Gastonia, NC Correspondent-The tremendous idiocy and cruelty of separating parents and children at the border has got to stop permanently. The statement that “the law” required the separation was an outright lie, and the outrage didn’t stop until public opinion created a tidal wave of protest and outrage, even among the president’s own party. Continue reading
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Will Californians succeed in dividing the current state into three separate states?
Owatonna, NC Correspondent-A ballot referendum in California this fall will decide if Californians will be able to petition the Federal government to split the state into three separate states: (new) California, Northern California, and Southern California. Polls show that a large majority of California voters oppose the referendum (an April 2018 poll by SurveyUSA.com showed that 72% are opposed). Even if the referendum miraculously passes, I strongly doubt the Feds will allow California to split itself into three smaller states.
How can we solve the growing labor shortages and get foreign workers into US jobs where they are needed?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent-There are tens of thousands of businesses across the U.S. hanging out help wanted signs for technical and professional jobs that are going unfilled. We simply don’t have the talent base in our native workforce to fill them all, and it will be decades before we’ve got enough workers trained to meet the need…by which time the opportunity will be gone. Continue reading
The Supreme Court recently upheld President Trump’s travel ban on people from primarily Muslim countries. Will this encourage Trump and future presidents to become more autocratic?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent-Until recent decades, the Supreme Court upholding an executive order (EO) issued by the President wouldn’t be particularly noteworthy. Challenging EOs is a normal, healthy component of this country’s system of checks and balances used to ensure none of the three branches of government acquires too much power. But now that politics has become the overriding factor in choosing Supreme Court justices, this decision is troublesome for several reasons. Continue reading
Will President Trump’s “tariff wars” be a net positive or negative for the US economy?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent-I’d love to say I’ve got President Trump figured out, but he continues to confound me. He made more progress in Korea than the last several presidents with basically one meeting, but then took to Twitter and managed to alienate half the leaders in Europe with his Insane President Cheeto routine in the wee hours. Continue reading
Will the rise of student activism after the Parkland, Florida school shooting help reduce mass shootings?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent-Ah, the idealism of youth! I sometimes long for the days when I truly believed that walking out of class, painting signs and marching while singing protest songs could actually bring about change. Sadly, I have lived a half-century now and realize that our government has been completely bought and paid for by special interests, chief among them the gun lobby. Even the merest suggestion that private citizens might not need to defend themselves or go hunting with weapons designed to kill humans by the score is met with Constitution-shaking outrage and the threat of dried-up donations. Continue reading
Thinking Outside the Boxe Releases Transcript of Q&A Session from Independence Day 2018 Champagne Summit
Myrtle Beach, SC, Orlando, FL and Washington, D.C. July 31, 2018—Thinking Outside the Boxe has released the transcripts of the question and answer session from its Independence Day Champagne Summit held in Orlando on July 4, 2018. Participants in the annual Champagne Summit question and answer session included Thinking Outside the Boxe’s correspondents from Gastonia, North Carolina, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Owatonna, Minnesota. Digger Cartwright, internationally acclaimed award-winning mystery novelist, also participated in the question and answer session.
Thinking Outside the Boxe’s Champagne Summit provides an opportunity for business leaders, economists, political commentators, and individuals interested in nonpartisan examination of current events to gather for an afternoon of debate and roundtable discussions on a variety of topics. This year’s event featured topics such as pollution and the environment, geopolitics such as the US/North Korea summit, gun control, tariffs, taxes and economic policy, the US Supreme Court, privacy concerns and Big Data, technology, and more.
The transcript is available at www.ThinkingOutsideTheBoxe.com. Transcripts of Mr. Cartwright’s responses have not been released by his office as yet.
About Thinking Outside the Boxe—Thinking Outside the Boxe is a private, nonpartisan think tank that is dedicated to providing a wide variety of perspectives on issues that are of interest to the general public. The views that are expressed in Thinking Outside the Boxe’s commentaries and research are often times uncommon, provocative, and controversial. Thinking Outside the Boxe’s mission is to formulate and promote positions and to provide research, independently, that would otherwise be deprived of an outlet in the mainstream media. Thinking Outside the Boxe’s commentators and researchers seek to broaden the parameters of public knowledge by addressing issues in such a fashion as to provoke thought and debate on some of the most pressing issues of our day.
Thinking Outside the Boxe’s Champagne Summit series began as a side event to the annual symposium held in December each year. Increased interest in these events by participants and guests led Thinking Outside the Boxe to include an Independence Day Champagne Summit and an Election Day Champagne Summit (every two years) in addition to the annual symposium.
Press Contact:
Website: www.ThinkingOutsideTheBoxe.com
Twitter: @ThinkOutOfBoxe
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ThinkingOutsideTheBoxe
Blog: www.ThinkingOutsideTheBoxe.us
Daily News Briefing: www.thinkingoutsidetheboxe.org
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What can be done about reducing the amount of plastic trash from numerous sources that are seriously threatening the oceans?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent-Plastic is ubiquitous in modern daily life because of its light weight, malleability, and versatility in making hundreds of different products from straws to containers to automobile parts to siding for houses. It’s generally accepted plastic has been positive for the world in many ways. But the downside of this wonder material is its slow decomposition rate due to the fact that plastic is composed of large molecules. Continue reading
The 12th Annual Robert M. Clinger III Invitational Golf Tournament at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, February 26, 2018—The Executive Committee of the Robert M. Clinger III Invitational Golf Tournament released the results of the 12th annual tournament contested on Monday, February 19, 2018 at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. After a tournament-high temperature of 75 degrees and plenty of sunshine in 2017, the weather returned to tournament conditions in 2018 with plenty of rain and a high of only 60 degrees. Though the rain was contrary to all weather forecasts for the day, it did not deter the field of sixty-three competitors.
The tournament record 61 (-11) set in 2017 was matched at this year’s Invitational by the new champions O’Neil McCoy, Preston Brittain, Edward Benton, and Tyler Servant. The second place team consisting of Rich Abraham, Chris Abraham, Rich O’Brian and Patrick O’Brian carded a 63 (-9). The third place team, finishing at 66 (-6), consisted of Dunes Club Head Professional Dennis Nicholl, Paul Weddle, Erick Ficken, and David Gravely.
More information regarding the Invitational can be found on the tournament website, http://www.ClingerInvitational.com.
About Mr. Clinger—Robert M. Clinger III is the founder of Highland Global Business Valuations, a strategic advisory and business valuation consultancy, and Thinking Outside the Boxe, an independent think tank. He has strong experience in the fields of business valuation, financial analysis, and mergers and acquisitions of privately-held enterprises. Mr. Clinger earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Finance, summa cum laude, from Coastal Carolina University and received the distinguished President’s award. Mr. Clinger has also earned the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) designation from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA), the Certified Business Appraiser (CBA) designation from the Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA), and the Licensed International Financial Analyst (LIFA) for the International Research Association.
About The Dunes Golf & Beach Club—The Dunes Golf & Beach Club is a private golf club built in 1948. It is recognized as one of Robert Trent Jones’ finest designs. Since its inception, it has proved to be a world class course, offering the best in golf and member services. The course has a rating of 75.7 and a slope rating of 144. Each hole has its own descriptive name to give golfers an idea of what to expect before they tee off. “Waterloo”, hole 13, is the signature hole of the Dunes Club. “Waterloo” has received many accolades and awards as one of the greatest golf holes in the world.
Press Contact:
The Robert M. Clinger III Invitational Executive Committee
http://www.ClingerInvitational.com
Is “net neutrality” a boon or a curse for American consumers?
Cartwright-I’m not worried about it. There is plenty of competition in the market and if it becomes a problem more competitors will spring up. The cost of switching from one provider to another is relatively low, so if your current provider starts charging you for access to Google you’ll probably find a provider who doesn’t. If all the providers get on the same page, some new competitor will pop up with no fees or charges. Take a look at what happened in the cell phone industry and the effects of competition. Most providers used to give you so many minutes and then charge for extra and charge for text service, etc. T-Mobile came along and disrupted the industry by offering an unlimited plan. Who won out? In my opinion, the consumers did.
Gastonia, NC Correspondent-There has been no end of brouhaha and hand wringing over the end of “Net Neutrality” promised by recent changes in federal law. The circuit board-loving set would have us believe that soon we’ll be beset by fees and hidden charges for using everything from Google to Netflix to Facebook depending on which service provider we have. What they miss is that the internet is the Great Democratizer, which has brought the mighty low since the day the first email was sent. Continue reading
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