Here we are on the eve the latest end of the world prediction, I can't help but recall an incident while in college where someone interpreted a Nostradamus quadrain and predicted that a mass murder would occur at a university that is perpendicular to train tracks in a certain area of latitude and longitude on a Friday morning on March of 1986.

Moving past tragedies and implementing solutions- GIVE WORK A CHANCE!

Once again, our country grieves the man-made catastrophe caused by a deranged citizen who marshaled an arsenal to destroy the lives of 27 victims, including 18 children. It raises, again, the discussion of more legislation of weapons, more fortification of our school systems, and more use of psychotropic medicine and care.

Getting industry support for the skills and maintenance crisis is critical but even more critical is to get support from outside of industry, the general public, business and governmental leaders if we are going to see long lasting change and have the volume of talent pools developed to deal with the current exodus of the Boomer workforce.

As promised sharing more information on the Fiscal Cliff. This is from colleague on the National Defense Workforce Advisory Committee, Laurie Moncrieff. Let's all stand up and be heard. Tell Congress that they need to FIX-IT NOW!

THE VIEW OF THE CLIFF FROM AN ACROPHOBIC

I am a parent, spouse, small business owner, manufacturer, neighbor, and friend. I am the segment of the economy that is painfully aware that in the past 10 years we have experienced an economic downturn second only to the “Great Depression.”

We all hope that US Congressional leaders will resolve the Fiscal Cliff that is hovering over our country but as US Congress plays political chicken and as we approach the December 31st, 2012 deadline, it is important that more prepare for mass shedding of jobs and end of year closings.

How confident are you that partisan politics will subside and a deal will be made that will keep a preventable recession avoided? Are you prepared?

Not to get into whether we should go for blue or red this year, but just frustrated that the US election pendulum paralyzes the economy for 6 months every four years. So many companies during an election, stop all capital purchase, hiring decisions and other measures until the election fallout has been decided and smoke clears until the following March.

Despite the general malaise and anxieties perceived in the job market with the absence of high volume open hiring, companies are still on the look out for quality talent. However, to avoid being inundated with lengthy lines, high volume telephone calls and resume stacks of unqualified talent, companies are employing stealth hiring techniques.

Companies have realized that buying want ads in newspapers, radio and television is not only expensive but also opens the net so wide that they do not have time to filter through the resumes, phone calls or possible lines.

Despite high levels of unemployment across the country, employers still complain about locating quality talent and resources ready for work. Compounding this issue is that many educational outlets spend more time coaching students how to charm their way into and out of an interview into a job.

Whenever we endure the horrific natural and manmade tragedies makes us pause to reflect and strive to answer the unanswerable, solve the unsolvable and strive to fix the unfixable. Since we are enduring life imitating fiction again, we get to see first hand the horror of real tragedy and not able to enjoy another violent simulation developed to capture attention and strive to satisfy our society's unquenchable thirst to escape and be entertained with fabricated conflict.

With the ambient anxiety in a society of over 700,000 attorneys of being constantly careful of not offending has created a fake interaction where we can no longer tell people what they need to hear but what they want to hear.