Posted by: Byron_Marsales
on Jan 31, 2012
Last year was another ho-hum year for the economy. That was a sour reality for many businesses and industries. But we did end 2011 with some good news on fronts that affect many of us – news that suggest better days lie ahead.
Posted by: Byron_Marsales
on Dec 22, 2011
Jingle Bells. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Joy to the World. These are some of the sounds that evoke images of a delightful holiday season. But to many people this is a crazy time of year. Traffic can be a nightmare. All the shopping and shipping and cards take time. Parties are certainly fun, but schedules get stretched and logistics become more challenging. And all that food and drink is grand, but there are aftereffects the next day or weeks later that we have to live with. Those are everyday issues.
Posted by: Byron_Marsales
on Nov 22, 2011
It appears we have made it completely through a very worthwhile remembrance of 9-11. It seems every trade pub. in the industry had a cover story on the 10-year anniversary, but we’ve rounded the corner and now we’re seeing other important topics such as the Security 500 take the spotlight. Few other industries were affected by the events of that day as much as our industry, and we’ve come a long way since.
Posted by: Byron_Marsales
on Oct 25, 2011
Saturday was a historical day for Joe Paterno and Penn State University. In reaching 408 wins, he tied the record held by Eddie Robinson for the most wins by a coach in Div. 1 college football. Just a day before Penn State took the field against Northwestern, however, the university almost made history for another reason. A threat by an angry former student picked up on Twitter led to the closure of the Beaver, PA campus. No one was hurt and the villain was arrested, but it reminds us that our nation’s youth at our universities remain at risk. And unlike the quarterback on game day, there is no offensive line to protect them. No 1500 pounds of “access control.”
Posted by: Byron_Marsales
on Sep 21, 2011
10 years and 10 days ago, 9/11 became a landmark date in our country’s history. For very bad reasons. As we approached the recent anniversary, there was some anticipation that terrorists would strike again. Defenses and alerts were high in many places. As we all know now, nothing happened, and we’re all glad about that. So we can relax now, right?
Posted by: Byron_Marsales
on Aug 31, 2011
Just before our son started middle school this month, my wife and I sat down with him to talk about several things he’d encounter in his new school that were different from his elementary days and one of the topics we covered was bullying. I’ve heard and read some terrible accounts of bullying and we wanted him to be wary. I was happy to see last night at the Back-to-School Night that the principal stressed safety was paramount (all schools say that these days, I think) and that bullying would not be tolerated.
Posted by: Byron_Marsales
on Jul 29, 2011
There are signs of continued economic recovery in our nation – some companies are reporting strong results. And there are signs of continued weakness or reversal – consumer spending in Q2 was up only 0.1%, the slowest growth since the end of 2009. There is plenty written about the poor economy and most every business is feeling it in some way. And now we have the debt ceiling crises looming to possibly shake us up and slow us down some more. These last 2 years have been particularly tough for those in commercial real estate and no one there wants to see the lag continue.
Posted by: Byron_Marsales
on May 18, 2011
Osama bin Laden has been taken off the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list due to death. That’s good news but it remains to be seen what impact this may have on international terrorism. I am hopeful. One of the interesting side stories of this landmark event was the photo of President Obama and his staff in the Situation Room at the White House. It depicts a room of leaders all intently focused on something outside of the view of the camera. Most now know what they were watching were live video feeds of the raid on bin Laden’s compound.
Posted by: Byron_Marsales
on Apr 27, 2011
There have been a lot of stories lately about dozing air traffic controllers. I think it’s the case that the number of incidents has risen vs. there’s just more reporting of typical occurrences. Given the safety issues that would affect people in the planes and on the ground, it’s clear why this is an area of concern. Apparently our southern border with Mexico is a bit more sleepy than it used to be. More than “a bit” in some areas: near Yuma, AZ, border crossings declined by 95% in the five years ending in 2010, from over 130,000 to just over 7,100. That is awesome progress, but this has led to sleeping border agents, which can create not just regional but national security issues.
Posted by: Byron_Marsales
on Mar 30, 2011
I have been an off-and-on runner for much of my adult life. For me, it’s been an easy and good form of exercise. And at times, it can be a social event too. I’ll get together with some college buddies and we’ll go running. Or maybe I’ll run a 5k with a friend or a relay with a group of friends...this brings us together for training or at least on race day. For this reason, when ISC West introduced the Security 5K last year, I took notice. Sadly, I was not going to ISC West, even though our company consistently takes part. This year, I see the event is back and it appears bigger and better.
