It is been over a year since I made a post on this blog, but it was not due to there not being anything to write about as we have seen a remarkable year.   Our recession has continued with unemployment remaining uncomfortably high at just below 10% for the country and would certainly rate higher if they included those who are no longer actively looking for employment.   There has been an emergence of a viable political movement called the Tea Party.  Its muscle was manifested over a week ago for the mid-term elections in response to the massive overreach of the Health Care bill,  the Cap and Trade legislation, and Obama’s liberal agenda.

The purpose of this post is not to write about any of my political thoughts today, but reintroduce myself and this blog.  The original intent of this blog was to write about internet marketing and to introduce internet products.   I will still have posts relating to internet marketing , but I am choosing to Not make this a specialty blog.  I will simply write about all areas that are of  interest to me.   At this point, I am not perfectly clear as to the direction that this blog will take and that will be a part of the beauty of it.   It will unfold naturally.   The key at this point is simply taking action and creating momentum.

What am I interested in writing or communicating about?  Yes, I am intellectually interested in politics  and I am a conservative.  You may not like some of the posts that I write and that is fine.   Please feel free to move on to another site.  I realize that politics is an emotional game.  There is no getting around it, but I will attempt to persuasively and logically deliver my point.   I am also a firm history buff and the older I get, the more I love it.   I am interested in relating biographies and stories that will have a lesson or at least leave something to think about.

This may be new for those who know me, but I will also be writing about spirituality, the Sacred Heart, and the angelic realm.  It is an area of interest that I have been reading and searching on for over 11 years now.  I can honestly say that it is area that I have knowledge and experience with on how it can make our lives more full as we take steps toward attaining our unique mastery.   It is the understanding of the Sacred Heart that is my primary interest in teaching and discussing.

I also enjoy business, finance, and economics.  I like the action of business and I am a big believer in the free market system.   So, I guess that might make me the dreaded C word- capitalist.   There is no doubt in my mind that it is the most efficient vehicle for creating production, delivering value, and ultimately creating wealth.  I will write about business and the economics of how we came to be in this current recession.  I  know that many of you know how we arrived in this condition, but some do not and there are lessons to learn from our shared outcome.

Because I have not written in a long time, Google does not even know who I am any more, perhaps this reintroduction post can get me back somewhere on the ranking radar again.   That’s right, in Google, we trust.

If there is anything that has begged to be commented on,  it is the another organization associated with Barack Obama and it is the ballot stuffing and the voter creating  organization of ACORN.    ACORN has demonstrated its willingness and ability to assist entrepreneurs in minimizing their tax burden.  Who does not want to lower their taxable liability?  ACORN offices in San Bernardino, Calif., Brooklyn, Washington, San Diego, and Baltimore have videos showing them helping  “ladies of the night” find a designated category to classify for tax purposes for the service that they are providing to their valued clients.

We, of course, know that the prostitute and the pimp were not the real McCoy, but conservative activists posing as a prostitute and a pimp.  The ACORN had no issues with how these two actors were interested in making money or its obvious illegality.  What is more than a little stunning and reprehensible is the pimp suggesting that some of the workforce might include “children from El Salvador” and the staffers had no qualms with child prostitution!

What is the reaction from ACORN of this damning evidence?   It is to naturally file a suit against the investigators for illegal wiretapping.  When you are caught red-handed, then you no choice but to kill the messenger.  It is straight out the demagoguery playbook.

Are there any other illegal actions that ACORN can hang its shingle to?  There have been investigations into their well publicized voter fraud, embezzlement of at least a million dollars by a former chief financial officer, and whether it should be a tax-deductible charity.  Barack Obama did represent ACORN for a voter right lawsuit before he was a member of the Illinois legislature.  I suppose it was one of his community organizing activities.  ACORN was certainly all in on Barack Obama’s candidacy and Obama was going to see that they received more funding and support.   They came quickly under fire with the video investigation and he naturally disavows paying much attention to ACORN any longer.

Have we seen anything like this before?  How about his close ties to known terrorist Bill Ayers?  How about his close relationship with the Rev. William Wright whom the largest share of Barack and Michelle’s charitable donations went to?    Oh, yes we have seen this before.  We are certain to see more masks of Obama and attempted efforts to kill any messenger who exposes him and any organizations he has had associations to.

How sweet it is that football is back!  The NFL has to be the number 1 entertainment property in the world.  Sunday is Gameday and for us fans, it can make for a simple fine day to strap yourself softly onto the couch or roll into some quality beer drinking venue and enjoy the games.

Fantasy football was an underground hobby roughly 10 years ago and now it is a full scale industry of its own.  I play in two leagues now.  I am the commish for one league and have played in the other league for about 8 years now with some guys out of the Dallas area.  Every week has its own set of challenges as the “owner”, you have to decide who to play and who to sit.  The weekly match-ups often comes down to the Monday Night game.   I can also claim having won 4 league titles.  That may sound a little like bragging.  Let me try that again, I can claim having won 4 league titles.  Hmmm, it still feels good the second time.

I just finished watching the marque game of the day, Cowboys vs. Giants.  Giants won with a field goal on the final play of the game.  Cowboys played a terrific game to open their new mammoth football cathedral in Arlington, however they ultimately lost the game at the quarterback position.  Romo turned the ball over with 3 interceptions, while Eli Manning played a solid game and avoided making any errors.   The game was complete with some unusual plays, especially when NY’s second interception came off an incomplete pass that stayed alive off of an unwittingly Witten’s heal that knocked the ball directly into the grateful defender’s hands.

I did make a trip to Arlington a couple of weeks ago for a MillerCoors beer meeting and I got to see the new stadium.  The scale of the building along with the “video board” is quite a sight to see.  I think they have 27 different radio booths!  They are going to have more than 10 times the amount of concession stands as the former Texas Stadium.  A 16oz beer will be $8.00.  To go to any game is a serious pricey undertaking, I understand that parking……parking  on the property will be $75!

For right now, TV suites me just fine.  With or without  TO as a Cowboy, I ‘ll have my popcorn ready for the next week.

Barack Obama goes before a joint session of Congress tonight to sell the health care gift or reform.  It is his 114th time or somewhere in that neighborhood that he has made a speech on health care.  Why so many times?  Clearly, the pitch is not taking.  Speaking before a joint session in Congress is very rare and it is typically reserved for the annual state of the union address and/or going to war.

This is an effort to take over 1/6 th of the our economy.  It is a massive over-reach and it is effort to override the will of the American people.  The Republicans do not have the votes to stop this legislation in either house, so why is there a need for this grandstanding?  Because there are Democrats who know if they vote for this statist legislative package that they may longer be a Congressman in 2011.  The “mobs” across America are letting the members in the House and Senate know that they do not support turning over their health care choices to another bureaucratic pinhead.

Barack Obama said tonight that he supports the American people having choice.  If so, then why is he against having private insurers compete across state lines?  This would certainly create instant competition and would be a favorable outcome for the consumer/ patient.  And since when did health care become a universal right?  Health care is a good.  Well, it is a good if you actually believe in the free market system and free enterprise.  Shouldn’t it also be a right that everyone have a full size refrigerator and a heating/cooling system in their home or apartment?  Shouldn’t everyone have access to the Internet?  Where does this end?  Do we need government to be a nanny fixture for every one of our problems and issues?  Our cherished liberty is under assault by this administration and this liberal Congress.  Tonight Barack Obama has attempted to place an attractive candy wrap around his statist poison pill.  To believe that the cost and our forthcoming deficits from this bill will not increase with this mammoth spending  is completely naive.

I am very curious as to what our government does with any competence.  Barack Obama did tell us recently that UPS and Fed Ex are doing well, but the US postal system is having deep and severe problems being able to support its services.  I ask you, what does UPS and Fed Ex have in common that the US postal service does not?

Will a version of this health care package pass?  I hope not and I am not sure.  If we continue to make hay and demonstrate our objection to this massive overreach that is against our will, then the statist Barack Obama may have his first political Waterloo.

We entered into this global recession back in September ’08, which is about 10 and half months now.   What is unfortunate is many or most have no idea what events were at the crux of the financial system imploding on into itself.    It was the sub prime mortgage system that was the trigger for our financial collapse that was created by our political class.

It began with the creation of the Community Reinvestment Act that was passed in the Carter Administration.  As is often the case, the seeds for our economic quandary began innocently and inauspiciously.  During the nineties there was a push to provide more “affordable mortgages”, so that everyone could own a home.  It is only “fair”.  Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were the key players in pushing for an expansion of the Community Reinvestment Act.   They got what they were pushing  for and they are still telling us how we should live and behave.  The titles of the acts always sound so good and beneficial, perhaps that in and of itself should be a red flag.

The result was more flexible financial arrangements and more flexible standards of who can qualify for a home  loan.  The proven creditworthy standards of the past were no longer necessary and were considered to be restrictive.  The past standards of prudence were evidently discriminatory and were adjusted to allow and create more “rightful” home buyers.  In case it is not clear, this was another entitlement policy where rights are provided and declared, but responsibility is only an option.

Interest rates were at one of its lowest levels early in this decade.  With the wonderful flexibility of no or very low down payments, getting a mortgage was indeed becoming very affordable.  This is eureka!  However the loans were variable based on the current and changing interest rates, evidently it was a surprise to many when their monthly payments were increased as the current interest rates increased!  Payments or de facto rents began not to be paid and defaults began to mount and mount.

Almost naturally, these mortgages were packed into securities that did not accurately represent their true value to say the least by innovative investment bankers.  These values were very inflated, because many or most of them were the sub prime mortgages that were not being serviced.  Whatever losses that might occur from these packages, we could count on them be covered by the federal guarantees.  Oh, that did not work out very well either as we witnessed the huge repulsive bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Of course, we can climb ourselves out of this economic cavern and wreckage if we choose to enact and follow the common sense practices of a free market system.  Certainly the political class cannot help themselves from tweaking the market and riddling it with their paralyzing regulations,  and then clamoring that the free market does not work!  It is almost to convenient.

From our collective experience, perhaps we can learn when we become consumed with constantly creating “fairness” and practice entitlement/ liberal policies, there are inevitable consequences that will follow that are dubious to dire.  Be aware of fair.

It has been two months since I last made a post.  Have I been on a sabbitical or what?  I think that it is a function of action or inaction that propels the same behavior.

I had an active calendar of traveling that began in late May and culminated with a party that I hosted or threw in mid-June.   I am in the beer wholesale business and we were leading into the peak of peaks for our sales for the July 4th holiday period.  By that time, I had not made an entry in over a month.  I had gotten out of the habit of creating content, providing viewpoints, and generally punching out some thoughts.

This simple entry is a behavior disruptor or shift.  I am back to writing and making posts.  You could say that I am writing this to change the direction of my behavioral inertia.  Hey, I like to play with words.

There is certainly a lot to write about with the liberals trying push the Cap and Trade legislation down our throats, which passed the House with the polar opposite of any “transparency” based on the global warming hoax of creating any tangible difference in our temperatures.   The liberals are full steam ahead on trying to reform the best health care system in world for “universal health care”.   90% of Americans have some form of coverage and those that don’t have coverage, get service when they go their hospital’s emergency centers.  Certainly, there can be improvements, but not turning it over to the governmental incompetence and inefficiency.

Yesterday there was a solar eclipse with a full moon in the Southern hemisphere.  Yeah, there is plenty going on.

I went to New Orleans for the first trip at the end on Memorial weekend on a bus trip of 50 folks.  Everyone had a terrific time down in the Quarter.  What is not to like about great food, terrific music, and ample amount of cold adult beverage?   I found the people in New Orleans to be gracious and quite hospitable.  I do not remember anyone not wanting to go back.  new Orleans is truly a unique city and a very fun getaway.

A week later, I went on a cruise from Galveston to Jamaica and Grand Cayman.  We were scheduled to go to Mexico, but the pig flu changed those plans.  Some friends, Chris and John, got marrried on the ship and roughly 25 of us joined them on the cruise.  I enjoyed the port of calls, but I was ready to get out of my hot room with the skinny bunk bed and sharing the room with a couple of friends.  It was a week coziness that none of us were used to experinceing.  Uhhh, we all had seperate beds.  I just want to be clear.

The Hawaiian party that I held at my house which was one week after I returned from the cruise turned out excellent.  The food was super and the night turned out great.  I wanted everyone to have a good time and the response was gratifying.  I was fortunate to have four fanatasic women that helped me make it all possible and they know who they are.

So, here I am.  A wallet that felt more thin than the previous month.  I am ready to begin punching out some quality content, I am biased.  I also will be marketing some fine information products, which is the original intent of the blog and developing relationships in our fast changing world.

Ronald Reagan is clearly my favorite president and leader in my lifetime.  I miss him.  We (there are millions of us) miss him.  I digress.

He had a quote that I read recently that has stark relevance today.  See if you agree or not…

“Now, where do some of these attacks originate?  They are coming from the very people whose past policies, all done in the name of compassion, brought us the current recession.  Their policies drove up inflation and interest rates, and their policies stifled incentive, creativity and halted the movement of the poor up the economic ladder.  Some of their criticism is perfectly sincere.  But let’s understand that some of their criticism comes from those who have a vested interest in a permanent welfare constituency and in government programs that reinforce the  dependency of our people.  Well, I would suggest that no one should have a vested interest in poverty or dependence, that these tragedies must never be looked as a source of votes for politicians or paychecks for bureaucrats.   They are blights on our society that we must work to eliminate, not institutionalize.”

Is that a terrific quote or what?  Unless if you do not subscribe to notion of American or human exceptional-ism.

The Talking Dog

A guy is driving around the back woods of Tennessee and sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: “Talking Dog For Sale”.  He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard.  The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there.

“You talk?” he asks.  “Yep,” the dog replies.

After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says “So, what’s your story?”

The dog looks up and says, “Well,I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young.  I signed up for a job at the airport  to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in.   I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded several medals.  I wanted to help America, so I interviewed with the CIA.  In no time at all they had me traveling around the world and hanging out with spies and world leaders.  After all, no one figured a dog could eavesdrop.  I proved to be one of the most valuable spies for the decade.  But the jetting around really tired me out, and I was not getting any younger.  So, I decided to settle down.   I got married and had a mess of puppies.  Now I’m just retired.”

The guy is amazed.  He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.

“Ten bucks, ” the owner says.

“This dog is amazing!  Why on earth are you selling him for just ten dollars?”

“Because he is liar!  He never did any of that stuff!”

Muster is probably the most sacred tradition at Texas A&M where traditions are revered and plentiful.  Muster occurs every April 21st where all Aggies who have pasted away during the past year are honored for their final “roll call”.  Jackie Sherrill came to speak in Victoria on April and speaking the next day on Muster in Yoakum, a town close to Victoria and the hometown of Dennis Mudd who was a vital member of the Twelfth Man kickoff team.

Jackie Sherrill was the head football coach of Texas A&M from ’82 to ’87.  He turned around the Texas A&M football program and led the team to 3 consecutive Cotton Bowl appearances.  The winner of the former Southwest conference would receive an automatic invitation to play on the New Years’ Day game.  Jackie Sherrill was a true lightning rod of a head football coach and a man who chose to follow his own instincts and dealt with whatever consequences that followed his actions.  As a student at A&M and graduated in’86, I liked him.  He was and is a true motivator of players.  He was an outstanding recruiter that is paramount in the college game.  He also was very effective at reaching out to the student body and truly loves Texas A&M.

In reaching out to the student body, he chose to manifest a revered tradition bring it onto the field.  It is the tradition of the twelfth man.    The student stands throughout every football game in our declaration that we are all prepared to go out on the field and play if needed.  It dates back to an incident that occurred in the 1920′s where a student did put on a uniform as the squad was running out of players.  It is clearly a symbolic gesture in this age.  In watching some students work on building the bonfire, he had the idea of using regular guys get on the field and play one very special play…..the kickoff.  He said that only one member of his staff was in  support of his decision.  In true Jackie Sherrill style, he felt it would work and that was good enough for him.

It did work.  And  it worked very well.  The student body and football fans ate it up!  There were 10 kamikazes flying down the field on every kickoff (I’m not including the kicker).  We could feel some of those hits in the stands while we were swirling our towels.  It would be very LOUD.

He has a book telling the story that includes the players and twelfth man members telling their stories.  It is complete with some great photos bring the experience to life.  The book is No Experience Required: Jackie Sherrill and the Texas A&M 12th Man Kickoff team. It can purchased on the 12th MKOT Foundation website where more information can be found.  100% of the proceeds from the book will go the foundation.

I bought the book and it was signed by Jackie and Dennis Mudd.  Jackie gave me a phone number of a mutual friend of ours who graduated with a degree in Marketing at the same time that I did who is also in the beer business.  I called Carl, the friend, later that day and he was just arriving at a hotel in Florida for a meeting.  I never call him.  He said he was just thinking of me after seeing someone on the plane who liked just like me.  I guess I have a twin out there somewhere.

It was a serendipitous day.

What is going on in John’s Thornhill’s masterclass for week 10 & 11?  I am glad you asked.

We are creating our own information product.   It is and can be a little overwhelming to first come up with a viable product idea.  Of course, we will not be sure of its market viability until the eBooks are completed and placed into the Internet market.

I, like many of my global classmates (I think), have struggled to come up with what I was going to write and create.  I have chosen to write a book on how to save thousands on buying a new or used car or vehicle.  There are certainly a couple of books out there that teach or show you how to save money on your next auto purchase.  There are also many more options of how to make your car/ truck purchase with the expansion of the net.  What are the easiest methods of making a purchase on the Internet?   What options can avail you of the greatest amount of saving?  When choosing a particular site of making a purchase or using it as a tool to make the purchase, what should you do to make  the objective of getting the best vehicle for the price that will surprise your friends and family for what you paid for your new ride?

These and other questions can be answered in the new book.  What about going on to a car lot in area that you live? Many of us know that it can be useful play to buy a car at the end of the month.  It is always good to shop one dealer against the other and use competition to arrive at the best price.  It is also useful to establish a price on your new car purchase before determining what the trade-in value is on your current ride.  Don’t talk about the amount of your payment until the price is determined otherwise…….advantage salesman.

Well, I have a lot of writing and researching to do, but that is where I am currently at  in  this Internet  masterclass.

It will certainly be interesting to see what my fellow classmates will create in their writing.  From what I have seen in our forum and their blog sites, I suspect that  there will be some terrific info products worth buying and putting into action.