In the Background

The Quiet Charisma of Competence

A touching note from Cultural Offering on thoughts sparked by a man's retirement and the significance of a career marked by character and fine work.

In the Batter's Box

George Will has some baseball trivia questions that may stump even the most fervent fan.

First Paragraph

"Robespierre Pravdin, pale as death, pushes out with the primitively long, badly set thumb of a Cro-Magnon (was he Homo Economicus in some previous incarnation?) the cardboard drawer and salutes the bits of wood lined up like cotton-tipped cartridges in an ammunition box."

- From Mother Russia by Robert Littell

Thanks

Many thanks to The Sovereign Professional for the links.

I should note that I bought a briefcase from Buffalo Jackson after seeing it featured on his excellent blog. It has been a hit.

Power Tips

The Sovereign Professional has a collection of valuable power tips.


[Photo by Javier Reyes at Unsplash]

Jeff Bezos and Meetings Begun with Memos

"In a letter to shareholders, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos reveals that company execs “don’t do PowerPoint” or any other slide-oriented presentations. Instead, “Amazonians” create six-page narrative memos that are read at the beginning of each meeting—kind of like a “study hall” session, he says."

Any executive who is skeptical of PowerPoint has earned points with me.

Quick Look

The trailer for "The Siege of Jadotville."

A Reversal of Memory Loss?

FutureLawyer has the details. 

As time goes by, my interest in the subject increases.

First Paragraph

Mr Tench went out to look for his ether cylinder, into the blazing Mexican sun and the bleaching dust. A few vultures looked down from the roof with shabby indifference: he wasn't carrion yet. A faint feeling of rebellion stirred in Mr Tench's heart, and he wrenched up a piece of the road with splintering finger-nails and tossed it feebly towards them. One rose and flapped across the town: over the tiny plaza, over the bust of an ex-president, ex-general, ex-human being, over the two stalls which sold mineral water, towards the river and the sea. It wouldn't find anything there: the sharks looked after the carrion on that side. Mr Tench went on across the plaza.

- From The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene