebook. I am a bit of a ham, so I have to say I kind of liked it.
Mostly I liked it because of the story I got to tell. I have always been blessed with great employees who seem much more like friends than FTEs. Before the company can make money, everyone in the company has to make a life, and I have always been happy to help my colleagues do that, to the extent that I can. Sure, in 17-plus years of business there has been a small number of folks who didn't work out, but even those employees won my respect and best wishes for future success.
My father taught me most of what I know about entrepreneurism, and I am very grateful to him. Whatever I am in business is due to him. I also need to thank my dear friends in businesses, particularly the folks at Fredrikson and Byron, and Premier Banks, who took the extra step of congratulating me with advertisements in the Catholic Spirit. Wow. And again, thanks to my friends who took the time and made the effort to nominate me. Wow, again.
The brochure distributed at the luncheon included a statement from the U.S. Catholic Bishops' 1986 Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and The U.S. Economy. Here's what is said:
Followers of Christ must avoid a tragic separation between faith and everyday life.
The road to holiness for most of us lies in our secular vocations. We need a spirituality that calls forth and supports lay initiative and witness not just in our churches but also in business, in the labor movement, in the professions, in education, and in public life.
Our faith is not just a weekend obligation, a mystery to be celebrated around the altar on Sunday. It is a pervasive reality to be practiced every day in homes, offices, factories, schools, and businesses across our land.
We cannot separate what we believe from how we act in the marketplace and the broader community for this is where we make our primary contribution to the pursuit of economic justice.
I'd like to think that's a fundamental philosophy at our company. I am going to hang that statement on my wall in my office.
The Catholic Spirit hosted a very nice luncheon for us on Wednesday. With nearly 300 people present, MC Tom Hauser of KSTP-TV, associate publisher Bob Zyskowski and Archbishop John Nienstedt presented the awards, which were given in three categories: large company, small company and non-profit. I was one of three honorees in the small business category.
Dick, who has become a valued friend in the nearly three years we have worked together, and his wife Anne, came up with the idea to put in a nomination for me earlier this summer. They immediately approached Jackie about putting together a nomination. Jackie and I had worked together for more than a dozen years before she spun off her own business venture this spring.
At the same time, unbeknown to this trio, Christina was also putting my name in nomination. Christina has worked with me for about a year on a magazine called Family Foundations. Christina is a former Catholic Spirit reporter, so she was thoroughly familiar with the Leading with Faith awards program.
Both the nominations must have been well-written because I was notified on August 11 that I was among those selected for recognition. Within a couple weeks, Maria Wiering, a Catholic Spirit reporter, came to my office to interview me for an article. Photographer Dianne Towalski took a series of photos. I have been a reporter since my college days and have interviewed hundreds of people; for the first time, I was on the other side of the notebook. I am a bit of a ham, so I have to say I kind of liked it.
Mostly I liked it because of the story I got to tell. I have always been blessed with great employees who seem much more like friends than FTEs. Before the company can make money, everyone in the company has to make a life, and I have always been happy to help my colleagues do that, to the extent that I can. Sure, in 17-plus years of business there has been a small number of folks who didn't work out, but even those employees won my respect and best wishes for future success.
My father taught me most of what I know about entrepreneurism, and I am very grateful to him. Whatever I am in business is due to him. I also need to thank my dear friends in businesses, particularly the folks at Fredrikson and Byron, and Premier Banks, who took the extra step of congratulating me with advertisements in the Catholic Spirit. Wow. And again, thanks to my friends who took the time and made the effort to nominate me. Wow, again.
The brochure distributed at the luncheon included a statement from the U.S. Catholic Bishops' 1986 Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and The U.S. Economy. Here's what is said:
Followers of Christ must avoid a tragic separation between faith and everyday life.
The road to holiness for most of us lies in our secular vocations. We need a spirituality that calls forth and supports lay initiative and witness not just in our churches but also in business, in the labor movement, in the professions, in education, and in public life.
Our faith is not just a weekend obligation, a mystery to be celebrated around the altar on Sunday. It is a pervasive reality to be practiced every day in homes, offices, factories, schools, and businesses across our land.
We cannot separate what we believe from how we act in the marketplace and the broader community for this is where we make our primary contribution to the pursuit of economic justice.
I'd like to think that's a fundamental philosophy at our company. I am going to hang that statement on my wall in my office.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Challenges articulated by state's economist
I had a chance to listen to Tom Stinson, the economist for the State of Minnesota, address a business group recently about some of the challenges facing our state. In the near term, he said he expects a bleak economy through the end of 2009. He said inflation in the third quarter of 2008 is likely to come in around 8 percent before falling off at the end of the year.
Stinson said the housing market is near the bottom, but “there won’t be any quick pick-up in housing activity.”
What I found particularly interesting, however, were his long-range concerns. The demographics of our state will create serious challenges that no one will be able to ignore. Stinson said demographic trends will result in significant aging of the general population.
While the number of people between the ages of 55 and 69 will increase dramatically by 2015, the number of people between the ages of 15 and 24 will drop significantly. “The number of people entering the workforce will remain flat between now and 2030, while the number of people retiring will skyrocket,” Stinson said.
Health care spending in Minnesota is $3,671 annual per capita, Stinson said. For people ages 55 to 64, that figure averages $6,694, and for people 65 to 74 it increases to $9,017 and for people older than 75, the figure is $9,914. These expenses, Stinson noted, will be supported by a smaller workforce. “Aging of baby boomers will result in huge increases in resources going into health care,” he said.
Stinson also expressed concern about the quality of the state’s workforce, which will have to make up for declining numbers through increased productivity. Stinson said 91 percent of the people in the state’s workforce have a high school degree; current graduation rates, however, are at 85 percent with growing minority groups averaging even lower rates of high school graduation.
“We are not replacing the workforce with people who are as educated as they once were,” Stinson said. “We are not replacing the skill level we already have in the workplace.”
Stinson said the housing market is near the bottom, but “there won’t be any quick pick-up in housing activity.”
What I found particularly interesting, however, were his long-range concerns. The demographics of our state will create serious challenges that no one will be able to ignore. Stinson said demographic trends will result in significant aging of the general population.
While the number of people between the ages of 55 and 69 will increase dramatically by 2015, the number of people between the ages of 15 and 24 will drop significantly. “The number of people entering the workforce will remain flat between now and 2030, while the number of people retiring will skyrocket,” Stinson said.
Health care spending in Minnesota is $3,671 annual per capita, Stinson said. For people ages 55 to 64, that figure averages $6,694, and for people 65 to 74 it increases to $9,017 and for people older than 75, the figure is $9,914. These expenses, Stinson noted, will be supported by a smaller workforce. “Aging of baby boomers will result in huge increases in resources going into health care,” he said.
Stinson also expressed concern about the quality of the state’s workforce, which will have to make up for declining numbers through increased productivity. Stinson said 91 percent of the people in the state’s workforce have a high school degree; current graduation rates, however, are at 85 percent with growing minority groups averaging even lower rates of high school graduation.
“We are not replacing the workforce with people who are as educated as they once were,” Stinson said. “We are not replacing the skill level we already have in the workplace.”
Friday, August 15, 2008
The Chesterton Academy
The Catholic Spirit has written a nice article about The Chesterton Academy, which is set to open in less than three weeks. Here's the link. Thanks.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Recession?
Are we in recession? Yes and no.
That’s the answer offered by Wells Fargo economist Michael Swanson. He was speaking to a business group on June 17 in Rochester.
Swanson said the answer to the recession question is a matter of perspective. “A recession is two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction, and it doesn’t look as if we are going to have that,” Swanson explained. “But are we in a recession when it comes to real estate? Absolutely. … In the economy today, we are definitely going through a very tough spot for a lot of sectors but at the same time we are barely eking out growth in the economy.
“Debt markets and housing are holding back the economy,” Swanson said. “But there are some things that are going fantastically well. If you are in the energy exploration or extraction business; the mining business, or agriculture right now, you have fantastic results in front of you. It has been staggering the amount of export growth some of the companies have had.”
Swanson said the outlook for the remainder of the year is “very weak.” Growth will be driven primarily by trade expansion due to growing global demand and a weak dollar.
Although unemployment is at about 5.5 percent, Swanson described payroll numbers as good. He said as long as people hold onto their jobs, they should be able to repay their debts. And compensation, although it may not keep pace with inflation, is growing.
Inflation is running at 3 percent to 3.5 percent. Swanson said the Federal Reserve is confident about “tamping that back down to 2 percent or lower” but he said most economists think inflation will be higher than that.
“Interest rates are going to start to rise at the end of 2008 or early in 2009,” he said, “but they certainly are not going to be high interest rates.” The low rates will keep the dollar weak for three to seven years, Swanson predicted.
Long-term, Swanson was bullish on the American economy, referencing a Congressional Budget Office study which predicted per capita income, which is at $39,000 annually today, will increase three-fold over the next 50 years due to extraordinary gains in productivity.
That’s the answer offered by Wells Fargo economist Michael Swanson. He was speaking to a business group on June 17 in Rochester.
Swanson said the answer to the recession question is a matter of perspective. “A recession is two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction, and it doesn’t look as if we are going to have that,” Swanson explained. “But are we in a recession when it comes to real estate? Absolutely. … In the economy today, we are definitely going through a very tough spot for a lot of sectors but at the same time we are barely eking out growth in the economy.
“Debt markets and housing are holding back the economy,” Swanson said. “But there are some things that are going fantastically well. If you are in the energy exploration or extraction business; the mining business, or agriculture right now, you have fantastic results in front of you. It has been staggering the amount of export growth some of the companies have had.”
Swanson said the outlook for the remainder of the year is “very weak.” Growth will be driven primarily by trade expansion due to growing global demand and a weak dollar.
Although unemployment is at about 5.5 percent, Swanson described payroll numbers as good. He said as long as people hold onto their jobs, they should be able to repay their debts. And compensation, although it may not keep pace with inflation, is growing.
Inflation is running at 3 percent to 3.5 percent. Swanson said the Federal Reserve is confident about “tamping that back down to 2 percent or lower” but he said most economists think inflation will be higher than that.
“Interest rates are going to start to rise at the end of 2008 or early in 2009,” he said, “but they certainly are not going to be high interest rates.” The low rates will keep the dollar weak for three to seven years, Swanson predicted.
Long-term, Swanson was bullish on the American economy, referencing a Congressional Budget Office study which predicted per capita income, which is at $39,000 annually today, will increase three-fold over the next 50 years due to extraordinary gains in productivity.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Stein on 'Expelled'
I posted earlier about the movie Expelled. Well, two weeks ago, Ben Stein was in Rochester, Minn., speaking at a meeting I was covering. I had a chance to ask him about the movie. Here is what he said:
Expelled is a movie about a serious issue of academic suppression. Every person in this room, including yours truly, would agree that Darwin’s theory of evolution explains a huge amount about how speicies evolved. It doesn’t answer some of the very basic questions such as where did gravity come from? Where did thermo dynamics come from? Where did life originate?
Darwin himself said these are questions beyond my ability to figure out. For me to try to figure them out would be like a dog trying to figure out a law of physics. In fact, Darwin said, the way I see it, some of existence was designed and some happened by accident.
But in today’s modern campus setting, you are not allowed to say that. You are not even allowed to say what Darwin said. You have to say it is all accident, random mutation and natural selection. If you say, "Look, can we go back to where Darwin started?" and ask the question on that basis, you get ostracized and lose your job.
We think that is a serious abrogation of the laws of freedom of speech in this country and we’re concerned about it and that’s why we made the movie.
Expelled is a movie about a serious issue of academic suppression. Every person in this room, including yours truly, would agree that Darwin’s theory of evolution explains a huge amount about how speicies evolved. It doesn’t answer some of the very basic questions such as where did gravity come from? Where did thermo dynamics come from? Where did life originate?
Darwin himself said these are questions beyond my ability to figure out. For me to try to figure them out would be like a dog trying to figure out a law of physics. In fact, Darwin said, the way I see it, some of existence was designed and some happened by accident.
But in today’s modern campus setting, you are not allowed to say that. You are not even allowed to say what Darwin said. You have to say it is all accident, random mutation and natural selection. If you say, "Look, can we go back to where Darwin started?" and ask the question on that basis, you get ostracized and lose your job.
We think that is a serious abrogation of the laws of freedom of speech in this country and we’re concerned about it and that’s why we made the movie.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Urban Adventure
It was raining at 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, when we started our urban adventure by walking four blocks to a bus stop. There were 16 of us in the group, and only two umbrellas between us. Needless to say, we hustled; thank goodness for the shelter at the bus stop.
A friend and I chaperoned 14 eighth and ninth grade girls. It was an end-of-school-year gathering organized chiefly by my own eighth grader. She asked for my help with the planning; I figured that since most of the kids live in the suburbs, they may not have had a chance to ride a city bus or the light rail train; they may not be comfortable navigating the streets and skyways of downtown Minneapolis. Let’s plan an urban adventure, I thought, and make sure the kids get these experiences.
Rain wasn’t the best way to start the trip, and the moist weather fogged up the windows on the bus, so we missed most of the urban scenery on the way into downtown. But once we got into a building and up to the second floor, the skyway system kept us dry and gave us a great view. We snaked our way from Hennepin Avenue to City Hall. I led the group, with my buddy John at the rear, making sure the girls we between us. It was crowded on the skyway at about 11:45, and there were a lot of distractions, but we stuck together and made it just fine. I think the highlight was the tunnel from the Hennepin County Government Center to City Hall, where you get to see an impressive display of falling water from below street level.
Twice each month, the Mayor of Minneapolis sets aside an hour in the middle of the day to visit with anyone who wants to come in. He calls it an open house. I had called the Mayor’s office only the previous Thursday, wondering if there was any chance we could see him the following Wednesday. It would be a long shot to get on his schedule with such short notice, but I figured I would give it a try. And boy, did I get lucky. Open house was scheduled for that day!
We visited with Mayor R.T. Rybak for about 15 minutes. I was so proud of the girls, who greeted the Mayor politely, listened attentively, and asked intelligent questions. For more on the meeting, see my other blog at www.GEOprincipleBlog.com.
It was still raining after the mid-day meeting, so we went back to the Hennepin County Government Center and ate our bag lunches in the massive atrium. It was a beautiful setting, with the fountain and reflection pool, as well as the twin towers which rise 20-plus floors, forming an “H”, which is the logo for Hennepin County.
After lunch, we took the light rail train to the Mall of America. There is a stop right in front of City Hall, and a ticket is only $1.50. The ride is smooth and this time, unlike the bus ride, we could see out the windows. The views through the city, along Ft. Snelling, and around the airport, are interesting. The city is teaming with so much life. Once we reached the end of the line at the Mall of America, the girls shopped for about an hour before getting a snack at Orange Julius and car-pooling back to my house. My wife and a friend met us at the mall with their vans to provide the rides.
As these girls advance through high school and college, my hope for them is that they will get the opportunity to travel and see places such as New York City, Washington, D.C., maybe even London or Paris. My hope is that this little trip into Minneapolis served as a decent primer. In order to understand the world, I think it is good to travel to someplace you haven’t been before, someplace outside your normal routine and outside your comfort zone. It’s a big world and God gave the whole thing to us. Let us never stop exploring.
A friend and I chaperoned 14 eighth and ninth grade girls. It was an end-of-school-year gathering organized chiefly by my own eighth grader. She asked for my help with the planning; I figured that since most of the kids live in the suburbs, they may not have had a chance to ride a city bus or the light rail train; they may not be comfortable navigating the streets and skyways of downtown Minneapolis. Let’s plan an urban adventure, I thought, and make sure the kids get these experiences.
Rain wasn’t the best way to start the trip, and the moist weather fogged up the windows on the bus, so we missed most of the urban scenery on the way into downtown. But once we got into a building and up to the second floor, the skyway system kept us dry and gave us a great view. We snaked our way from Hennepin Avenue to City Hall. I led the group, with my buddy John at the rear, making sure the girls we between us. It was crowded on the skyway at about 11:45, and there were a lot of distractions, but we stuck together and made it just fine. I think the highlight was the tunnel from the Hennepin County Government Center to City Hall, where you get to see an impressive display of falling water from below street level.
Twice each month, the Mayor of Minneapolis sets aside an hour in the middle of the day to visit with anyone who wants to come in. He calls it an open house. I had called the Mayor’s office only the previous Thursday, wondering if there was any chance we could see him the following Wednesday. It would be a long shot to get on his schedule with such short notice, but I figured I would give it a try. And boy, did I get lucky. Open house was scheduled for that day!
We visited with Mayor R.T. Rybak for about 15 minutes. I was so proud of the girls, who greeted the Mayor politely, listened attentively, and asked intelligent questions. For more on the meeting, see my other blog at www.GEOprincipleBlog.com.
It was still raining after the mid-day meeting, so we went back to the Hennepin County Government Center and ate our bag lunches in the massive atrium. It was a beautiful setting, with the fountain and reflection pool, as well as the twin towers which rise 20-plus floors, forming an “H”, which is the logo for Hennepin County.
After lunch, we took the light rail train to the Mall of America. There is a stop right in front of City Hall, and a ticket is only $1.50. The ride is smooth and this time, unlike the bus ride, we could see out the windows. The views through the city, along Ft. Snelling, and around the airport, are interesting. The city is teaming with so much life. Once we reached the end of the line at the Mall of America, the girls shopped for about an hour before getting a snack at Orange Julius and car-pooling back to my house. My wife and a friend met us at the mall with their vans to provide the rides.
As these girls advance through high school and college, my hope for them is that they will get the opportunity to travel and see places such as New York City, Washington, D.C., maybe even London or Paris. My hope is that this little trip into Minneapolis served as a decent primer. In order to understand the world, I think it is good to travel to someplace you haven’t been before, someplace outside your normal routine and outside your comfort zone. It’s a big world and God gave the whole thing to us. Let us never stop exploring.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Paid by the word?
The freelancers at my college newspapers used to get paid by the inch. The pay was something like 50 cents an inch, so a typical feature that went 30 column inches was good for $15 -- which was pretty good pay for a college kid way back in the early 1980s.
Staff writers, on the other hand, got paid a (modest) weekly salary. We were expected to write at least two stories a week, although sometimes it was more if there was big news on our beat. The length of the story was a consideration only to the extent that space was limited in the newspaper.
I left college thinking the freelance gig was better. I never had a problem generating more words; clearly I would do better getting paid according to volume.
As I have been in journalism for more than 30 years now, I understand that it's not about the number of words; it's about what those words say. Give me a well-written short story any day over a long-winded story that doesn't say much. I also now know that it is much more difficult to write a solid short article than it is to write a long one.
Well, the internet appears to be turning all that around. I had to laugh at this essay about a newspaper that is actually judging the productivity of its journalists according to the number of words they write. It's a newspaper where words are apparently viewed like widgets produced at the factory. Newspapers have got enough problems these days trying to figure out how to stay relevant. If this is any indication of their thinking, newspapers are surely doomed.
Staff writers, on the other hand, got paid a (modest) weekly salary. We were expected to write at least two stories a week, although sometimes it was more if there was big news on our beat. The length of the story was a consideration only to the extent that space was limited in the newspaper.
I left college thinking the freelance gig was better. I never had a problem generating more words; clearly I would do better getting paid according to volume.
As I have been in journalism for more than 30 years now, I understand that it's not about the number of words; it's about what those words say. Give me a well-written short story any day over a long-winded story that doesn't say much. I also now know that it is much more difficult to write a solid short article than it is to write a long one.
Well, the internet appears to be turning all that around. I had to laugh at this essay about a newspaper that is actually judging the productivity of its journalists according to the number of words they write. It's a newspaper where words are apparently viewed like widgets produced at the factory. Newspapers have got enough problems these days trying to figure out how to stay relevant. If this is any indication of their thinking, newspapers are surely doomed.
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