By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. This article will touch you more deeply than you might otherwise allow if you find one of the innumerable renditions of George Gershwyn's "Someone To Watch Over Me". (1926, from the often-revived musical "Oh, Kay!") The one by the late chanteuse Amy Winehouse (given the tragic and squalid circumstances of her end) is both ironic and haunting for she most assuredly had no one to watch over her... much less save her from herself.
Go to any search engine now, find the singer you like... play it once or twice...for this is the desired, unmistakable sound for today's tale...
It starts with a boy from the Prairies...
"Know thyself!" is perhaps the most famous (and surely the shortest) command (and admonition) of our culture. Pausanias, a Greek writer of the second century A.D., had the words chiseled in the wall of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. There's been plenty argumentation ever since, as curious offspring seek to live those words, fully, completely, ardently...
... while protective parents, wiser to the world's ways, say and will say to the end of the universe "Over my dead body, buster! And be back by 11... or else!"
If I tell you, confess really, that I was the boy who always was home early and never (except for one notable occasion, too notable to tell you here) knew what transgressing against "or else" might mean, you will perhaps have an inkling about the subject of this tale. I was always "The Best Boy", sheltered, protected, indulged... I was not insensible of my privileged situation... but deep within (so deep for years I didn't even know the notion existed) there was a desire to taste forbidden fruit and find out what happened when you walked on the Wild Side in dead of night
Others were anxious to help me out of my deep-seated predicament. Once, at university, a determined bunch of boys, affronted by my puritan outlook, tied me to a chair and, for an unblushing hour or two spat every four-letter word, every expletive (none deleted), and every vulgar configuration known to advanced eighteen year olds at me... my hands tied to my side, no chance of protecting those virgin ears. I was appalled... horrified... but I emerged, despite their strenuous efforts, unscathed. What was more notable than their failure to brand me was the fact that every one of my outspoken captors, every single one, was a clergyman's son... the apple of the bishop's eye being by far the most advanced and knowledgeable about the devil's flamboyant lexicon. In due course, he, too, became a clergyman...
It didn't matter where I was, people, being the helpful souls they are, sensed my situation... and wished to autograph it with a unique imprecation, malediction. One day, in about 1967, I attended a packed poetry reading given by Kenneth Rexroth (1905-1982). It was standing-room only; I know. I was standing.
Rexroth, with Satan's own radar, read a poem, perhaps it was about innocence, then announced he would, dowser-like, find the most innocent boy in the crowd. As he searched, he made his way closer to... me. And then, to my acute embarrassment, he announced he had found him... and that he was.... me. Thereupon he planted a fervent wake-the-dead kiss on me. I sank to the very earth, red, abashed, humiliated... most of all for the unwelcome designation that came with the buss: the most innocent boy on campus. Worst of all, it may have been true...
And, if so, it stayed true, for I was on the determined path to fame and fortune, which had not so much been prophesied as promised me... and I meant to have them, all of them, just as fast as possible....
It was then I discovered Nick and Nora Charles. Quick! Do you know who they are? Your parents could tell you. They were the utterly attractive couple invented by Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) the crime writer and brought so memorably to life by William Powell and Myrna Loy in a series of 14 "Thin Man" films from 1936-1941. They were what ever boy wanted who was sure life was what was happening wherever he wasn't... and he yearned to go to that place at once, no questions asked, full speed ahead. As a result, I didn't merely watch... I scrutinized Nick and Nora and every aspect of their wonderful lives.
This included the way they dressed, how they made their martinis.... and how they comported themselves when they'd each had one too many (crucial for a boy who had never tasted alcohol at all)... and of course just who was included amongst their extensive acquaintance. Why, they knew everyone on both coasts, governors, mayors, congressmen, thieves, murderers, marauders of every kind. And, of course, a small army of the "little people" who keep big cities going 24 hours a day and who see everything and everyone.
I learned a lot from just how Nick and Nora (who was always quick to follow Nick's fancy footwork) treated these folks: always with courtesy, good humor, and no "side" whatsoever. It was an eye-opening revelation; you could be a convicted felon and yet be treated, by respectable folk, like the human being you were. I saw the same truth at work when in "Gone With The Wind" Melanie Wilkes met Belle Watling when Belle dropped off a pocketful of gold for Atlanta's desperately needy hospital. Miz. Wilkes said she was proud to be under an obligation to Miz. Watling... This, I learned for good, was what a real lady would say.
And thus, firmly convinced that each person I encountered, no matter how black their history or damning their circumstances, deserved my politeness, my empathy, my kindness, I embarked on Life 101 and began to collect an astonishing grab-bag of people from the gutter up. One day one of the most troubled of these, a young man whose life, at just 22 or so, so, resembled nothing so much as the essence of chaos, confusion, mayhem and pain, said that he respected me because I treated him the same way I treated everyone else, not like a petty criminal with a rap-sheet as long as my arm. It was one of the most profound compliments I have ever received. Such people called me "Dr. Jeffrey" and said that in the certainties of my life they found a refuge, no matter how limited, for the uncertainties of their own. And, of course, the "helps" (as Queen Victoria called them) helped, too; the food, the clothes I (the least fashionable of men) no longer needed, the few bucks that cost me so little to give... all these were thankfully received. Most of the time, it was just the thought that counted and the unjudging ear.
But just the other day, the potential hazards of my behavior was borne home to me when I received a phone call from the bank that someone had just tried to cash one of my checks, only to discover just how well known I am, since the teller knew (as she would) that the signature was not mine. The miscreant fled... in unnecessary trouble for just sixty dollars. I probably would have given it to him... after all I know he has a young child.
My valued bank officer Helen read me the riot act. How could I have let him in, into my house of all houses... and left my checks out? How could I explain... she would only say, and rightly so, that I might have been killed. But she knows nothing of writers and their needs; hers was the advice of common-sense and bankers. I took the dressing down like a boy of 20, not a respected man of 64. Then later that day I called the lady and thanked her for looking out for me, grateful for her concern and even the sharp words delivered with her Irish up. You see, I have someone, and maybe many such, to watch over me... while the thief I befriended faces misdemeanor charges and perhaps the dawning recognition of the worst that's yet to come.... without anyone to watch over him.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. at www.worldprofit.com, providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Jeffrey Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Income Hybrid -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=bw66Oioq
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Casey Anthony: Now that your trial is over, your true sentence will be delivered, for you are now and truly a marked woman for life.
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
These are the facts.
Caylee Marie Anthony (born August 9, 2005) was last seen with her mother Casey on June 16, 2008 and was reported missing by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, on July 15, 2008. Her skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area near the family home on December 11, 2008. Casey Anthony was indicted on charges of first degree murder and pled not guilty.
The prosecution sought the death penalty and the trial lasted for six weeks. On July 5, 2011, the jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. Anthony received a sentence of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for each count. With credit for time served and good behavior, she was released on July 17, 2011, free to walk out of the courtroom and resume her life as an ordinary citizen. But the fact is since the eye of the media (lead by legal commentator Nancy Grace) came to focus on you and your predicament, you have ceased to be in fact the "ordinary citizen" you are in law.
According to journalist Geraldo Rivera, you are the "most reviled acquitted defendant", even more so that O.J. Simpson or Michael Jackson. Rivera was also quoted on the Fox News Network as saying, "We feel she is a murderer who has escaped the death penalty" Public outrage was immediate and intense.
You contributed to the mayhem by engaging in behaviors the public felt were inappropriate for a mother:
Item: lying to detectives from the Orange County, Florida Sheriff's Department.
Item: failing to report your child missing despite the fact you admitted you had not seen her for 31 days.
Item: partying around the town both before your missing daughter was found... and, worse, after her decomposed body was discovered.
Item: Having a tattoo reading "Bella Vita" (beautiful life) placed on your body just weeks after Caylee's death.
The prosecution's case was based on who would benefit from Caylee's death... with the accusing finger firmly pointed at ... you! The media, which loves stories like yours that grab public attention and won't get go... tried and found you guilty... and you only aided and abetted these folks by your endless prevarications, deceits, deceptions and lies. In short order you were turned into a pleasure-seeking monster, cavorting on the grave of your innocent child, Caylee, who, quite simply, got in the way of your selfish, sybaritic life.
The prosecutor thought their bird was cooked, when their expert maintained that you made 84 computer searches seeking detailed information about chloroform. (It was only later than this same "expert" admitted he was wrong; there had, in fact, only been a single such search. Still...
Then the unthinkable occurred: you were found innocent on all counts, except for one which convicted you of lying to police officers. I saw your face on television at the moment the verdict was handed down; you wept... perhaps just for simple relief... perhaps because you thought that your ordeal was well and truly over. But in fact that verdict immediately moved you and the entire matter to a different, much more difficult place than the penal system you had just avoided.
Millions of people were astonished and outraged by the jury's finding and from the immediate instant it was delivered shouted their acute, their adamant disapproval and disgust. Never mind that your constitutional rights meant you were innocent until proven guilty or that the jury did its arduous work correctly and honorably. They had "reasonable doubt" and were, whatever their personal opinions, forced to decide as they had.
The people knew" (by some primal calculus), egged on by the media, that you were guilty... and now, aghast, flabbergasted, disbelieving, they watched as you, who had certainly murdered Caylee, walked. Millions of folks, certain in their minds as to what really happened and who was guilty and needed maximum punishment, wanted Justice for Caylee... and were frustrated they were not about to get it through the judicial system.
At that moment of what had to be joy for you... the system which had just given you freedom... ensured you would be a haunted, hunted, despised and disdained woman for the rest of your life. Your life on the lamb started even before you left the courtroom and was ordained for the rest of your life. For, whatever the legal system says, public opinion, fed by powerful media, have ensured that you will be seen as a child murderer, the worst crime in all the calendar, with vigilante vengeance likely and popular vindication for anyone disposing of you certain.
Let's look at what this means for you...
You will be in a store like Wal-Mart ready to take advantage of a fantastic sale. Soon you'll feel rather than see that there are three, now four women whispering about something... you don't need to be told that what they're whispering about is... you.
You hope the check-out girl hasn't seen... but one of the women walked over to a supervisor who, without batting an eye, told the check-out girl to take a 15-minute break,that her shift is over. The supervisor stands there, looks you in the eye and says, "You're Casey Anthony, aren't you?"
You decide to lie.... you're good at lying... but he'll only ask to see your i.d. and then his strong surmise will become irrevocable fact. So, you say nothing, drop the things you so much wanted on the floor... and, for the thousandth time put your chin up and, looking dead ahead, walk out.
But, like the sentence of the people itself, this incident continues.
You are Casey Anthony... and you are beginning to understand what that means.
The women who were whispering about you inside... are now a growing group. They do not know for sure that you are Casey Anthony (you do your hair different now) but they sense it.
You see your car. You know that if you can get in and drive off before their suspicions harden into fact, you'll be ok. And so you walk faster... and as you do you see in the corner of your eye that the women are screaming now.... You don't need to hear the words... you have heard them all before.... over and over again.
"Baby killer! Murderer! Murderer!"
And as you open the car door,the first stone hits the windshield... the second hits you and you feel the blood run down your head.
You manage to get in... get the key in the ignition... reminding yourself to stay cool... and get out fast.
This time you get away... but you are Casey Anthony and you know that such an incident can happen any day, every day.
Then one day, you're getting ready for a date with a boy who simply knows you as "Casey" and you're hoping he'll never find out. You're leaving the beauty parlor, looking terrific for the first time in months. All of a sudden there's a sharp pain in your chest... and you see Toni the beautician, the lady who has just done your hair. She's got blood on her hands... the pain from the sharp instrument she's thrust into your body is unendurable. But she's smiling... "That was for Caylee Marie..." And amidst the chaos and confusion, you hear the women in the beauty parlor cheering, for Toni, for Caylee... and for the end of you...
... the woman found innocent of murder by a jury of her peers... and guilty by an outraged nation scoffing at the verdict, determined to get justice for the dear little thing you cared so little about. You are Casey Anthony, innocent, and your dead body lies in a heap on the floor of the beauty shop... your eyes open, seeing nothing.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. at www.worldprofit.com, providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Income Hybrid -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=bw66Oioq
These are the facts.
Caylee Marie Anthony (born August 9, 2005) was last seen with her mother Casey on June 16, 2008 and was reported missing by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, on July 15, 2008. Her skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area near the family home on December 11, 2008. Casey Anthony was indicted on charges of first degree murder and pled not guilty.
The prosecution sought the death penalty and the trial lasted for six weeks. On July 5, 2011, the jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. Anthony received a sentence of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for each count. With credit for time served and good behavior, she was released on July 17, 2011, free to walk out of the courtroom and resume her life as an ordinary citizen. But the fact is since the eye of the media (lead by legal commentator Nancy Grace) came to focus on you and your predicament, you have ceased to be in fact the "ordinary citizen" you are in law.
According to journalist Geraldo Rivera, you are the "most reviled acquitted defendant", even more so that O.J. Simpson or Michael Jackson. Rivera was also quoted on the Fox News Network as saying, "We feel she is a murderer who has escaped the death penalty" Public outrage was immediate and intense.
You contributed to the mayhem by engaging in behaviors the public felt were inappropriate for a mother:
Item: lying to detectives from the Orange County, Florida Sheriff's Department.
Item: failing to report your child missing despite the fact you admitted you had not seen her for 31 days.
Item: partying around the town both before your missing daughter was found... and, worse, after her decomposed body was discovered.
Item: Having a tattoo reading "Bella Vita" (beautiful life) placed on your body just weeks after Caylee's death.
The prosecution's case was based on who would benefit from Caylee's death... with the accusing finger firmly pointed at ... you! The media, which loves stories like yours that grab public attention and won't get go... tried and found you guilty... and you only aided and abetted these folks by your endless prevarications, deceits, deceptions and lies. In short order you were turned into a pleasure-seeking monster, cavorting on the grave of your innocent child, Caylee, who, quite simply, got in the way of your selfish, sybaritic life.
The prosecutor thought their bird was cooked, when their expert maintained that you made 84 computer searches seeking detailed information about chloroform. (It was only later than this same "expert" admitted he was wrong; there had, in fact, only been a single such search. Still...
Then the unthinkable occurred: you were found innocent on all counts, except for one which convicted you of lying to police officers. I saw your face on television at the moment the verdict was handed down; you wept... perhaps just for simple relief... perhaps because you thought that your ordeal was well and truly over. But in fact that verdict immediately moved you and the entire matter to a different, much more difficult place than the penal system you had just avoided.
Millions of people were astonished and outraged by the jury's finding and from the immediate instant it was delivered shouted their acute, their adamant disapproval and disgust. Never mind that your constitutional rights meant you were innocent until proven guilty or that the jury did its arduous work correctly and honorably. They had "reasonable doubt" and were, whatever their personal opinions, forced to decide as they had.
The people knew" (by some primal calculus), egged on by the media, that you were guilty... and now, aghast, flabbergasted, disbelieving, they watched as you, who had certainly murdered Caylee, walked. Millions of folks, certain in their minds as to what really happened and who was guilty and needed maximum punishment, wanted Justice for Caylee... and were frustrated they were not about to get it through the judicial system.
At that moment of what had to be joy for you... the system which had just given you freedom... ensured you would be a haunted, hunted, despised and disdained woman for the rest of your life. Your life on the lamb started even before you left the courtroom and was ordained for the rest of your life. For, whatever the legal system says, public opinion, fed by powerful media, have ensured that you will be seen as a child murderer, the worst crime in all the calendar, with vigilante vengeance likely and popular vindication for anyone disposing of you certain.
Let's look at what this means for you...
You will be in a store like Wal-Mart ready to take advantage of a fantastic sale. Soon you'll feel rather than see that there are three, now four women whispering about something... you don't need to be told that what they're whispering about is... you.
You hope the check-out girl hasn't seen... but one of the women walked over to a supervisor who, without batting an eye, told the check-out girl to take a 15-minute break,that her shift is over. The supervisor stands there, looks you in the eye and says, "You're Casey Anthony, aren't you?"
You decide to lie.... you're good at lying... but he'll only ask to see your i.d. and then his strong surmise will become irrevocable fact. So, you say nothing, drop the things you so much wanted on the floor... and, for the thousandth time put your chin up and, looking dead ahead, walk out.
But, like the sentence of the people itself, this incident continues.
You are Casey Anthony... and you are beginning to understand what that means.
The women who were whispering about you inside... are now a growing group. They do not know for sure that you are Casey Anthony (you do your hair different now) but they sense it.
You see your car. You know that if you can get in and drive off before their suspicions harden into fact, you'll be ok. And so you walk faster... and as you do you see in the corner of your eye that the women are screaming now.... You don't need to hear the words... you have heard them all before.... over and over again.
"Baby killer! Murderer! Murderer!"
And as you open the car door,the first stone hits the windshield... the second hits you and you feel the blood run down your head.
You manage to get in... get the key in the ignition... reminding yourself to stay cool... and get out fast.
This time you get away... but you are Casey Anthony and you know that such an incident can happen any day, every day.
Then one day, you're getting ready for a date with a boy who simply knows you as "Casey" and you're hoping he'll never find out. You're leaving the beauty parlor, looking terrific for the first time in months. All of a sudden there's a sharp pain in your chest... and you see Toni the beautician, the lady who has just done your hair. She's got blood on her hands... the pain from the sharp instrument she's thrust into your body is unendurable. But she's smiling... "That was for Caylee Marie..." And amidst the chaos and confusion, you hear the women in the beauty parlor cheering, for Toni, for Caylee... and for the end of you...
... the woman found innocent of murder by a jury of her peers... and guilty by an outraged nation scoffing at the verdict, determined to get justice for the dear little thing you cared so little about. You are Casey Anthony, innocent, and your dead body lies in a heap on the floor of the beauty shop... your eyes open, seeing nothing.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. at www.worldprofit.com, providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Income Hybrid -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=bw66Oioq
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Book now for the bicentennial of America's least necessary war, The War of 1812. The scenery will be unbeatable!
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Most Americans don't know we had a dust-up in 1812 with our not-so- distant British colonial masters. Well, we did and from June 30-July 6, 2012 we'll be celebrating it in high style in Boston, Massachusetts, then in 11 other East Coast American cities that had a role in the war. The festivities will run from 2012-2015, with millions expected to come see.
No doubt the most popular and easily the most photogenic part of this commemoration will be the parade of the world's tall ships, with more of these graceful relicts of days gone by assembled in one place than ever before. How many tall-ships will there be? William Armstrong, a spokesman for Operation Sail, the sponsor of this event along with the U.S. Navy, could not say exactly. But he did say that 120 nations have been invited to participate, and no doubt most of them will. As such it will draw visitors from around the globe to this living reminder of maritime majesty.
Two extra special features make a trip to Boston de rigueur when the tall-ships come. First, this is the home port of the USS Constitution, launched in 1797. It is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. Dubbed "Old Ironsides" in sea battle where enemy cannonballs were seen to bounce harmlessly off her timbers, she defeated 4 superior British vessels, uniquely earning each of her captains a Congressional gold medal, perhaps in part because the Constitution's victories were one of the very few aspects of the war in general to go well.
The second reason why Boston was selected to lead off the festivities has absolutely nothing to do with commemorating the war and absolutely everything to do with creating a truly whiz-bang of a program. While the tall-ships grace the harbor and capture every eye, the city of Boston (and all true believers in America's national past-time) will be celebrating the centennial of Fenway Park, a theme which will inspire every sportswriter to wax poetic, nostalgic, with nary a dry eye in the (uncomfortable, over-priced) bleachers.
Not worth remembering.
Sadly all this hard work and the unbeatable thrill of seeing a large percentage of the most graceful and interesting sailing vessels still extant celebrates an entirely forgettable war that should never have occurred and which showed that Yankee rhetoric (always soaring and bombastic) far outpaced Yankee management, efficiency, and organization. In short, the Yanks, having pulled off the biggest victory of the 18th century, eviscerating British North American power and gaining independence, took the wrong moral from the tale and assumed their old nemesis was a paper tiger, always and forever to be defeated by the vainglorious sons of America. It was an arrogant point of view that was soon shown to be wistful thinking, and nothing more.
Family quarrels are always the most pernicious and hurtful.
From the very moment the British accepted the loss of her American possessions every patriotic Briton ached for a rematch with her now liberated and bumptious former colonies. Because this was a family quarrel, each side (and particularly the British) took the greatest possible pleasure in irritating Americans, outraging Americans, belittling Americans and humiliating Americans. The colonies might be lost, well then, let the regime of insult, condescension, and mutual irritants commence. And because both sides were Britons, who knew each other as well as the back of their own hand, they knew exactly what to do to cause maximum pain and umbrage... and they did it with relish and unbridled joy, "Take this, serves you right!"
For such antagonists another conflict was, and everyone knew it, inevitable. It was simply a matter of when... thus both nations bided their time; Britain bit by inexorable bit undoing Napoleon and his evanescent imperium, anxious to face again the unlikely winners who had humbled them with the gall and wormwood of 1776 and all that. It was a truly memorable antagonism, entirely personal, no holds barred, each and every encounter seen as an insult by the other. As I said, it was a very nasty family matter, casus belli unnecessary.
Historians will tell you the War of 1812 had many causes and no doubt they are right. But all those who have fought for victory in their homes and offices will know the messy battles in operation "Top Dog" in which the opponents battle for ultimate supremacy. In such a situation, with the need for overall power and control paternal, primal, with mutual good will and correct relations impossible until the fundamental matter is well and truly settled. They fought because each existed and that each found affronting and profoundly irksome.
The British goal in the War of 1812, a war which commenced as Napoleon then retreating from Russia after his fate-tipping disaster, thereby liberating British power, money and focus to upend the Yanks, was to continue her near absolute command of the world's seaways. "Rule Britannia" was not a song; it was profound national policy.
By contrast, the Yanks, now controlling the most valuable real estate on earth, were anxious to get the rest... and this meant seizing Canada, every Yank believing that Canadians were anxious to be liberated. They weren't, but that made absolutely no difference. Liberated and Americanized they would be, like it (and they surely would), or not.
The War of 1812 shaped up accordingly.
The British, the world's greatest sea power, aimed to cripple the new American navy while making it quite clear that it would continue to impress seamen (particularly American seamen) into her vessels, whatever howls of outrage that might engender. Ships might be built... but able seamen were, as always, in short supply and thus England, whose very existence was predicated on maximum sea power, seized Americans wherever they could be had... without a shred of remorse.
The goal of the Americans was to justify their (to them) hefty allocations of limited national resources in a navy. Thomas Jefferson and friends (one of whom, James Madison, was president in 1812), profoundly provincial, regarded a navy as an expensive luxury, hoped to hobble it. The navy needed victories to prove how essential it was. And, of course, there was the great prize, Canada. Voltaire may have regarded the Canadas as a patch of snow... but the War Hawks in Washington, D.C. did not. They craved Canada in the worst way, and the way they went about wooing her showed just how bad that could be.
The ins and out of this struggle go beyond the confines of this article and may be found in "The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict" by Donald R. Hickey. Suffice it to say the Yanks made a dog's dinner of their Canadian incursions and not a single Canadian was sorry. Thus, they kept their snow to themselves. The British burnt Washington, D.C. including the White House, to avenge a similar barbarity by the Yanks when they invaded Canada. And the greatest victory of the war by either side was the Battle of New Orleans, which in due course made General Andrew Jackson, president of the United States. Ironically that great victory took place after the peace treaty between the belligerents had been signed in Ghent.
No doubt some of this history will be told next summer, but the futile inconsequence of the war will be mentioned, if at all, sotto voce.
You, however, now know and will astonish all who pontificate in front of you. For you have heard the story here... so do book your reservations now with Operation Sail the better to see the key places in this forgettable conflict about to be commemorated more grandly than the war itself ever was.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. at www.worldprofit.com, providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Income Hybrid -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=bw66Oioq
Most Americans don't know we had a dust-up in 1812 with our not-so- distant British colonial masters. Well, we did and from June 30-July 6, 2012 we'll be celebrating it in high style in Boston, Massachusetts, then in 11 other East Coast American cities that had a role in the war. The festivities will run from 2012-2015, with millions expected to come see.
No doubt the most popular and easily the most photogenic part of this commemoration will be the parade of the world's tall ships, with more of these graceful relicts of days gone by assembled in one place than ever before. How many tall-ships will there be? William Armstrong, a spokesman for Operation Sail, the sponsor of this event along with the U.S. Navy, could not say exactly. But he did say that 120 nations have been invited to participate, and no doubt most of them will. As such it will draw visitors from around the globe to this living reminder of maritime majesty.
Two extra special features make a trip to Boston de rigueur when the tall-ships come. First, this is the home port of the USS Constitution, launched in 1797. It is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. Dubbed "Old Ironsides" in sea battle where enemy cannonballs were seen to bounce harmlessly off her timbers, she defeated 4 superior British vessels, uniquely earning each of her captains a Congressional gold medal, perhaps in part because the Constitution's victories were one of the very few aspects of the war in general to go well.
The second reason why Boston was selected to lead off the festivities has absolutely nothing to do with commemorating the war and absolutely everything to do with creating a truly whiz-bang of a program. While the tall-ships grace the harbor and capture every eye, the city of Boston (and all true believers in America's national past-time) will be celebrating the centennial of Fenway Park, a theme which will inspire every sportswriter to wax poetic, nostalgic, with nary a dry eye in the (uncomfortable, over-priced) bleachers.
Not worth remembering.
Sadly all this hard work and the unbeatable thrill of seeing a large percentage of the most graceful and interesting sailing vessels still extant celebrates an entirely forgettable war that should never have occurred and which showed that Yankee rhetoric (always soaring and bombastic) far outpaced Yankee management, efficiency, and organization. In short, the Yanks, having pulled off the biggest victory of the 18th century, eviscerating British North American power and gaining independence, took the wrong moral from the tale and assumed their old nemesis was a paper tiger, always and forever to be defeated by the vainglorious sons of America. It was an arrogant point of view that was soon shown to be wistful thinking, and nothing more.
Family quarrels are always the most pernicious and hurtful.
From the very moment the British accepted the loss of her American possessions every patriotic Briton ached for a rematch with her now liberated and bumptious former colonies. Because this was a family quarrel, each side (and particularly the British) took the greatest possible pleasure in irritating Americans, outraging Americans, belittling Americans and humiliating Americans. The colonies might be lost, well then, let the regime of insult, condescension, and mutual irritants commence. And because both sides were Britons, who knew each other as well as the back of their own hand, they knew exactly what to do to cause maximum pain and umbrage... and they did it with relish and unbridled joy, "Take this, serves you right!"
For such antagonists another conflict was, and everyone knew it, inevitable. It was simply a matter of when... thus both nations bided their time; Britain bit by inexorable bit undoing Napoleon and his evanescent imperium, anxious to face again the unlikely winners who had humbled them with the gall and wormwood of 1776 and all that. It was a truly memorable antagonism, entirely personal, no holds barred, each and every encounter seen as an insult by the other. As I said, it was a very nasty family matter, casus belli unnecessary.
Historians will tell you the War of 1812 had many causes and no doubt they are right. But all those who have fought for victory in their homes and offices will know the messy battles in operation "Top Dog" in which the opponents battle for ultimate supremacy. In such a situation, with the need for overall power and control paternal, primal, with mutual good will and correct relations impossible until the fundamental matter is well and truly settled. They fought because each existed and that each found affronting and profoundly irksome.
The British goal in the War of 1812, a war which commenced as Napoleon then retreating from Russia after his fate-tipping disaster, thereby liberating British power, money and focus to upend the Yanks, was to continue her near absolute command of the world's seaways. "Rule Britannia" was not a song; it was profound national policy.
By contrast, the Yanks, now controlling the most valuable real estate on earth, were anxious to get the rest... and this meant seizing Canada, every Yank believing that Canadians were anxious to be liberated. They weren't, but that made absolutely no difference. Liberated and Americanized they would be, like it (and they surely would), or not.
The War of 1812 shaped up accordingly.
The British, the world's greatest sea power, aimed to cripple the new American navy while making it quite clear that it would continue to impress seamen (particularly American seamen) into her vessels, whatever howls of outrage that might engender. Ships might be built... but able seamen were, as always, in short supply and thus England, whose very existence was predicated on maximum sea power, seized Americans wherever they could be had... without a shred of remorse.
The goal of the Americans was to justify their (to them) hefty allocations of limited national resources in a navy. Thomas Jefferson and friends (one of whom, James Madison, was president in 1812), profoundly provincial, regarded a navy as an expensive luxury, hoped to hobble it. The navy needed victories to prove how essential it was. And, of course, there was the great prize, Canada. Voltaire may have regarded the Canadas as a patch of snow... but the War Hawks in Washington, D.C. did not. They craved Canada in the worst way, and the way they went about wooing her showed just how bad that could be.
The ins and out of this struggle go beyond the confines of this article and may be found in "The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict" by Donald R. Hickey. Suffice it to say the Yanks made a dog's dinner of their Canadian incursions and not a single Canadian was sorry. Thus, they kept their snow to themselves. The British burnt Washington, D.C. including the White House, to avenge a similar barbarity by the Yanks when they invaded Canada. And the greatest victory of the war by either side was the Battle of New Orleans, which in due course made General Andrew Jackson, president of the United States. Ironically that great victory took place after the peace treaty between the belligerents had been signed in Ghent.
No doubt some of this history will be told next summer, but the futile inconsequence of the war will be mentioned, if at all, sotto voce.
You, however, now know and will astonish all who pontificate in front of you. For you have heard the story here... so do book your reservations now with Operation Sail the better to see the key places in this forgettable conflict about to be commemorated more grandly than the war itself ever was.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. at www.worldprofit.com, providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Income Hybrid -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=bw66Oioq
Monday, July 18, 2011
An appreciation for the life of Stanley Seeger, rich enough to do exactly what he liked. Dead at 81, June 24, 2011.
Lance Sumner, Publisher here and look forward to your feedback and comments to my latest article. Your comments are important to me and I will providing regular articles for your usage and review...Thanks!!!
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. You're old enough now to know that life, for most of us, is a series of compromises. You get some of what you want... and lots of what you don't want. You have to buss body parts for people who insist upon you bending the knee, the better to exalt them. And all the while you think "If only..." This is an article about a man who didn't say "If only..." He did what he wanted, when he wanted, how he wanted... and literally laughed all the way to the bank.
Frank Sinatra, the Chairman of the Board, knew something about this syndrome. He snapped his fingers at conventional behavior and did it his way. That's why he was the perfect, entirely believable person, to sing one of his signature tunes, "My Way" (recorded 1968). You'll find it in any search engine. Go now... and listen a couple of times to get yourself in the mood and mind-set for this tale of Stanley Seeger... a man you never heard of before and never saw a picture of... who, whilst you were following The Man's instructions... lived your dream, and smiled.
Eccentric, idiosyncratic.
First, let's dispose of a couple of silly words found in every obituary of and article about Stanley Seeger... "eccentric" and "idiosyncratic". Like clockwork their writers unfailingly use these highly loaded words, pointing out that Seeger lived the exact life he and his life partner (since 1979) Christopher Cone desired. Such pedestrian writers clearly believe and want you to believe that if you live the life you want you are odd, peculiar; that the only normality is living the way everyone else does. The truth is, as soon as people have the ability to live life their way, they seize the opportunity and do. The eccentric folk are the ones who live by the dictates, orders and whims of others... and never know the thrill of the open road, the road that goes to where they want to go. But which you, only dreaming of freedom, will never see...
Seeger selected just the right parents.
I often wonder how smart babies got that way, for even before they are born they have shaped so much of the remainder of their lives, making it just so. When therefore I read how odd Seeger was, I laugh. Why, he had the tremendous good sense (for openers) to select a family rich from timber and oil, two commodities the world never gets enough of. Born in 1930 in Milwaukee; the city the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company immortalized in its long-running ad as the "beer that made Milwaukee famous", Seeger wanted out of this beer-drenched paradise.
His first step out came when he was sent to boarding school in Arizona. There he went to a traveling exhibition of works from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. These paintings, dramatic, evocative, rule-breaking, challenging spoke to something in the boy. They had, as art and its masters will do, hooked him. The ramifications of this catch would be played out for the rest of his life.
Next, he went to Princeton, the most genteel of the Ivies. Like other boys of aesthethic temperament (Christopher Forbes comes to mind) he flowered at Princeton...from which he graduated in 1952 but stayed on as a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in fine arts composition. It was then he took the fatal step of beginning to buy his first serious acquisitions. Like all collectors he needed good advice; he got his from New York dealer Catherine Viviano, who represented a group of young British and Italian painters.
One fateful day, he bought his first ticket to Greece, like so many of us have. The cerulean Aegean... the riches of the Academy... the sharp taste of retsina on a beach too perfect to be true, worked together to capture him forever; it's what Greece does best. So, he well and truly left Milwaukee behind by becoming a Greek citizen... while giving Princeton $2 million for their Hellenistic studies program. He put his money where his heart was; no one, especially no one at beautiful Princeton, thought that eccentric or idiosyncratic.
London
In the late 1970s Seeger settled, if such a peripatetic fellow ever really settles, in London. There he met Cone, a staff member at Sotheby's Belgravia branch. There he had another "aha" moment... this time for Victorian art. He liked Fuseli and Turner... He also began to like moderns like Graham Sutherland, Ben Nicholson, Malcolm Morley, and Howard Hodgkin. Just where to put his burgeoning (and valuable) collection was always a challenge, for he not only collected fine art... but residences, too. He had a yacht enchantingly named "Rosenkavalier" and homes in Barbados... St. Moritz...in Berkshire... Devon.... then Yorkshire. Ownership bored him; acquisition did not.
Art needs a home, so Seeger got one... one of the best.
In 1980, Seeger bought one of the most famous estates in the realm of Britain, fabled Sutton Place. It was a red-brick manor house built in the 1520s. Among its celebrated owners was J. Paul Getty, oil magnate, then the richest man on terra firma. Getty got irked by servants and visitors using his phone to rack up huge long distance charges. When he installed a pay phone, the world ridiculed... but the world always expects rich people to cover their tabs. It's most irritating...
Sutton Place, at the time of Seeger's purchase, was grand, very grand indeed... 14 bedrooms, large banquet hall, 100 foot library, and more than 700 acres of grounds. But even this was not quite good enough for Seeger, who to the intense irritation of certain British critics who think foreigners should buy but never change these historic properties, started re-modeling. He modernized the decor and, imagine, hung paintings from his avant-garde collection, which hadn't a Holbein or portrait of Queen Bloody Mary, favoring instead the bold Francis Bacon triptych of contorted nudes he had acquired for $8.5 million in 1979. This was not merely a painting; it was a bold declaration of who Seeger was and what was important to him, let the consequences be what they may. In 6 years he got tired of the effort.... and profitably sold, as usual.
And so this whirligig of a man kept collecting, enjoying, selling and acquiring some more, rich, restless, living out his dream... endlessly searching for a beauty which may only have existed in his mind. Now he's passed on... and wherever he has gone, I feel sure he is, this very moment, focused on its enhancement... and having achieved that, be it in heaven itself, will pursue the even more perfect and desirable. It is his still unfinished destiny.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Instant Traffic Robot -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=dc2b7Fev
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. You're old enough now to know that life, for most of us, is a series of compromises. You get some of what you want... and lots of what you don't want. You have to buss body parts for people who insist upon you bending the knee, the better to exalt them. And all the while you think "If only..." This is an article about a man who didn't say "If only..." He did what he wanted, when he wanted, how he wanted... and literally laughed all the way to the bank.
Frank Sinatra, the Chairman of the Board, knew something about this syndrome. He snapped his fingers at conventional behavior and did it his way. That's why he was the perfect, entirely believable person, to sing one of his signature tunes, "My Way" (recorded 1968). You'll find it in any search engine. Go now... and listen a couple of times to get yourself in the mood and mind-set for this tale of Stanley Seeger... a man you never heard of before and never saw a picture of... who, whilst you were following The Man's instructions... lived your dream, and smiled.
Eccentric, idiosyncratic.
First, let's dispose of a couple of silly words found in every obituary of and article about Stanley Seeger... "eccentric" and "idiosyncratic". Like clockwork their writers unfailingly use these highly loaded words, pointing out that Seeger lived the exact life he and his life partner (since 1979) Christopher Cone desired. Such pedestrian writers clearly believe and want you to believe that if you live the life you want you are odd, peculiar; that the only normality is living the way everyone else does. The truth is, as soon as people have the ability to live life their way, they seize the opportunity and do. The eccentric folk are the ones who live by the dictates, orders and whims of others... and never know the thrill of the open road, the road that goes to where they want to go. But which you, only dreaming of freedom, will never see...
Seeger selected just the right parents.
I often wonder how smart babies got that way, for even before they are born they have shaped so much of the remainder of their lives, making it just so. When therefore I read how odd Seeger was, I laugh. Why, he had the tremendous good sense (for openers) to select a family rich from timber and oil, two commodities the world never gets enough of. Born in 1930 in Milwaukee; the city the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company immortalized in its long-running ad as the "beer that made Milwaukee famous", Seeger wanted out of this beer-drenched paradise.
His first step out came when he was sent to boarding school in Arizona. There he went to a traveling exhibition of works from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. These paintings, dramatic, evocative, rule-breaking, challenging spoke to something in the boy. They had, as art and its masters will do, hooked him. The ramifications of this catch would be played out for the rest of his life.
Next, he went to Princeton, the most genteel of the Ivies. Like other boys of aesthethic temperament (Christopher Forbes comes to mind) he flowered at Princeton...from which he graduated in 1952 but stayed on as a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in fine arts composition. It was then he took the fatal step of beginning to buy his first serious acquisitions. Like all collectors he needed good advice; he got his from New York dealer Catherine Viviano, who represented a group of young British and Italian painters.
One fateful day, he bought his first ticket to Greece, like so many of us have. The cerulean Aegean... the riches of the Academy... the sharp taste of retsina on a beach too perfect to be true, worked together to capture him forever; it's what Greece does best. So, he well and truly left Milwaukee behind by becoming a Greek citizen... while giving Princeton $2 million for their Hellenistic studies program. He put his money where his heart was; no one, especially no one at beautiful Princeton, thought that eccentric or idiosyncratic.
London
In the late 1970s Seeger settled, if such a peripatetic fellow ever really settles, in London. There he met Cone, a staff member at Sotheby's Belgravia branch. There he had another "aha" moment... this time for Victorian art. He liked Fuseli and Turner... He also began to like moderns like Graham Sutherland, Ben Nicholson, Malcolm Morley, and Howard Hodgkin. Just where to put his burgeoning (and valuable) collection was always a challenge, for he not only collected fine art... but residences, too. He had a yacht enchantingly named "Rosenkavalier" and homes in Barbados... St. Moritz...in Berkshire... Devon.... then Yorkshire. Ownership bored him; acquisition did not.
Art needs a home, so Seeger got one... one of the best.
In 1980, Seeger bought one of the most famous estates in the realm of Britain, fabled Sutton Place. It was a red-brick manor house built in the 1520s. Among its celebrated owners was J. Paul Getty, oil magnate, then the richest man on terra firma. Getty got irked by servants and visitors using his phone to rack up huge long distance charges. When he installed a pay phone, the world ridiculed... but the world always expects rich people to cover their tabs. It's most irritating...
Sutton Place, at the time of Seeger's purchase, was grand, very grand indeed... 14 bedrooms, large banquet hall, 100 foot library, and more than 700 acres of grounds. But even this was not quite good enough for Seeger, who to the intense irritation of certain British critics who think foreigners should buy but never change these historic properties, started re-modeling. He modernized the decor and, imagine, hung paintings from his avant-garde collection, which hadn't a Holbein or portrait of Queen Bloody Mary, favoring instead the bold Francis Bacon triptych of contorted nudes he had acquired for $8.5 million in 1979. This was not merely a painting; it was a bold declaration of who Seeger was and what was important to him, let the consequences be what they may. In 6 years he got tired of the effort.... and profitably sold, as usual.
And so this whirligig of a man kept collecting, enjoying, selling and acquiring some more, rich, restless, living out his dream... endlessly searching for a beauty which may only have existed in his mind. Now he's passed on... and wherever he has gone, I feel sure he is, this very moment, focused on its enhancement... and having achieved that, be it in heaven itself, will pursue the even more perfect and desirable. It is his still unfinished destiny.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Instant Traffic Robot -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=dc2b7Fev
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Another look inside the millionaire mind-set... how millionaires look at the Internet... very different from you... and far more lucrative.
Most important Article of your Life so make sure you read this and Leave comments and right here is just one of the articles of 290 articles across multiple subjects that are bringing me "Prospects and Leads" and YOU need these too. You can go to http://www.profit2riches.com and ask the Sr. Monitor in the Live Business Center how you can get these articles for yourself already written for you. Just for Leaving a Comment I am going to give you a **FREE** Gift...Leave a Comment
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
The Internet is divided into two quite distinct parts: people who make money every single day... and those who not only do not but can not.
I am firmly in the first category. Sadly, you are most probably in the second. If you are serious about profiting online this candid, detailed report is not only useful; it's an absolute must. Don't just read it once, either, and expect to get everything out of it. Study it as if your online life and prosperity depend upon it... for they do. It is part of a series of such articles you can find on my blog, details below. Each article in the series takes up a different, crucial aspect of the Internet millionaire's mind... resolved to put you in that mind-set as soon as possible, the faster to generate the profits you desire.
Energy
I shall commence today with a problem every person online has who is not a millionaire: sloth, laziness, endless vistas of wealth and prosperity... but torpid, meandering, a poster boy or girl for lassitude, indolence, intolerable sluggishness.
I have been on the Internet profitably now since 1994... and among other things have been teaching the essentials of online business success. The degree of inertia and just plain lack of consistent effort and dogged perseverance is staggering.
Let's be clear with each other. You cannot succeed online if you exhibit consistently poor and inadequate business habits. Good habits are the foundation for Internet success. Treating your online business differently from your offline business will ensure its complete and total failure.
To establish the best possible habits and make the best possible use of the time at your disposal, you need to understand when your energy is at peek... and when, therefore, to do the essential tasks which require the most energy. I am writing this article at 4:25 a.m. Eastern time. I have learned over time that this is the best time of the day to write the 1,500 words of publishable prose I write each day and post on my website and blog. Millionaires, online and off, are expert at reviewing all their assets and deciding just when they should be used for maximum advantage.
Now, I've gotten off my chest something I've been meaning to write for some time; success comes to those who understand what they have available... then using these assets to generate other assets, maximum energy being an absolute necessity.
Stop Buying, Start Selling.
One of the Internet's wisest entrepreneurs, George Kosch, has been reviewing and analyzing online wealth seekers for decades. It is both vocation and avocation and his knowledge of such people is encyclopedic, insightful, and often extremely funny. He has identified one group as online business wannabees with the "Shiny New Package Syndrome".
These folks are engaged in the never-ending, completely futile, and drainingly expensive task of buying every new thing that appears online, the better to ensure that they have the latest, best, cutting-edge do-dad which, immediately upon purchase, is hastily reviewed, then cast on top of the gigantic, only just balanced, stack of dozens, even hundreds of once "must have" items, enticing, purchased, discarded, forgotten.
This syndrome is a killer for building wealth and misses the essential point for how you can use these glittery products with the breathless descriptions to profit. There is a way, an easy way, but it involves changing your thinking from buyer to seller, for one essential and irrefutable reason: product sellers make money... product buyers do not.
You say you are online to make money, right? This being the case tell me when you last reviewed all the product descriptions and purchase opportunities and offers you receive hour by hour online? If you are reaching for an answer that doesn't come, let me refresh your memory: you never do this, not today, yesterday, or ever. You do what the overwhelming majority of so-called online entrepreneurs do: you trash these advertisements, irritated that you receive them, fast into the dumpster, so there.
This conclusively proves you are not, just yet, millionaire material, since you are ignoring, overlooking and destroying just what can help you succeed.
Product review never stops... but, sadly, with you has probably never started.
Every company determined to grow, even in times of strenuous economic challenge like ours, sets about reviewing products to augment, extend and make more profitable their line. Day in, day out such entrepreneurs make a point of searching out new products that their all-important customer base and lists can monetize for them. Each day is a day for adding new products. The question before the house is: why aren't you doing this, you with the big dreams and great desires?
Thanks to the Internet, it has never been easier to discover products worldwide and build worldwide business relationships, all from the comfort of your at-home PC and Internet connection. How Christopher Columbus and all the great European explorers would envy you... for at your fingertips this very minute, you have the means of building one or more huge customer lists and of reviewing and adding new products every single day.
Product review and product selling hints.
First, what I've written above obviously necessitates a sea change in how you regard your email. New product details and offers must no longer be considered as "junk"; rather, look upon them as helpful information sent by people who desire you to get as rich as possible as soon as possible. When such materials arise (minute by minute online), either review at once... or transfer to an online file so you can review later. Make it a point to review this file regularly, transferring the data you want to another file, while discarding items which seem unlikely to excite the folks on your lists.
Develop and send a stationery letter to the prime source/developer/owner of each product. Advise them you wish to add their product to your catalog/website/list. Indicate your traffic statistics and how you can sell their products. Then ask for the discount terms, name, email address, telephone number of the person handling this product. Be sure to include all your follow-up details.
Note: if this message is not answered within 48 hours, re-email and place "second attempt" at the top; you're a serious player and the company you're contacting needs to know it. Efficiency always helps.
Your desire for success, your ability to achieve it online is determined by how many of these letters you send... and how many new products you email to your lists.
Remember, doing so is not the work of an hour, a day or a week. If you want to do what you say you want to do, namely make money online, you must understand that you will do this until you wrap up your online enterprises for good. In my case, that will only take place when I'm six-feet under... and you should have a similar date.
Just one more thing. The products that you used to pay for, emptying your wallet... you'll get them free from the companies producing them as soon as you show them just what a crackerjack sales machine you are. That starts now!
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books and a recognized marketing expert. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Instant Traffic Robot -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=dc2b7Fev
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
The Internet is divided into two quite distinct parts: people who make money every single day... and those who not only do not but can not.
I am firmly in the first category. Sadly, you are most probably in the second. If you are serious about profiting online this candid, detailed report is not only useful; it's an absolute must. Don't just read it once, either, and expect to get everything out of it. Study it as if your online life and prosperity depend upon it... for they do. It is part of a series of such articles you can find on my blog, details below. Each article in the series takes up a different, crucial aspect of the Internet millionaire's mind... resolved to put you in that mind-set as soon as possible, the faster to generate the profits you desire.
Energy
I shall commence today with a problem every person online has who is not a millionaire: sloth, laziness, endless vistas of wealth and prosperity... but torpid, meandering, a poster boy or girl for lassitude, indolence, intolerable sluggishness.
I have been on the Internet profitably now since 1994... and among other things have been teaching the essentials of online business success. The degree of inertia and just plain lack of consistent effort and dogged perseverance is staggering.
Let's be clear with each other. You cannot succeed online if you exhibit consistently poor and inadequate business habits. Good habits are the foundation for Internet success. Treating your online business differently from your offline business will ensure its complete and total failure.
To establish the best possible habits and make the best possible use of the time at your disposal, you need to understand when your energy is at peek... and when, therefore, to do the essential tasks which require the most energy. I am writing this article at 4:25 a.m. Eastern time. I have learned over time that this is the best time of the day to write the 1,500 words of publishable prose I write each day and post on my website and blog. Millionaires, online and off, are expert at reviewing all their assets and deciding just when they should be used for maximum advantage.
Now, I've gotten off my chest something I've been meaning to write for some time; success comes to those who understand what they have available... then using these assets to generate other assets, maximum energy being an absolute necessity.
Stop Buying, Start Selling.
One of the Internet's wisest entrepreneurs, George Kosch, has been reviewing and analyzing online wealth seekers for decades. It is both vocation and avocation and his knowledge of such people is encyclopedic, insightful, and often extremely funny. He has identified one group as online business wannabees with the "Shiny New Package Syndrome".
These folks are engaged in the never-ending, completely futile, and drainingly expensive task of buying every new thing that appears online, the better to ensure that they have the latest, best, cutting-edge do-dad which, immediately upon purchase, is hastily reviewed, then cast on top of the gigantic, only just balanced, stack of dozens, even hundreds of once "must have" items, enticing, purchased, discarded, forgotten.
This syndrome is a killer for building wealth and misses the essential point for how you can use these glittery products with the breathless descriptions to profit. There is a way, an easy way, but it involves changing your thinking from buyer to seller, for one essential and irrefutable reason: product sellers make money... product buyers do not.
You say you are online to make money, right? This being the case tell me when you last reviewed all the product descriptions and purchase opportunities and offers you receive hour by hour online? If you are reaching for an answer that doesn't come, let me refresh your memory: you never do this, not today, yesterday, or ever. You do what the overwhelming majority of so-called online entrepreneurs do: you trash these advertisements, irritated that you receive them, fast into the dumpster, so there.
This conclusively proves you are not, just yet, millionaire material, since you are ignoring, overlooking and destroying just what can help you succeed.
Product review never stops... but, sadly, with you has probably never started.
Every company determined to grow, even in times of strenuous economic challenge like ours, sets about reviewing products to augment, extend and make more profitable their line. Day in, day out such entrepreneurs make a point of searching out new products that their all-important customer base and lists can monetize for them. Each day is a day for adding new products. The question before the house is: why aren't you doing this, you with the big dreams and great desires?
Thanks to the Internet, it has never been easier to discover products worldwide and build worldwide business relationships, all from the comfort of your at-home PC and Internet connection. How Christopher Columbus and all the great European explorers would envy you... for at your fingertips this very minute, you have the means of building one or more huge customer lists and of reviewing and adding new products every single day.
Product review and product selling hints.
First, what I've written above obviously necessitates a sea change in how you regard your email. New product details and offers must no longer be considered as "junk"; rather, look upon them as helpful information sent by people who desire you to get as rich as possible as soon as possible. When such materials arise (minute by minute online), either review at once... or transfer to an online file so you can review later. Make it a point to review this file regularly, transferring the data you want to another file, while discarding items which seem unlikely to excite the folks on your lists.
Develop and send a stationery letter to the prime source/developer/owner of each product. Advise them you wish to add their product to your catalog/website/list. Indicate your traffic statistics and how you can sell their products. Then ask for the discount terms, name, email address, telephone number of the person handling this product. Be sure to include all your follow-up details.
Note: if this message is not answered within 48 hours, re-email and place "second attempt" at the top; you're a serious player and the company you're contacting needs to know it. Efficiency always helps.
Your desire for success, your ability to achieve it online is determined by how many of these letters you send... and how many new products you email to your lists.
Remember, doing so is not the work of an hour, a day or a week. If you want to do what you say you want to do, namely make money online, you must understand that you will do this until you wrap up your online enterprises for good. In my case, that will only take place when I'm six-feet under... and you should have a similar date.
Just one more thing. The products that you used to pay for, emptying your wallet... you'll get them free from the companies producing them as soon as you show them just what a crackerjack sales machine you are. That starts now!
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books and a recognized marketing expert. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Instant Traffic Robot -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=dc2b7Fev
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Boneheads: when smart people do (really) dumb things.
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
It seems my father is right again. Ever since I can remember he has said, "People with Ph.D.s can do some of the dumbest things"... Then he'd reel off a list of his latest discoveries, always ending up with two or three of the waiters at a local restaurant who were, despite their advanced degrees, slinging hash. I always reminded him that those folks only had Master's Degrees... but he'd snort "Same difference" and that was that.
When I saw this story on the wire services recently, I knew I'd have to tell you about it... and grab it before my father, a news fanatic, brought it to my attention with what comments I already knew so well.
Picture the scene...
It is 2005 and professor emeritus of political science F. Chris Garcia is moving towards the conclusion of a distinguished academic career at the University of New Mexico, including a stint as President of the university. You mull over your options...
You could write another book. You've already got 11 under your belt. They include "Hispanics and the U.S. Political System" and "Moving into the Mainstream". You are a recognized expert on one of the most important subjects in American politics; how to organize Hispanics and reap major advantages.
You could get another top academic position. Your resume is stellar. You've done what was necessary steadily to move up the ladder: you've been dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1980-86); vice president of academic affairs (1987-1990); you know, few better, the arcane ins and outs of the Academy.
You could call in some of the favors you've laboriously acquired over the years; you think... a cushy job in Washington... well-paid lobbyist... maybe Ambassador to one of the South American countries you know so well... His Excellency the U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia... maybe even Chile. Cool
There's no rush; you're 71 now (2011) but that, as you keep telling yourself, is the new 60... you've got lots of time... and lots of options. In due course, after a lot of deep and serious thought, you decide to do something you've always been interested in...something that will give you all you desire... something that'll both make you a lot of money and fulfill your fastidious personal wants. The solution is obvious.
You decide to get involved in the new and exciting world of Internet prostitution a growth field if ever there was one.
Here's how it happened:
"Burque Pops" (Garcia's online handle) comes to know fellow academic, Fairleigh Dickinson University professor of physics Dr. David Flory. These guys hit it off right away, kindred spirits speaking the same language. They're both about the same age (Flory's 68), both respected in their academic fields, both restless as all get out. Time's unceasing chariot is moving, moving, moving; if they were going to make a change, experience "real" life and have fun, they knew they needed to take fast action NOW!
And, of course, there was the thrill of Les Girls to consider, something you could never get on campus and retain your tenure. Wow! It was all good... all they had to do was come and get it.
The company that these hot-blooded academics decided to get involved with was called Southwest Companions. The idea was simple: people of influence, people of education, people of standing had human needs like hoi polloi; but they needed a level of sophistication and discretion that Joe Sixpack didn't require. In short, they needed a gentlemen's retreat, flattering lighting optional.
Southwest Companions was founded in 2005 by Cara Garrett. Her mug shot makes her look like what she was: a tough customer, decades younger than Garcia and Flory but with a lifetime of street smarts and survival skills these aging lotharios could only imagine. They were putty in her pudgy palms. Our hapless professors might have suspected as much, but they were not experts in the films of the Weimar Republic, most particularly the 1930s masterpiece by Josef von Sternberg, "Der Blaue Engel". Here Marlene Dietricht takes her professor on a roller coaster ride from respectability to something way over his head. Cara Garrett knew these tricks, too...
Southwest Companions was sold by Garrett in 2007 to another suspect in the case, Mike Dorsey. He in turn sold the site in 2009 to Flory, who had homes in both Manhattan and Santa Fe.
Things prospered and the two most important aspects of the business waxed: there were more of Les Girls, lots more, and lots and lots more of the discretion-seeking daddio's from all walks of life. In due course the ring had some 1,400 members, including 200 prostitutes.
The money was good, too... and tax-free. Members of the site paid anywhere from $200 for a sex act to $1,000 for a full hour of time. The prostitutes were paid in cash by the clients, not through the site.
Garcia and Flory took to the game with enthusiasm and the organizational skills they both had in abundance. They rose to the heady heights of being a "hunter", the guys empowered to recruit new girls, for new girls were always in demand; fresh faces, firm bodies were what it was all about... and the academic gentlemen knew how to find and recruit them. They also advised on the creation of a handy list of police undercover agents to help members recognize them and avoid arrest. Like all good entrepreneurs, they found a need and filled it.
It was all up, up and away... but there was a weak link and its name was Cara Garrett. He life was a mess as quickly came out when she was arrested (December 2010) on drug, child abuse and prostitution charges; she was arrested again in June, 2010, this time for threatening another informant in the case. .The canaries were singing... and a lot of gentlemen -- including academics Flory and Garcia -- got nervous, real nervous. Cara knew all... and Cara was going to tell as much of it as necessary to save her skin. It's a very old story indeed...
Flory, Garcia and three other "hunters" were arrested, the details ending up in papers coast to coast (June 24, 2011). The good burghers of the nation saw it, read it, read it again, then munching toast, said "Look at this, Martha. Did you ever hear of such a thing?" There was more than a little satisfaction and smug superiority in these remarks. People with advanced degrees want and get a level of respect and deference which can irritate those without. Comeuppance is sweet.
And comeuppance, lots of it, there would be. Because as Flory and Garcia now know, once a thing is on the Internet it is forever on the Internet. At the time of his arrest F. Chris Garcia, now a long way from the regalities of the Academy, was found trying to purge files and tamper with the evidence. He hadn't a clue...
... my father could have told him: "Most Ph.D.s can't do squat. Look at these clowns from New Jersey and New Mexico. One was even president of a university"....
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. at www.worldprofit.com, providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner ==> http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Facebook Trainer -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=mo6yYjmK
It seems my father is right again. Ever since I can remember he has said, "People with Ph.D.s can do some of the dumbest things"... Then he'd reel off a list of his latest discoveries, always ending up with two or three of the waiters at a local restaurant who were, despite their advanced degrees, slinging hash. I always reminded him that those folks only had Master's Degrees... but he'd snort "Same difference" and that was that.
When I saw this story on the wire services recently, I knew I'd have to tell you about it... and grab it before my father, a news fanatic, brought it to my attention with what comments I already knew so well.
Picture the scene...
It is 2005 and professor emeritus of political science F. Chris Garcia is moving towards the conclusion of a distinguished academic career at the University of New Mexico, including a stint as President of the university. You mull over your options...
You could write another book. You've already got 11 under your belt. They include "Hispanics and the U.S. Political System" and "Moving into the Mainstream". You are a recognized expert on one of the most important subjects in American politics; how to organize Hispanics and reap major advantages.
You could get another top academic position. Your resume is stellar. You've done what was necessary steadily to move up the ladder: you've been dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1980-86); vice president of academic affairs (1987-1990); you know, few better, the arcane ins and outs of the Academy.
You could call in some of the favors you've laboriously acquired over the years; you think... a cushy job in Washington... well-paid lobbyist... maybe Ambassador to one of the South American countries you know so well... His Excellency the U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia... maybe even Chile. Cool
There's no rush; you're 71 now (2011) but that, as you keep telling yourself, is the new 60... you've got lots of time... and lots of options. In due course, after a lot of deep and serious thought, you decide to do something you've always been interested in...something that will give you all you desire... something that'll both make you a lot of money and fulfill your fastidious personal wants. The solution is obvious.
You decide to get involved in the new and exciting world of Internet prostitution a growth field if ever there was one.
Here's how it happened:
"Burque Pops" (Garcia's online handle) comes to know fellow academic, Fairleigh Dickinson University professor of physics Dr. David Flory. These guys hit it off right away, kindred spirits speaking the same language. They're both about the same age (Flory's 68), both respected in their academic fields, both restless as all get out. Time's unceasing chariot is moving, moving, moving; if they were going to make a change, experience "real" life and have fun, they knew they needed to take fast action NOW!
And, of course, there was the thrill of Les Girls to consider, something you could never get on campus and retain your tenure. Wow! It was all good... all they had to do was come and get it.
The company that these hot-blooded academics decided to get involved with was called Southwest Companions. The idea was simple: people of influence, people of education, people of standing had human needs like hoi polloi; but they needed a level of sophistication and discretion that Joe Sixpack didn't require. In short, they needed a gentlemen's retreat, flattering lighting optional.
Southwest Companions was founded in 2005 by Cara Garrett. Her mug shot makes her look like what she was: a tough customer, decades younger than Garcia and Flory but with a lifetime of street smarts and survival skills these aging lotharios could only imagine. They were putty in her pudgy palms. Our hapless professors might have suspected as much, but they were not experts in the films of the Weimar Republic, most particularly the 1930s masterpiece by Josef von Sternberg, "Der Blaue Engel". Here Marlene Dietricht takes her professor on a roller coaster ride from respectability to something way over his head. Cara Garrett knew these tricks, too...
Southwest Companions was sold by Garrett in 2007 to another suspect in the case, Mike Dorsey. He in turn sold the site in 2009 to Flory, who had homes in both Manhattan and Santa Fe.
Things prospered and the two most important aspects of the business waxed: there were more of Les Girls, lots more, and lots and lots more of the discretion-seeking daddio's from all walks of life. In due course the ring had some 1,400 members, including 200 prostitutes.
The money was good, too... and tax-free. Members of the site paid anywhere from $200 for a sex act to $1,000 for a full hour of time. The prostitutes were paid in cash by the clients, not through the site.
Garcia and Flory took to the game with enthusiasm and the organizational skills they both had in abundance. They rose to the heady heights of being a "hunter", the guys empowered to recruit new girls, for new girls were always in demand; fresh faces, firm bodies were what it was all about... and the academic gentlemen knew how to find and recruit them. They also advised on the creation of a handy list of police undercover agents to help members recognize them and avoid arrest. Like all good entrepreneurs, they found a need and filled it.
It was all up, up and away... but there was a weak link and its name was Cara Garrett. He life was a mess as quickly came out when she was arrested (December 2010) on drug, child abuse and prostitution charges; she was arrested again in June, 2010, this time for threatening another informant in the case. .The canaries were singing... and a lot of gentlemen -- including academics Flory and Garcia -- got nervous, real nervous. Cara knew all... and Cara was going to tell as much of it as necessary to save her skin. It's a very old story indeed...
Flory, Garcia and three other "hunters" were arrested, the details ending up in papers coast to coast (June 24, 2011). The good burghers of the nation saw it, read it, read it again, then munching toast, said "Look at this, Martha. Did you ever hear of such a thing?" There was more than a little satisfaction and smug superiority in these remarks. People with advanced degrees want and get a level of respect and deference which can irritate those without. Comeuppance is sweet.
And comeuppance, lots of it, there would be. Because as Flory and Garcia now know, once a thing is on the Internet it is forever on the Internet. At the time of his arrest F. Chris Garcia, now a long way from the regalities of the Academy, was found trying to purge files and tamper with the evidence. He hadn't a clue...
... my father could have told him: "Most Ph.D.s can't do squat. Look at these clowns from New Jersey and New Mexico. One was even president of a university"....
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. at www.worldprofit.com, providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner ==> http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Facebook Trainer -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=mo6yYjmK
Monday, July 4, 2011
'When Johnny comes marching home again
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. One of the most zestful of military marches is "When Johnny comes marching home again.' It is a Civil War tune, written at a time when war demanded the full panoply of pageantry, martial measures, flags unfurled, their symbolism bold, daring, resolute. Written by Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, a serving Union soldier, it is the perfect accompaniment to this article. You'll find it in any search engine, often performed with period instruments, smart, stylish, fit for the heroes of the Great Republic.
My fellow Americans, allies, well disposed nations and peoples worldwide, and to those who mean us ill, greetings...
We meet again on the most hallowed day of the republican year to reaffirm the meaning and importance of our nation. And, as so many other times on this date in our history we are gathered together at a time of war, when the nation, as before, is challenged, not least to understand the events and their significance.
There are many aspects of war that would form suitable subjects for a day of such national significance. We could discuss the reasons for these wars, their necessity (always subject to vigorous debate with patriots taking diverse views).
We could discuss, and rightly so, how our resources are stretched and challenged, at a time when the demands made upon our military services seem unending.
We might venture to look upon, deeply, completely, whether our allies, enjoying to the full the benefits they derived from the commitment, resolve, and sacrifices of the most generous people on earth, the American people, are taking advantage, shirking their just responsibilities, knowing we cannot.
We could present, with ardor and profound belief, the meaning of our previous wars, engagements, incursions, police actions, invasions, battles, and more; in each and every one of which the sons and daughters of the nation were wounded, maimed, disabled... or, we must never forget, died... their mortal bodies, consigned to God, now part of every continent... for on every continent we have given, done valorous deeds, and shaped the destiny of the world, action by action, body by body, a record of determination, perseverance, grit and gallantry unmatched in the history of the world.
We could expound upon, joyfully, too, the just rights of all our fellow citizens, now allowed, whatever their sexual orientation, to serve their country, now openly and proudly, for such people have always served; now they may do so with the proud assurance that the nation no longer treats them with disdain.
Any of these subjects would be relevant on this Independence Day; let us hope vigorous and candid discussions upon these important matters are taking place today... for such debates are a sign of health in the body politic. The Republic has always valued and sustained such conversations.
I, however, have chosen another theme, a theme that is part of every war: when, that war over, Johnny, our beloved father, son, mother, daughter, neighbor, fellow citizens all, return... what they must know and all the rest of us must do upon the occasion of return.
Suggestions, recommendations, insights and guidance for veterans.
For the last months and years, your life, every waking moment, has centered on the military services of the nation. You have, and willingly so , left behind the joys and frustrations of civilian life the better to hone your skills and fulfill your often perilous missions.
During these missions you have come across scenes of distress, horror, brutality, fear, and , always, the tragic deaths of colleagues, buddies, pals.
You will, even when surrounded yet again by loved ones and friends, be subject to vivid and terrifying flashbacks, ordinarily arriving deep at night, excruciatingly real.
You will want to share such matters, to let the citizens of your acquaintance know them in full and even tragic detail. But your fellow countrymen, protected by you abroad, will demand protection, too, from the stories which you rightly regard as essential to understanding and appreciating you and need to tell.
Your friends and relations are relieved and excited by your return. But they cannot know that the person you were at embarkation has changed and developed... now has observations, insights, specialized knowledge and vital experiences which your countrymen not only do not know, but which they make a point of not knowing and ignoring, to your disappointment, regret, and, often, white-hot anger.
And so, too often does the returning husband, stunned and dismayed by such a situation, throw harsh words at the wife of his body -- "You don't understand. You were not there!"...
... whereupon that wife returns equally incendiary sentiments, born of loneliness, endless worries and the necessity to be both parents, when one is away serving America's agenda. "You don't understand. You were not here!" And those who should be all-in-all to each other create chasms that drain the affection and loyalty, leaving bitterness and regret.
Other situations you must also know.
Good citizens will tap you on the shoulder offering welcoming sentiments... less welcome will be indelicately rendered comments upon the utility of "your" war; its total waste and uselessness. Such comments you will be forced to listen, too; remember, these omniscient civilians do not know what you know and never will; most important they do not know that war meant doing dangerous jobs with expert skills and a deep well of good humor. And, above all, it was about the people you fought beside, lived beside, were wounded and died beside. Civilians do not have such relationships; for you they were everything. And, above all, remember this: you fought America's battles so that America's citizens would never experience your hardships and daunting tasks.
Suggestions, recommendations, insights and guidance for the family and friends of veterans.
First, rejoice. Your loved one, the object of ceaseless worry and prayer, is home. Even if wounded or disabled, rejoice. Many families just like yours face lifelong grief for their loss. They envy you.
Be patient. Your loved one has faced death on a regular basis. They will have insistent ruminations... especially if they saw young friends fall. That image is indelible, recurring, troubling. You will find such veterans in need of a quiet place; they have much to consider and reconsider... and they will not want to share (though they may need to) until the perfect moment has arrived.
Advise your children that the returning one needs some special TLC and benevolence. He may be irritated and disoriented at the cacophony and boisterous ways of his ordinarily much loved offspring. He needs time and your patience to remember that the exuberance and safety of all American children, not just his own, are his special gift to the nation.
"God shed His grace on thee..." but their exertions have preserved and fostered it.
This great nation was conceived in war,only to fight again and often to preserve what we hold most dear and to ensure that others enjoy these benefits, too.
Now the veterans who helped sustain our great idea are returning home. Veterans all, may they be granted what they fought for: peace and the tranquility of the soul.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. , providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Facebook Trainer -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=mo6yYjmK
**Please leave comments...
Author's program note. One of the most zestful of military marches is "When Johnny comes marching home again.' It is a Civil War tune, written at a time when war demanded the full panoply of pageantry, martial measures, flags unfurled, their symbolism bold, daring, resolute. Written by Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, a serving Union soldier, it is the perfect accompaniment to this article. You'll find it in any search engine, often performed with period instruments, smart, stylish, fit for the heroes of the Great Republic.
My fellow Americans, allies, well disposed nations and peoples worldwide, and to those who mean us ill, greetings...
We meet again on the most hallowed day of the republican year to reaffirm the meaning and importance of our nation. And, as so many other times on this date in our history we are gathered together at a time of war, when the nation, as before, is challenged, not least to understand the events and their significance.
There are many aspects of war that would form suitable subjects for a day of such national significance. We could discuss the reasons for these wars, their necessity (always subject to vigorous debate with patriots taking diverse views).
We could discuss, and rightly so, how our resources are stretched and challenged, at a time when the demands made upon our military services seem unending.
We might venture to look upon, deeply, completely, whether our allies, enjoying to the full the benefits they derived from the commitment, resolve, and sacrifices of the most generous people on earth, the American people, are taking advantage, shirking their just responsibilities, knowing we cannot.
We could present, with ardor and profound belief, the meaning of our previous wars, engagements, incursions, police actions, invasions, battles, and more; in each and every one of which the sons and daughters of the nation were wounded, maimed, disabled... or, we must never forget, died... their mortal bodies, consigned to God, now part of every continent... for on every continent we have given, done valorous deeds, and shaped the destiny of the world, action by action, body by body, a record of determination, perseverance, grit and gallantry unmatched in the history of the world.
We could expound upon, joyfully, too, the just rights of all our fellow citizens, now allowed, whatever their sexual orientation, to serve their country, now openly and proudly, for such people have always served; now they may do so with the proud assurance that the nation no longer treats them with disdain.
Any of these subjects would be relevant on this Independence Day; let us hope vigorous and candid discussions upon these important matters are taking place today... for such debates are a sign of health in the body politic. The Republic has always valued and sustained such conversations.
I, however, have chosen another theme, a theme that is part of every war: when, that war over, Johnny, our beloved father, son, mother, daughter, neighbor, fellow citizens all, return... what they must know and all the rest of us must do upon the occasion of return.
Suggestions, recommendations, insights and guidance for veterans.
For the last months and years, your life, every waking moment, has centered on the military services of the nation. You have, and willingly so , left behind the joys and frustrations of civilian life the better to hone your skills and fulfill your often perilous missions.
During these missions you have come across scenes of distress, horror, brutality, fear, and , always, the tragic deaths of colleagues, buddies, pals.
You will, even when surrounded yet again by loved ones and friends, be subject to vivid and terrifying flashbacks, ordinarily arriving deep at night, excruciatingly real.
You will want to share such matters, to let the citizens of your acquaintance know them in full and even tragic detail. But your fellow countrymen, protected by you abroad, will demand protection, too, from the stories which you rightly regard as essential to understanding and appreciating you and need to tell.
Your friends and relations are relieved and excited by your return. But they cannot know that the person you were at embarkation has changed and developed... now has observations, insights, specialized knowledge and vital experiences which your countrymen not only do not know, but which they make a point of not knowing and ignoring, to your disappointment, regret, and, often, white-hot anger.
And so, too often does the returning husband, stunned and dismayed by such a situation, throw harsh words at the wife of his body -- "You don't understand. You were not there!"...
... whereupon that wife returns equally incendiary sentiments, born of loneliness, endless worries and the necessity to be both parents, when one is away serving America's agenda. "You don't understand. You were not here!" And those who should be all-in-all to each other create chasms that drain the affection and loyalty, leaving bitterness and regret.
Other situations you must also know.
Good citizens will tap you on the shoulder offering welcoming sentiments... less welcome will be indelicately rendered comments upon the utility of "your" war; its total waste and uselessness. Such comments you will be forced to listen, too; remember, these omniscient civilians do not know what you know and never will; most important they do not know that war meant doing dangerous jobs with expert skills and a deep well of good humor. And, above all, it was about the people you fought beside, lived beside, were wounded and died beside. Civilians do not have such relationships; for you they were everything. And, above all, remember this: you fought America's battles so that America's citizens would never experience your hardships and daunting tasks.
Suggestions, recommendations, insights and guidance for the family and friends of veterans.
First, rejoice. Your loved one, the object of ceaseless worry and prayer, is home. Even if wounded or disabled, rejoice. Many families just like yours face lifelong grief for their loss. They envy you.
Be patient. Your loved one has faced death on a regular basis. They will have insistent ruminations... especially if they saw young friends fall. That image is indelible, recurring, troubling. You will find such veterans in need of a quiet place; they have much to consider and reconsider... and they will not want to share (though they may need to) until the perfect moment has arrived.
Advise your children that the returning one needs some special TLC and benevolence. He may be irritated and disoriented at the cacophony and boisterous ways of his ordinarily much loved offspring. He needs time and your patience to remember that the exuberance and safety of all American children, not just his own, are his special gift to the nation.
"God shed His grace on thee..." but their exertions have preserved and fostered it.
This great nation was conceived in war,only to fight again and often to preserve what we hold most dear and to ensure that others enjoy these benefits, too.
Now the veterans who helped sustain our great idea are returning home. Veterans all, may they be granted what they fought for: peace and the tranquility of the soul.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. , providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Republished with author's permission by Lance Sumner http://Profit2Riches.com . Check out Facebook Trainer -> http://www.Profit2Riches.com/?rd=mo6yYjmK
**Please leave comments...
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