Articles by Ron Smith
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ある創業者が、説明を求めて筆者らのもとを訪れた。彼の以前の取引は、本来なら明快な数字で成立していたはずだった。意向表明書（LOI）では、利払い前・税引き前・減価償却前利益（EBITDA）の7.2倍という条件が提示されていた。ところが実際に取引が成立した時点で、実現した経済条件は大きく異なっていた。7.2倍というより、6.5倍に近かったのである。筆者らが計算の内訳を説明すると、彼はその数字自体には驚かなかった。彼が激怒したのは、署名する前に誰もそれを説明してくれなかったことだった。彼にはそのギャップを事前に見通すための仕組みも、それに対抗して交渉するための言葉もなかった。 多くの創業者は、LOIをゴールラインのように扱う。実際には、それはプロセス全体で最も厳しい引受審査フェーズの始まりである。見出しとなる数字は、経済条件が実際に固まるずっと前に心理的な確信を生み出す。そして大半のオーナーは、それを自ら経験するまで理解しない。...
The two brightest planets
If you’ve looked out into the western sky about an hour after sunset, you’ve seen two bright stars. These are not stars, but the two brightest planets. Venus, the brighter of the two, will appear close to Jupiter on the evenings of June 7, 8 and 9. The last time these two planets appeared so close together was in March 2023. You’ll have to wait another three years to see the next close pairing. Venus and Jupiter stand out clearly an hour after sunset. They will set about two hours after sunset.
If you’ve looked out into the western sky about an hour after sunset, you’ve seen two bright stars. These are not stars, but the two brightest planets. Venus, the brighter of the two, will appear close to Jupiter on the evenings of June 7, 8 and 9. The last time these two planets appeared so close together was in March 2023. You’ll have to wait another three years to see the next close pairing. Venus and Jupiter stand out clearly an hour after sunset. They will set about two hours after sunset.
Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame seeking nominations
Author of the article: Ron Smith • Special to The Recorder and Times Published Apr 08, 2026 • Last updated Apr 08, 2026 • 2 minute read Plaques honouring members of the Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame are seen in the lobby of the Brockville Memorial Centre on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Photo by RONALD ZAJAC /The Brockville Recorder and Times Article content The Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame is gearing up for another special event.
Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame seeking nominations
Author of the article: Ron Smith • Special to The Recorder and Times Published Apr 08, 2026 • Last updated 18 hours ago • 2 minute read Plaques honouring members of the Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame are seen in the lobby of the Brockville Memorial Centre on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Photo by RONALD ZAJAC /The Brockville Recorder and Times Article content The Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame is gearing up for another special event.
Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame seeking nominations
Author of the article: • Special to The Recorder and Times • • Plaques honouring members of the Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame are seen in the lobby of the Brockville Memorial Centre on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. /The Brockville Recorder and Times The Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame is gearing up for another special event. This year, the Sports Hall of Fame will be celebrating its 32nd anniversary on Thursday, June 11 and Friday, June 12 in Brockville.
Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame seeking nominations
Author of the article: • Special to The Recorder and Times • • Plaques honouring members of the Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame are seen in the lobby of the Brockville Memorial Centre on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. /The Brockville Recorder and Times The Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame is gearing up for another special event. This year, the Sports Hall of Fame will be celebrating its 32nd anniversary on Thursday, June 11 and Friday, June 12 in Brockville.
Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame seeking nominations
Author of the article: • Special to The Recorder and Times • • Plaques honouring members of the Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame are seen in the lobby of the Brockville Memorial Centre on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. /The Brockville Recorder and Times The Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame is gearing up for another special event. This year, the Sports Hall of Fame will be celebrating its 32nd anniversary on Thursday, June 11 and Friday, June 12 in Brockville.
The Output Convergence Debate Revisited: Lessons from recent developments in the analysis of panel data models
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Sports Hall of Fame seeks nominations
Advertisement 1 Hall of Fame marks 31st anniversary Author of the article: • Special to The Recorder and Times • Article content The Brockville and Area Sports Hall of Fame is gearing up for another special event. Advertisement 2 Article content Article content We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or tap here to see other videos from our team.
Lisa Taylor earns Curling Community Hero Award Original
Author of the article: Ron Smith • Special to The Recorder and Times Published Aug 12, 2024 • 2 minute read Lisa Taylor is being honoured with a Curling Community Hero Award. jpg, BT, apsmc Article content Volunteers are the lifeblood of any and all organizations in every community. Without hard-working volunteers, very little would get done or accomplished. Advertisement 2 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
For our dog Ewing, memories of a life well-lived soften a tremendous loss
Harry Truman once said: “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” kAmx7 J@F =62G6 @FE “:? (2D9:?8E@?” 2?5 DF3DE:EFE6 “7@C =:76[” :E’D E96 36DE 25G:46 @?6 42? 86E 7C@> 2 AC6D:56?E — @C 2?J@?6 6=D6]k^Am kAm&?7@CEF?2E6=J[ 2 5@8’D =:76 :D D9@CE6C E92?
For our dog Ewing, memories of a life well-lived soften a tremendous loss Original
by Ron Smith, Kansas Reflector July 10, 2024 Harry Truman once said: “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” If you leave out “in Washington” and substitute “for life,” it’s the best advice one can get from a president — or anyone else. Unfortunately, a dog’s life is shorter than ours, so we have to make room for the fact that we may lose our friends all too soon. My wife and I face that fact now with our 12-year-old Great Pyrenees, Ewing.
The discovery of Pluto Original
Since the Arizona Legislature is considering declaring Pluto the state's "official" planet, here is some history about its discovery at Flagstaff's Lowell Observatory. As a young man who worked on the family farm in Burnett, Kan., Clyde Tombaugh longed to leave the farm and pursue his dream of becoming an astronomer. kAm%96 J@F?8 %@>32F89 FD65 72C> 6BF:A>6?E E@ 4@?DECF4E D6G6C2= E6=6D4@A6D] p7E6C 4@>A=6E:?8 9:D h\:?49\5:2>6E6C C67=64E:?8 E6=6D4@A6[ 96 DF3>:EE65 5C2H:?8D @7 yFA:E6C 2?5 |2CD :?
The Legacy of Percival Lowell
His younger brother, Abbott Lowell, served as president of Harvard University. His younger sister, Amy Lowell, won the 1925 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Yet Percival Lowell, founder of the Lowell Observatory, created the most lasting legacy of the Lowell family. Born in 1855, Percival earned a degree in mathematics from Harvard. Upon graduation, Percival’s father helped his son secure diplomatic positions in both Japan and Korea. Yet, Percival always longed to pursue his interest in astronomy.
Counting the days of the year
It's easy to take our calendar for granted. The first day of spring always falls on March 20 or 21. Christmas always occurs in winter. Easter always occurs within a month after the first day of spring. In order for this to happen, the number of days in our calendar year must match the number of days it takes for Earth to orbit the sun. This sounds rather simple, but our calendar has not always closely matched Earth's orbital period. Our first calendars used the Moon to count months.
Volcanoes on Mars
During the 1960s NASA successfully completed three flyby missions to Mars. Cameras on board Mariner 4, 6, and 7 photographed nearly 33% of the Martian surface. They found numerous impact craters. Mars appeared to resemble the moon. In 1971, NASA’s Mariner 9 mission orbited Mars to make a complete photographic survey of the red planet’s surface. What they found shocked the world. There were vast areas on Mars covered by huge volcanoes – 17 were as large or larger than the biggest volcanoes on earth.
Of Planets and Stars
If you ask someone what is the difference between a planet and a star, many will say that a star generates its own light, but a planet only shines by reflecting light from the star that it orbits. The sun is a star, and it’s true that the planets in our solar system “shine” because they are reflecting sunlight. As one might expect, there are a few complications. Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, actually emits 2.5 times more energy than it receives from the sun.
Of Planets and Stars
If you ask someone what is the difference between a planet and a star, many will say that a star generates its own light, but a planet only shines by reflecting light from the star that it orbits. The sun is a star, and it’s true that the planets in our solar system “shine” because they are reflecting sunlight. As one might expect, there are a few complications. Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, actually emits 2.5 times more energy than it receives from the sun.
'Chemtrails' debunked
How a rare and beautiful atmospheric and aerodynamic phenomenon is fuelling wild conspiracy theories. Aeronautical expert and aviation photographer Dr RON SMITH FRAeS explains how fictional 'chemtrails' are being confused with iridescent contrails. Dip into any social media account that is vaguely related to aviation or aeronautics and one is likely to be accosted by various posts claiming that some undefined agency is using air transport to ‘spray’ the earth’s population with various chemicals.
Senior advocate: City best served with transparent, experienced Manfredi on council
To the Editor: I would like to take this opportunity to endorse current Interim Mayor Vince Manfredi for another term on the City of Maricopa City Council. Over the past year, I have had the pleasure to work with Councilman Manfredi on an important project to help provide more services and better information to our Maricopa seniors. This project gave me a great opportunity to better know Councilman Manfredi. I found him to have a “can-do” attitude and a great amount of enthusiasm and support.
Smith: Long-term care system broken for those in 'gigantic middle'
Last month, AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins wrote in the group’s bulletin “the system for helping people who can no longer care for themselves is broken and costly.” This is important because, as she noted, “Nearly 70% of American who reach age 65 will someday require help from others to get through their day. On average, women will need help for 3.7 years, and men for 2.2 years.” Unfortunately, the system providing these services is deeply flawed.
Remembering Bob Dole: Will we see his like again?
Bob Dole died Sunday. He was 98 and battled lung cancer to the end. Dole has a lot of “onlys” to his name. He was the only American who lost a bid to be vice President (under Jerry Ford) and lost his own presidential bid, in 1996. Most who knew him would call him a statesman. That label hardly fits anyone in Washington, D.C., these days. In fact, the 21st century has produced few statesmen in all levels of American government.
Remembering Kansas' own Bob Dole: Will we see his like again?
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war historian. Bob Dole died Sunday. He was 98 and battled lung cancer to the end. Dole has a lot of “onlys” to his name.
Removing sales tax on food creates a mess — why not add tax holidays instead? - Kansas Reflector
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war historian. It’s re-election time. It’s easy to tell.
Smith and Engelder: Fairness and legal justice sought decade after Sandusky scandal
Ten years ago, Joe Paterno was fired at night over the telephone, five days after the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office released the presentment charging Jerry Sandusky and Penn State administrators with crimes of child abuse. Paterno was never found guilty of any crime, but three administrators and Sandusky spent time in prison.
Cotton contamination is big problem during processing
The U.S. cotton industry loses from $600 million to $750 million per year to contamination that creates production and quality issues for mills. “That’s a significant loss,” says USDA ARS Engineer John Wanjura, at the USDA ARS Gin Lab in Lubbock, Texas. Contamination, mostly plastic, results in a loss in premiums U.S. cotton merchants once enjoyed because of its reputation as a cleaner, higher-quality fiber compared to cotton from competing trade areas with similar quality, Wanjura says.
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