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You Can See Your Future With A Vision

2008-12-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

Study your present situation thoroughly. Go over in your imagination the various courses of action possible to you. Visualize the consequences which can follow from each course. Pick out the course which gives you the most promise and go ahead. Many successful people use this skill of mental visualization. They mentally run through important events before they happen. Picture yourself in your minds eye as already having achieved your goal. See yourself doing the things you'll be doing when you've reached your goal. You can put your subconscious to work toward making your mental pictures come true. Go over your day in your imagination before you begin it. You can begin acting successfully at any moment. See the things you want as already yours. Think of them as yours, as already in your possession. You can see your future with a vision and live your dreams.

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Exciting Free Online Advertising Service

2008-11-28T14:50:00.000-08:00

My last article contained some exciting news. As I mentioned, 104inc recently launched an exciting Free Online Advertising service which gets your website submitted, listed and linked to Thousands of 104inc branded websites and hundreds of search engine optimization (SEO) web link directories.

For more information visit:http://www.104inc.com/

You may be asking yourself… WHY would I want to take advantage of this free new service? Well… here’s why, you get:

* Automatic submissions into thousand of 104inc websites.
* Permanent web links help you achieve better rankings in the search engines.
* A steady increase in your links will occur because the submission process is professionally done

over several months — just what the search engines love to see!
The end result is that this is free marketing that will drive traffic direct to your site in multiple ways … You get traffic from the web related websites AND over time you will get a nice boost in your search enginges ranking. This service will have a positive lasting effect on your website and business.

For more information or to get started click here now:http://www.104inc.com/The Free Online Advertising Service gets you PERMANENT LINKS - something that every website business needs to succeed! Just visit 104inc.com and register today to start driving more visitors to your business.

main site: http://www.104inc.com/

Four Key Tips To Mentoring!

2008-11-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

The Key to mentoring is often the special effort, imagination, insight or awareness that the mentor gives - effort that goes above and beyond the expectations of the existing relationship.
Below are some factors which can influence whether an acquaintance, co-worker, friend or relative makes the transition to the role of a mentor.
* Mentoring requires a primary focus on the needs of the mentee and an effort to fulfill the most critical of these needs.
* Mentoring is often built on a just-in-time principle where the mentor offers the right help at the right time. A potential mentor must recognize when the mentee feels free to expose a deep-felt need, thereby enabling the mentor to provide the right help at the right time to the best of the mentor’s ability.
* Much of what the mentor offers is personal learning or insight, which has never been written down anywhere. The mentor may not be aware of what he or she can offer until a mentee expresses a need or desire and the mentor realizes there may be a match between something they know and what their mentee needs.
* Mentoring requires going the extra mile for someone else. Many people may think twice about adding such a commitment to their busy lives. However, if they choose to do so, the rewards of personal achievement, mentee appreciation, and sense of helping to build a better society can be enormous.

Information Monitoring: Identifies monitoring needs

2008-11-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

Determines which systems, processes, or areas need to be monitored; identifies what information needs to be obtained. The first step to effectively monitoring information is to decide what areas of your job or organization need to be tracked. Once you've determined what those areas are, you then need to focus on gathering the information that best tracks them.
For example, an objective in your performance plan includes your area meeting certain sales goals. Naturally, you'll want to monitor the company's monthly sales reports, but you must decide exactly what data you will use from this sales report. In this instance you would focus specifically on the number of sales budgeted for your area versus the number of sales actually made.1. Determine what areas to monitor.Information monitoring can be a powerful tool to help you meet objectives, encourage appropriate actions, and keep surprises to a minimum.
"It is pardonable to be defeated, but never to be surprised." -- Frederick the Great
When you monitor systems, processes, areas, or goals for which you are responsible, you are

tracking:

People.
Outputs.
Resources.

People perform the tasks necessary to achieve department and organization goals. To guide their efforts, you might use information monitoring systems such as:

Personnel procedures or policies.
Performance management systems.
Reports on progress, productivity, or projects.

Outputs are the things you or your group produce. It's important that these things--whether they're shoe sales, rocket designs, network software programs, or candy bars--be monitored for quality, quantity, and timeliness. You can monitor output information by:

Defining production levels in terms of quantity, quality, and timeliness.
Regularly comparing actual performance against established standards.
Tracking waste, rework, defects, and non-value-added process steps.
Resources include money, materials, and equipment. You need to monitor information around:

Purchasing policies and procedures.
Financial and cost controls.
Expenditures.

If you're unsure what information you need to monitor, review your or the company's performance plan. The objectives in it should help you identify where to focus your efforts. Make sure you're familiar with the organization's and your department's performance objectives, business plan, critical success factors, values, and vision. These are all excellent sources that can help you determine what information systems you need to monitor.
As an executive, Ryan monitors people, outputs, and resources by using a detailed operational plan. He often uses Pert or Gantt charts to control the various activities that need to be accomplished to finish a project. He also sets time limits and integrates these limits when planning work. This information monitoring system allows him to direct and track how much time, material, or human resources he needs to assign in order to meet organizational goals.
Angela, a team leader on an assembly line, monitors the weekly defect report. Monitoring this information helps her pinpoint significant trends and gives her ideas on how to lower her team's error rate.

Thomas' objective is to edit an average of 100 pages of text a week. To ensure he meets or exceeds his goal, he logs in the number of pages he edits each day. At the end of each week, he totals the figures to see if he is on track. Once a month, Thomas checks his average. If he is below average, he puts off reading unrelated memos and e-mail messages to raise his average. When he was above average, Thomas signed up for a class on marketing to expand his writing skills.
2. Determine what information is needed.Now that you've identified the areas you would like to monitor, you next need to determine the specific information you will monitor. This depends on your position, your performance goals, your department's objectives, and your company's business plan.

For example, a customer service manager is held accountable for customer satisfaction and therefore might want to monitor information on any or all of the following topics:
Customer satisfaction survey scores.
The number of times a telephone rings before it is answered.
The number of times a customer's call is transferred before he or she speaks with the right person.

The number of complaints per sale.
The number of successful service interactions versus number of complaints. Here are some additional examples of data that might be appropriate to monitor, depending on your job:
Scrap rates
Safety violations
Associate attendance
Job satisfaction
Turnover rates
Total sales
Error rates
Equipment downtime
Productivity

Production rates Measuring performance is an essential element of information monitoring. Some data, like error rates and equipment downtime, is easily measured. Other information, like changes in organizational climate or the results of advertising campaigns, is more difficult to measure.

Sean, vice president of the Facilities Planning and Maintenance department, needs to closely monitor machine breakdowns. This information is necessary for a number of reasons. First, he needs to predict and budget for when a machine will need to be replaced. In addition, he needs to be aware of when equipment downtime is most likely to occur so he can properly schedule repair people.

Susan, a customer service representative, was frustrated. Every time a customer complained to her, all she could do was apologize. It was costing her and the company sales, which hurt her paycheck. She talked with a coworker and they agreed to start tracking when customers threatened to do business elsewhere and their reasons why. After one month they discovered a trend and reported it to their manager. The manager was thankful and said their initiative would give him the information he needed to improve the product.

We Don’t Need Playoffs in College Football?

2008-10-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaUSC was the top ranked team for the first 4 weeks of the college football, until they lost to Oregon State in Corvallis. Oregon State isn’t a bad team, but USC shouldn’t have lost to them. Their only excuse is that it was a road game. But, shouldn’t national championship teams be able to win on the road?

The University of Oklahoma took over as the top team for the next 2 weeks until they got beat at the Cotton Bowl by the University of Texas this past weekend. This is a big rivalry game, so ratings don’t matter when these teams play. Texas beating Oklahoma isn’t a big upset.

The teams that remain undefeated are Texas, Alabama, Penn State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, BYU, Utah, Tulsa, and Ball State. Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State all play each over the next 4 weekends. So, only one of those teams will be undefeated and odds are all of them will suffer a defeat.

BYU and Utah play each other on November 22nd, which means one of those teams will be knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten. The winner of that game will probably be undefeated. Ball State is ranked 25th and faces a hard time moving far enough up in the ratings to even get into a BCS game. They also face two-time defending MAC champion Central Michigan on the road. Neither Boise State nor Tulsa is even ranked, so they don’t count.

That leaves us with Penn State as the only other team that has a chance at an undefeated season. They have their two hardest games at home – Ohio State and Michigan State. Penn State has looked tough, but losing one of those games wouldn’t be surprising.
Put all those things together and either BYU or Utah has a good chance to be in the BCS championship game. Boise State was a nice story when it beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta two years ago, but that wasn’t the national championship game. BYU or Utah will definitely lose to the winner of the SEC title game and would even be trounced by loser of that game.

It is time for a playoff in college football. Something like an 8 team playoff that could still use the existing bowl games. We just want a little fairness in the world and that is what 104inc.com is about.

I don't Care About Health

2008-10-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaThey say it is but why? Who pays these people to tell us that good health and exercise are important? The health industry is a $500 billion dollar industry and growing. Think about it. You exercise and you exercise and what do you have to show for your results sore back, bad knees, messed up elbow. Then you go to doctors you make billions of dollars prescribing you drugs to make you feel better. Wait all those drugs have side effects. They can kill you, or cause heart damage of liver disease, etc, etc, etc. So then you go back for more pills and surgery. This is all done in the name of good health.

So is exercise and good health important? Doctors say it is. How do doctors make money? They need to treat sick people. If people did not get sick we would not need doctors. If people did not get hurt we would not need doctors. That would mean that we would not need drug companies or insurance companies. We would save so much money by not having gym memberships, dealing with doctors, insurance companies. That would then reduce or level of stress and we would live longer.

That sounds like a better deal to me then exercising. Just eat better reduce your stress and you will live longer. Some people may say I am crazy but it sure makes sense to me. We are to busy complicating life. We need to step back and realize that we are just animals that were put on this earth to procreate and eat. Why do we have to have a higher purpose then that?

Let’s discuss this more at 104health.com.

Al-qaida is Winning the War and we are to blame!

2008-10-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

You don’t think so? Your stock portfolio is shrinking, your 401k is not worth anything, you have you’re your home plummet in value, and your bank is out of business. So do you still think we are winning this war against them?

Let us examine the situation. How do you do the most damage all western powers? Is it by killing their people? Is it by overthrowing a government? The answer is none. You destroy them by disrupting what they love most; Money, Power and Greed. The world trade center gets attacked. The world trade center represented the financial strength of this nation and a sign of stability. Things are not very stable now.

The governments of the world that are supported by the US rally to fight a war on terror. Our government is more focused on this war on terror then anything else in our country or around the world. Enter the greed and money. The wealthiest people in the world convince the government to deregulate a number of industries which opens up a faucet of riches to these people. These greedy people then manipulate the system to their advantage rape the world and walk away.

Let us now fast forward to October of 2008. We are no longer facing a US economic meltdown. We are actually facing a worldwide financial crisis, a destruction of our financial markets as we know it today. This crisis is going to destroy wealth around the world. It is going to create fear, hatred and destruction among countries and people. Why do you think the holocaust started? Hitler said that it was the fault of the Jews that their economy was so bad. He said if the people of Germany put him in charge he would get rid of the Jews and the German people would prosper with jobs.

Looks like history is repeating itself, we are on the verge of a worldwide great depression. We will then blame someone and World War III will be in affect. So let me ask you this question again. Is Al-Qaida winning the war and achieving their goals. I think so. They wanted chaos in our society and we let it happen. Shame on us.

Does this mean it is too late? Hell No! What is the solution? Not sure yet. Maybe this can be discussed at 104inc.com.

How to Stay Safe When Driving in Winter Rain, Snow, Ice and Fog

2008-10-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

What you need to know when driving your car during the winter months, it’s important for you to know all the features on your car very well, especially during winter. Because when you are presented with rain, ice, fog and slippery roads, your car will react much differently then at other times. So what will you need to know when you are driving in hazardous condition? I’ll give you 5 tips below to help you .

#1 How driving at a lower speed will decrease your chances of an accident

This is one of the simplest things we can do. Unfortunately we all have busy lives and are always in a hurry. There are so many things like getting our kids to school or going to work, grocery store, repairs on the car and much more. Usually we are always running behind schedule and the first thing we do is speed up. This is a huge mistake especially when it first starts to rain and the oil from the surface of the ground comes up and that makes for a very slippery road and increases the chance of you getting into an accident.

#2 How leavening your headlights on gives you more visibility

This is another simple thing you can do to ensure the safety of you and everybody else. Studies have shown that driving with your lights on will increase the chance of another driver seeing you earlier and helping to avoid an accident.

#3 How applying your brakes slowly will prevent your car from sliding

Make sure to never slam your brakes while driving in the ice, rain or snow. If you do slam your breaks, then your car will be sliding all over the road because your tires will lose traction. If you live in the mountains where it snows a lot then it is best to get snow tires VS the all season tires and use chains for even better traction.

#4 How to be careful regardless of the type of vehicle you drive.

The reason I say that is because some people that have bigger cars or that have four wheel drive vehicles think “I will be ok if I drive fast and change lanes recklessly” but you have to realize that your car is also heavier and if something happens, it will cause a bigger accident. The bigger the car the harder it will be for you to handle and for you to break in time, especially in a wet environment.

#5 checking your tires

Make sure that you have a mechanic check your tires and see if they are ok and they are not bald on the side or in the middle. Tires are very important for you especially when it is raining, because when the tires are bald and you drive on them they do not hold to the ground and you are more likely to sliding all over the road and lose control or your car.

Make sure during the winter time that you try and go with some of the basic information that I have given you. This will help you and others on the road.

Use Communication Skills To Reach Your Career Goals

2008-10-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

Communication skills involve both speaking and listening to the client and showing your sincerity and professionalism. Communication involves receiving information, processing information and responding. You do this in a sequence of actions that require you to be attentive.
As a Sales Associate, you will depend upon your communication skills from the Meet/Greet to Thank/Follow-up।

You probably spend more time using your listening skills than any other kind of skill. Like other skills, listening takes practice. What does it mean to really listen? Real listening is an active process that has three basic steps.

Hearing. Just means listening enough to catch what the speaker is saying. For example, say you were listening to a report on zebras, and the speaker mentioned that no two are alike. If you can repeat the fact, then you have heard what has been said.
Understanding. The next part of listening happens when you take what you have heard and understand it in your own way. Let's go back to that report on zebras. When you hear that no two are alike, think about what that might mean. You might think, "Maybe this means that the pattern of stripes is different for each zebra."
Judging. After you are sure you understand what the speaker has said, think about whether it makes sense. Do you believe what you have heard? You might think, "How could the stripes be different for every zebra? But then again, fingerprints are different for every person. I think this seems believable."

There are three forms of listening: passive, selective and active.
Passive listening is a non-verbal form of listening. The listener provides little to no verbal feedback to the client. Passive listening can lead your clients to assume that you are not really interested, or they may feel it necessary to repeat themselves to ensure that you understand.
Selective listening can be summed up as “hearing what you want to hear.” When selective listeners hear what they want to hear, they appear to be engaged and to understand. Conversely, when selective listeners do not hear what they want to hear, they tune out the client, or worse, become reactive.

Active listening is sometimes referred to as reflective listening. Active listeners receive clients’ messages with care and respect and then work to verify their understanding of the message. Active listeners capture both the facts and the feelings of clients. Some behaviors to use are:
· Show patience
· Give verbal feedback to summarize understanding
· Acknowledge emotions
· Speak up when something is unclear, or confusing
Fundamental to good communication is using “active listening.” Whenever you listen actively to another person’s comments, your reason for doing so is to understand the meaning of the message from the speaker’s point of view.
Your clients have choices. If you don’t make them feel welcomed and valued, you will likely lose them as a client.

You Should Vote None of the Above

2008-10-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

In 1985 a movie came out staring Richard Pryor and John Candy called “Brewster’s Millions.” The plot: A minor league baseball player has to waste $30m in 30 days in order to inherit $300m; however he's not allowed to tell anyone about the $300m deal. It sounds easy but it is not because he could not have any assets to show for his wasteful spending. They had limitations such as how much you could give to charity and lose gambling etc.

The movie illustrates how difficult it is to spend that amount of money and to not have anything to show for it. It is funny how our government can spend $700 Billion of our tax money and easily have nothing to show for it. The roads are not fixed. Traffic congestion is at an all time high. My health care costs are not paid for, the school districts waste our tax dollars on stuff that does not help educate my children, and the list goes on and on.

Getting back to the movie, one of the biggest ways to waste money is to run for public office. Richard Pryor’s character learned that and decided to run for Mayor of New York City. In that seen he made a very interesting observation. He pondered the question, “Why are the candidates spending millions of dollars to run for public office when the job itself pays about a fraction of what is being spent to run for office?”

Do any of you ever wonder that same question? I believe the President of the United States which is the highest paying job in our Federal Government which $400,000 per year as of 2000. The president also can get a pension that can pay him or her over $7M in paid benefits before they pass away. Also keep in mind that most of the people that run for office are already rich like George Bush and are Multi-Millionaires.

So why spend $500M - $1B for a presidential campaign for a job that only returns a fraction of that. The ROI there is not positive but negative. Not only that who are the people that are donating all this money and why is it so important that their candidate win? Because these are very rich people who want to get richer and stay rich. They are paying for their government. Your $5 donation to Barack Obama or John McCain is not going to get you good government. If these candidates want to be president so bad let them spend their own money.

They won’t because they are not stupid. The system was created to keep the powerful in power and the weak out of office. They do not want to do right by the American People. They only want to do right for their friends. Why aren’t more Americans standing up and asking these questions? Why aren’t more Americans upset about how things are going on Main Street and Wall Street? If you are so upset why do you only vote Republican or Democrat? How about None of the Above? Vote but make your vote count and show that you all have a lack of confidence in both candidates and you want and deserve more choices except for the same 2 people that they recycle every 4 years.

Join the revolution at 104inc.com and voice your opinion. VOTE NONE OF THE ABOVE this November.

Current Market Conditions Call for Specialized Consumer Vocabulary

2008-10-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Market conditions in recent days have turned many arcane financial terms into familiar vocabulary. Words and phrases such as breaking the buck, securitization, counterparty risk and short selling are being used frequently in the media. But many of these terms are not easily understood by the average consumer who don’t deal with them every day.

Given recent news headlines, definitions of a few terms and phrases may be useful as you read daily coverage about the current economic environment:

Auction Rate Securities: Short-term instruments designed to preserve capital while generally realizing higher rates of return than traditional money market investments (for example, municipal auction rate securities, municipal preferreds and action preferred stock). Interest rates or dividends reset frequently, usually every seven to 49 days, via Dutch auction. The interest or dividends received can be 70% to 100% exempt from federal taxes. Issuers include states, municipalities, corporations, utilities, hospitals, housing finance agencies, student loan finance authorities and universities.

Break the buck: When a money market mutual fund's net asset value drops below $1 per share. Money market funds aren't federally insured like bank deposits; therefore, fund assets have an implied promise to preserve capital at all costs and preserve the $1 floor on share prices. These funds are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission; rules restrict what they can invest in based on credit quality and maturities with the hope of ensuring principal stability.

Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO): An investment-grade security (one with a high bond rating such as BBB) backed by a pool of bonds, loans and other assets. CDOs do not specialize in one type of debt but are often non-mortgage loans or bonds. Similar in structure to a collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) or collateralized bond obligation (CBO), CDOs are unique in that they represent different types of debt and credit risk. In the case of CDOs, these different types of debt are often referred to as “tranches” or “slices.” Each slice has a different maturity and risk associated with it. The higher the risk, the more the CDO pays.

Commercial Bank: A full-service institution that offers customers deposit, payment and credit services, in addition to other financial services.

Counterparty risk: The risk to each party of a contract that the counterparty will not live up to its contractual obligations. A counterparty is the other party that participates in a financial transaction. Every transaction must have a counterparty for the transaction to go through. More specifically, every buyer of an asset must be paired with a seller that is willing to sell and vice versa.

Credit Default Swap (CDS): A swap* designed to transfer the credit exposure of fixed income products (securities that pay specific interest rates, such as a bond, money market instrument or preferred stock) between parties. The buyer of a credit swap receives credit protection, whereas the seller of the swap guarantees the credit worthiness of the product. By doing this, the risk of default is transferred from the holder of the fixed income security to the seller of the swap. For example, the buyer of a credit swap will be entitled to the par value of the bond by the seller of the swap, should the bond default in its coupon payments.

*Note: a swap traditionally means the exchange of one security for another to change the maturity (bonds), quality of issues (stocks or bonds) or because investment objectives have changed.

Deleverage: A process undertaken by a company in an attempt to reduce its financial leverage, or the degree to which the company is using borrowed money. Financial leverage can be beneficial for a company, but if it becomes too risky or harmful, the company may need to deleverage itself by paying off the amount of debt that it owes.

Derivative: In finance, a security whose price is dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. The derivative itself is merely a contract between two or more parties. Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The most common underlying assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes. Most derivatives are characterized by high leverage.

Investment bank: An individual or institution that acts as an underwriter or agent for corporations and municipalities issuing securities. Most also maintain broker/dealer operations, maintain markets for previously issued securities and offer advisory services to investors. Investment banks also have a large role in facilitating mergers and acquisitions, private equity placements and corporate restructuring. Unlike traditional banks, investment banks do not accept deposits from and provide loans to individuals.

Money market deposit account: A type of savings account offered by banks and credit unions just like regular savings accounts. However, they usually pay higher interest, have higher minimum balance requirements and limit the number of withdrawals per month. As with bank accounts, the money in a money market account is generally insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) subject to certain limitations. The recent announcement from the U.S. Treasury regarding money market mutual funds does not affect money market deposit accounts or impact FDIC insurance of such deposit accounts.

Money market mutual fund: A fund that invests in a pool of high-quality, short-term, interest-bearing securities. A money market mutual fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by Bank of America, the FDIC or any other government agency.

Resolution Trust Company (RTC): A U.S. government-owned asset management company charged with liquidating assets (primarily real estate-related assets, including mortgage loans) that had been assets of savings and loan associations declared insolvent by the Office of Thrift Supervision, as a consequence of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. In 1995, its duties were transferred to the Savings Association Insurance Fund of the FDIC. Between 1989 and mid 1995, the Resolution Trust Corporation closed or otherwise resolved 747 thrifts with total assets of $394 billion.

Securitization (or securitized assets): The process of distributing risk by aggregating debt instruments (for example, mortgage loans) in a pool, then issuing securities that are backed by the pool and available for purchase by investors in the secondary mortgage market.

Subprime mortgages: A type of mortgage that is sometimes offered to borrowers with a greater-than-average risk of defaulting on the loan. Lending institutions often charge interest on subprime mortgages at a rate that is higher than a conventional mortgage (often referred to as “prime”) to compensate themselves for carrying more risk.

Short sale: A transaction in which an investor sells borrowed stock, betting the stock will decline with the intention of buying it back at a lower price to realize a profit.

Warrant: Certificate given to its stockholders or bondholders by an issuer that allows the holder to purchase a specific amount of its securities at a set price. A warrant can be sold to another investor if the holder chooses not to exercise the warrant.

You should be aware that http://104inc.com is always a useful resource for terms and acronyms. You can help keep 104inc stay current by submitting updates and ideas for features you would like added to the site through their feedback button.

We Will, We Will, Barack You!

2008-09-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

Well, ladies and gentleman, the magic number is now 35. 35 days until election day. Where do you stand? Where should you stand? Well, I'll tell you one thing. Anyone who votes for McCain might as well jump on the first ship, plane, train, helicopter, pigeon, or anything else that moves out of the country. Now, don't get me wrong. Bush III, err...McCain is a solid guy. A war veteran, former POW - we all know his resume; but the shear fact that his running mate is a nonsensical, Oprah-watching, I-can't-answer-one-question-with-an-intelligent-answer soccer mom scares the ever-loving crap out of me. Can you imagine if, God forbid, something happened to McCain (72 years old and not in the best condition), then our Commander in-chief would be....gulp...Sarah Palin. Wow. I just started convulsing at the thought of the Lifetime Channel taking over the television airwaves. OK, now I'm just terrified - and I think I just threw up a little. That woman has no business in office, and McCain would be wise to change his running mate (if that's possible). Now, for all you reading this that are currently flipping through a thesaurus to come up with every synonym of chauvinist, let me make this perfectly clear. I voted for Hilary Clinton in the primaries because of her experience, intellect, and proven past of the Clinton family. This is not a 'I am man, hear me roar' rant. I don't care if there's a woman in office, as long as it's the right one.
Okay, I better change course a bit, because I'm getting fired up. I suppose it's obvious that I am a democrat and a strong Obama supporter. Now, who reading this saw the debate? And of you who did, who was for McCain, but after seing the debate, feels like Obama may be the better man? I thought so. McCain was flustered, not confident, and was caught multiple times spewing false statistics, to which Sen. Obama called him out ever time.
So, I ask you, Mr. John McCain, what is your master plan? This 'plan' we have heard about, but yet know nothing about. McCain/Palin are in short, a deadly combo... and I don't mean that as a compliment. He can't back up anything, she can't answer a question, and all they do is waste their time bashing Obama and his crew, in hopes that the retarded voters who elected Bush not once, but twice, will vote for them. They hope that the bon-bon popping Oprah fanatics will 'relate' to the stultifying nature that is Sarah Palin. I mean, if McCain must use Palin, perhaps he could consider swapping her out with Tina Fey (comedienne from Saturday Night Live); with the uncanny ability to do a spot-on impersonation of Palin, Tina Fey has more substance and actually has the ability to answer questions.
The choice is simple. The choice is ours...and yours. But as for this man, I say the answer is clear....OBAMA or bust.
I'm getting Virgin Atlantic on standby in case McCain/Palin win - I'll be on the first flight to Prague.
Need any more help? Not sure which way to go? Well, at least there's one easy choice. Log on to 104Vote.com for related articles on the upcoming election, as well as simple and easy ways to accommodate all your needs!

Got an extra $5,000 to spend?

2008-09-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Got an extra $5,000 to spend?

Yep, that is how much you and every American will be paying for the government bailout. This does include your children. Luckily, it doesn’t include your cats, dogs, and fish. This year’s bailout includes the following items: $700 billion proposed Wall Street bailout; $85 billion for AIG; $200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; $150 billion stimulus package (your $600/person rebate check); $438 billion projected Federal deficit; and a small $29 billion bailout for Bear Stearns. Makes you glad you got that rebate check earlier this year, doesn’t it?

The scary part is that this number will probably grow. The Treasury Department is really just asking for a blank check and they won’t have any accountability to Congress or anyone else. There is the potential to include more than problem mortgages in this package. Car loans, student loans, and credit card debt could all be included in this package. This $700 billion Wall Street bailout could grow to over $2.5 trillion dollars.

Just in case you were curious, this won’t help only American banks - it will also help foreign banks. Pretty nice of the US taxpayer to help the world. Though, I guess we did help create the problem.

It was all about trying to take advantage of the system. The investment banks came up with inventive ways of repackaging debt. The rating agencies went along with something they obviously didn’t understand. Then, we didn’t think and went along with their greed. Why? Because we are just as bad as Wall Street is.

Some people bought houses with “neg am” loans. What a concept – you can make a payment, but it doesn’t have to even cover your interest payment - just go deeper in debt. The other cool idea was tapping into your new found “equity” in your home. Just refinance or take out a home equity loan, take out some cash, and go deeper in debt. Well, at least you got to buy a Gucci bag and a jet ski. Hope it was worth it.

Yell and scream at Wall Street and the government all you want, but we are just as much to blame.

Luckily, www.104inc.com isn’t going to be asking you to help them out. Go check out their website to get away from this mess.

How to Pursue a Strategy of "product Leadership"

2008-09-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

Image by sean dreilinger via Flickr

To pursue a strategy of "product leadership" entails delivering value through offering leading edge products and services, providing a stream of new products and services, and creatively adapting to new and changing marketing conditions while constantly pursuing new solutions on behalf of its clients and customers.

This strategy depends on an organizational structure that, among other things, is very research and development centered (if a manufacturing company) or extremely knowledgeable about the products and services currently being developed and considered in the market place. In addition, the firm's Sales & Marketing Departments must be part and parcel of their customer's business planning process so as to be able to anticipate future needs, to supply that need, to teach their customers new approaches and solutions to their problems, and particularly to be able to direct their customers into avenues they hadn't entertained on their own as being profitable directions.

In contrast to (but overlapping in certain respects with) the organizational structure demanded by a "customer intimacy" strategy, "product leadership" requires an organization that is not bureaucratic but rather quick to action and opportunistic in intent. Personnel tend to be organized into matrix teams that cross departmental lines since this type of structure provides the fastest response time. At the same time, since decision making authority is spread throughout the firm, risk management is carefully monitored.

In addition, in order to stay current with clients' long range plans to which their input could be invaluable, "relation selling" is essential. These firms have not only the sales force, but also as many other departments as they can, in their clients' planning meetings. The firm's personnel take on an advisory and consultative role, putting them in the position of informing their clients' strategic thinking and anticipating their needs.

An advertising and PR firm continually scans the marketing environment for new approaches to offer their clients and for creative talent with whom to partner either temporarily or long term. They are continually meeting with their clients to review these new approaches and the opportunities their newly discovered talent opens up.

In order to achieve this level of "service leadership", personnel are teamed into matrices, with each team having the responsibility to bring fresh ideas and directions to their clients. They joke about having offices at their clients because they are rarely seen in their home offices. Communication between team members is so crucial that each team has a designated person whose primary responsibility is to ensure that everyone knows what everyone else on the team is doing and to serve as a liaison to senior management. In addition, the teams convene regularly to review not only the latest presentations and their impact, but also what is out there in the market place, who is doing what, etc., and how can they partner or ally themselves with the talent that is out there.

Because the cost of this kind of process is high (e.g., voluntarily preparing project ideas with accompanying support material clients hadn't even initiated or requested), Finance is regularly consulted about each team's ROIs.

Things That Piss Me Off About the Financial Meltdown

2008-09-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

You say that is ok I will get into a money market fund because my money will be safe and liquid there. Well not anymore. The Wall Street Journal reported that a huge money-market fund, the Reserve Primary Fund, announced Tuesday that it lost money as its net asset value fell below the hallowed $1-per-share level, the first time one of these conservative funds has had a loss in 14 years. The reason is was debt securities it holds issued by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. This means that more losses may be in store for other money market funds. The S&P and Standard and Poor’s have placed several funds on credit watch for possible downgrades.

What does this mean for you the person living on Main Street? We are facing potentially the largest financial meltdown in history. This crisis will not only have ramifications in the United States but around the world.

The thing that pisses me off about all this is when those individuals in their Ivory Towers were looking down and seeing how much money they were making rather then seeing what the moral hazard is they wanted deregulation. They wanted the government to stay out of their business. Now that they are all strugiling and the businesses are collapsing they want the regulation and begging the government to bail them out.

As a community and as a country we are going to suffer. We need to stand up to all the politicians who make these laws and start voting them out. We need to make them understand that they are not in Washington to do the bidding of lobbyist but the bidding of the American People. What makes our country any better then any other country? Nothing because what we call bribery based on the activities of other nations we call here lobbying. We need to stop playing on words. If it looks like a bribe and it smells like a bribe then it is a bribe. Deep pockets buy good government for those who can afford it. The rest can all suffer based on that philosophy.

Stop the madness people. It is time for a financial revolution. The best way that we can affect change is by hitting where it hurts the most. Not by wars and fighting and killing but by hurting the deep pockets. Stop voting for the same people over and over again. Stop picking only Democrats and Republicans. Both parties have controlled this country for over 100 years. What is different from that and a dictator? Nothing!

Check out 104inc.com and join the revolution of people who want to break the monopoly on deep pocket businesses. 104inc will help the little guy unlike Yahoo and Google.

Will you be my sugardaddy?

2008-09-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

What a mess.

Lehman Brothers went belly up this weekend. Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch. American International Group (AIG) is on the edge bankruptcy or being acquired for pennies on the dollar. Last week the federal government took over Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.

When JP Morgan Chase took over Bear Stearns last March, the US government set a potentially ugly precedent of not letting financial companies fail. This happened again with the takeover of the quasi-government agencies: Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Rumors of Lehman Brothers demise started last week. The Government went into the weekend saying that it wouldn’t bail out Lehman. The Government put the burden of finding a solution on the private sector. Several financial institutions were in the running, but it boiled down to Bank of America or death. The answer was death.

It was kind of strange: Bank of America started the weekend in talks to acquite Lehman Brothers, but ended up with a different partner: Merrill Lynch I guess they didn’t want any more subprime garbage after acquiring Countrywide.

The next piece of the puzzle is seeing what happens with AIG. AIG was downgraded by Standard & Poors, Fitch, and Moodys. This will cost AIG billions of dollars. They now need to raise capital and it looks like they will have to sell assets or find a sugardaddy.

The catch to AIG is how much money they need. They used to have a market capitalization of around $200 billion. At the end of the day on September 15^th, their market capitalization was around $15 billion. They are looking for financing of $50 billion. Why would someone lend a company money for 3x their market value? Will they be too big to fail? Or will we the taxpayers be their sugardaddy?

Check out www.104finance.com for more information about this crazy financial situation we seem to have gotten ourselves into.

Free Online Advertising Tips - Two Free Advertising Tips

2008-09-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Local small businesses have shoestring advertising budgets and can't afford to spend thousands of dollars on yellow page advertising or on Google pay-per-click Ads. So here are four free advertising tips to help you save thousands of dollars a months and still get more value from each dollar you spend.

You can use these Four free advertising Tips as much and as
you need to.

Free Online Advertising Tip #1 - Register for a free http://104inc.com business account .

When you register you can take advantage of their "Free" basic listing. This will allow your business to be listed on over 2000+ websites for free. Registering on 104inc.com alone will help your website/store increase online and foot traffic; generate quality leads from targeted local customers. They also offer 45 day free trial of the upgraded package if you fully want to take advantage of their powerful lead generating tools.

Free Online Advertising Tip #2 - Send a press release or newsletter.

You always have the opportunity to write a newsletter or press releases monthly to promote your business. This is one of the best free advertising tips for you to take advantage of.

This monthly newsletter or press release can be mailed or e-mailed to your customers and update them on a unique product or service you offer.

Make your release interesting and offer discounts or sales to
your business clients.

People love success stories so make sure to spotlight a success story from the past month or quarter. You might talk about a new product or a client who found success using your product or service.

Then once it is finished, you can submit it to local
news outlets or you can publish it online.

The best place to release your story is by using the website at http://104News.com. When you visit the site click on "feedback" on the top right hand side of the website and submit your story.

These first two tips will really help in your quest for free online advertising.

For two more Great tips visit Free Online Advertising Tips - Four Free Advertising Tips

Free Advertising For You And Your Business

2008-09-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

We all want free advertising for our online business. Any new ways to publicize ourselves and our business is the key to making money. Finding free advertising is never easy, but 104inc.com helped me drive traffic to my site faster then I ever imagined. As the owner of BuyatDiscounts.com and my own eBay store advertising has always been my number one cost. With over 120 million Websites currently registered, it is increasingly difficult for anyone other than a large company to stand out.

Locating most websites has become as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. How do you expect your Website to stand out? Most registered Websites are long, multiple-word names, and are difficult to remember and type. This leads to slow growth, wasted advertising dollars, and minimal return on investment. How many times have you seen a billboard or truck offering a service you really need; repeating the website to yourself a few times, but you end-up forgetting it by the time you get to a computer?

I know most eBay sellers are always looking for a great opportunity to link their online stores with relevant websites and get free online advertising. After hours of research I was finally able to find an online business listing with basic FREE advertising services. 104Inc provides endless opportunities for branding, networking and increased exposure. All I had to do was visit 104inc.com and click on register at the top right of the website. You fill out your business details and add your website link. Your profile will be reviewed and then added to relevant domains for free advertising.

You can never go wrong with free advertising and what I loved the most about their product is the Geo-Targeting technology, individuals and businesses alike can maximize their potential by easily being located, regardless of size or popularity. Geotargeting is the practice of customizing an advertisement for a product or service to a specific market based on the geographic location of potential buyers. Every country, province, state, county or city in the world can constitute a niche market for certain products or services at certain times. On 104inc.com, geotargeting can help small businesses to compete with national brands and can ensure that large corporations effectively make use of their advertising resources.

This was exactly what I was looking for to promote my eBay business and thought I might share with the rest of the eBay community. Hope it helps! Please leave comments if this was helpful and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Enjoy the FREE advertising.

You Must Vote Or Risk Death!

2008-09-09T21:58:00.000-07:00

Image by comicbase via Flickr The time will shortly be upon us. Obama? McCain? None of the above? Let's face it, America. Every John Q. Taxpayer has been taking jab after jab from the government the last 8 years. It's time for a change, and that change is now! There are those strongly for McCain, and those strongly for Obama. Equally so, there are those who are still undecided, and some, sadly, who could care less. Let me implore you all that the country is in absolute turmoil. Need some help deciding, then you, family, and friends should visit 104Vote.com, a keen website with great articles and reviews of all things politics.

In the meantime, allow me to say the following: when former President Clinton was in office, there was a surplus. There were 22+ million new jobs, a booming economy, etc. Since "W" took the reigns, all that has faded, leaving a flurry of foreclosed homes, disgruntled unemployed workers, and a deficit that ten Bill Gates' couldn't get us out of.

Still need help voting democrat. OK. Here it is. Log on to 104Vote.com and after reading many articles, you'll see that you can only spell change O-B-A-M-A. The man is primed and ready to rock the nation and bring the United States of America back to the international supremacy we were globally known for. He's ready to bring the value of the dollar back, to lower taxes, and all that other good stuff. Sure, most politicians say the same thing, but after what Bush did to the country, aren't you ready for a change? And with McCain (Bush II) running, what would be the difference? He's agreed with Bush on over 90% of bills that crossed his desk over Bush's two terms. So, if he agreed with arguably the worst president in history, what would make him any different.

Nothing.

OBAMA 2008. Register to vote today! Vote in November, log on to 104Vote.com, and get ready for great years to come!

What To Do Now That Your Number One Fantasy Football Player Tom Brady is Hurt?

2008-09-09T21:55:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife There were a couple of key injuries to some NFL players this past weekend. One is obvious, the other maybe not as much. The obvious key injury was to Tom Brady. The other player who was injured was Nate Burleson.
It looked like Nate Burleson was going to be Matt Hasselbeck’s number one receiver with Deion Branch and Bobby Engram out with injuries. The Seahawks ground game isn’t very impressive. The other concern for the Seahawks is who is Hasselbeck going to throw to?
You have to be suicidal if you took Tom Brady with your 1st or 2nd pick in your Fantasy Football draft this year. You got less than one quarter’s worth of action and he is done for the year.

You did have to wonder how much you would get out of Brady this year: he was hurt during the AFC Championship game last year and didn’t do much in the Super Bowl. He didn’t play during the pre-season because of another injury. So, you shouldn’t have expected him to put up numbers like last year. But, who would have expected a torn ACL? Did he just come back too early?

The only Patriots’ fantasy value this will help is Matt Cassell. Randy Moss is not going to get as many -touchdowns as last year and you have to wonder if he will have a meltdown with a non-Pro Bowl Quarterback. Wes Welker, Brady’s most consistent target, won’t see as many catches and yards as he has in the last couple of years. Maybe the Patriots’ running game will be used more. But, if other teams’ defenses are focusing on the running game, it might not work out so well for the Pats.

It will be interesting to see how the Patriots and Seahawks cope with the injuries and see how fantasy owners will deal with the loss of Brady. Hopefully they drafted a decent back-up quarterback, or they might have to make a costly trade.
One of the places you can check out football information is www.104football.com .

Why Does Oil Spike Up So Quickly?

2008-09-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

Image by Barrybar via Flickr

It was less than a month ago where I wrote an article about oil and why (based on analyst’s opinions) the price has increased so much, going up to $147 per barrel back in July. You gotta love the stock market, including mutual funds and commodities, because they never cease to amaze or surprise anyone. In just four short weeks, oil has come down to under $108 per barrel. How in the world does oil spike up so quickly? More importantly, how does it plummet so drastically? Oil prices have decreased over 25% in the last four weeks, which makes me laugh when I think about all of those big shots from Goldman Sachs and such who predicted that oil will hit $200 by the end of summer. If you want to find some of these articles, simply go to www.104oil.com and you’ll find hundreds of them and others that are related.

The thing that I get tired of is the amount of speculation there is about oil, with “experts” giving their “expert opinions” on things. There are many reasons (based on analyst’s opinions from articles I found on 104Oil.com) as to why the price of oil has decreased so much. The economy of “powerful” countries, such as China, is weak and in jeopardy of a recession. Demand for materials and other goods have decreased due to these countries having weak economies and reducing their output. Furthermore, specifically with China, the currency there has increased in value, which obviously makes exports less desirable, hence, causing a decrease in the output of products. Yet, the average person would conclude that if a county’s currency appreciates in value, why would it be having economical problems? For that, stay tuned for another article…we’re talking about oil here.

Tip #2 - Preparing to Sell on eBay?

2008-09-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia Using online auctions is a relatively inexpensive way to promote your products or services. On the downside, they can be very time-consuming to post to - especially if you're only making a few dollars profit per sale. Several steps are involved before you can post your auction on major sites such as; eBay or Yahoo! Shopping Auctions. If you're new to selling via online auctions, the following steps will make listing your item a smooth and easy process.

1). Plan your item title and description. Give some thought to naming and describing your item. What will buyers most want to know about it? What are its most appealing characteristics? What words might buyers use to search for your item?

2). Write your HTML code. If you plan to include HTML, complete and test your code before you get started with the listing process. Learn more about HTML.

3). Have a good picture of your item in an appropriate digital format. JPEG (.jpg) is recommended. If you host your own photos, have your photos uploaded to your service. In some cases, you'll need your photos stored on your computer's hard drive.

4). Have the item on hand. Keep the item close by in case you think of other things you want to add to your description. In addition, you'll want to ship the item to the buyer ASAP.

5). Plan your pricing. You may want to do a little research into the selling prices of other items similar to yours. This will help you set your starting price.

6). Registration. This usually will require your credit/ debit card and bank account information. It is recommended you write down your registration information (username and password) or save it in a place you will remember in the future.

You're now prepared to sell your item!

A few things to keep in mind after you've made the sell:

1 Communicate With The Buyer. Some auction sites offer a checkout service in which you must verify before receiving payment. Contact the buyer directly if you have not heard from the buyer within three days of your listing's end.

2 Receive Payment eBay and Yahoo offer their own payment solutions. Another popular method used by auctioneers is PayPal. If the buyer hasn't already made payment, send them a letter explaining how they should proceed.

3 Ship Your Order Immediately You don't want your buyer to get angry. Many auctions

provide buyer and seller feedback systems. It's hard to sell products with a bad rating and several negative buyer comments.

Sarah Palin Attack Dog or Barracuda?

2008-09-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

Image by bobster1985 via Flickr Another week, another political convention. This week kicks off the Republican National Convention that will see the nomination of John McCain for President and Sarah Palin for Vice-President, though the schedule is in flux with Hurricane Gustav that has landed in Louisiana.
McCain named Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate on August 29th. She was more or less a surprise pick. She is not well known on the national scene, at least from a media perspective.

The first day of the convention was greatly abbreviated. The only real speakers were Laura Bush and Cindy McCain putting out a call for help for the areas affected by Gustav. They also made announcements of some projects that the Republicans will be undertaking to help victims of Gustav. This fit with the theme for the day: Service.

The theme for Tuesday was Reform. The main speakers of the evening were Laura Bush, George Bush, Fred Thompson, and Joe Lieberman. President Bush gave a very short speech about McCain and didn’t really say too much. Fred Thompson followed and defended the choice of Sarah Palin for vice-president and helped define McCain a bit more. He was followed by Joe Lieberman, who was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee 8 years ago. Lieberman went between praising McCain, defending Palin, and hitting out at Barack Obama. The keynote speech to be given by Rudy Guiliani was moved to Wednesday.

Wednesday the theme is Prosperity. Palin gave her acceptance speech tonight and America got their first real chance to know her. Palin filled the vice-presidential role of attack dog. And she did a good job of attacking Barack Obama and Joe Biden. McCain is going to have a tough time topping her speech. Also speaking were Mitt Romney, Meg Whitman, Mike Huckabee, and Kay Bailey Hutchinson. The speeches once again seem to focus on John McCain, but not on any policy stances for the candidates.

Thursday will be John McCain’s day. The theme for the final day of the convention is Peace. The day is supposed to showcase McCain’s idea of American goodwill and our pursuit of peace in the world. McCain tops off the evening with his acceptance speech. Then the campaign can begin with 60 days until Election Day.

The convention schedule will be very flexible and may change on any day in response to the events of Gustav. One of the places you can keep up with the ever changing world is 104inc.com.

How in the world does oil spike up so quickly?

2008-09-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

The beauty of the market, whether it’s commodities, mutual funds, or just plain ‘ol stocks, is that they never fail to surprise me. Only a month ago, I wrote an article about oil and why (based on analyst’s opinions) the price has increased so much, going up to $147 per barrel back in July. Well, just four short weeks later, oil has come down to under $108 per barrel. How in the world does oil spike up so quickly? More importantly, how does it plummet so drastically? Oil prices have decreased over 25% in the last four weeks, which makes me laugh when I think about all of those big shots from Goldman Sachs and such who predicted that oil will hit $200 by the end of summer.

Of course, there are a number of reasons (based on analyst’s opinions) as to why the price of oil has decreased so much. The economy of “powerful” countries, such as China, is weak and in jeopardy of a recession. Demand for products has decreased due to these countries having weak economies. Furthermore, specifically with China, the currency there has increased in value, which obviously makes exports less desirable, hence, causing a decrease in the output of goods. Yet, the average person would conclude that if a county’s currency appreciates in value, why would it be having economical problems? For that, stay tuned for another article…we’re talking about oil here.

The demand for gasoline is weak, which makes oil less appealing to investors. This further drives prices down, considering consumers of gasoline are finding other means of transportation, a phenomenon that is not all that phenomenal. It was only a matter of time for people to start getting sick of paying over $4.50 at the pump for a gallon of gas. Another reason why the price of oil has decreased is because of a stronger dollar in the last few weeks. Our currency is on the rise (yippie!), and this is causing investors to pull out of commodities (such as oil). Investors usually purchase commodities in order to hedge against inflation, and if the dollar is increasing in value, well, there isn’t as much hedging necessary.

There are many other factors involved, including hurricane Gustav not having the impact investors had anticipated for it to have. Also, refineries are starting to slowly come back online after being shut down for various reasons. So then, is it safe to say that the oil bubble has finally burst? Or is it just leaking for now but getting ready to grow larger again? Some analysts believe that prices can spike again due to unforeseen geopolitical events (could they be any more vague?) or OPEC deciding to cut back production (basically them saying,” We need to drive demand up, so we should decrease supply and drive prices up because this year I want to make $2 Billion instead of only $1 Billion”).

Whatever the reason is for oil prices decreasing, I really don’t care. As long as gas prices are decreasing, which they have gone down in the past month from a national average of $4.11 to $3.67 according to AAA, and then I’m a happy camper. Might I add that just because prices have gone down about $0.45 doesn’t mean I’m satisfied? It wasn’t too long ago that I could fill up the gas tank of a gas guzzling Camaro for no more than $35.00. I’d like to see those times again, very soon, so I can drive more like Jeff Gordon rather than Ms. Daisy.

Am I The Only One Who Is Ready To See Some FootBall?

2008-09-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaFootball. There aren't too many words in the English dictionary (or any dictionary for that matter) that make a man's heart pound harder than standing at the altar, wondering if the woman about to walk down the aisle is...ohh, never mind. See what happens when the word 'football' is mentioned? Well, it's back ladies and gentleman. The 2008-2009 National Football League season is upon us, set to kick-off Thursday evening with the reigning Super Bowl Champions New York Giants (still in pain over that) versus the Washington Redskins.

So, what does this mean? Well, that's a simple and easy question. It means attendance at church will be cut in half, vacations postponed, and every man's credit card purchases growing exponentially as the wives escape the steady diet of testosterone, beer, pizza, and man-grunts while watching some smash-mouth football. Watching all this football usually leads to one thing at halftime and after the game: flinging the old pigskin around the backyard, mimicking every juke, bump, and touchdown celebration. At least, that's what I do. And, inevitably, as you go into your garage, searching for that football, you'll find you've either lost it, left it at a buddy's pad, or it's flatter than your team's offensive line. So, what to do? Log on to 104football.com for all your football needs - it's simple and easy. With it's state-of-the-art technology, 104football.com will already know where you're located, and will not only give you a list of everything football around your home, but they will tell you the distance in miles, and even give a link to map directions, plus much, much more. It's awesome.

So, who's your team? Actually, it doesn't even matter. The standings as of today are all 0-0. We're all even. Time to separate the men from the boys. Will your team hoist the trophy next February, or will they be sipping mai-tais in Maui, watching the Super Bowl like the rest of us? Only the players will decide. All we can do is watch and enjoy the ride, and log on to 104football.com to get all we need!

Republicans Say Country First & Change Second!

2008-09-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

Image by sloomis08 via FlickrAnother week, another political "country first" convention. This week kicks off the Republican National Convention that will see the nomination of John McCain for President and Sarah Palin for Vice-President, though the schedule is in flux with Hurricane Gustav that has landed in Louisiana.

McCain named Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate on August 29th. She was more or less a surprise pick. She is not well known on the national scene, at least from a media perspective.

The theme for Tuesday is Reform. The main speakers of the evening were Laura Bush, George Bush, Fred Thompson, and Joe Lieberman. President Bush gave a very short speech about McCain and didn’t really say too much. Fred Thompson followed and defended the choice of Sarah Palin for vice-president and helped define McCain a bit more. He was followed by Joe Lieberman, who was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee 8 years ago. Lieberman went between praising McCain, defending Palin, and hitting out at Barack Obama. The keynote speech to be given by Rudy Guiliani was moved to Wednesday.

Wednesday the theme will be Prosperity. Palin will be speaking that night and it will give her a chance to let America know her. Also speaking will be Mitt Romney, Meg Whitman, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and possibly Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. It is kind of odd though that the Republican website for the convention hasn’t been updated with Palin’s name.

The convention schedule will be very flexible and may change on any day in response to the events of Gustav. One of the places you can keep up with the ever changing world is 104inc.com.

The Job Market Sucks So What Does A College Student Do?

2008-09-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

I have been in the professional field for 15 years now. I am in an industry that is dying day by day. The sad thing is that it does not matter that I have a BA or an MBA because I have been in the same field for so long I am typecast as an individual that has not other skills.

A general degree in Management or Business is no longer the path to success or wealth. You need to be more specialized. Right now what employers need are scientists, engineers, programmers, medical personnel, law and CPAs.

These fields will yield the best results for future income and job security. With the globalization of our economic markets these fields will continue to grow because leaders are needed to continue to solve problems that we are facing as a country and as a world.

Financial opportunities are limited right now and you must be able to adapt to the changing world. I would suggest that you get on community chat rooms and start gaining for the experience of those who have been in this market for sometime. Learn from the mistakes of others so that you do not fall into the same trap.

104Jobz.com is a great recourse that may help you find professionals who can help guide you down a prosperous path. Keep in mind that you need to do a lot of research, do something that you love and are passionate about and you cannot go wrong. 104jobs.com can help you find the right opportunities for your future.

Did Hillary Clinton Sucker Punch Barack Obama At The Democratic National Convention?

2008-08-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

We are going from hyped event (Summer Olympics) to another: the Democratic National Convention kicked off in Denver on Monday. The biggest unknown part of the convention is if the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama camps can come together.

Monday night will focus on the story of Barack Obama. In a relatively new tradition, the nominee’s wife, Michelle Obama will be the feature speaker. Tuesday night’s theme will be Renewing America’s Promise and Hillary Clinton will be the feature speaker.

Wednesday night is an attempt at trying to be non-partisan in terms of foreign policy, using the theme “Securing America’s Future”. The night will focus on Obama as commander in chief. The two main speakers on Wednesday are ex-President Bill Clinton and vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden. Though it seems President Clinton was upset about his speech subject for the evening - he would rather have been talking about the economy. Now it looks like the Obama campaign will let President Clinton talk about whatever he wants to talk about.

Joe Biden, Delaware, was named the Democratic vice-presidential candidate by Barack Obama on August 23rd. The original plan by the Obama campaign was to inform his supporters who the vice-presidential candidate would be by text message. That plan didn’t work out as planned. News of the vice-presidential candidate was first reported by the television reporters on the 22nd, though the Obama campaign sent their text message announcement out at 3:00 AM on the 23rd.

Obama and Biden made their initial appearance together in Springfield, Illinois at the Illinois State Capital. This is the same place Obama made the announcement he was running for president in 2006.

Thursday is the final night of the convention and the Democrats will be moving from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field to allow a larger audience to participate in the final night. After the roll call vote, Obama will give his acceptance speech. Though there is contention between Hillary Clinton’s supporters and the Obama campaign about how long the roll call vote should continue until Obama is officially declared the candidate.
104inc.com is a website that a site that will give you the facts or if you want a little opinion you can check out http://www.104politics.com/

How a Charismatic Leader Could Arouse Trust, Faith and Belief in Their Leadership Ability

2008-08-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

Today I want to focus everyone on one of the many different types of leadership concepts and leadership theories. With so many different approaches and styles of leadership, I started to think about all the different managers I’ve had throughout my eight years at Bank of America. Then I look inward at my pervious customer service team manager position. What is my leadership style?

I’ve always tried to have an inspirational approach to leadership and the most common style is “charismatic leadership”. Maybe because I employ this style I also respond very well to managers who have always tried to motivate me in this way. Charismatic leaders always develop good communication with their associates. All of them work with the team so that they actively contribute and develop the vision; the vision then becomes a part of not only the leader but of their team. I’ve always been given buy-in from my teams with a charismatic approach to leadership; my teammates are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to achieve the vision. I feel like the most important part of a charismatic leader is the ability to inspire extraordinary performance from the team. With this style I always have the opportunity to turn members of my team who normally aren’t involved into active participants.

So when you’re applying it to your everyday work life, remember that a charismatic leader should arouse trust, faith and belief in their leadership ability. If we move forward and grow as leaders, we should also move our associates to become leaders in their own right. But most of all, charismatic leaders inspire a deep devotion in their team. The effect these types of leaders have on their associates seems to be their greatest achievement. This is of course the most important way to be effective and achieve your own personal and corporate goals.

Do You Have The Need for Metabo-speed?

2008-08-20T08:31:00.001-07:00

OK, so you need to lose weight, but where do you start? Well, the key isn't simple. It isn't easy. But it is extremely effective! The solution: eat more...often that is. Let me put it to you like this. If you didn't eat breakfast this morning, you're not losing any weight today, plain and simple. Your body is a machine, and it’s time to put the pedal to the metal! You could put the cheapest gas in your car, and it will run, but it won't nearly as smoothly as a higher-end, premium gasoline designed to clean your system, right? Same concept here. You need to modify your lifestyle and train your body.

Here's what you do. Instead of eating 1-2 (or 3) big meals a day, break them down into 5-6 small meals, eating approximately every 2-3 hours. I know this sounds like a lot, and at first it may be difficult, but after no time you'll be loving it! Look at the simple mechanics of it all. When you eat, your body digests the food, breaking it down. The speed in which it digests is dependent on how fast your metabolism is. The faster your metabolism, the quicker you digest, the less fat can sit and build up. So when you eat a big breakfast, your body begins breaking the food down, slowly building your metabolism for the day.

If you don't eat for 8-10 hours, your metabolism has become stagnant, at a stand still, and will need time to rebuild speed; but if you eat every 2-3 hours, you don't give your metabolism the chance to slow down, methodically building its speed.
Stay tuned for next week’s installment, when I discuss combining this metabo-speed technique with a low-carb diet. Until then, eat well, live well, and log on to 104Diet.com for all your diet needs!

Why I Think Michael Phelps Isn't The Greatest American Olympian Ever

2008-08-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

Seems like a pretty easy question. He just set the record for the most gold medals and most medals won by an individual in one Olympics. He also has the most gold medals won by an athlete in multiple Olympics. However, Larissa Latynina has won the most individual medals in the Olympics with 18 to Phelps 16. (Latynina of Russia won her medals in gymnastics between 1956 and 1964.) Phelps was part of seven world records in his events this year. That ties Mark Spitz’s record of 7 world records in the 1972 Olympics. Phelps won 5 of his gold medals in individual events (Spitz’s won 4 in 1972) and the remaining 3 gold medals in the relays.

But what about Eric Heiden? He won five individual gold medals in speed skating in the 1980 winter Olympics. He won the medals in distances from 500 meters to 10,000 meters, which might be more impressive than Phelps’ medals. Phelps’ medals were all in shorter distances, while Heiden’s medals were in short and long distances. In addition, Heiden later crossed over into the world of professional bike racing, even competing in the 1986 Tour de France.

Carl Lewis was another impressive Olympian. He won 10 gold medals in the Olympics between 1984 and 1996. That included winning the long jump title in four straight Olympics. Lewis also qualified for the 1980 Olympics team that boycotted the Olympics held in Moscow.
Though for all of their greatness, these Olympians’ impact is probably less profound than that of Jesse Owens. Owens won four medals in the 1936 Medals held in Berlin. It wasn’t the numbers of medals that he won, but where and when. 104inc.com is a website that is trying to make a difference in the where and when of the Internet.

Who do you think is the best Olympian ever? Please leave your comments below and vote!

Facts About High Level of Drugs in Your Drinking Water

2008-08-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

You've probably heard a hundred times about the high level of water contamination caused by industrial pollutants over the last several decades. But now environmental scientists are telling us that prescription drugs in drinking water are becoming a new threat to our health. By the time you finish reading this you are going to have four, eye-opening facts about drugs in the drinking water you must not ignore.

Fact #1 - The EPA and the National Geological Survey have verified the presence of prescription drugs in drinking water.
Samples from numerous water supplies from around the country have turned up trace amounts of drugs such as anti-depressants, antibiotics, contraceptives and caffeine. Since everything that passes through our bodies eventually ends up in our water supplies, it only stands to reason that all the medications that are taken on a daily basis in this country will make their way into our drinking water.
Since we have a finite supply of water on this planet, it has to be continually recycled and reused. As such, there is a high probability of exposure to these waterborne pharmaceuticals.

Fact #2 - At the present time, the long term health effects of drugs in the drinking water are unknown.
Despite the lack of information about how we can expect these drugs to effect us, medical science is mainly concerned about the creation of "super bugs" from prolonged exposure to even low levels of antibiotics. The experts studying this issue are worried that these super microorganisms could become resistant to antibiotic treatment. If doctors can't fight the sickness caused by these super bugs, many people could suffer and perhaps, die.

Fact #3 - Most of our municipal water treatment facilities are not presently equipped to remove prescription drugs in drinking water.
A vast majority of city water systems still use chlorine as their main method for treating water. Chlorine is a chemical disinfectant and not a filter, so it can do nothing to remove drugs in the drinking water. This means that our home water resources are at risk.

Fact #4 - It is possible to do something, right now, to protect you and your family from the potentially harmful effects of prescription drugs in drinking water.
You should know that there are plenty of efficient, home water purification systems available that are quite capable of removing drugs in the water. The most effective are those that use a multi-stage filtration system. Multi-stage filters are specifically developed to remove SOCs (synthetic organic chemicals). Prescription drugs are made up of SOCs.
In addition to removing drugs in drinking water, home water purification systems are effective at removing all other contaminants that are commonly found in our water supplies. They are also great at producing pleasant-tasting, mineral balanced water.

You may be surprised to find a wide selection of purification products that range from drinking water filter dispensers, to shower filters, to whole house filter systems. The specific purification needs of any household can easily be met, affordably and conveniently.
Make no mistake about it. We can't sit around, waiting to find out how these drugs are going to impact our health. These four facts about prescription drugs in drinking water must not be ignored.

Get Higher Gas Mileage!

2008-08-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

Taking care of your vehicle will make the car last the longest and it will give you the most mileages out of it. Some of the benefits are that you will have fewer repairs, your car will run smooth and won’t leave you stranded some where, will help on your gas mileage and more. Now you don’t need to be a car mechanic to know about your car. In this article I will provide you with steps on how to take care of your vehicle, and help you learn a little more.
The first thing I recommend to people is to have a repair manual for your vehicle. This will help you learn and understand a little more info about your car and what it will need. Remember getting to know your vehicle will help you out in the future plus when you take in to a mechanic shop you will know a little more about what the guy is talking about and this way you will know that you are not getting screwed. You can basically buy the manual at any dealer or even an auto parts store.
Here are some procedures for maintaining your car.
You can also find really good articles and info on 104Inc or you can also go to 104Automotive.com or 104Mechanic.com and more at 104Inc.com you can find anything you need in your daily life.
Weekly: Check all of your fluids and make sure you service your car all the time. This includes your radiator fluid only when it is cold so you don’t’ burn your self, transmission fluid, brake fluid, engine oil, power steering fluid and windshield washer fluid. Now most of these fluids are very important for the car to run properly except the windshield washer fluid is more of safety because it can clean your windshield if it is dirty or something covers it. Now in any of your fluids you notice that it smells or it is dirty then it is time for you to change it.
Bi Weekly: Check your tire pressure. You will need a tire pressure gauge, which you can find at almost all auto part stores or gas stations and they are not that expensive. Each tire valve will have a cap on it to protect it from rocks and dirt. You will have to unscrew the cap counter clock wise till it is off. Then stick the gage on the valve which will then tell you what Pressure your tires are. Now you have to check your manual, or the driver front door would have a sticker or actually another easier way would be to check your tire and it will have the info on it on what the pressure should be set to. Now remember when your tire is cold you will have an accurate reading, because once it gets warm the air in the tire will expand and won’t give you an accurate readings. Now if the tire pressure is low then you can basically go to any gas station or repair shop.
Tire Pressure Tip – When you have the pressure set properly on your tires then you will save some money on gas and by that you will be getting more mileage out of a full tank, also your tire won’t pull to one side if one of them has less or even more air in it.

Angry Swede throws down medal, quits

2008-08-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian threw down his greco-roman bronze medal in protest on Thursday after his bid for Olympic gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as “politics.”
Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck during the medal ceremony, stepped from the podium and dropped it in the middle of the wrestling mat then walked off.
“I don’t care about this medal. I wanted gold,” he said.
A bitter Abrahamian, silver medalist at Athens 2004 who had high hopes of top honors in the 84kg competition in Beijing, announced he was quitting the sport.
“This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure,” he said.
The Swedish wrestler had to be restrained by teammates earlier when a row erupted with judges over the decision in a semifinal bout at the Chinese Agricultural University Gym with Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, who went on the take gold.
Abrahamian shouted at the referee and judges then went over to their seats to speak to them up close. He angrily threw off the restraining arm of a team official then turned and left.
Swedish fans booed loudly as the judges filed out of the arena. Abrahamian said nothing to waiting reporters but whacked an aluminium barricade with his fist as he left the hall.
Abrahamian later said he believed his loss to the eventual gold medalist Minguzzi was “totally unjustified.” The wrestler said his friends “called me just 20 minutes before the (bronze) competition, begging me to compete.”
“I decided that I had come this far and didn’t want to let them down, so I wrestled,” he said.
Swedish coach Leo Myllari said: “It’s all politics.”
Myllari did not say if he intended to lodge a formal protest over the decision by referee Jean-Marc Petoud of Switzerland, judge Lee Ronald Mackay of Canada, and mat chairman Guillermo Orestes Molina of Cuba.
Other favourites went out in the semi-finals or earlier.
Athens 96kg gold medallist Karam Gaber of Egypt failed to make it to the quarterfinals. Aleksey Mishin of Russia, who took Athens gold in the 84kg class, was beaten by Minguzzi. Ramaz Nozazde of Georgia, who took silver in Athens, succumbed to Marek Svec of the Czech Republic, still fighting at age 35. Svec then lost to Russia’s European champion Aslanbek Kushtov, who caught him with a spectacular fall.
In the heavyweight 120kg class, Armenia’s Yuri Patrikeev and Dremiel Byers of the United States, both favored as finalists, failed to go through.
(For more stories visit our multimedia website “Road to Beijing” at http://104news.com/

HOW TO SELL ON EBAY TIP #1 - Choosing the right products to sell

2008-08-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

So you want to start an online business! Since most people don't know anything about ecommerce and building websites and such, most folks will start out by selling products on eBay, then pay someone to build a website once the money starts coming in. The big question is: what is the hot product to sell on eBay to make money fast? While it's true that selling products on eBay can be a quick, low cost way to launch an online business, following the herd by selling the "hot product" of the moment, is not a great idea. To the contrary, chances are you will be stomped in the ground by the herd and left lying in the dust with your unsold inventory in hand.
The most successful eBay sellers are those who understand that success on eBay relies on many of the same factors as success in a brick and mortar business.

Smart sellers research the marketplace and the competition to determine the salability and profitability of the product. Smart sellers test the market with one or two before committing to a product line and tying up their cash reserves in inventory that may never sell. Smart sellers adjust their product offerings until they find a product or product line that sells consistently.
The last point is perhaps the most important. Long term eBay success does not come from "one off" sales. The key to real eBay success is to find a product that sells well and sell that product over and over and over again.
There are several websites where you can find excellent products that can ship products directly to your customers once you sell their products. These companies are often called Dropship companies.

104Discount.com will offer you the best service of all since they will gather products from several manufacturers all in one place PLUS they will offer their dropshipping services to all theirs members at no extra cost.
There are other websites that offer you the wholesale sources only, which means that you will need to work with the manufacturers directly in order to buy and sell the products on ebay.

What Is The Secret To Healthy Living And Longevity?

2008-08-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Why is the healthy living industry a multi billion dollar industry? The reason is that we all want to live longer and look good. The only problem is that we do not have the discipline to keep something going for longer then at most a month.

I believe that problem has been solved. I found help from a wonderful resource, 104inc.com. The website had articles on health as well as listings of companies that could help me stay on track. 104inc.com had easy to find listings and I was able to sign up as a member for free and rate the companies that I felt were up to par.

104inc.com I believe is a valuable new search tool that can be so much more in the future. I was able to speak to the people at 104inc.com and they have a number of ideas which will be implemented in the future which will create even more content. Soon I as a member will be able to post my own articles.

If I ever have my own business I sure want to be part of the 104inc.com community which will profile my business. It appears that the only profile the best of the best. Those businesses must meet the high ethical standards of the 104inc.com community.

Next time you have about 5-10 minutes to spare go visit 104inc.com and let them know what you think. There is so much to do on their network of sites you will probably visit again and again. Don't forget to share this secret resource with your friends and family; they will thank you for it!

Current Home Buyers Beware!

2008-08-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

I have been in Lending and Real Estate for about 12 years professionally. Before that I was always with my Grandfather watching and learning this business from him. He was in this business for over 50 years. What is happening today is unprecedented.

Nothing like this has happened in over 100 years and nothing like this may occur again. At this point all I can say is “Buyer Beware” and “Current Homeowner Beware.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two GSE’s that purchase all of the conventional mortgages in the United States, last week reported losses in the 2nd quarter which was 3 times less then what Wall Street estimated. After they reported there earnings they announced that home prices are expected to fall on average an additional 20% from their current levels. Some areas will not lose as much while other areas will be impacted a great deal. The hardest hit areas will be California, Nevada, Florida, and Arizona.

What does this mean to buyers?

What you buy today will be worth less in the next 12 months. Once home do start appreciating they will appreciate at a much slower pace then at anytime in our history.

What does this mean to current home owners?

As long as you have no plans to move for several years then you are fine. For those who cannot afford the house payment anymore you might as well just walk away because I do not see any relief in sight. Even though the government approved that Housing rescue bill we still do not know all the details. It is estimated that it will only help 400,000 families but it is estimated that a total of 2 million families will be hit with Foreclosures in 2008.

What can we do?

I do not have the answers. However you may be able to find the answers by speaking to a professional in your area that handles these types of issues. You may have to confer with an attorney, tax, or real estate professional to help you with a plan. And believe me a plan is what every person needs right now. Do not go into this blindly. Get as much information as you can and be ready for the biggest roller coaster ride ever.

To find a qualified person to talk to in your area just go to 104inc.com. This site allows me to search different firms by geo-targeting the area that I live in. Check out 104cpa.com, 104realestate.com or 104attorneys.com as a starting point. You can see reviews posted by other users and join a network of like people who may be in the same.

Ohh, You're on a Diet, Need Tips?

2008-08-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

So there you are, sitting at home. Hungry. Starving in fact. You leave the house looking for something to eat, only to find nothing but fast-food restaurants and supposed non-fat frozen yogurt spots. So, what's the problem? Ohh, you're on a diet? Well, let me tell you a thing or two about the trials and tribulations of diets.

They typically do not work. They might show some promise at first, but they usually have you popping dangerous pills or eating some archaic concoction of cayenne pepper, maple syrup, and lemon juice for weeks on end; last I checked, my dog wouldn't even eat that. So, why do you want to diet? You want to be healthier, and lose that unsightly weight you've carried around with you for quite some time. Fair enough. We all try and want to lose weight, but don’t always know where to turn. You do now.

Log on to 104Diet.com to find great diet specialists and health conscious establishments that will supplement your new lifestyle. 104Diet.com is also a great place to read handy tips and insightful articles that will assist you on your journey!

Stay tuned for next week’s installment, when I discuss combining this metabo-speed technique with a low-carb diet. Until then, eat well, live well, and log on to 104Diet.com for all your diet needs!

http://www.articlesbase.com/weight-loss-articles/ohh-youre-on-a-diet-need-tips-and-dont-know-where-to-turn-519593.html

Should Lopez Lomong have been been the United States Olympics Flag Bearer?

2008-08-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

The Olympics have started and one of the more interesting stories for the United States team has been who the athletes have chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremonies. They could have easily chosen someone like Michael Phelps or Kobe Bryant, but they chose Lopez Lomong. Lomong is a runner and is scheduled to run in the 1,500 meter race.
Lomong was born in Sudan and is one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan”. The Lost Boys are group of about 3,800 refugees from Sudan that were brought from Sudan to the United States in 2001. Only about 100 of the refugees were female. They were either separated from their parents or orphaned. The Lost Boys were spread out over 38 cities in U.S. The story was made into a documentary called “Lost Boys of Sudan” which follows the adjustment period of some of the refugees that came to America.

Lomong was relocated to Tully, NY when he was transferred to the U.S. from Sudan. He graduated from high school in Tully and went to college at Northern Arizona University. Lomong became an American citizen in 2007. Lomong is also part of Team Darfur, which is a group of athletes from various countries that want to bring attention to the crisis in Darfur.
The story of the Lost Boys isn’t quite the same as the current conflict in Darfur. The deaths occurred in different parts of Sudan and to different ethnic groups; however, both of the crises have resulted in the deaths of millions of people.

There are many facets to Lomong’s story. There is the sports side, the political side, and the charity aspect. 104inc.com is one of the places you can go on the internet to get all of the aspects of a story.

Do you think that Lopez Lomong should have been been the United States Olympics Flag Bearer even though he's only been a citizen since 2007? Comments?

http://www.articlesbase.com/track-and-field-articles/why-lopez-lomong-one-of-the-lost-boys-of-sudan-was-united-states-olympics-flag-bearer-during-the-opening-ceremonies-519164.html

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2008-08-11T15:22:00.000-07:00

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Olympics opening ceremony to celebrate sport, Chinese culture

2008-08-08T07:02:00.000-07:00

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese couple in an eastern Chinese county woke up early on Friday morning to witness probably the most exciting day for millions in the country.
The husband Lu Jie was invited to attend a young colleague's wedding. Sticking to the popular belief, the young man arranged his wedding day on the most auspicious day according to Chinese numerology: Aug. 8, 2008.
His wife stayed at home, watching snippets of the Olympics opening ceremony rehearsal, and she couldn't wait to see a complete show.
"Seven years of preparation will boil down to this single big show, and every one is waiting," said Lu, 50.
The Olympic opening ceremony, which is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, is set to become another pinnacle of five thousand years of host China's journey from an ancient country to the biggest and fastest developing countries in the world.
From the host city Beijing to the remotest town in China, like Lu, millions are waiting for the moment of jubilee in the iconic Bird's Nest stadium.
"There is so much expectation weighing down, but inevitably it'll be a fluent and spectacular show of the Olympic spirit and the culture of the host country," said Wang Ning, an official with the opening ceremony planners.
Although further details are yet to be out in just hours, the ceremony will begin with a 40-minute show, featuring 15,000 performers depicting 5,000 years of Chinese history.
Highlights include the terra cotta warriors, martial arts performers, Peking Opera and dazzling fireworks shows. The climax will include Chinese singer Liu Huan singing a theme song with Sarah Brightman and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
"The opening ceremony will tell a Chinese story with a globally-understood language, but it will not be a simple exhibition nor history lesson," director Zhang Yimou said this week.
"The Athens Games opening ceremony was an aesthetic feat, and was a very cool show," he said, "but the Beijing show will be another kind of cool."
"We have to use four grams to move a thousand kilos," he said, referring to the shadow-boxing technique of using minimal efforts to achieve maximum effects.
The ceremony will be witnessed by over 80 heads of state and international dignitaries, along with 91,000 spectators and billions of audience around the world.

http://104Olympic.com/

http://blogs.ebay.com/buy*discounts/home/

A Man Boarded a Plane With 6 Kids

2008-08-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Quick Thinking

A man boarded a plane with 6 kids. After they got settled in theirseats a woman sitting across the aisle from him leaned over and asked,

"Are all of those kids yours?

"He replied, "No.

I work for a condom company. These are customercomplaints."
http://104jokes.com/?p=1
http://blogs.ebay.com/buy*discounts

Aid Struggling Homeowners, Stabilize Markets

2008-08-07T13:31:00.001-07:00

The housing rescue bill signed into law last week presents Bank of America with opportunities to expand its efforts to keep struggling borrowers in their homes and to increase the bank’s production of various mortgage products.
Key features of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 include a new Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program to help distressed homeowners obtain more affordable loans, enhancements to traditional FHA loan programs and other provisions to address America’s troubled housing market. The resulting increase in FHA loan production should create new growth opportunities for Bank of America, already the nation’s leading provider of FHA financing.

Even before the housing bill was passed, Bank of America had announced plans to modify or work out at least $40 billion in troubled mortgage loans over the next two years. The goal is to help an estimated 265,000 borrowers stay in their homes instead of lose them to foreclosure.
Overall, the new legislation is aimed at strengthening nationwide efforts to help struggling homeowners and restore confidence in America’s home financing system.
The law will modernize the FHA by increasing its maximum mortgage amount to $625,500 in high-cost areas, up from $417,000, thus offering more refinancing and purchase loan opportunities. Other features of the law include enhanced oversight and new regulatory guidelines for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Bank of America was a longtime supporter of FHA modernization and efforts to create a new regulatory regime for the GSEs. Bank of America also worked closely with legislators to ensure that the new FHA refinance program was voluntary, targeted and commercially viable.
To qualify for a loan under this program, at-risk borrowers must meet at least three key criteria; they must:
Currently be living in their home
Have obtained their mortgage between January 2005 and June 2007
Be spending at least 31% of their gross monthly income on mortgage debt on their primary residence

Such loans will be pegged to the market value of a borrower’s home at the time the loan is refinanced.
The new legislation also includes a tax credit for first-time buyers and a new standard deduction up to $1,000 for joint filers ($500 for individuals) who are unable to itemize deductions.
In addition, the law will create opportunities for Bank of America to expand its leadership position in reverse mortgage production. As the Department of Housing and Urban Development refines guidelines that will raise the loan limits on FHA-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, the product becomes a viable solution for more customers.

http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/landmark-law-aims-to-aid-struggling-homeowners-stabilize-markets-513615.html

$104 a gallon oil madness?

2008-08-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

I don’t know about you guys but I’m getting very sick and tired of having to spend an unreasonable percentage of my monthly income just to drive around. Living in California certainly does not help the situation, either! Some people commute over 90 miles (each way) just to get to work. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones, since I only commute 25 miles to get to work. While I’m sitting there in the usual L.A. traffic, cooking in my car from the scorching summer heat, thinking about how I have another 22 miles to go, looking at my gas gauge and seeing it near empty, remembering that I have to pay $4.50 per gallon for gas in an hour (or more) doesn’t help my mood very much.

Okay, so maybe my opinion and whining doesn’t matter to anyone. But I have heard and read some information that the so-called experts have written and I thought it would be nice of me to share. The price of oil has increased by 100% in the last year. Prices have had this extended run due to a supply shortage from oil producing countries such as Iran, Nigeria, and Venezuela. These shortages have been caused by poor oil field maintenance and political problems, which also include attacks by rebels on oil fields (in Nigeria). Demand is, and has been, rising at a fast pace in the Far East (mainly China), India, and the Middle Eastern petro states. Demand in the United States, however, has been falling. Saudi Arabia has increased its output within the last few weeks. In the last few months, there has been a huge rise in purchases by speculators of oil contracts for future delivery.
There is a great deal of information like this that one can take into account (these were just a few examples) and try to find out what’s going on. Is it just these speculators that are driving this price up or is there some justification? Do the oil companies have a hand in this and are raising prices for profits? How much more is oil going to go up? There are just so many questions but so few answers.

I can tell you this: Make it simple with 104Inc. I stumbled upon104inc.com and found that they know how to make things simple and easy. The technology they have implemented is extremely advanced, yet they make it so easy for a user to get what they want. As a business, you can join the 104Inc. community and start saving yourself money. I for one, who is just way too tired of spending money on gas and everything else that has risen in prices due to this oil “problem”, am starting to increase my demand for simplicity and ease. Like these speculators, I start investing my time on 104Inc. as I get more familiar with it and understand what kind of business it is. They have over 2000 websites, such as 104Oil.com, 104Invest.com, or 104finance.com. On any of their websites, I can find a business for services I may need, or just browse through countless articles that may be of interest to me. So go ahead and check it out for yourself. Take a break from all of this oil madness and get into the 104Inc. craze…it’s going to be big!

http://www.articlesbase.com/economics-articles/oil-when-will-the-madness-end-511846.html