Stephanie Tubbs-Jones: Champion of Justice

ImageU.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, who died of a cerebral hemorrhage yesterday, was not just the first African-American woman elected to Congress from Ohio, but she was always a politician of the people, easily accessible and responsive.  Stephanie Tubbs Jones frequently displayed the sort of political courage that put her at odds not just with her president and his party but, at times, even with her own party.

THE BARON INSIGHT: How to Discover Your Million Dollar Idea

ImageIf you are thinking about starting a new business, your product and service offerings should incorporate at least one of the following four elements: something new; something better; something for an underserved or new market; or better integration of existing products and services.

Change those stale sheets!

ImageToo many find themselves languishing in stale work environments. I can't help but wonder what those conditions are doing to their ability to produce. Correction: what they are ALLOWING those conditions to do to their productivity. Read on to catch my point.


THE BARON INSIGHT: Execute Your Million-Dollar Idea

ImageYou only live once. Do you really want to spend more than forty hours a week working on something other than what you are truly passionate about? The truth is extremely successful entrepreneurs are inherently no different than you; they just make different choices.

Productive professional...defined!

ImageIn case you were wondering, the definition of success [according to Matthew Best] is "the continuous achievement of predetermined goals, stabilized by balance, and purified by belief."

Hayes, 'Shaft' singer and disco presage, dies

ImageMEMPHIS, Tenn. — Isaac Hayes, the baldheaded, baritone-voiced soul crooner who laid the groundwork for disco and whose "Theme From Shaft" won both Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday afternoon after he collapsed near a treadmill, authorities said. He was 65.

Chicago comedian Bernie Mac dead at age 50

ImageBernie Mac blended style, authority and a touch of self-aware bluster to make audiences laugh as well as connect with him. For Mac, who died Saturday at age 50, it was a winning mix, delivering him from a poor childhood to stardom as a standup comedian, in films including the casino heist caper "Ocean's Eleven" and his acclaimed sitcom "The Bernie Mac Show."