Reading is good for you in many ways. It fosters creativity, self-improvement and open-mindedness. Researchers even have determined it can help you live longer. Here are popular titles suggested by more than a dozen successful executives.
1. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
“Too many business autobiographers go to great lengths to portray themselves as all-knowing and unwavering on their path to success. What I love about Phil Knight’s memoir is that the founder of Nike offers a more honest account of just how terrifying starting a business can be. Just like the rest of us, Knight had moments of self-doubt and constant flirtations with disaster as he launched and grew his company. When push came to shove, however, he had what it takes … the courage to bet everything on an idea he believed in, and the drive to out-hustle his competition at every turn.”
—Chris Mackey, CEO of MackeyRMS, a research management platform for investment professionals that has taken no outside capital/funding with clients on its platform managing over $1 trillion in assets
2. Drive by Daniel Pink
“According to the author, if you pay someone enough to take the issue of money off of the table, the things that truly motivate them are Master, Autonomy and Purpose. I add Connectedness to that list. Setting up a company and culture that allows people to do what they do best (Mastery), in the way that they think will bring about the best results (Autonomy) focused on something that is meaningful (Purpose) as part of group aligned in values (Connectedness) is what drives a great and powerful culture.”
—Art Saxby, CEO of Chief Outsiders, a strategic marketing consulting firm that has worked on the management teams of more than 600 companies across more than 60 industries
3. Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston
“[It] inspired me to see how everyone is able to go down the path of entrepreneurship. As a Ph.D. student at the time, I was no exception.”
—Zouhair Belkoura, co-founder and CEO of Keepsafe, a photo vault company used by 65 million people
4. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
“As an entrepreneur, people will always question what it is you’re doing. Why are you leaving your job? Do you really think this or that will work? It’s hard to not let that get to your head. This read helps you powerfully stand in who you are and what you care about. It inspires you to authentically and unapologetically do your thing and be your fullest self. Entrepreneurs who are vulnerable to haters and critics are more likely to throw in the towel when the going gets tough. Beat your own drum and inspire the world! To be honest, this is the kind of book I wish I read years ago.”
—David Yarus, global ambassador at Jdate, a Jewish dating site that globally has facilitated more than one million matches with more than five million messages sent each month
5. Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
“As a first-time, young female founder who quickly grew from three people on a couch to a team of ten, we love how this book clearly outlines so many tactical approaches to communication, being a good leader, and building trust on the team.”
—Rachel Renock, co-founder of Wethos, a platform that has connected over 1,500 freelancers with 300-plus nonprofits
Last week people in eastern Nebraska experienced freezing temperatures in the –30s Fahrenheit and wind chills in the –60s F. Schools were cancelled because of the extreme Arctic chill. Then, on Sunday, “I walked around the lake, and it was 57 degrees [F], and people were in shorts and T-shirts,” says Van DeWald, a lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s (NWS’s) office in Omaha.
For Omaha and other places in and around the High Plains, temperatures have swung by 75 to 100-plus degrees F in just under a week. Other parts of the central and eastern U.S. have also seen a substantial warm-up, though more on the order of 20 to 30 degrees F.
Last week’s big freeze came courtesy of an air mass moving southward from Canada, bringing with it extreme cold and high winds. Several places set daily temperature records: Bismarck, N.D., set a record of –39 degrees F on February 18 (besting one of –37 degrees F set in 1910). And on the same day Minot,
N.D., saw a record of –33 degrees F (breaking one of –27 degrees F set in 1903). Temperatures in the High Plains were 30 to 40 degrees F below normal, says Matthew Johnson, a meteorologist at the NWS’s Bismarck office. Outbreaks of extremely cold Arctic air aren’t unusual in the region. “That happens every one to two years, that we get that cold,” DeWald says.
Now the area is seeing temperatures in the 60s and even the 70s F, “a good 25 to 30 degrees [F] above normal,” says Brian Hurley, a senior meteorologist at the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center. He explains that the meteorological seesaw is linked to a change in air patterns higher in the atmosphere: there a region of lower pressure that brought winds from the northwest has retreated, allowing a flow of warmer air from the south and southwest.
Though the temperatures swings are sizable, they’re not entirely unexpected at this time of year: weather generally becomes more changeable during meteorological spring, which begins on March 1. “We can kind of fluctuate pretty violently during this transition season,” Johnson says.
.
Ice collects along the shore of Lake Michigan as temperatures were in the single-digits for most of the day on February 17, 2025, in Chicago, Ill. Scott Olson/Getty Images
If you are career-minded, you may think applying for a loftier position in another company is the best route. In fact, half of millennials expect to leave their current company within a year.
But it’s not always the right move. Advancing in your present company may be a smarter move. You already know the culture and the people. If you enjoy them, who is to say that you’d find something better elsewhere? Also, some companies reward loyalty. And why would you want to compete with hundreds of applicants in a chaotic job market?
If you are staying, hone your strategy. Follow these five steps to boost your likelihood of advancing.
1. ASK FOR VISIBLE ASSIGNMENTS
First, seek out high-profile assignments. You want to be seen as a go-getter.
Do this, and your boss and other leaders in the firm will regard you as a creative, productive worker with aspirational goals. I’m not talking about doing extra grunt work. I mean seizing opportunities to come up with innovative ideas and initiatives that impress others.
Commit to projects that reach beyond your department. You’ll open the door to new relationships with potential bosses in other departments. For example, you might lead a fundraising project, or help another executive with her presentation, or volunteer to speak at an International Women’s Day event in your company.
2. BUILD YOUR NETWORK AT THE COMPANY
It’s important to build your network within the firm. You’ll meet and gain the favor of leaders who recognize your talent and initiative. That can lead to important new relationships with strategically placed individuals.
Take part in activities where you can meet senior leaders. These include conferences, sports such as company golf tournaments, leadership forums, and training sessions. If there is someone in the company you admire and think you’d like to work for, find a way to get onto their calendar. You might have a mutual interest. Or, you might invite them to speak to your team as a guest expert. Be creative in setting up that meeting.
Once you’ve made that contact, broach the discussion about reporting to them. There might be an advertised position or not. Either way, if you want to work in that department, go for it, set up a meeting, and prepare to pitch yourself.
3. PREPARE A STRONG PITCH
If you’re job hunting in your present company, it might seem like overkill to prepare for each encounter. But you must do so—even for conversations with people who may not have a job to offer you at the moment. They may be able to recommend you to others.
President Zelenskyy is in my view a statesman, a leader, a straight-player. The other guy … a disgrace, Putin’s puppet. Photo: available on multiple sites via bing.com President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine “The footage of far-right salutes shows straightened arms in finest suits.” Janine Booth Pigs In The Shite HouseThe orange pig squealed and squealedcovered […]
I’m Still Here (Portuguese: Ainda Estou Aqui ) is a 2024 political biographical drama directed by Walter Salles from a screenplay by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega. It is based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s 2015 memoir of the same name. A mother and activist cope with the forced disappearance of her husband, dissident politician Rubens Paiva, […]
CLIMATEWIRE | The Trump administration’s abrupt retreat from global climate action is threatening to delay a pivotal scientific report that can be used by countries to shape their responses to rising temperatures.
Delegates from more than 190 countries are meeting in Hangzhou, China, this week to make decisions related to the content and timing of the seventh assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. body that evaluates the science behind climate change.
The conclusions of the assessments — which are released every five to seven years — help inform governments about the sources of greenhouse gas emissions, the pollution’s effects on the planet and the risks of not acting to curb it. The comprehensive reports are also integral to ascertaining whether countries are doing enough to reduce emissions — a process under the Paris climate agreement known as a stocktake.
The U.S. delegation was prevented from attending the IPCC meeting by the Trump administration, said a government official who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation. The move follows
President Donald Trump’s announcement last month that he would immediately withdraw from the Paris deal.
Among the delegates who were blocked from attending the meeting is a federal scientist, Katherine Calvin, who was co-chairing one of three working groups that help assemble the next assessment. The Trump administration also halted a technical support unit that was backing that working group, according to two other government officials.
Losing that unit would ensure delays at the working group level of the assessment’s preparation, said one of those officials.
The State Department declined to comment.
Flouting the IPCC meeting is another signal that the Trump administration is pulling back from global climate engagement. U.S. officials did not attend a board meeting last week of the Green Climate Fund, the primary vehicle for helping poorer countries fund climate efforts. That’s been coupled with a complete assault on climate science at home, the shuttering of climate programs administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development and a broad freeze on foreign assistance.
There were already concerns among delegates and advocates about delays related to the IPCC’s seventh assessment following disagreements last year over some key elements of the report’s timeline. The main synthesis report is due in late 2029, but only after reports from the three working groups are completed. The idea is some of those would be published before the next stocktake in 2028.
“The Paris Agreement process must be informed by the best and latest available science,” a group of countries known as the High-Ambition Coalition urged in a statement Friday. Signatories include the United Kingdom, Germany, the European Union’s climate commissioner and several small island nations.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, on Friday effectively took the side of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in his brutal invasion of Ukraine, calling visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “disrespectful” and telling him he has “no cards” with which to negotiate.
“You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty,” Trump said, berating Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in front of gathered reporters.
Vance added: “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media… You should be thanking the president for trying to bring you into this conference.”
Trump has been trying to coerce Zelenskyy into handing over Ukraine’s mineral rights in exchange for U.S. support, and the purpose of Zelenskyy’s visit was ostensibly to reach an agreement. Trump then told Zelenskyy that the Ukrainian leader was currently in no position to complain about the state of affairs, even though it was Putin, not Zelenskyy, who began the bloody three-year war.
“You don’t have the cards, but once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position, but you’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing, I’ll be honest, that’s not a nice thing,” he said.
Trump and Vance’s insults of Zelenskyy came at the tail end of a nearly hour-long photo opportunity in which Trump invited questions. Trump grew visibly angry and ended media availability with: “I think we’ve seen enough.”
A planned joint news conference was canceled and Zelenskyy left the White House about an hour later. No agreement was signed.
By that point, Trump had already attacked Zelenskyy in a social media post:
“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
Trump is trying to force Ukraine, which has been under a near-daily missile and drone barrage from Russia for three years, to turn over rare earth mineral deposits to the United States to pay for U.S. military aid the country was provided under former President Joe Biden.
The new efforts at coercion come six years after Trump’s first attempt to extort Ukraine, which had its origins in Trump’s choice to accept Russian help to win the 2016 election against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
During his discussion with Zelenskyy, Trump went off on a long tangent about the investigations into Putin helping Trump win the presidency in the first place in 2016. Although the details of Russian involvement were confirmed by both special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe and a separate inquiry by the Senate Intelligence Committee, Trump has lied that it was a “hoax.”
After sending his lawyer Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to dig up evidence that Ukraine had tried to help Clinton in 2016, Trump attempted to extort the then-newly elected Zelenskyy into announcing an investigation into Biden, whom he most feared as an election opponent in 2020. Trump was impeached but not removed from office for that action.
Trump’s animosity toward Zelenskyy has clearly endured in the years since.
On Friday, Trump ranted about the investigations into Russia’s 2016 election interference in response to a question about how he could trust Putin to honor any peace agreement. Trump told reporters that Putin was similarly wronged by the investigations and then inexplicably dragged Biden’s son Hunter and California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff into his answer:
“Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him in ‘Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia.’ You ever hear that deal that was a phony, that was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam, Hillary Clinton, shifty, Adam Schiff, it was a Democrat scam, and he had to go through that. And he did go through it.”
Trump continued, “We didn’t end up in a war. And he went through it. He was accused of all that stuff. He had nothing to do with it. Came out of Hunter Biden’s bathroom. It came out of Hunter Biden’s bedroom. It was disgusting. And then they said, oh, oh, the laptop from hell was made by Russia, the 51 agents. The whole thing was a scam, and he had to put up with that. He was being accused of all that stuff.”
It was unclear exactly what Trump meant.
Trump claimed during his campaign to win back the presidency in 2024 that he would end the war in Ukraine prior to taking office. For years, he has claimed without evidence that Russia would never have invaded Ukraine had he remained in office in 2021 ― even though Russia was actively fighting to take Ukrainian territory in the eastern part of the country during Trump’s entire first term.
.
President Donald Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, on Friday effectively took the side of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in his brutal invasion of Ukraine, calling visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “disrespectful” and telling him he has “no cards” with which to negotiate.
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
Photo by Alfredo Lietor/EyeEm/Getty Images
[Source Photo: Freepik]
James' World 2 