Gallup Sun

Trust is loyalty earned. — Lawrence Castillo

A short while ago, an internationally known brand-builder, Wally Olins, passed away after a long and brilliant career. He was one of the first to recognize the value that a “brand” is worth more than the value of its product. We are constantly embraced by brands everywhere we go, from the movie theater to the ballpark, to our children’s schools. Brands are positioned everywhere to influence and encourage us.

The same is true in the annuity business; brands are well-positioned and well-financed. New York Life, The Hartford,  AXA, and Northwestern Mutual, to name a few. This year Northwestern Mutual sponsored the NCAA men’s...

Week ending Friday, July 30, 2021


Earth’s Vital Signs

An international coalition of more than 14,000 scientists has signed an initiative declaring that world leaders are consistently failing to cope with the main causes of climate change and the deepening climate emergency. Writing in the journal “BioScience,” the group calls for the elimination of fossil fuel use, the slashing of pollutants, the restoration of ecosystems, a switch to plant-based diets, and the stabilisation of the planet’s human population. They say the planet’s vital signs are deteriorating at a record rate, and also call for climate change to be included in core curricula in schools for the generation...

For the past five years, New Mexico Ethics Watch has been digging into the murky, flimsy world of public officials’ financial disclosure statements as required to be filed under the Financial Disclosure Act.

In multiple reports, we have pointed out both the deficiencies in the law and in filed disclosure statements – pushing for more stringent requirements, more stringent and meaningful auditing, and setting out a path to reform either through rulemaking by the Secretary of State or legislative reform of scant, outmoded requirements.

With the news of a search warrant being executed against the House Majority Leader, Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque, for alleged...

There comes a time in the natural evolution of life that [it] makes sense to look for outside help when caring for your parents. — Lawrence Castillo

Dad was still vital and mostly self-sufficient, but he was bored and needed more to keep himself occupied. The idea of finding an adult daycare for him was finally addressed. He needed more interaction and more stimuli, plus we needed a short daily break.

We embarked on the adventure of finding a satisfactory place for Dad to visit a couple of times a week. The first thing we learned was that there were two differences in adult daycare centers. One choice would be for health care needs, and the other was for social interaction...