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"Alma Mater" Means "Nourishing Mother" - Litigation-Minded Students Not Buying That

COVID brought remote learning to higher education. And with it the beginning of upheaval in the traditional bonding between students and colleges/universities. That centuries-old relationship was captured in the notion of the institution you graduated from as your "alma mater." The concept means "nourishing mother." Instead of a nourishing mother during COVID, some students experienced their educational institution as financial predator. They banded together in class action lawsuits to be refunded tuition and fees that had been paid for in-person instruction.  As a result, now here we are as Bloomberg Law observes: "The student class-action trend appears here to stay and may indicate a major shift in the student-university relationship." This time around the litigation focuses on amounts not spent on meal plans. Litigants want those funds back. They contend not refunding violates state consumer laws as in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey about unspent ...
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Time to Get Out

From Main Street to social/professional networks the meme has shifted radically. In job search and promotion possibilities it used to be: Be persistent. Currently, as this Reddit posting hammers, it's: Get out.  In my intuitive coaching/tarot reading, essentially I am sizing up clients' employment situations the same way. That is, assessing: If they should ditch searching for a job in a certain field or even holding on amid so much job insecurity where they are employed.  And, when. Overall, what I have observed is that most knowledge workers wait too long to throw in the towel. What is operating is magical thinking that somehow their talent, proven skills and hustle will "save" them. One policy analyst clung to that illusion for two years of joblessness before they came to me for guidance.  As the deluded hang on their financial reserve collapses, along with their self-confidence and relationships with loved ones. The latter simply tire of what could be labeled ...
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BoomerVille - Generation Which Changed So Much ...

  For too many of us former social change agents, our money is primarily out of control. That includes not only the value of our investments. It's also about the predicted return of high inflation and rising interest rates. Will we turn into our frightened parents? They never unwound after The Great Depression. Tonight we will sleep, though. The Dow roared back today. Futures aren't doing a disaster: Dow Futures 48,056.00 Change - 88.00   0.18%  
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BoomerVille: But, We Don't Trust It

  We Boomers don't have the time to recover from a crash. In addition, our Social Security monthly payment could get reduced in six years. So, this is sweet. But not to be trusted. Dow Jones Industrial Average INDEXDJX: .DJI 47,958.41 +1,373.95  (2.95%) today Apr 8, 9:38 AM EDT  •  Disclaimer
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No Watergate: Friends of Jeffrey Not Psychoanalyzed

  It was a different time. Freudianism was having a heyday in the United States. If you were sophisticated you were in psychoanalysis. Cartoons in The New Yorker mocked how we discussed what our analysts said at cocktail parties. And, of course we put everyone else on the couch.  That included Richard Nixon and all the president's men. The psychobabble ranged from Nixon's insecurity to paranoia to grandiose personality. Overall, Watergate was sized up in the psychological terms of blind ambition. Not so, for the current Epstein files scandal. Those identified as Friends of Jeffrey are described in system concepts.  The close relationship of Bard president Leon Botstein and financial founder Leon Black with the monster is summed as how networking operates in the top tiers of society. There's no probing of their ID, Ego and Super Ego a la Freudianism.  Paul, Weiss partner Brad Karp is viewed from the cautionary perspective of getting too close to a client.  Techie...
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BoomerVille: Maybe the End Isn't Near

  Dow Futures 47,729.00 Change + 917.00   1.96%   UPDATE: Market Summary  >  E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Futures 47,824.00  USD +1,012.00  (2.16%) today Apr 7, 10:46 PM CDT  •  Disclaimer
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Jamie Dimon's Annual Letter: Mixes Poetry with Pragmatism

"Remember the poem 'If—' by Rudyard Kipling that begins 'If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs'? We will stay true to this. We must deal with the world we have — and strive for the one we want." Essentially that quote captures the tone and the content of JP Morgan Chase's Annual Letter , as created by its leader Jamie Morgan. It's a mashup of aspirational poetry and pragmatism. That operates on a platform of optimism about the resilience of the US economy. The bullishness is rooted in the twin realities that America has lasted 250 years and JP Morgan Chase has been around since 1799. The major risks to the economy include: Global conflicts Sustained inflation Private markets unrest Poor banking regulations. Simultaneously Dimon is bullish on AI. He doesn't see a bubble. The ambiguity is about which players will be the winners and which the losers. Already, as many of us know, there have been dire predictions. For example  O...
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