Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/erik-hare/page/6/)
I work primarily as a writer, but I've also had great success as an advisor to nonprofits and small businesses. I have a unique strategic planning process that works well for small volunteer driven organizations because it produces a succinct, usable document in as little as 4 hours. I'm also an experienced grant writer, web content (SEO) writer, and user of Excel to improve inventory control. My approach to social media has created proven success at many small business by stressing integration and consistency of message.Judge my skills for yourself at my blog, Barataria. I have available an online porfolio of some of my work.In addition, I'm pleased to have assembled some of my 25 years of experience on the 'net in an Internet Writing Guide. The purpose of this work is to empower people with the skills they need to effetively tell stories that otherwise have not been heard and speak truth to power. Please let me know how useful it is for you and how it can be improved.Thank you for reading.
Longtime readers know that one of the goals of Barataria is to report on news stories that haven’t made the mainstream nooze yet. Today we have three that are developing into what may yet be the most important economic and political stories of 2013 – the good, the bad, and of course the ugly. Continue Reading
Economic health, like personal health, starts with honesty. When something is wrong a good diagnosis is the first step towards the proper cure and a strong recovery. Our economy is been deep in what is commonly called a “Great Recession”. That strange term is a substitute for the dreaded word that most of us know is the true condition – a depression. Continue Reading
There has been a lot of good economic news lately, at least compared to the very bad news of a few years ago. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t bad things worth keeping a close eye on – especially those that predict future action by the Federal Reserve. Continue Reading
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) keeps setting new record highs. Does this mean the Managed Depression is over? The short answer is “yes”, but the long answer is “no”. Continue Reading
The United States’ biggest bogeyman dictator remaining, Hugo Chávez, has died of cancer at age 58. His status as our most feared repressive ruler says something about the state of the world today because by any reasonable accounts he was neither all that repressive nor that big of a challenge to the US. Even the amount he was feared was greatly exaggerated as a badge of honor by this man of the people. Yet his passing is extremely important in that it probably marks a new phase in the continuing progress of Latin America. Continue Reading
Transit planning. If the phrase gave you a cold shiver as it called up memories you’d rather repress, we should talk. It’s been a real horror show here in St Paul as a parade of officials and hired engineers have stood in front of citizen committees and neighborhood gatherings telling us whatever they thought we wanted to hear and never (never!) listening. The decisions were always made long ago by people more interested in chasing pots of money, appropriate or not. Continue Reading
“Let’s tie the minimum wage to the cost of living, so that it finally becomes a wage you can live on.”
– President Obama, State of the Union Address Continue Reading
The State of the Union address is Washingtoon pomp at its finest. Everyone makes sure they have the right special guest and place near the teevee cameras to scene and be seen. But this year it’s also an important event because the newly elected President tells the nation what his last term will be all about. This is my rough “live blog” of the big show. Continue Reading
Nemo. The name doesn’t exactly strike fear, but it has its share of loathing. Who picked that dumb name? Why would you name a winter storm after a fish? Isn’t it just a publicity stunt by the Weather Channel? Continue Reading
(The Sage) knows he makes no fine display,
and wears rough clothes, not finery.
It is not in his expectancy of men
that they should understand his ways,
for he carries his jade within his heart.
– Tao Te Ching 70 (Rosenthal) Continue Reading