I moved this site to a new server and “thought” I’d done everything correctly. Apparently not – all the links to other pages and posts stopped working.

“Please Stand By…”

Sponge

NPR – I am disappointed in you!

Oscar Night, March 7th. I don’t usually watch the Oscars but there was (is) a rumor that folks from one of my absolutely favorite radio shows, “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me” would be doing some sort of live coverage of the Oscars beginning at 7:30. This was (is) guaranteed to be a hoot.

IF you can find it. Whatever it is. Apparently they didn’t hesitate to not tell me.

Is it “live” radio? Is it live radio on MY local public radio station? Is it a podcast… streaming audio… streaming video maybe?

Almost 8:00 and I still don’t know WHAT it is, and I still don’t know WHERE it is.

So far all I’ve found is a “live-blog” by Linda Holmes. What’s a “live blog”, you might very well ask. Apparently it’s an annoyingly-embedded comment feed with no discernible difference to Twitter and it’s hogging my bandwidth and clogging my browser. Not to mention what it’s doing to my last thread of patience.

8:05 and I finally find the “live” coverage by the witty & friendly folks at Wait Wait. And what is their “live” coverage? A snails’ pace slideshow of still pics accompanied by friendly & witty captions.

Don’t get me wrong – I like the captions added to the pictures.

But let’s get back to the journalistic basics, my friends – the Who, What, Where, When ought to be in the headline. (We won’t bother with Why. It’s the Oscars, and there’s not a good Why that I can think of.)

A word to the wise, NPR – if you’re gonna go all high-tech & social on my butt, don’t begin with Oscar night. And if you’ve actually done this before and STILL managed to perform this poorly, don’t do it again… OK?

LANGUAGE WARNING: This video is not for minors or those with otherwise sensitive ears. So don’t come complaining to me if you watch it and get offended, OK? Consider yourself notified.

Credits: I found this video by Markham Nolan on YouTube. His website is www.expad.ie.

This minute I am watching & listening to the interview between Charlie Rose and Jeffrey Immelt, the Chairman & CEO of GE (General Electric) on my local PBS station.

GE is one of the few big American technology companies that have survived. Mr. Immelt has some very piquant points to make.

He is continually pointing out the importance of keeping the WORKFORCE competitive. To paraphrase, American companies certainly “have” made some mistakes when it comes to outsourcing the wrong things… not supporting the training and education resources American companies need in order to be competitive in the global market… thinking of our American companies as somehow different from those abroad.

GE and similar companies who are primary source providers of aerospace and other high-tech products need to make sure their workforce is well-educated and well-trained. That’s what our competitors are doing – why aren’t we?

Why aren’t we considering our own American people – our parents, husbands and wives, our sons and daughters -  as assets to be treated as such!

We must turn around the attitude of American business owners, boards, investors, and – yes – the employees themselves. We must deal with the fact that to be competitive in a global market – and to keep our successful employers & employees alive – we all need to think and work smarter.

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Immelt’s comments on how GE has remained not just viable, but successful.  Obviously, don’t let our local, state, and federal governments cut back on funding for technical colleges and universities. For me in the WNC area, that means Asheville-Buncombe Technical CC, Blue Ridge Community College, and the University of NC Asheville. Industrial companies should also invest in in-house employee training programs – for example, such as those provided by Topaz, a professional hi-tech training development company in my area.

It isn’t a nebulous problem, people. Actually measuring the Return On Investment in people and education is a piece of cake compared to most of the metrics I wrangle with on a daily basis as an internet marketer.

But listen up – as employees, we “also” have to invest our time, effort and ambitions in our own education and training. If we want American business to survive, everyone – from top to bottom – has to be invested in the process. Success is success – you win, I win, they win, we all win.

-Sponge