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Monday, September 22, 2008

His Pursuit of Happiness

Chris Gardner was always hard working and tenacious, and no matter what the circumstances in the early 1980’s, would not stop Gardner spirt to succeed. At one point he was homeless in San Francisco. He was unwilling to give up Chris Jr. who he was the sole guardian of his toddler son. His dream of financial independence, was not going to come easy. Gardner had to start at the very bottom of the financial industry ladder and pull his way up. He often spent his nights in a church shelter or a bathroom at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Oakland. The amazing story of Gardner’s life was published as an autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, by Amistad/Harper Collins on May 23, 2006. Will Smith portrayed Gardner in a very touching struggle.



Gardner was born February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Gardner never knew his father. He lived with his mother, Bettye Jean Gardner, and her family and, when necessary, in foster homes. Despite a life of hardship and emotional scarring, he always had supreme love and admiration for his mother, who was a trained schoolteacher. His mother taught him some of the greatest lessons of his life, which he follows to this day. When Gardner told her he wanted to be the great jazz trumpeter Miles Davis she said, "Son, there's only one Miles Davis and he got that job. So you have to do something else.” He understood from that day forward that his job was to be Chris Gardner – whatever that entailed. Bettye Jean also taught him that in spite of where he came from, he could attain whatever goals he set for himself by saying, “If you want to, one day you could make a million dollars.” Gardner believed this to be fact, and it allowed him to persevere through the years when he and his son were struggling for survival and a better life.Straight out of high school, Gardner enlisted in the Navy, just like his uncles, his role models, had done previously. After the military, Gardner went to San Francisco and took a job as a medical supply salesman. Then he reached a turning point in his life. In a parking lot, he met a man driving a red Ferrari. "He was looking for a parking space. I said, 'You can have mine, but I gotta ask you two questions.' The two questions were: What do you do? And how do you do that? Turns out this guy was a stockbroker and he was making $80,000 a month." That pivotal encounter gave Gardner a clear career goal, but he still needed a way into the world of high finance. Without experience, connections, a degree, or pedigree, Gardner began knocking on doors, applying for training programs at brokerages, even though it meant he would have to live on next to nothing while he learned. When he was finally accepted into a program, he left his job in medical sales. But his plans collapsed when the man who offered him the training slot was fired, and Gardner had no job to go back to. Things got worse. He was put in jail for $1,200 in parking violations that he couldn't pay. Chris Jr.’s mother left and Gardner, despite his circumstances, fought to keep his son because, as he says, "I made up my mind as a young kid that when I had children, my children were gonna know who their father was." Although he managed to enter a training program at Dean Witter Reynolds, Gardner’s meager stipend as a trainee meant he, like so many working poor in America, had a job but couldn't make ends meet. Chris’s co-workers never knew he spent his evenings trying to arrange day care, find food and a safe place for him and his son to sleep. After spending nights in a locked bathroom at an Oakland subway station, Gardner persuaded Rev. Cecil Williams, founder of a new shelter program for homeless women at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, to let him and Chris Jr. stay at the shelter. Gardner passed his licensing exam in 1981 on the first try.



Gardner is president and CEO of the Chicago-based brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co., which he founded in 1987. Prior to launching his own firm, Mr. Gardner worked for several prestigious Wall Street firms. He landed his first job in the securities industry in 1981 with Dean Witter Reynolds, coming out of their training program. Later, he spent four years with Bear Stearns & Co., where he became a top earner.
A self-made multi-millionaire, Gardner is intent on giving back to the communities where he conducts business because he has never forgotten his humble beginnings or the odds he has surmounted. Christopher Gardner’s accomplishments are extraordinary on their own merit, but are all the more astonishing because of the unimaginable obstacles he encountered on the road to success.
He has been featured on CBS’ Evening News with Dan Rather, twice on ABC’s 20/20, as well as being the subject of profiles in newspapers and national magazines.

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The Limbaugh translation for the Hispanic


Rush the weasel Limbaugh is at it again, because of the heat that he received for his comments about "Mexicans being stupid and unskilled ”. The weasel had an epiphany to translate his message in Spanish so they could see how harmless his comments was. "wink,wink" The furnace must be hot in EIB land. For the weasel to consider spending his hard earn cash to translate 3 different messages in Spanish, so that the Mexican population could see how nice a guy he really is. Let me be the first to say that I did not really get what was being said of any of the 3 messages... I guess maybe because I don't speak Spanish. So why spend 10 minutes playing them?
The thought did cross my mind, what if the weasel did not truly translate the message that he originally stated? His misrepresentation of the facts would not be a first! So if that's the case, does he think that Mexicans are dumb? Or maybe he thinks that his listeners are dumb, simply because he only uses half his brain when he talks to us.
I am disappointed in the weasel, if he is the man... Why wouldn't he stand up and be the man? He said, yes he did... So is his weak Spanish translation really suppose to change any one's mind?

Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Subprime Failure

The sub prime market is where I made the bulk of my income. I never thought that something like this could happen. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Washington Mutual, to name a few have went under and they are dragging the economy down. I listen to McCain describe how the economy is sound??? Now at the peak of my life, my income is inconsistent and I wonder is my home going to become another crack in the government wall. Now I look at the mess that the sub prime market has caused. Hundreds of sub prime lenders has fallen by the way side. Is this really a recession, is it no wonder I find myself wondering where did my hair go!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

CELL PHONE NUMBERS GO PUBLIC


REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public today


REMINDER.... all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies tomorrow and you will start to receive sale calls.


YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS
To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

Friday, September 19, 2008

The financial meltdown


The financial meltdown was caused by Bush's deregulation. As a result, look what's happening to Freddy Mac,Fanny Mae,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG. Can anyone explain the logic of the oldest and biggest financial institutions in the world going under. Although if you listen to Limbaugh ,Hannity and McCain, they make you wonder if they are living on mars and we are living on the earth? Everything is conservative, conservative, conservative and over and over we keep hearing how great the economy is doing so much better since Bush took office! Now the conservatives wants more tax cuts for the rich, and we need to continue to fight an Illegal war in Iraq. Hurricane incompetence. Bush has president has only netted three million new jobs as opposed to 22 million under Clinton,10 million under Carter,and 13 million under Reagan. We are suffering record trade and budget deficits, plus two recessions. We now have more poverty, unemployment,and people without health care. Am I missing how well the economy is flourishing...


So the next time that you hear someone talking about High oil prices, mortgage meltdown, government bailout of banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms.... I know, that's why I am voting democrat!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

fourteen characteristics of FASCISM (also known as NAZIISM):





1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays. (Flags image fly with vomit-inducing dizziness on Fox News).


2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc. (Fox News has consistently defended the Bush-Cheney use of torture).


3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities, liberals, communists, socialists, terrorists, etc. (Missing white women and black, Hispanic and Muslim villains are a Fox News staple.)


4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized. (Fox News tongues the ass of the military-industrial complex daily).


5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution. (What news channel interviews Hooters girls about economics?)


6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in wartime, is very common. (Fox News repeats Bush-GOP talking points verbatim and ad nauseum).


7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. (Fear is Fox News' most important product).


8. Religion and Government are intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions. (Fox News is the very soul of vulgar piety).


9. Corporate Power is protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite. (Obvious)


10. Labor Power is suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed. (Obvious)


11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked. (Fox News targets one professor or entertainer after another for destruction, and constantly attacks the idea of intellectual independence in Hollywood or the university.)


12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations. (The flip side of Fox News' constant fearmongering).


13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders. (Fox News was strangely unconcerned about Enron, the $12 billion in cash that went missing among Bush's cronies in Iraq, etc. etc. etc.)


14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections. (Remember that Fox News called Florida for Bush, deliberately and wrongly creating the impression he had won. Fox News' election night newroom was run by Bush's cousin — See Characteristic 13).


McCain/ Palin


The new CBS poll is out and The McCain/Palin bounce has become damage tire. In the new poll, the gap among likely voters is the same as it is among registered voters: Obama leads among those seen as likely to go to the polls in November 49 percent to 44 percent....Obama leads McCain 54 percent to 38 percent among all women. He holds a two point edge among white women, a 21 percentage point swing in Obama's direction from one week ago.It also confirms a considerable drop in Sarah Palin's (R) approval, especially among women:Palin’s favorable rating stands at 40 percent, down 4 points from last week. Her unfavorable rating, which stands at 30 percent, has risen eight points in the same time period. Sarah Palin is falling like a lead balloon. Her disapproval rating jumped 11 points among women in a week. Palin’s favorable-unfavorable margin is 40-30; Joe Biden, by contrast has a 38-17 margin. Palin’s support comes almost entirely from white evangelical conservative Republicans. She fires up the GOP base. But she does little beyond it. And her hiding from the media only reinforces the notion that she is unprepared for the task at hand.

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