The US Labor Department announced this morning there were 500,000 new unemployment claims last week. Does this look like a summer of economic recovery? When our “leaders” in Washington say these are just little ripples that show the economy is actually “getting better,” are they not simply lying to the American public? All of you who are facing the disaster of long-term unemployment, which is likely to become permanent, know there is no recovery. Our government is extremely anti-business; everything they are doing from healthcare, to cap and trade, to added regulation for just about every kind of business, and the possibility of raising taxes after the November elections, not just for the wealthy (who run many of the small businesses our economy depends upon), but for all consumers. Who blames consumers for not buying anything. How can a government that claims to love new jobs, while at the same time, hate the people who are in a position to provide those jobs? This is an oxymoron generated by idiots.

500,000 new unemployment claims, on top of almost the same amount for the last who knows how many weeks! Horrible, horrible, horrible.

An article from Reuters on January 8, 2010, was titled, “Snap Analysis: US job losses raises fears of economic stall.” That was an understatement which is now coming to pass in the form of a prolonged depression. For the unemployed, things are worse than ever. According to a CNNMoney article on June 16, 2010, if you are unemployed you need not apply to many employers. They seem to be taking the attitude if you are unemployed you did something to deserve it. They will only talk to applicants who already have a job. Rotten, isn’t it? Here is a place where no one is turned away. They welcome all, employed or unemployed.

It was stated by the authors of  “Americans are overpaid” that a reason for American prosperity is an overabundance of capital available to businesses and individuals. What are they talking about? Since late 2007 the US credit markets have completely dried up. Sure, the Donald Trumps, and Warren Buffets are able to get all the financing they require, either because lenders view them as being no risk so far as repayment of credit is concerned, or they have their own capital to invest. That helps no small or home based business owner. Most cannot get enough credit to buy a car, much less finance their businesses.

Small business is the acknowledged backbone of the US economy?but, they are starving for financing. Banks had to ask for bailouts by the government, so the ones still solvent are hoarding funds in order to repay the government and get out from under the stiff controls that came with the bail money. Many smaller banks go under every week, and the other not-so-large ones are reluctant to get back into lending. Business can no longer depend on the US Treasury to provide more money for them through the banks or any stimulus because America is flat broke and owes trillions of dollars to the Chinese and other countries. Our government is helpless to stop the economic catastrophe we are in, and these writers say American workers are overpaid? With real  unemployment approaching 25%, there are no American workers being paid anything at all.

The answer to no credit and no job is more income, something self-employed entrepreneurs are in a unique position to provide. For yourself, begin now to implement those measures you have been putting off, in search of a more convenient time, that will add to your income and build your business for a successful future.  The time to begin using your new ideas is now; whatever business schemes you are planning to use will take time to show results?may take years, so start right now. Time is of the essence.

If your business uses any kind of affiliate or associate program, you are in a unique position to help your new prospects solve their credit problems, or their unemployment, with more income. With your own established business you will be able to convince a lot of prospects of the necessity to begin now to prepare for a better future. Having additional income, they will not need to ask for so much credit, and they will be able to come up with larger down payments on the things they need. What’s better, they will no longer be unemployed. They must be shown the time is now, and very critical, to begin their business so it will have time to succeed when they need it most. Nothing happens quickly in the business world.

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Tags: american, anti-business, consumers, credit, government, home based business, income, new unemployment, november elections, recovery, small business, taxes

The hard fact is, recovery is a fairy tale. Obama and his Chicago mob are simply lying to the American people when they grab at anything they can remotely spin to look like things are getting better. It’s true the stock market seems to be booming, so somebody can still afford to buy, and productivity is up, and manufacturing seems to be making a little movement, but where are the jobs?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which really should be the Bureau of Labor BS, says there are 14.6 million US workers unemployed at the end of July, 2010, and the unemployment rate is still 9.5 percent. Among these are 6.6 million people the BLS says have been unemployed for 27 weeks and more?this means almost half the total number of BLS unemployed have been jobless for over half a year. Some of these have had no job for much longer.

The terrible thing about this situation is nothing the  government has done has helped the economy at all, as far as creating jobs is concerned. True, some government jobs, like teachers, firemen, and policemen have been temporarily saved, but local and state tax revenues are on the decline because no one is working and aren’t able to pay the tax to sustain these jobs. I don’t think even the arrogant Chicago mob in charge in Washington will be saying the Feds can shore up these jobs indefinitely. Which means in a few months many local and state jobs will eventually be lost, perhaps forever.

Our economy depends on consumers buying things to drive it, and they just aren’t doing much  buying. They have no jobs, and no job prospects, their homes have lost at least half their value, so consumers are in no mood to buy. Thomson/Reuters reports US consumer sentiment is at its lowest level in nine months. Things are so bad in the retail sector a majority of sellers are continuing deep discounting that started in June and is carrying on into July. So goes the fairy tale of recovery. Add to this the thought in the back of every homeowner’s mind that housing prices could fall as much as 40 percent more before there is any recovery. This idea was discussed earlier this year by Daily Finance. Then, add 479,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended July 31, up 19,000 from a upwardly revised 460,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said. The weekly figure is the highest since the week ended April 10, when 480,000 initial claims were filed. New weekly claims seem to be overwhelming.

That’s not all. Shadow Government Statistics says the real unemployment rate for July is 21.7%. This is because BLS does not consider those who have been unemployed so long they have simply given up. This group says, if you include people who are making nothing like before they lost their jobs, including those working only part of the time, you will come up with the astounding fact that at least 29.7% of the US work force is suffering some kind of under income condition?that’s almost one third of our entire working population. Do you think the current economic depression is over, or that it’s getting better?

You need to face the fact your job could be the next to be cut. Even though productivity is up, how do you think this is possible? Because companies have found  ways to produce more with fewer people, and they are continuing to do this. The ultimate outcome will be replacement of almost all workers with people willing to work  their health away doing more and more things, or they will be totally replaced by robots or other automation. This includes lower level professionals in all areas, accountants, lawyers, and even doctors and nurses. Software programs are right now replacing many of these functions. Despite what the government says about the future, many of these opportunities will gradually be replaced  with software everyone can easily access using just a home computer.

What can you do? The news media have started to advocate something they despised for years: the home based business. It is not possible for everyone to be successful in this kind of business, just as it is not possible for everyone to succeed at anything. In times like these, if you are unemployed, with no prospects for getting a job, don’t you think you should use some of your creativity and make your own way of work? Some of you are drawing unemployment insurance, which has been extended several times. If this has made you complacent, you need to snap out of it. Do you think the government is going to support you forever?

There are many opportunities, on and off the Internet. To me, Internet businesses offer possibilities to everyone. Most require little money to start, but you need to have some knowledge of how to operate such a business. Gaining this knowledge can be time consuming and expensive. I have been personally involved with Gery Carson, the founder of Strong Future International (SFI) since about 1992, when I was a member of his Watkins team. In 1999 he started SFI and I became an affiliate right after the start. You might think, because I got in at the beginning, I have become quite wealthy. This did not happen because I did not actively work the business and do the things Gery suggested. Only in the last few years have I realized the many opportunities SFI has and I am actively involved with my business.

What finally got me started? I studied the pay plan and realized  I can receive commissions from the sales of everyone in the entire SFI organization; there are several hundred thousand SFI affiliates worldwide, so this is a lot of people helping me make money. They are joining every day at the rate of 700 to 900 a day, and sometimes more. Why is SFI special?

Here are  some reasons why SFI offers many opportunities to home based entrepreneurs:

No cost to join; you will eventually want to spend a little money as you build your business.

SFI provides a number of free Gateway Websites you can use to promote moneymaking programs.

SFI offers volumes of free training; the beautiful thing is, Gery Carson has condensed all this information into a simple plan to Sponsor new affiliates and Refer new customers to Triple Clicks, a program somewhat similar to eBay.

There is a program that pays you for those you Sponsor and Refer.

The EyeEarn program offers a way to make money by showing an EyeEarn banner on your vehicle.

TripleClicks (TC) is the main program for making money. You are paid commissions for everything you sell from TC, as well as commissions on all purchases of prospects you refer.

VeryVip is a hosting program you can buy for about $40 a month from TC. You can get up to three separate  Websites to use to sell hosting worldwide, as well as promoting your SFI business globally.

There is a wide variety of Veriuni liquid health products which are over 90% effective, compared with about 10% effectiveness for normal pills and capsules.

E-Commerce Associates (ECA). This program is as near an automatic moneymaking machine as I have ever seen. If you sign up only a few merchants into this program, you will begin to make money from everything they sell on their free Websites.

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Tags: american people, automation, consumer, economic recovery, economy, home based business, housing prices, initial jobless claims, Internet, obama, productivity, retail, robots, sfi, software, stock market, tax revenues, tripleclicks, unemployment, unemployment insurance, unemployment rate

The biographical sketches of the authors of  “Americans are overpaid”  indicates they are very well educated, and their careers say they should know all there is about economic subjects. With all their knowledge and experience, you would think whatever they say is absolute truth. Of course, there is no such thing as absolute truth, not even in Quantum Mechanics?Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Theory took care of that. So, let’s examine one idea in “Americans are overpaid.”

 An early statement in the article is, “U.S. workers are overpaid, relative to equally productive foreigners doing the same work. If the global economy is ever to get back into balance, that gap needs to be closed.” The authors go on to say American workers take advantage of higher productivity which makes America rich. High productivity, they say, is the result of better education, a developed infrastructure, available capital, and a more highly developed work ethic. Is all this bad? Let’s look at education.

 In addition to political issues, which I will not discuss, our government, from the President on down, constantly preaches about the shortcomings of our educational system, and daily presents policies to improve it. They say we will soon be taking a back seat to the rest of the world, and they present volumes of statistics to “prove” it. If the system is as bad as our leaders say, there will be no need to cut wages; it will be done for us through the economics of global trade.

 Every controversial theory presents opportunities for entrepreneurs, and this one is no different. Small businesses are job creators. The SBA’s Office of Advocacy funded data and research showing small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all firms, they create more than half of the private non-farm gross domestic product, and they create 60 to 80 percent of the net new jobs. We obviously need every small business we can get, including home based businesses, the kind anyone can and should have, at least part time. This educational idea presents openings for home based entrepreneurs. Even if the educational system is not broken, which it is, there have always been opportunities to help people with problems learning difficult subjects, such as math. Many years ago I tutored several people in Algebra for pay, never realizing I was operating a home based business. The same opportunities exist today if you know a particular subject well. You may have noticed there are a number of franchises that provide educational services. If you have an educational skill there is really no reason to buy a franchise. Just advertise what you do and go from there. Many opportunities exist in foreign languages, math and science, computer technology, music (I took piano lessons in a teacher’s home for 11 years), and anything else a person wants to learn. To protect yourself from government actions that could affect your pay, as well as other restrictions that may be placed on whatever you do, please consider the possibility of starting your own home based business. This can be done on a part time basis, allowing you to try several different schemes, all while continuing the career you are in. A win-win situation. Here http://www.agt-free.com is a great home based business opportunity for you to explore.

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Tags: algebra, americans, computer technology, education, foreign language, heisenberg, home based business, math, music, opportunities, opportunity, piano lessons, quantum mechanics, sba, science, skill, u.s., work ethic

The header for this blog says one of its objectives is promoting and advocating a positive attitude at all times. This is still the intent. However, everything is so bad, so threatening, and so terrifying throughout the world, but particularly here in the United States, I feel it necessary to expand my definition of a positive attitude to include recognizing dangerous situations, taking positive steps to protect ourselves, and then moving on, realizing we can only do so much with what is available to us. In my case, what is available is an ability to write with the objective of influencing readers to take whatever action they deem appropriate to the situation.

 I have not written for this blog in quite a while. It was because I was wrestling with myself over what to do. I decided to come out fighting, with no political correctness idiocy. If I think someone is lying, I will so state; and I trust no one about anything.

 I invite your  comments. I’m not always right, but I always think I am.

Tags: action, dangerous situation, political correctness, Positive Attitude

People born between 1946 and 1964 are the group known as Baby Boomers. The MIT AgeLab says the 50+ population is the fastest growing segment worldwide, and life expectancies are at a historical high. An American turns 50 once every seven seconds. Within the next few years, 50% of the European Union’s population will be 65+. By 2030, in Italy, retirees will outnumber active workers. By 2050, the median age in Thailand will rise to 50, also according to the MIT data. Baby Boomers are turning 50 at the rate of 1 every 10 seconds. That’s more than 12,000 each day, and over 4 million a year for the next decade! This group is tremendous and will require a lot of attention to fill all the niches of desire within this great population.

 The MIT report estimates there are 450 million baby boomers worldwide; Coming of Age, Incorporated, says there are over 100 million boomers and senior citizens in the US alone. This group is very wealthy, well educated, and all are sophisticated potential buyers. In addition, they have more disposable income than any other buying group in America which makes them the new greater part of customers. Regardless of these powerful findings, not all of them have a lot of money; a Focalyst Study indicates only about 9% of boomers are truly affluent. However, what is significant is this group will account for 17% of all US consumer spending. Makes marketers everywhere drool. Don’t overlook the rest of this market because they spend money, too, but maybe not as much as their wealthy peers.

 Such an enormous and diverse market can’t be considered as only one market; there are countless segments in this group. Bear in mind, too, the current economic depression has reduced funds available to boomers, but it still is estimated between one and two TRILLION USD. That’s a lot of money, and they will use it to demand exactly the best products and services available. The problem is to find exactly what every segment of this group wants.

 The first thing to do is try to understand how boomers think. There are so many of them, from all sorts of backgrounds, that determining their thinking is no small job. Coming of Age, Incorporated, referenced earlier, says, “How baby boomers think is just as important as what they think.” They go on to say the older we get, the more emotional we are. Our emotions begin to control what we think, and eventually, cause us to persuade our minds to take some action. Those who succeed in serving these people must build a relationship of trust, based on honesty and openness, in order to influence the Boomer group. This requires the creation of motivational communications, better ways of presenting this communication, and improvements in quality and service in order to induce an action. Those wanting to serve Boomers most realize the median age of the market is constantly changing; the median age is mid forties and constantly moving upward every year. Ideas that appeal to younger groups will turn off the older and much larger body of Boomers. The minds of olders work in much different ways from youngers.

A new company, Heartspoken, is trying to find out how boomers think in order to serve their needs and build meaningful relationships. This company, owned and founded by freelance writer Elizabeth Cottrell, has a survey online  right now with questions that will determine the things of most interest to Baby Boomers today. The ultimate result will be to provide goods, services, and information you want. All information you may give is entirely anonymous.

 Please visit the survey and help yourself, along with the other Boomers.

Tags: affluent, baby boomers, disposable income, economic depression, educated, emotions, honesty, life expectancies, median age, sophisticated, survey, trust, wealthy

President Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown just concluded a day or two of meetings in Washington, DC. Did they discuss the merits of sleep vs. sex? If so, will we see some government program come into play to regulate the amount of sex people can have as it relates to having sex with a partner?

I pray Mr. Obama proposes nothing of the sort, but, if it happens, please do not follow the lead of the British on anything. They have the most invasive and controlling government you can imagine. Not only do they send people to your home to see how you are using leftover food, they have a national health system which suggests people treat themselves rather than use inadequate government facilities, there is a huge database that tracks behavior of children with their families being held responsible for everything the children may do, and the list goes on and on. Now there is a study by the Edinburgh Sleep Centre that says 79% of Brits prefer extra sleep over sex. The head of the Sleep Centre says this is good because more sleep begets better health.

May be, but not so enjoyable. Seems to me this reflects an attitude of mistrust throughout much of the world. People don’t trust others enough to form any sort of intimate relationship. Apparently we allow every bad thing in our past to influence our future. Women don’t trust men and men don’t trust women. There is an element of revenge in most divorces—one spouse or the other attempts to destroy their former partner financially (preferred way) or personally before the public. But when it’s over it should be over so you can continue the rest of your life.

I sincerely hope Mr. Obama does not intrude the government into our sex life. Forget what the Brits do. He should encourage everyone to come together, as he said he would during his pre-election speeches. Only by getting ourselves into the constant struggle to maintain optimism and positive ideas will we be able to succeed in our personal lives, and then use these powerful positive ideas to push our country out of all the current problems into a brighter future.

Get over yourself—have sex. Sleep is better after.

Tags: divorce, gordon brown, government, mistrust, obama, optimism, Positive Attitude, relationship, sex, sleep

 Rather than What Eats a Sea Spider?, you may ask “What in the world IS a sea spider.”

Sea spiders have been around for millions of years; they just run in an environment not often in contact with humans. Volcanic ash near Herefordshire, UK, reveals spider fossils from 425 million years ago. They’ve been here a long time. More recently, scientific expeditions to the Antarctic area have discovered some amazing current examples.

The area just off the Ross Sea Shelf in  Southern Antarctica has yielded gigantic specimens of many forms of sea life. In addition to giant worms and crustaceans these expeditions brought back sea spiders larger than a dinner plate. Many had the normal eight legs, but some have more, even up to twelve legs. Very large size sea life is nothing unusual in the Antarctic area. Scientists speculate this is because of  cold temperatures, high oxygen levels, adequate food, and a general lack of predators in the area.

Sea spiders exist in total darkness about 6,000 to 7,000 meters down (this is about four miles deep). They crawl around feeding on soft bodied creatures like sponges and sea slugs. Using their proboscis they suck the life out of their prey. In fact, they are VAMPIRES! So, such creatures exist in the deepest Antarctic Sea just as they did in Romania in the days of Count Dracula.

About the time the giant sea spiders appeared so did an ancient toad named Beelzebufo, the Devil Toad. BeBo surfaced among crocodile and dinosaur fossils dating to the late Cretaceous period, roughly 70 million years ago, on the island of Madagascar. He is a monstrous creature that weighs about ten pounds with an armored skin. He probably needed this to deal with dinosaurs and crocodiles every day. Scientists think BeBo may even have eaten a few baby dinosaurs; he’ had to be very tough customer.

BeBo is not related to any African frogs or toads. Rather, his closest relatives are in South America where they are kept as pets and known as “pacman” frogs because of their very large mouths. Now, why does this matter? Consider this. Madagascar is a very long way across the Atlantic Ocean from South America; how is BeBo in Madagascar and all his relatives are far away in South America? This leads to speculation among scientists that some kind of land link between Africa and South America may have remained after the continents separated eons ago. Perhaps it was through Antarctica, a place very much warmer in the past than it is now.

All these related discoveries have led to a speculative debate: What eats a sea spider? Could it be BeBo the armoured Devil Toad? While the spider takes up about as much space as BeBo, there are overwhelming differences in favor of BeBo. He weighs about 10 pounds, has a very large mouth, his skin is armored, and he has millions of years experience fighting dinosaurs. This is no contest. The sea spider weighs almost nothing and his proboscis would immediately crumple upon encountering BeBo’s armor plate.

So, why do we even want to know about any of this?

First, the sea spider and all his giant friends may reveal important information about temperature changes and their effect on food supplies for all the Antarctic animals. Such information may also indicate what new predators may come on the scene.

And the Devil Toad could be a link to what really happened when Africa and South America drifted apart. Who knows? Somebody may find the spider can really eat the Devil Toad!

Find more about fossils, continental drift, toads, sea spiders, and the Antarctic here.