"Did you know Barack Obama is a Muslim!" my Republican friend reveals to me with a whisper-like voice.

"Really?" I feign surprise.

"Oh yes. His middle name is Hussein," my Republican friend replies with force, almost as if he played a high scoring trump card.

"And so what if he is a Muslim? Would it matter?" I ask.

"Well you know, Muslims want to annihilate Americans. All Muslims are extremists. They hate us!"

I hear this all the time. It's like a dirty little secret to them. And they delight in spreading the nasty myth.

But to me it is wicked and mean-spirited. It's downright dirty pool. It's despicable and disgusting.

So there I was this morning - a weekend bachelor, sipping my coffee and reading the Sunday New York Times. I spotted it on page A13, "HELLO. My name is HUSSEIN"! I just knew where this was going. I grew excited. Before I started to read, I thought, "Blog material", and headed for my computer, with the Times in tow.

Jodi Kantor's article caught my eye - the title read "Making a Political Statement by Adopting Their Candidate's Middle Name". Kantor writes:

Emily Hussein Nordling, her entry now reads.

With her decision, she joined a growing band of supporters of Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who are expressing solidarity with him by informally adopting his middle name.

We felt great. People noticed and wanted to take our pictures.

And now, New York Times Sunday readers around the world are noticing. People do care and are fighting back.

I still have the badge and plan to wear it on the plane tomorrow to Sacramento. I'll wear it with pride.

Pierre Hussein Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today Pierre and I went to a local arena where multiple high school graduations were being held throughout the day. We thought that there was one more thing these graduates needed to do on their awesome day - register to vote.

We arrived with clipboards and pens and forms and we got busy. We registered young graduates and family members and friends and anyone else we could. We were excited to watch the parents encourage their kids to sign up.

It was exhilarating, sharing this special day with these beacons of the future. Many of these kids came from very poor neighborhoods. The fact that they had persevered to graduate is celebration enough. But now they are even more empowered. They are voters!

And more ceremonies to come next week.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Obama in Portland with a crowd of 75,000.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:27 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This much we know - to be a uniter, one must bring people of diverse backgrounds together.

So, we were working at the Dallas Barack Obama HQ this weekend. We were part of an effort by the Obama campaign to recruit a million volunteers to add to his million donors. More than 150 people showed up to learn how to register new voters and walk neighborhoods signing up new volunteers. Groups of four were set up in random fashion and the 'troops' went out on the streets.

Several hours later, we watched the foursomes return, bonded by the experience. They were energized by their day together. And then we began to notice the true relationship that had been generated during their common purpose. In walked one of the groups, two white women in their late sixties and two young black men in their twenties. They were laughing and joking and exchanging phone numbers and talking about what a great time they had had and how they wanted to do it again soon.

Another foursome, two young black women in their twenties and two white men in their thirties are finishing up their day. As they left, the white guys stick out their hands and do their best to replicate a 'black' handshake, something they have evidently talked about and discussed on their cavassing route. At the same time, the young women are bidding their white companions Shalom, having evidently discused the fact that the guys are Jewish.

Please tell me where else such diverse people would be coming together and really getting to know each other? And this is happening all over America each and every day in the common act of getting Barack Obama elected as President.

Tears come to our eyes, hope returns our hearts. Things are going to be really, really different. A new America.

Oh, by the way, we signed up 48 new voters yesterday. And one of them was an 88 year old woman!

Pierre Cutler and Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:51 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The war in Iraq through FY 2007 has cost taxpayers in Sacramento $620.5M.

For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided in Sacramento:

• 255,371 People with Health Care for One Year OR
• 1,105,497 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year OR
• 11,085 Public Safety Officers for One year OR
• 8,765 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR
• 93,245 Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR
• 62 New Elementary Schools OR
• 1,857 Affordable Housing Units OR
• 231,931 Children with Health Care for One Year OR
• 74,217 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR
• 8,911 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR
• 7,837 Port Container Inspectors for One year

Would you be willing to trade one of the items above for the war in Iraq?

It's your tax money, you are the decider. Know the facts when you vote and vote for the candidate that most reflects your values and will spend your tax dollars in that way you deem best for your community.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Source: National Priorities Project

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:37 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Submitted by a loyal reader:

Could Paul Allen's Charter Communication be working on a deal here in Sacramento?

It's hard to hide a Boeing 757 at any airport, but Paul Allen's private jet (N757AF) has been spotted at McClellan on two recent occasions, leading us to wonder why it was visiting Sacramento and not using Sacramento International.

The shiny plane first appeared a few weeks ago and spent a couple of days in town and recently returned for a couple more. On both occasions we missed seeing who left and who boarded, but it appears that one of the richest men in America (and the co-founder of Microsoft) rarely allows others to use the plane without him. As Chairman of Charter Communications his interest in a local cable, internet and telephone company with an office at McClellan may just be more than a coincidence.

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:42 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have been working many hours a day on the Obama campaign in Dallas.

Every day - sometimes every hour - there is a new story that turns everything I thought I knew on its head.

Yesterday, a middle-aged, white man came into the office with his teenage daughter. He was looking for a bumper sticker to put on his car. Volunteering at the front desk, along with me, was a black man in his 70's and a black woman in her 50's. The white man began to talk to us. And he revealed that he was a stalwart in the Republican party but had decided to vote for Barack Obama.

I asked him what had made him make the switch believing that if he articulated his reasoning he would be even more likely to embrace it. And out of his mouth came this:

"I decided that we live in America and it is long past time that we had an African-American President. Think of how proud we could be of America with an African-American President."

This is in Texas from a white, male Republican.

This is a movement, not an election.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:09 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Please read the story almost 2 years old now, about how Senator Obama chose a Republican as his mentor and together they passed one of the most important anti-terrorism bill in many years. It's a wonderful example of how Senator Obama works across the aisles, works in different non-standard ways, to get important things done.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Seems that it does. Read the post below:

Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:28:51 -0500
To: Northern Virginia for Obama!
From: donnacywinski@comcast.net
Subject: [NorthernVirginiaforObama] Hope in Catlett, VA

According to the Virginia Board of Elections website, Senator Obama won in Catlett, Virginia by one vote. Catlett - a small town in Fauquier County Virginia where we live, is a very conservative place. There are not a lot of Democrats here. Over the years, as our sons have watched us vote for candidates who did not win, they have often asked me whether their vote would make a difference. My response has always been, "How can you hope to change things if you don 't vote?"

When the campaign came to Virginia, we signed up to volunteer with a small group called "Fauquier for Obama '08". Since people in Fauquier County do not live close enough to each other to make canvassing worthwhile, our group got permission from Giant Foods to set up a table outside. We handed out stickers, copies of Senator Obama's policy proposals downloaded from the website and obtained names and contact information from the twenty or so people who were brave enough to come up to our table in front of all of the Republicans who were shopping that day.

Our son manned a table at the local community college. He got about five more volunteers and handed out stickers. He and five other students organized a commuter waive along U.S. Highway 29 where they held up signs and braved lit cigarettes, obscene gestures and spit from passing cars and where they also got thumbs-up signs, smiles, honks and waives. On Election Day our sons voted for the first time . We sat at polls, passed out more stickers, and served coffee and hot chocolate to voters.

Senator Obama won Virginia by a large margin. He won Fauquier County by a smaller margin. He won Catlett, by one vote. We will never know who cast that one vote that put him over the top. But never again will my sons ask me if their vote makes a difference. They know it did.

Senator Obama is winning elections because of one vote at a time. Every person who is inspired to hope that our country could ever be united or that we could have affordable health care or that we could improve educational opportunities for average folks or that we do not have to fight wars just so oil companies, the arms industry and Halliburton can make obscene profits while young Americans die too young, can make a difference. We know this because he won in Catlett by one vote.

Yes We Can!!!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thanks to the posting on the Sacramento Angels website.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last Sunday, Michelle Obama gave a memorable speech at UCLA. Here are a couple of pearls of wisdom from her speech:

"The greatness of a society is measured by those who are the least."

To whom much is given, much is expected."

Click the image below for the entire speech (includes Stevie Wonder, Caroline Kennedy, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and Maria Shriver).

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A not be missed presentation on the employment law outlook for 2008 and issues facing businesses, in-house counsel, and senior HR professionals.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
8:30–9:00am: Registration and breakfast
9:00–11:00am: Program

Presented by: Thomas N. Makris and Benjamin L. Webster
of Pillsbury Winthrop at their offices at 400 Capitol Mall, Suite 1700, Sacramento, CA 95814

Topics will include:
• Wage and Hour: Status of the Administrative Exemption
• Wrongful Termination and Discrimination: Review of Significant Developments in 2007
• Immigration Issues: How to Respond to No-Match Letters
• Noncompete Covenants: Do Narrow Restraints Work in California?
• Retaliation: Are Supervisors Individually Liable?
• Leaves of Absence: What Every Employer Needs to Know
• Q & A Session


RSVP by February 7 to Jennifer Ramsey at jennifer.ramsey@pillsburylaw.com

CLE Credit—Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is an Accredited Provider of CLE (Continuing Legal Education) programs in California. Pillsbury certifies that this activity conforms to the standards for approved education activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California in the amount of 2.0 credit hours.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Many employees at my company look forward to the first Friday each December because it's bonus payday. Today was no exception.

Like most, for weeks, I waited in anticipation of the announcement as to how we did, planning what I was going to do with the bonus. By mid-November we received the news - my bonus was a bit over 20% of my base annual salary. Very nice! And so I continued to plot and plan, waiting for today, when the company would pay the bonus via direct deposit.

Six of us dined together for lunch today. Much of the conversation centered around what we were doing with our bonuses. Most noted it was perfect timing for the holidays. I listened to everyone's plans. One person was planning to buy a 72" HDTV. Another was talking about a boat. Without exception, each person spoke of what they were going to buy.

As we talked, I shared a story from a colleague who lived in a mid-west town, which is the headquarters of our 20,000-person firm. About 10,000 of the 110,000 people in the community work for my company. A couple of years ago on bonus payday, the community had a run on big-screen TVs at the local Best Buy store. By the end of the weekend the store had run out of TVs.

I was amazed at this account and assume it will happen again this weekend, based on the talk at lunch.

Now here’s what I did with my bonus – after the stock market opened this morning, I used a third of the bonus to buy FMC Technologies, Inc. (NYSE symbol FTI). I had patiently waited for the right time to buy FTI, based on Phil Town’s Rule #1 approach, and surprisingly, today was the time to make the value play (buying the stock at a margin of safety of 50% off the fair market value).

I am really excited about FTI. I guess I could have bought a TV or maybe even a car. But why should I? These items are depreciating assets. I want appreciating assets - things that can grow and make me rich. I plan to spend my entire bonus buying value stocks, using Phil Town’s approach. I will be patient and wait for the right moment to “spend” the rest of my bonus on stocks, like I did last year, when I put it all on the Procter and Gamble Company (NYSE symbol PG) in March (and have enjoyed a 22.7% return on investment in nine months).

Oh by the way, you might ask, “What is Rule #1?”

Rule #1 is – don’t lose money. Warren Buffett teaches this rule. If it’s good enough for Warren, then it’s good enough for me.

I wonder how many people used their bonus to invest in an appreciating asset today? I bet not many. And that’s what’s sad about Americans – they are not setting themselves up to financially succeed. Can you imagine what Warren Buffett would think about the behaviors of my co-workers on bonus payday?

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

About FMC Technologies: FMC Technologies, Inc. (FMC Technologies) is a global provider of technology solutions for the energy industry and other industrial markets. The Company designs, manufactures and services systems and products, such as subsea production and processing systems, surface wellhead production systems, high-pressure fluid control equipment, measurement solutions, and marine loading systems for the oil and gas industry. It also produces food processing equipment for the food industry and specialized equipment to service the aviation industry.

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

I ran across these sobering and thought provoking words of Kurt Vonnegut on the blog of Tim Ferriss today.

"My country is in ruins. So I’m a fish in a poisoned fishbowl. I’m mostly just heartsick about this. There should have been hope. This should have been a great country. But we are despised all over the world now. I was hoping to build a country and add to its literature. That’s why I served in World War II, and that’s why I wrote books."

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Obesity is costing America an enormous amount, according to Rebecca Ruiz, writer at Forbes.com:

"Obesity's associated costs add $93 billion to the nation's medical bill annually. Each year, 112,000 people die from obesity-related causes, and the condition is responsible for an increased risk of chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease."

Ms. Ruiz identifies the top 20 fattest cities in America. Is your city on the list?

Click here for the full story.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:22 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Historically, Real Estate Has Been a Solid, Long Term Investment.

Looking at the last 40 years of real estate in California, we have seen very few times in which real estate values have dropped. In fact, according to the California Association of Realtors, since 1970 the real estate market in California has only dropped seven times, six times under 3.7% and only once at 4.5%.

On the contrary, our market has seen remarkable growth. In 1970, the median cost of a single family home in California was $26,000. Today, 37 years later, homes have seen a 2,165% increase, now selling for $588,970.

Historically, Sacramento County Has Enjoyed Even Stronger Success.

According to the California Association of Realtors, in 1989 the median price of a single-family home in Sacramento County was $95,970. Today, just 18 years later, that same single family home is selling for $332,509 - a 246% increase. Certainly in recent months we have seen a shift from a seller's market to a buyer's market but that switch was necessary to continue a healthy flow of exchange amongst buyers and sellers. The bottom line is that our economy couldn't maintain the double digit increases we saw in home prices in 2003 and 2004 without seeing a shift. If we continued to see an upstream of that magnitude we would nearly eliminate the first-time home buyers which could potentially drastically hinder our economy. Shifts in our market are what keep our economy running smoothly.

Is Now the Time to Buy?

Now may be the time to buy: mortgage rates remain low (certainly by historical standards), prices have stabilized and there is a large selection of homes to choose from. Certainly it makes a more exciting news story for journalists to dwell on the negative, but for smart consumers it is definitely more economically advantageous to seize opportunities as they present themselves. And this market may offer some tremendous opportunities.

While no one can predict the future, if history is any indication, then real estate over the long run will continue to be a solid investment. And that's good news for everyone - buyers, sellers and the real estate industry. If you are ready to make an informed and educated decision about real estate, including upcoming real estate auctions, please contact me today. I would be happy to help you.

CAROLINE JENSEN, Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
(916) 607-7313
caroline.jensen@camoves.com
www.GoTeamJensen.com
Coldwell Banker Previews Property Specialist

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:50 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A recently released Congressional Buget Office (CBO) report estimates that the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could total $2.4 trillion through the next decade, or nearly $8,000 per man, woman and child in the country,
The CBO assumes that 75,000 troops will remain in both countries through 2017. As of Sept. 30, the two wars have cost $604 billion, the CBO says. That is higher than the costs of the Korea and Vietnam conflicts, when adjusted for inflation, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

In the months before the March 2003 Iraq invasion, the Bush administration estimated the Iraq war would cost no more than $50 billion.

Completely out of control is what comes to my mind.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Sacramento Asian Chamber of Commerce's PIVOT Program
Building This Region's Future
Monday, October 22, 2007
11:30am - 1:30pm
Vizcaya Hotel (2019 21st Street, Sacramento, CA)

Get involved in "Building This Region's Future" - A discussion series for young professionals and young entrepreneurs in the Sacramento region.

The SACC and Sacramento County Airport, KB Homes and Washington Mutual have recently created an exciting Public Policy luncheon series. The hope is to educate the Sacramento business community about this regions future that will affect both large and small businesses. The series will include: The Sacramento Region’s Changing Landscape, How to make the Sacramento region business friendly through economic development strategies and the Future of Workforce Development in the region.

Register today! It's free.
Contact Lori Soldano at (916) 446-7883 or by e-mail at lsoldano@sacasiancc.org

Sounds like a great way to get your voice heard and give valuable input into this region's way forward.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is a survey I found on the Advanced Leadership Consulting website. I think it is a very good initial screen to measure leadership qualities and then figure out where to spend time strengthening the weaker areas:

Assessing Characteristics of Leadership Effectiveness – Self Report Survey By Carl Robinson, Ph.D., copyright 2003

Circle Yes or NO - 24 questions.

Comfort with ambiguity:

Y or N: Are you willing to take calculated risks?
Y or N: Are you comfortable with a certain level of disruption and conflict?
Y or N: Are you comfortable making decisions and taking action without having “all the facts?”

Empathy:

Y or N: Do you empathize with other people’s needs, concerns, and goals?
Y or N: Would staff members confirm that you show such empathy?

Insight:

Y or No: Can you accurately understand the needs and motivations of others?
Y or No: Do you have an accurate understanding of your own limitations…not just your strengths?

Persistence; frustration tolerance:

Y or N: When pursuing a goal, do you maintain a positive, focused attitude, despite obstacles?

Excellent communicators:

Y or N: Do you listen closely (rather than have a response ready before the other person finishes)?
Y or N: Are you comfortable running meetings?
Y or N: Are you comfortable making presentations and speaking in public?
Y or N: Do you have the skills needed to negotiate in a variety of settings?

Politically astute:

Y or N: Could you diagram for yourself your organization’s power structure?
Y or N: Can you articulate the concerns of your organization’s most powerful groups?
Y or N: Can you identify those individuals within your organization that will support you when needed?
Y or N: Do you know where to turn for the resources you need?

Able to use humor:

Y or N: Do you know how to use humor to relieve tense or uncomfortable situations?

Emotional self-control:

Y or N: In situations that are full of turmoil and confusion, do you stay calm and levelheaded?
Y or N: Would your colleagues and subordinates say that you are able to acknowledge your mistakes, failures and limitations without being overly defensive?
Y or N: I am able to be flexible in my dealings with others.

Self-aware:

Y or N: Are you aware of and can you describe how your own patterns of behavior impact others?
Y or N: In assessing a situation, I look at my biases and adjust my assessment accordingly.
Y or N: I watch how others react to me to better understand my own behavior.
Y or N: It’s easy for me to recognize what emotions I’m experiencing in a particular situation.

The more questions you answered “yes” the better.
If you answered “no” to some or many of these questions, you may want to consider how you can further develop these effective leadership characteristics.

Remember that this non-validated survey should be used as an “early warning” system only. If you really want to measure your effectiveness as a leader, to get a more granular bead on how well you are doing and to figure out where to put your developmental energy, you’ll need to conduct a formal assessment that uses valid tools and criteria linked to your organization’s particular needs and culture. Leadership characteristics that work at Microsoft may not necessarily work at Washington Mutual.

Please note, that the questions I included in this survey come from my research and experience working with executives and the Harvard continuing education ManageMentor program called “Leading and Motivating.”

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

'Clean technology has moved from vision to reality, and it is now a priority on the CEO agenda of every company from the entrepreneurial growth companies to the multinational market leaders,' said Gil Forer, global director of Ernst & Young's Venture Capital Advisory Group. 'The accelerating venture capital investments reflect the growing importance of the sector. A strong innovation pipeline and confidence in the global drivers supporting growth in the clean technology market - such as government policies, consumer awareness, energy prices and concern about carbon emissions - are driving venture capital investment.'

In the US, venture capital investment in cleantech companies has jumped to $893m across 71 deals in the first half of 2007, from $525m on 49 deals in the first six months of 2006, according to the research.

European investments are set to reach or even exceed 2006 levels, with 19 deals and $80m invested in H1 2007.

Jessica Canning, director of global research with Dow Jones VentureOne, said, 'Although venture capital investments in clean technology companies in China and Israel are still nascent, we expect that they will continue to accelerate.'

Looking at the market segments, solar is dominant in the US and alternative fuels are on the rise. In Europe, alternative fuels are still dominating with wind power having a fair share of the total amount invested.

This is great news for Sacramento that is working hard to be the CleanTech Center of the United States.

And don't forget to attend the upcoming Clean Energy Technology Showcase.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A remarkable study by the National Priorities Project which shows the cost of the Iraq war on each congressional district. For District 5, led by Congresswomen Matsui, the cost is $825M. What would that have bought for the district:

76,931 children could have health care for the length of the war to-date
2,470 affordable housing units could have been built
63 elementary schools could have been built

You can check out the results for Congressmen Lungren and Doolittle or any other district in the nation on the website

I wonder how many bridges we could have inspected and fixed, how many diseases we could have made headway to curing, how many more young people who could have attended college with scholarships, how much progress we could have made toward finding an alternative fuel. The possibilities of alternative spending are enormous.

And let's not forget the human cost:

3,653 U.S. soldiers dead (392 from California)
26,953 U.S. soldiers wounded (2,833 from California)
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead
Over 2 million Iraqis displaced in Iraq
Another 2 million Iraqi refugees in other countries

Gillian Parrillo
Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:55 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to the Motley Fool, "The best time to start saving for retirement is yesterday. The second best time is now."

And who's saving? Apparently not many. Facts:

• Fifty-six percent of eligible employees participated in defined contribution plans in 2006;
• 39% of Americans age 55 and older have less than $25,000 saved for retirement;

The Fool's take on the power of time value of money:

If you start contributing $250 a month to a 401(k) at age 20, and match the market's historical annualized return of 10%, your nest egg will reach $1.4 million by the time you're 60. That $1.4 million nest egg assumes no employer match. Include an employer match of 50%, and your retirement account rises to $2.2 million!

Are you making the same mistake as 44% of Americans by not participating in your company's 401K plan? Are you on the path to having less then $25,000 saved for retirement? If so, you need to read The Motley Fool.

Check out The Fool here.

I agree with The Motley Fool ... read how my son Nathan is becoming a millionaire. You can be a millionaire too!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Mike Gravel, Democratic presidential candidate and former Senator, declared that Americans are getting fatter and dumber. Has Mike been reading my blogs? I said the exact same thing in a post on May 3, 2006. Here's what he said to Bill Maher on Tuesday...
Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For far too long, the problem of youth violence has been growing with more deaths and more of our young people sentenced to multi-year prison sentences. Finally, the Governor has appointed an Anti-Gang Director and a 10 member Board of Advisors. The new Director will be Paul Seave, a former US Attorney. He noted that, "Over the last 20 years more than 10,000 Californians have been killed in gang-related violence." The Governor also has released $2.8 million to expand job training for at-risk and gang-involved youth and gang members. Next year $11.5 million is expected to be provided for anti-gang efforts.

The Governor noted that during his discussions with many leaders of various California communities, two common issues kept coming up:

• No. 1, that we can't arrest our way out of this problem. It is very important to acknowledge the fact that we need to do more than just lock people up.
• And No. 2, that it is a local issue, and that the locals know best how to really deal with that. But at the same time it became clear that it needs a coordinated effort, a state effort, and this is why we are getting involved in the state for the first time in history.

Let's hope that California is finally going to do something besides blame gangs, suppress all youth in various targetted communities, and spend millions of dollars locking up young people.

As I have written once before, when there are only bad voices in a community, then bad voices sound good. Let's start getting some good voices going, and some jobs, and some hope, and some great role models...and everything else that will turn this tragic situation around.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:22 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Diabetes death rates are about twice as high for Hispanic men and women as for their white counterparts. The diabetes death rate for black women is three times higher than for white women.

Death rates from heart disease are approximately 40 percent higher among black men, and 50 percent higher among black women, than they are among whites.

HIV infection ranks in the top ten causes of death for black and Hispanic men. It is also the 11th leading cause of death for black women, compared to the 29th for white women.

The homicide death rate for black men is nearly 10 times higher, and for Hispanic men nearly two and a half times higher, than it is for white men.

If black men reach age 25, their mortality gap with white men shrinks by more than one year due largely to a decline in homicide deaths after that age.

Asian men have slightly higher death rates than other groups from stroke and stomach cancer. Asian women have the longest life expectancy rates. At 85.2 years, they can expect to live, on average, more than 15 years longer than black men.

White men and women are more likely than any other groups to die of Alzheimer’s disease and suicide.

Source: Public Policy Institute of California

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:31 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1,800 Iraqis were killed in August. Did you know that? Do you think that's high or low compared to other months? How many Iraqis do you think have been killed since we invaded Iraq? Do you know how many Americans soldiers lost their lives (legs, arms, sight) last month in Iraq?

Don't know?

How many days did Paris Hilton serve in jail? How many hours did Nicole Richie spend in jail? What's the latest with Lindsay Lohan? The Brittany Spears, Kevin Federline custody battle? What was Larry Craig reaching for, according to him, when his hand came under the stall in the men's room in the airport?

If you know more about the second group than the first, it's not surprising. We get a lot more information from every conceivable media source on all of the entertainment gossip, the political scandal, and anything else they can throw in to distract us from the massive human calamity that is occurring every single day in a country that we broke and we bear responsibility for fixing.

Write to your media sources and tell them you want to know more. The gruesome photos from Vietnam on our evening news broadcasts (notice they weren't shows back then!) and the never-ending shots of body bags coming back to America bearing our young soliders were what finally persuaded the American public that a war we couldn't win, must be stopped.

Kudos to Director Brian De Palma whose new film "Redacted" contains photos that newspapers refused to print as well as footage dowloaded from the Internet, including soldiers' home videos. 'The movie is an attempt to bring the reality of what's happening in Iraq to the American people," said De Palma, director of movies such as Carrie and Scarface. "Unlike Vietnam, when we saw the destruction and sorrow of the people we were maiming and killing, and soldiers coming home in body bags, we see none of that in this war. 'It's all out there on the Internet, you can find it if you look for it, but it's not in the mainstream media. The media is now part of the corporate establishment. The terrible thing about this war is we don't see these images, we don't have these stories.'

Remember this, probably the most famous image of Vietnam. It worked. The American public were incensed. A picture tells a thousand words.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:28 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The sales of units at the new L Streets Lofts project at 18th and K are flying. The 12 penthouses valued from $750K-$1.2M are almost completely sold out. The largest unit is 2092 square feet with a price tag of $1.2M - giving a dollar per square foot price of $574. Is that the highest price paid downtown ever? If not, it must be for a condo.

Check out the website - it's slick and it gives a great idea of what the space will look like and how convenient the building is to everything fun to do in the new urban Sacramento.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)