We Can All Learn from Orphan Annie

Left at an orphanage were she was put to work by a drunk did not stop Annie from being positive. Many of us are taking a beating because of our current recession. Some have lost their life savings because of fraud. We've had two billionaires commit suicide because they could not handle the pressure. If we look back at our history as a nation one thing we know is that it always rebounds and new opportunities are created. Just like Annie says "the sun will come out tomorrow".



We should not allow the negative news crush our dreams and vision. Every recession has produced opportunities especially for those that have a definitive purpose. We all just got wiped out on this wave that saw three awesome years in the housing market and so we spent our money like there was no end. Well now we have to get back on our board and paddle out to catch another wave. As we do that we need to remember the lessons from our wipe out. Each one of us has our own purpose and some of us actually write down our goals and take action. We are then ones that will find the opportunities in the next wave and create employment. Some of the industries that will create employment are renewable energy, health and wellness, and green homes. Trust me a lot of the homes out there have outlived their life expectancy. These homes need to be outfitted so that there's a demand for them. I see some jobs for green consultants.



Business cycles happen and they happen so that we can reinvent ourselves. Americans are innovative and productive people. Capitalism is what attracts these people and we must preserve our capitalist society. Government should protect us from those who commit fraud by punishing them to the full extent of the law. We will get over this recession soon. Just keep your head up, continue to educate yourself, and write down your goals and a plan to achieve those goals. The sun will come out tomorrow.

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Over 50k Jobs Cut and Citi Buys a New Jet

I know people are upset but for some reason the market has spent most of the day in positive territory. I guess investors like the fact that corporations are implementing cost cutting measures. So how come a bank that is receiving TARP money went out and purchased a new jet?

I am not going to jump all over the CEO's for laying off people. Ultimately their responsibility is to the shareholders. Shareholders invest because they want to see a certain rate of return on their investment. CEO's in order to continue to attract investors and generate new capital must put up numbers that show growth. If revenue slows down then they are going to cut costs in order to show profitability or smaller loss. Are layoffs the easiest way to cut costs well it depends. Only the insiders of those companies really know but I'm one to hold the executives to the fire first instead of employees that are vital to the day to day operations. One executive bringing in a salary of one million dollars for sub-par results is probably equivalent to 20 employees.

Obviously I'm upset that these overpaid executives continue to keep their jobs. What ever happened to pride or honor. I would be so disgusted with myself. So how do we allow a company that has received our tax dollars to buy something that they do not need right now. Citi wants a corporate jet for what? Is it so the CEO can fly to an overseas operation or cross country and tell them how to continue to lose money. What ever happened to technology making it easier to conduct video conferences. It's not the handshake that seals the deal these days, it is the attorneys.

This is why I have continued to say that we allow free markets to gobble up these inefficient companies. If we continue to allow our legislatures to throw our tax dollars to mismanaged companies then they will not learn their lesson. There is not any consequence for making bad business decisions. If our government continues to get involved in all types of businesses then we eventually will lose our freedom. The government will make the decision that they must take over cause they can not let any one industry fail and our tax rates will just keep climbing.

I feel the same when it comes to any type of welfare. People need to learn that they can not become complacent. I keep teaching my kids that they must always continue to educate themselves. Even if they are experts in a field they must continue to better themselves because you can not rely on anyone to bail you out if all of a sudden your field becomes obsolete.

In simple terms it works like this, if we rob Peter to pay Paul then Paul will not have any incentive to work hard and Peter will have incentives to stop working. Eventually you will end up with two people that are not productive. This is what happens in socialism. People get upset and start demanding answers from your representatives.

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Personal Responsibility

I just got a little taste of someone who thinks they are doing the world a favor when they do something for themselves. My own son told me that I need to get something out of the car for him since he did me a favor. The favor he speaks about is serving himself breakfast. Well sometimes things happen so fast that I forget to calm down before responding. As you can imagine I blew up and reminded him that doing something for himself is what he is responsible for and he is not a baby where I have to prop him up in a high chair and spoon feed.



I am starting to think is this a behavior that he has learned from me or is it society. Maybe I am hurting them by always being so involved. I always felt that if I got involved in their sports either as a coach or assistant coach and I kept them active they would appreciate it and become more responsible because of the fear of these things being taken away. Every now and then they lose sight of what I am trying to do for them and they take on this attitude of being entitled to certain things. As a parent I do not want to constantly remind them but at the same time seeing what is happening in our society I am scared that they will grow up to be people that are looking for a handout or bailout.



Until I learn a better way I am just going to have to continue to yell at them. After my little lecture they are all of a sudden acting like little angels. I really do not like yelling but with my kids it seems to be the only thing that works. I am going to try to have daily prayer with them and see how that works. Stay tuned....

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California's IOU's

I wonder if we were to pay our state taxes with IOU's if the state would waive any penalties? I really don't think they would and so why is it okay for the state to think it's okay to pay with IOU's and only pay interest? This is getting ridiculous and the people of California need to demand better representation. My biggest problem with government is that they are innefficient. There are may departments that the state should shut down. I would like to see the people on welfare weaned off and then allow non-profits to take on that burden. We are a charitable group of citizens and I know most of us believe in helping our neighbor but when the government is the one handing out the checks, there's an enormous amount of fraud.

We once were a state that was big enough to be its own country and now we can't pass a simple budget. Yes I said simple, it's the legislation that has made it difficult.

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California's IOU's

I wonder if we were to pay our state taxes with IOU's if the state would waive any penalties? I really don't think they would and so why is it okay for the state to think it's okay to pay with IOU's and only pay interest? This is getting ridiculous and the people of California need to demand better representation. My biggest problem with government is that they are innefficient. There are may departments that the state should shut down. I would like to see the people on welfare weaned off and then allow non-profits to take on that burden. We are a charitable group of citizens and I know most of us believe in helping our neighbor but when the government is the one handing out the checks, there's an enormous amount of fraud.

We once were a state that was big enough to be its own country and now we can't pass a simple budget. Yes I said simple, it's the legislation that has made it difficult.

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Sometimes You Have to Let Them Fall part 3

After falling a few times, Austin is getting the hang of it. Thanks to the patience of his big sister, Alaina, and her willingness to follow him and allowing him to learn on his own. My point is that we shouldn't be so quick to pick them up. As parents it's hard to see your child get hurt but their own determination will get them up and they will learn how to get up after getting knocked down. One of life's most important lessons.

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Sometimes You Have to Let Them Fall part 2

Austin eventually lets go of the wall but he takes a tumble.

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