Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, September 23, 2017

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BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Mountain Views-News Saturday, September 23, 2017 

FAMILY MATTERS By Marc Garlett

Jeff’s Book Pics By Jeff Brown


Al Franken, Giant of the 
Senate by Al Franken

 #1 bestselling author and 
beloved SNL alum - comes 
the story of an award-
winning comedian who 
decided to run for office 
and then discovered why 
award-winning comedians 
tend not to do that.This is 
a book about an unlikely 
campaign that had an even 
more improbable ending: the 
closest outcome in history 
and an unprecedented eight-
month recount saga, which is 
pretty funny in retrospect.It’s 
a book about what happens 
when the nation’s foremost 
progressive satirist gets a 
chance to serve in the United 
States Senate and, defying the 
low expectations of the pundit 
class, actually turns out to be 
good at it.It’s a book about our 
deeply polarized, frequently 
depressing, occasionally 
inspiring political culture, 
written from inside the 
belly of the beast.In this 
candid personal memoir, the 
honorable gentleman from 
Minnesota takes his army 
of loyal fans along with him 
from Saturday Night Live to 
the campaign trail, inside 
the halls of Congress, and 
behind the scenes of some 
of the most dramatic and/
or hilarious moments of his 
new career in politics.Has Al 
Franken become a true Giant 
of the Senate? He asks readers 
to decide for themselves.

Every Heart a Doorway 
(Wayward Children) by 
Seanan McGuire 

“A mini-masterpiece of portal 
fantasy . a jewel of a book 
that deserves to be shelved 
with Lewis Carroll’s and C. S. 
Lewis’ classics” .NPR

Children have always 
disappeared under the right 
conditions; slipping through 
the shadows under a bed or 
at the back of a wardrobe, 
tumbling down rabbit holes 
and into old wells, and 
emerging somewhere... else.
But magical lands have little 
need for used-up miracle 
children.Nancy tumbled 
once, but now she’s back. The 
things she’s experienced... 
they change a person. The 
children under Miss West’s 
care understand all too well. 
And each of them is seeking a 
way back to their own fantasy world.But Nancy’s 
arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a 
darkness just around each corner, and when 
tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-
found schoolmates to get to the heart of the 
matter.

Alone: Britain, Churchill, 
and Dunkirk: Defeat 
Into Victory by Michael 
Korda 

Combining epic history 
with rich family stories, 
Michael Korda chronicles 
the outbreak of World War 
Two and the great events that 
led to Dunkirk.An epic of 
remarkable originality,Alone 
captures the heroism of 
World War II as movingly as 
any book in recent memory. 
Bringing to vivid life the 
world leaders, generals, 
and ordinary citizens who 
fought on both sides of 
the war, Korda, chronicles 
the outbreak of hostilities, 
recalling as a prescient 
young boy the enveloping 
tension that defined pre-
Blitz London, and then as a 
military historian the great 
events that would alter the 
course of the twentieth 
century.For indeed, May 
1940 was a month like no 
other. The superior German 
war machine blazed into 
France, as the Maginot Line, 
supposedly “as firmly fixed 
in place as the Pyramids,” 
crumbled in days. With the 
fall of Holland and Belgium, 
the imminent fall of Paris, 
the British Army stranded 
at Dunkirk, and Neville 
Chamberlain’s government 
in political freefall, Winston 
Churchill became prime 
minister on this historical 
nadir of May 10, 1941. Britain, 
diplomatically isolated, was 
suddenly the only nation with 
the courage and the resolve 
to defy Hitler.Against this 
vast historical canvas, Korda 
relates what happened and 
why. Such alarm was hardly 
exaggerated. No one, after 
all, could have ever imagined 
that the most unlikely flotilla 
of destroyers, Dutch barges, 
fishing boats, yachts, and 
even rowboats would rescue 
over 300,000 men off the 
beach at Dunkirk and home 
to England. The miraculous 
return of the army was 
greeted with a renewed 
call for courage, and in the 
months that followed, the 
lives of tens of millions would 
be inexorably transformed, 
often tragically so, by these 
epochal weeks of May 1940.
It is this pivotal turning point in world history 
that Korda captures with such immediacy 
inAlone, a work that demonstrates that even the 
most calamitous defeats can become the most 
legendary victories.


ESTATE PLANNING FOR 
THE NEWLY MARRIED

Now is the perfect time to start working on an estate 
plan—because, as newlyweds, you may not have a list of 
your accounts, but you’ve effectively just done a working 
inventory of your possessions—as you’ve figured out how 
to consolidate two households into one. You’ve already been 
working on the new banking and shared responsibility of 
bills and taxes and so forth.

 Use all that time and energy and work as a leapfrog into 
planning for your future—so you’ll be that much more 
prepared for the house, the kids, and the next stages of your 
new life together.

Why Think About Estate Planning at This Point?

 Even if you have few assets, you probably have more than 
you think. Still, putting together a will or a trust is probably 
very straightforward at this point, since, as we just talked 
about, you recently did an accounting of your collective 
assets. 

 You may have heard of California state laws that give 
your property to a spouse if you don’t have a will. These 
laws—known as intestacy laws—vary depending on 
your circumstances and can sometimes have results you 
wouldn’t expect. And, intestacy requires your estate to go 
through probate—a court proceeding that can take years, 
to resolve. So a basic estate plan should give you some peace 
of mind—knowing loved ones are taken care of if anything 
should happen.

 You can even plan for property you don’t yet own (a house 
you may buy someday) and provide for children whenever 
they arrive on the scene. And once you have that initial plan 
in place, you can easily update it as your circumstances and 
needs change.

 Furthermore, if you already have a sizable amount of 
assets then estate planning may lead to tax benefits, now and 
in the future.

Who Can Make Decisions For Me, If I Can’t?

 In the U.S., a power of attorney (POA) is a legal document 
that designates someone else (often a spouse) to make 
financial and other decisions on your behalf. In the financial 
realm, your POA can sign contracts, file lawsuits on your 
behalf, and more. Depending on the exact language, you can 
grant the POA broad powers, or something more limited to 
an issue or situation.

 One specific form of POA is in effect only if you are 
unable to make decisions on your own—such as an 
emergency or illness. And you can have that type of POA 
for both the financial side of things, as well as one relating to 
your medical care.

What Kind of Care Would I Want?

 An advanced directive (also known as a living will) 
is a document that makes clear the kinds of medical 
interventions you’d prefer if you’re unable to make decisions 
for yourself. In some ways, think of this as an emotional 
insurance policy: You make decisions now, so the people 
you love won’t have to later when you are unable to guide 
them. This can also make it easier for your spouse to make 
emergency decisions if you’ve named them as a medical 
decision maker.

Who Will Look After The Kids?

 If you don’t yet have kids but want them someday, realize 
that an estate plan is essential for families with children. The 
state statute providing assets for a spouse will also include 
some inheritance for children. How much depends on how 
many children. However, when it comes to guardianship, 
you need a will to designate caregivers for the children, 
should something happen to both parents. You’ll want to 
name both temporary and permanent guardians. Without 
these documents, the court decides on the children’s 
caregiver, and they may end up in foster care while the court 
makes its decision.

 As you start your new life together, one of the best ways 
to begin is by planning for the future, whatever it may bring. 
We’ve been helping families of all ages and kinds for years, 
and we’d be delighted to help you, so let us know if you have 
any questions.

 Dedicated to empowering your family, building your 
wealth and securing your legacy, 

 A local attorney and father, Marc Garlett is on a mission 
to help parents protect what they love most. His office is 
located at 49 S. Baldwin Ave., Ste. G, Sierra Madre, CA 91024. 
Schedule an appointment to sit down and talk about ensuring 
a legacy of love and financial security for your family by 
calling 626.587.3058 or visit www.GarlettLaw.com for 
more information.


All Things By Jeff Brown

Divine Intervention

After living in Florida for years,Philip Osborn 
recently moved back to a Michigan retirement 
home to be closer to his family.His new neighbor, 
Marilyn Meyers, adopted at birth, has spent the 
past few decades searching for her biological 
family, so when she heard that someone with the 
last name Osborn has just moved in, she started 
investigating.After confirming small bits of 
family history, they were shocked to discover they 
were siblings.”I’ve always wanted to be an older 
brother,” says Osborne . “It’s divine intervention.”

Books for Free

Gutenberg.orgmakes public domain titles 
available free for downloading to and e-reader 
or reading in a browser window.The U.S. site 
has 54,000 books.Read.gov is maintained by the 
U.S. LIbrary of Congress and offers free digitized 
versions of books for all ages.


BUSINESS TODAY

The latest on Business News, Trends and Techniques


By La Quetta M. Shamblee, MBA

“LESSONS FROM THE GEESE”: TEAMWORK & 
LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM NATURE

Nature provides us with a bounty of lessons that can be 
applied to business. Simple, yet profound, the following 
presentation about migrating geese provides some poignant 
insight into what it takes to work together successfully as a 
team. This analogy includes five facts relating to geese in-
flight, with lessons that we can apply to our personal and 
professional lives.

 Fact 1: As each goose flap its wings it creates an “uplift” for 
the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole 
flock adds 71% greater range than if each bird flew alone. 
Lesson: People who share a common sense of direction 
and community can get where they are going quicker 
and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one 
another.

 Fact 2: When a goose falls out of formation, it 
suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. 
It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage 
of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. 
Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose we stay in 
formation with those headed where we want to go. We are 
willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

 Fact 3: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the 
formation and another goose flies to the point position.

Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and 
sharing leadership, as with geese, people are interdependent 
on each other’s skill, capabilities and unique arrangement of 
gifts, talents or resources.

 Fact 4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage 
those up front to keep up their speed.

Lesson: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. 
In groups where there is encouragement, the productivity 
is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by 
one’s heart or core values and encourage the heart and core 
of others) is the quality of honking we seek.

 Fact 5: When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, 
two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help 
and protect it. They stay until it dies or can fly again. Then 
they launch out with another formation or catch up with the 
flock.

Lesson: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by 
each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

 This rendition of “Lessons from Geese” was transcribed 
from a speech given by Angeles Arrien at the 1991 
Organizational Development Network, which has been 
broadly touted as being based on the work of Milton Olson. 
However, in a 2009 article written by Sue Widemark, 
she learned that the original version was written in 1972 
by science teacher, Dr. Robert McNeish for a sermon 
he delivered in his church. Widemark discovered this 
information while conducting additional research that 
resulted in a personal conversation with the daughter of 
Milton Olson.

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