Over-50

Good Bless Social Security

We woke up this morning and smelled the fear. The numbers in our portfolios were look-aways.

The brilliant news guy that he is, Matt Drudge focused on that - extreme economic angst - instead of politics. The headline featured the $945 billion wiped out in tech stocks.

Other content linked to a prediction that the DOW would lose 2,000 points and that a recession was likely.

All that was missing to spread terror throughout the land was the Drudge Report's signature flashing blue light.

After the global economic crash of 2008, any darkness hovering over our portfolios, any signal the housing market is in trouble, or any stupid move on the part of BigBusiness throws earth off its axis. 

This Thanksgiving the talk around the table and the flat screen watching football games will be about the economy. Those loving conspiracies might speculate the recent activity has been engineered by politicos to distract attention from X or Y.

Reflection: I don't think I will putting a new car in my stocking this holiday season. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

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Neil Armstrong's Sons Probably Never Sang for Their Father - "First Man"

History and the outsized characters who made will continually be reinterpreted. 

The U.S. mission to land a man on the moon has been reinterpreted by film director Damien Chazelle. What he gives us is the political agenda to beat the Russians in space, imperfect technology, and the haunted and driven man who pulled that off - Neil Armstrong. 

The film is "First Man." We meet Armstrong when his two-year old daughter Karen is dying of brain tumor. His grief is so profound that it even distracts him from his passion which is flying. His superiors ground him and that professional setback catapults him into applying for the space program. 

His wife Janet notes that it's a fresh start for them. But there are really no fresh starts for Armstrong.

He can't or won't shake the grief. On the moon, he leaves Karen's little beaded bracelet. One also wonders if he was able to nurture relationships after that with Karen's older brother and the boy born later. 

As expected, those in the space program are a close-knit group. All the families socialize. So, when several die on duty Armstrong is overwhelmed. 

Throughout his personal emotional turmoil he holds on to his drive. Despite serious brushes with death, he sticks with the space program. He is his job.

In many ways, though, that represents the typical personality type of the professional men in the mid 20th century. Wives rarely saw their husbands. Children essentially grew up fatherless.

Maybe that's why the 1950s television series "Father Knows Best" was so popular. Jim Anderson was always home for family dinner, emotionally accessible and attentive. That provided a model of family life we Baby Boomers longed for. 

Back then, the Janets in America stuck with their distant husbands. The one portrayed in the film was somewhat more assertive than most. She demanded, for example, that Armstrong share with his sons the possibility that he might not return from his quest to reach the moon. 

At the end of the film, it's clear that there is something left in the marriage. But what is also obvious is that something was sucked out of it on the way to the moon. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

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Thank You, But I Will Pass on Naming Lassie's Puppies

Tone-deaf.

That's the best way to describe the recruitment policies of an established organization dealing with economic development.

I had applied for a contract position rewriting content. Quickly I received a response. I had been selected to create sample content. That would be paid. 

And that was the good part. 

Now for the bad part.

I was explicitly informed that several applicants, including myself, had been chosen to downsize a policy-heavy document. I assume that in addition to word reduction it should be made engaging. The one applicant whom, they judged, was the best writer would be contracted to work with them on a long-term basis. The rest would be throw-backs. 

Insulting?

That's what I thought.

The powers that be at that organization could have simply indicated there was a paid trial assignment. That would have made good business sense.

After I thought about all that and wound up not participating I recalled slaving in my pre-teen days in the contests to name Lassie's puppies. That had been a popular Sunday night series on network television.

Back then the contest was a useful exercise for children to understand the concept of competition. The adults in the family agreed with that and gladly provided the 2-cent stamps to mail the entries.

No, I never did win the prize: 1 of Lassie's puppies. But I salute the producers of "Lassie" for socializing children to the realities beyond the farm where Lassie lived. With my relatives who worked in sophisticated Manhattan I analyzed what my entries might have lacked. The reverse engineering came up with the need for me to be more creative in the choice of names but still remain within the box of warm and fuzzy dogville. 

Now, I am simply puzzled why a reputable organization would lack respect for communications talent. The more enlightened approach is to simply position and package the competitive element as a necessary screening whatever.

Takeaway: Don't continue with a process that treats professionals like children. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

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Network Television Hasn't Changed Much Since When We Watched "Father Knows Best"

Like Megyn Kelly's NBC Sunday evening talk show, Alec Baldwin's ABC one has poor ratings.

Both can't connect with the audience in a talk-show format.

And the selection of their guests seems all wrong.

And, also like Kelly, Baldwin's behavior embarrassed the television.

For Kelly it was the blackface remark on the third section of the "Today" slot. For Baldwin it was the alleged punch thrown over a parking place.

For a while, gawkers watched Baldwin seem to be penalty-free. Kelly's Sunday show was put in limbo. Then, later she was yanked off the air from the "Today" slot. Currently she is negotiating her exit package with NBC.

Now the shoe, at least the first one, has fallen.

The New York Post reports that "The Alec Baldwin Show" has lost its 10:00 P.M. Sunday slot. Beginning November 18th, it will be replaced with reruns of "Shark Tank." Then, on December 8th, it will start up again in a Saturday 10:00 P.M. schedule. 

How long it will last is uncertain. But given its poor ratings and the reputational trouble Baldwin is in he could find that he could be pushed, as was Kelly, into broadcast oblivion. 

Unlike cable television, the television network cannot tolerate controversial behavior of its stars. 

If Baldwin is banished from Network Paradise, will he, also like Kelly, become an Untouchable? Fox isn't having her back. 

Network television hasn't changed much from its early days when on-air personalities had to be squeaky clean. It's an old medium. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

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When Doing Our Best Was Enough

Already damaged in the Brett Kavanaugh chaos has been Yale Everything. 

Yale Law professor Amy Chau aka Tiger Mom has been vilified for allegedly advising female students applying for clerkship with Kavanaugh to look like models. Her brand, once golden, may never recover.

The alleged excessive drinking at Yale College raises questions about the values of all elite institutions of higher learning, not just those at Yale.

And, Kavanaugh is, of course, a product of both Yale undergraduate and law school education.

Is that what we want our young people to evolve into? In the hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the guy seemed lacking in emotional maturity. Maybe his Yale pedigree gave him permission or he assumed it gave him permission not to have to "grow up."

Ranging from Tiger Mom to The Crier, these leaders in our society are symbols of extreme success. That's what the highly anxious youth in America, from the get-go, are told to chase.

That's relatively new. We Baby Boomers, the first generation in America to attend college en masse, were told to do our best. That was viewed to be enough. And, those in loop praised us for doing that best.

If that best produced unusual success we were congratulated, but not fawned over. Life was more real then. Society recognized that being a federal judge or in the C-Suite of the Fortune10 didn't make our journey all sweetness and life. Hahaha, people did actually care about us then. We weren't just valued for what we could add to a professional network.

How can we communicate the message that all that is necessary is for every human being to do his or her best? No, they don't have to, as Kavanaugh hammered, "bust their butt" for top grades.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

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A Beer Will Never Again Be Just a Beer

She said. Then he said.

After a week, the FBI might be able to share with members of the U.S. Senate data and sworn statements which support some of the contentions or defenses. In journalism, we are trained to have at least two sources before going public.

So, right now, we know nothing. The great emotion which has gripped the nation essentially is based on speculation.

The exception might be that it is a safe bet to assume this: No beer company, at least one which values its branding, will make a job offer to Brett Kavanaugh to promote its product. Repeatedly during his sworn statement in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee he praised beer.

However, the tone and content were, well, brittle. The persona was nowhere near a Harrison Ford or David Muir type we love explaining how he enjoys the simple pleasure of a beer. Or, on the female side, the over-90 Betty White kind of phenomenon attributing longevity to X brand of beer. 

Actually, in his seeming belligerence and lawyerly way of not directly answering questions, Kavanaugh might have delivered a setback to how the nation perceives beer-drinking. 

Likely ad agencies are already factoring that in for their clients' SuperBowl ads.

Full Disclosure: I had been a barmaid on Calle de San Francisco in Barcelona, Spain. Human beings connect with the label on their drink.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes paid sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

Yes, There Was a Time When Life Was Bigger, Wider than a Career Path

In 1983, the beginning of the yuppie ethos, the movie "The Big Chill" explored that new world through the suicide meme.

Former college friends take time from their professional preoccupations to bear witness to the one of them who offed himself. At the time, the formula worked. The message, at least as I got it, was: Life is bigger and wider than the career path. 

This evening, on ABC, the new series "A Million Little Things" leverages the same prop - a suicide. But, this time around it misses the mark.

The three 30-something friends, are too far gone emotionally to pull anything out of the suicide by their supposed best buddy Jonathan. Not this evening. And probably not for the rest of the season.

Also, given that they are so locked into themselves, it's no surprise that they never picked up on Jonathan's internal stress.

In addition, they are clueless that one of them - Eddie - has been having an affair with the deceased's wife. It's possible Jonathan knew about that. Since his administrative assistant Ashley is keeping his suicide note secret, we actually know little what was going on internally and externally which pushed him over the guardrail on the balcony.

Meanwhile Rome, a commercial producer, was orchestrating his own suicide through pills when the call came in about Jonathan's suicide. The note had been written. A handful of pills were already in his mouth. He halted. For now. 

For now, Gary is a male breast cancer survivor. But the possibility of breaking out of remission hovers over him. No, he can't grasp onto a philosophical something to guide him through. What he does grasp onto is a clinical psychologist who is in the support group who is also in remission. They not only have sex but attend the funeral mass together. 

The era taking shape in "The Big Chill" has hardened into relationships-as-usual in "A Million Little Things." Friends have lost the know-how of being there for friends. They have turned inward, even when, like Eddie, they haven't hit it big as professionals. It is Eddie's wife, whom he is fleeing, who personifies the total pursuit of success.

The show struggles to connect with an audience who is likely also experiencing the despair and perhaps suicides of those in the lives. But there is no takeaway. Those of us who have experienced the actual suicides and attempted suicides of members of our personal and professional lives know damn well there are signals of deep distress. 

As a senior in high school I picked that up. The winner of a national spelling bee contest, who was a classmate, was being fawned over by the administration and faculty. Since the public school - Snyder - was in the hood, that was understandable. However, I felt how wrong that was to do to any teenager. But, I didn't understand how to reach. In his freshman year at college he hung himself. That was no surprise.

In my own family five members took their lives. Those deaths were also no surprise. And in only one situation did I regret not intervening. The rest just couldn't grab hold of the tools which could manufacture hope.

Professionally, a lawyer I did business with committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Despite so much support, he couldn't stay away from the booze. When he talked about his recovery, I got it that he was mouthing the party line, not committed to changing his life. The only surprise was that his suicide wasn't the passive kind - that is, a fatal car accident.

"A Million Little Things" is an insult to human suffering, especially among the survivors of suicide.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission. Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

"Animal House" Was Tame, Compared to This Allegation by Julie Swetnick

The day before the career-make-it-or-break-it Senate hearing for Brett Kavanaugh, there is the biggest disclosure bombshell of all.

It comes from Julie Swetnick. She knew Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge from high school days (1981-82).

As Ruth Brown reports in the New York Post:

" … [Swetnick] alleges she saw them [Kavanaugh, Judge] and their pals spike punch at house parties so that girls who drank it could be 'gang raped' by a "train' of boys." 

Swetnick states that she had been among the victims.

In addition, she notes that when intoxicated, allegedly Kavanaugh did unwanted touching of females. Than allegedly including "grinding."

Timing, as the old saying goes, is everything.

Give the high-profile of the Kavanaugh chaos, this series of allegations will be on the minds of everyone, including those directly in the loop, during the hearing tomorrow. That is, if Kavanaugh doesn't step down from the nomination before.

We can anticipate skits on late night shows this evening.

There will be someone simulated to look like the high school version of Kavanaugh adding substances to the punch bowl. Then he will stumble, drunk, to the balcony and throw up over the railing. A good time will be had by all who stay up late tonight.

Tomorrow is another situation.

If any of the allegations by the three women who have stepped forward are perceived or proved to be true, then supporters of Kavanaugh should be furious. With that kind of baggage, he should not have accepted the nomination. Even a history of out of hand drinking in his youth should have convinced him to stay out of the limelight and not go for the nomination.

And, of course, the question on everyone's minds is: Why is the vetting process for high-level appointments seemingly so flawed?

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission. Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

When Character Counted

n her popular career column on Law.com, Vivia Chen introduces the issue of character. She wonders if women who support Brett Kavanaugh reflect on his character.

In her tearful affirmation on television for her husband, Ashley Kavanaugh proclaimed that she believed in her husband's character.

However, character might be another one of those old-fashioned traits which don't matter any more. What does matter is power.

When sizing up another human being, we increasingly default to assessing if he or she has the power to help us - or hurt us. And what we usually want help with is to accumulate wealth. In America we have become the size of our assets. 

Baby Boomers recall being coached senior year in high school about how to approach the personal essay in the college application. The guidance was to provide a very specific example of character. For example, when was it tested and what we learned from that experience.

The current irrelevance of character is due to both brilliant lawyers and equally smart reputation fixers. Enough money can buy their services. Not that the investment will always pay off.

The question floating around is if brandname lawyer Dan Petrocelli and public relations firm HL Strategic Solutions can pave a comeback for former CBS chief executive office Les Moonves. Will he bounce back like Watergate's Chuck Colson did? Or remain a pariah like Harvey Weinstein?

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission. Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

Question: Why Don't More Derailed Aging Employees Become Mass Shooters?

The difference between serial killers and mass shooters is this: Serial killers conduct the carnage in multiple events. And, in pop culture, the elite FBI team of TV fictional program "Criminal Minds" flies in to find that miscreant. 

Mass shooters like Adam Lanza in Newtown, Connecticut inflict the horror in one setting at one time.

For years, the FBI has been investigating the minds of serial killers. That's how the "Criminal Minds" BAU comes up with those profiles. 

Now, reports Zusha Elinson in The Wall Street Journal, there might be the same kind of digging into the minds of mass shooters.

And one wonders if the availability of guns in society has made the phenomenon of a mass shooting everyday in America.

What part does the heavy media coverage play? That makes it all too easy for the attention-craving to pile up more than their 15 minutes of fame.

Is it the stress of life in the 21st century what makes so human beings snap? 

Should quality mental health be more available at no cost?

And/or would it prevent mass shootings if rage management becomes part of the public school curriculum?

So many writers such as myself daydream about being able to develop relationships with convicted mass shooters, gaining access to what's inside. It's not so much to prevent future crimes as to try to understand this type of human being. After all, even though they have committed a horrific crime, they are human beings. We writers might be able to connect the dots in ways criminal experts and degreed psychologists cannot.

It might be a good idea for the FBI to put us writers on their research team. Here is my recent book, free to download, on the monsters of mind which take over unemployed older professionals. Could disappointment about success trigger, no pun intended, aberrant behavior? I already might be onto something.

I made those discoveries since I have been coaching seasoned professionals whose careers become stuck. The issue is: Why is it that the majority of disappointed professionals, here in American where extreme success is the unofficial religion, don't lash out as mass shooters? My hunch is that they continue to have hope of a comeback. Mass shooters have been unable to hold onto hope. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission. Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com