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Weitz Luxenberg PC, one of the leading asbestos law firms in New York City, today announced its thanks to all former and present members of the armed forces – particularly those serving abroad this Thanksgiving.

“Weitz Luxenberg wishes to extend its sincerest gratitude to our military personnel and veterans today,” said Perry Weitz, Esq., co-founder of the firm. “Although we have worked hard to serve hundreds of soldiers in the courtroom, we can still never hope to repay them for the service they have provided to us.”

“We are committed to continuing to represent these soldiers in legal matters as they represent our nation abroad. We especially thank them for their patriotism today, on Thanksgiving.”

Weitz Luxenberg, nationally recognized as a leader in the field of asbestos litigation, plays an important role in fighting for the legal rights of the many veterans exposed to asbestos during the course of their service.

Weitz Luxenberg’s Thanksgiving expression to the troops, past and present, coincides with its recognition that November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Weitz Luxenber

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Friction is one of the more important concepts in the world. Many things are either made possible or impeded by friction.

Strike a match and the friction creates a flame. Yet that same kind of friction stops other things from flowing smoothly.

Perhaps the best description of the challenges that arise from friction is from the well known military strategist, Clausewitz:

“Everything is very simple in War, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate and produce a friction which no man can imagine exactly who has not seen War . . . in War, through the influence of an infinity of petty circumstances, which cannot properly be described on paper, things disappoint us, and we fall short of the mark.”

From: Clausewitz, On War, Book I, Ch. VII

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SPOTIFY has signed up 2.5 million paying subscribers, ahead of a major new development by the company to be announced next week.

The Swedish streaming company released the data today, 24 hours after sending out invites to journalists for an event next week, at which Daniel Ek, Spotifys co-founder and chief, is expected to outline some major changes and say what is next for the business.

Spotify has added 500,000 paying subscribers in the last two months.

The big surge in its growth can be partially attributed to its US roll out and a deep partnership with Facebook whereby all new Spotify users must have an account with the social network first.

It has also launched in several new countries, including Denmark and Austria during the last few weeks; as well as beginning partnerships with telcos such as Virgin Media -as revealed first by The Telegraph.

Business Insider has also estimated that Spotify has added five million new users since the tie-up with Facebook was announced at f8, the social networks annual developers conference.

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Capitalism has “lost its way” and financial profit should no longer be the main driving force behind big business, says Richard Branson, the Virgin Group founder who bought the formerly nationalised bank Northern Rock.

Branson makes the assertion in the foreword of his book, Screw Business As Usual. In it, he says he wants to reflect “a vibrant and marked sea change from the way business always used to be done, when financial profit was the only driving force”.

At the book’s press launch in London earlier in the week, Branson said: “This may not be a popular statement at the moment so please bear with me.

“I truly believe that capitalism was created to help people live better lives, but sadly over the years it has lost its way a bit. The short-term focus on profit has driven most businesses to forget about the important long-term role they have in taking care of people and the planet.”

Branson also offered words of sympathy for the Occupy protesters. “Rightly so, people all over the world are no longer accepting this short-term approach [to profit] and are demanding that business as usual changes,” he said.

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As a modern business owner, I’ve caught the fever to rely on gadgets and depend on electronic communication in lieu of actually picking up the phone; but I wonder, have I done my company a disservice? As I visit client sites and assess the challenges they face, it becomes clear that sometimes the culprit is not the employee, it’s the technology. Excessive reliance on technology cripples the ability to think outside the box. To be sure that your employees know their tasks and are able to execute them with or without help, there are a few ways to take the temperature of your employee’s skill without technological help.

Combine training with experience

I am huge fan of training and you will never hear me dismiss it.  That said I also know that training only teaches you so much. There are practical parts of the job that training, no matter how good, will never be able to teach.  The goal here is to get rid of the ‘push button’ mentality where the employee only knows how to push a specific button.We want to get them to the point of expertise where they know exactly what to do when they don’t have that button to push.

Create a one to one atmosphere

The idea behind this is to create an environment where your employees match every challenge with at least one potential solution. The benefit fr

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ROMEItaly’s Senate approved crucial economic reforms demanded by the European Union on Friday, the first step in paving the way for Premier Silvio Berlusconi to resign as early as this weekend and a transitional government to be formed.

The 156-12 vote took place after respected economist Mario Montiwidely expected to become the interim prime ministerwas welcomed with applause in the Senate chamber, where he was officially designated senator for life.

Italy’s president bestowed the title on Monti two days earlier to signal to roiling financial markets that he intended to ask the 68-year-old former European commissioner to try to form a transitional government after Berlusconi leaves office.

The reform legislation now passes to the lower Chamber of Deputies, which is expected to vote on it by Saturday. A Cabinet meeting has been scheduled immediately after the vote, leading to speculation that Berlusconi might tender his resignation to Italy’s president as early as Saturday night.

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