I was watching two guys digging a hole to locate a pipe in my yard this morning. They were tossing the dirt out of the hole and directly onto the ground beside it. They went four feet down and dug a hole that was about 8 feet long by three feet across. Then, one of them found a pipe…and the elbow joining it to the pipe they really wanted to find. Anyone want to guess where the new pipe was? Under that massive pile of dirt. This brings me to a great business principle:

Don’t move the same dirt twice.

When you start a new task, take some time to plan things out so you can do the job right the first time. You don’t want to find that you’ve gone in the wrong direction and will have to re-do hours of work. I’m sure the guys in my side yard are wishing they would have tossed their dirt into a few wheelbarrows right about now. Then, they could have just dumped those wheelbarrows back into the old hole instead of slowly shoveling it back in.

If you’ve never taken the time to check out your local library, you may be really missing out. Most public libraries have a business librarian who can answer business related questions and has contacts in the business world. Even if your library system doesn’t have a librarian who is dedicated to business, you can find a selection of popular business books and business databases. While you can find the latest bestsellers, don’t forget to check the shelves for must read classics like Think and Grow Rich.

However, most libraries don’t stop there. Your library may also offer business workshops and networking opportunities. Our local library system even has a librarian who specializes in consulting with small business owners and people who want to start a business. She has helped over a dozen people start their own businesses in the last year.

So, the next time you have a business related question, pick up the phone and contact your local business librarian. If you’re afraid your question is too simple, don’t be. The librarian’s creed is “There is no such thing is a stupid question.”

Have you used your local library as a business resource? I’d love to hear if your business librarian is as useful and helpful as the librarians I’ve contacted.

After the celebrated resignation of former World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz who will be stepping down by June 30 due to his involvement in creating a compensation package for girlfriend Shaha Riza, US President Bush will be naming Robert Zoellick as his successor. His selection of Zoellick is expected to be approved by the World Bank’s 24 member board soon.

Zoellick is a logical choice, owing to the fact that has garnered the moniker of establishing contacts in most parts of the world as President Bush’ trade chief. Considering the situation that the World Bank is in right now, Zoellick has his work cut out for him.

But basing it on Zoellick’s credentials, he seems to be fit for the job. With his experience in building stronger ties and relations from all parts of the world, his designation is expected to be formalized soon so that the World Bank can get back on the right track.

[tags]world bank, president bush, robert zoellick, shaha riza, paul wolfowitz[/tags]

With nothing but war and combat on their minds, it is only fitting that the US soldiers should be looked after with care especially on the mental aspect of things. It is not surprising to note that most of the soldiers are being attacked mentally as well, seeing nothing but blood and mass destruction in their war plagued countries to which they were assigned.

Barack Obama has observed such a breach in the efforts to uphold the overall well-being of these soldiers and has vouched for such aid in an effort to help the US troops to enjoy some mental benefits rather than spending them on ammunition and other necessary things in line with the impending war in Iraq and Baghdad.

“We cannot expect our young men and women to serve in our armed forces, if we are not making sure they get the treatment they deserve,” Barack Obama, Obama: Improve mental health care

After all the disputes that included Congress and the Democratic front, all seems to be a circus of delaying the spending bill for the Iraq war. The bill was finally passed and approved and will be signed by Bush after months of ill-advised finger pointing and bickering that were obviously for no good reason or intent.

A lot of jousting and question were raised and with regards for the hope being wooed by the families of the casualties of war, it seems like a hopeless case. The war will go on and further lives will surely be claimed. It is just so sad since after all the debate done, it seems everything was just a means of delaying tactics and the issue being used as a campaign tool for presidential candidates on the upcoming elections. For Bush, he gets his wish. Hopefully it would be the right one and for the best of the United States.

Iraq has been long in the headlines and to date, the Iraq war policy shall be put under close scrutiny soon and President Bush knows it all too well. Among the expected highlights would be that of placing the blame on Osama Bin Laden for defense of the said policy, something that is perhaps seen to come in automatically to justify the claims.

The Iraq-US war seems to be endless and despite such policies which mostly states offensive strategies and security measures among such, will definitely be storming the headlines in the politics section of most newspapers and publications in the next couple of weeks.

President Bush has solicited the tag of putting the entire issue on a personal level. While many can understand why, the issue of using the US troops as his pawns with nothing relevant to gain has been questioned time and again. At this stage, it will not be surprising if such an address would solicit the same reactions as well.

[tags]iraq, osama bin laden, president busy, iraq policy, us troops[/tags]

7 soldiers including a translator were killed in Baghdad during separate attacks, further adding the death toll count of casualties that have been claimed by the ongoing Iraq war crisis. It seems that whenever anything is associated with Iraq, the returned phrase would either be bombs or killed soldiers. Ironically, most of the soldiers are Americans and this will obviously be another headliner in the news for the American society.

Many steps have been taken to try and remedy the situation but unless the United States group starts to fix its act, the death toll will continue to rise. Internal conflicts of the US government have been the obvious cause for delay of resolving the problem, with President Bush among the key figures that are among the stumbling figures regarding the matter.

Unless they get their act together, more lives will be taken. Hopefully it will all be put to a stop. Considering the squabbling and unstable method of resolving the issue, it is still unlikely to happen at the moment.

[tags]iraq, baghdad, us troops, iraq war [/tags]

The Bush Administration is quite busy these days trying to find a suitable replacement for Paul Wolfowitz who stepped down recently following the discovery of having masterminded a financial compensation package with his alleged girlfriend employee, Shaha Riza.After this news broke out, all hell was set loose. The pressure has been mounting for Wolfowitz and he finally gave in last Thursday, resigning amidst the growing controversy. The problem has now escalated with regards to the actual credibility of the World Bank and this can not only be done through the efforts of a new president to head them.

Whoever the choice may be, President Bush has yet to name one. The person tasked to replace Wolfowitz will certainly have to pass through the eye of the needle to ensure that nothing of the same nature would happen again. Hence Bush will have to endorse someone soon to help try to fight down the fire that may get out of hand.

As many would expect, the additional funding for the Iraq war has been officially voted against by the senate. While this was only expected, it is evident that the people are geared at finding alternative solutions to be able to stop the conflicts of interest governing over Iraq at present.

War spending has been on the tops of the funding itineraries and such is not sitting well with the governing bodies and the United States population as well. Further spending on war related issues is not helping resolve the crisis but is rather making it larger.

To note, is it no purely a security concern. Some say it is becoming personal and based on how Bush has been pushing for it, everything seems to be vindicating itself for a personal vendetta rather than a solution. Many innocent lives have been claimed. It is about time that the government would take on much serious matters such as putting attention on current crisis in the United States regions.
[tags]us funding, iraq, bush, war[/tags]

The US and Iran are planning to hold talks on current issues but are planning to limit it towards the Iraq issue. To this day, this dilemma has not yet been resolved and hopefully Vice President Dick Cheney will have something solid to discuss with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Many would undermine that the resort would be to open new talks. However, they are all centralized on the current security issues surrounding the Iraq issue. While there are various feelers that there may be some sort of resistance on the side of the Bush administration’s stand on the matter, the US is determined to make ends meet and address far more pressing issues rather than the seemingly hopeless case on national security and taking of innocent lives.

With the talks with Iran, the US is aiming to cover some headway in its new approach towards conflicts of interest between the nations involved. Should talks fall through, the approach may be deemed a good way of following a new and peaceful direction towards resolution of standing issues.

[tags]politics, iran, iraq, united states, us troops, national security, terrorism[/tags]