I have had this post for some time and never posted it but after seeing this article on Fast Company, I felt compelled to put it up.

It is February 2010 and we are still at war against “Terrorism”. Not a country, an evil dictator or alien invasion… terrorism. We are at war against terrorism because there is a very small group of people that scare us with their means of destruction but honestly, they are not very good at killing people. These small groups have been called terrorist because that is the tactic that they employ. Terror. A war against a tactic can never be won. When at war, there will always be the tactic of terror with which to cope. That is why a tactic, rather than a country, has been selected to fight. We will fight terror forever!

A war against anything intangible (like a tactic) will never be won and is not supposed to be won. That is why there has not been a war against anything but “situations and symptoms” in our country’s most recent history (i.e., war on drugs, war on obesity, war or illiteracy). A war against a person, a country or entity of some kind may be fought and even won. Such a war can be won by the removal of the person(s) in power, by killing them, assimilation of culture or other means that removes the ENTITY from being the cause of some threat. Terrorism has been deemed the enemy of our time because the people that profit from war understand that there is no other entity with which to go to war on earth. America will be at war against the tactic of terror until the last day there is an America.

If we are going to be terrorized by anything, be terrorized that while we fight a war against a tactic, we are held in its very grip. The American dollar is weak amongst sovereign nations and yet we find BILLIONS to fight against a small band of renegades in countries without running water and paved roads. American privacy and civil liberties are being eroded away to nearly nothing for the sake of banishing low-tech fanatics in places of the world our school children can not find on a globe. We have become the victims of the mere threat of terror and not entirely of terror itself.

If terror as a tactic is worthy of fighting because of the harm it can cause, there are far more scary things to think about when considering death and harm. Consider that most people die in America by way of our diet that our Government subsidizes and legalizes. Consider that more people die by heart disease, cancers and any number of illnesses than tactics of small extremist groups. Allergies, autism, cellular mutations and various forms of rampant disease are affecting more lives every day than terror ever will. Consider that symptoms are fought in America and never the cause. Consider that more people die in America as a result of insufficient health care than any number of terrorist attacks in the history of the world. Problems are always profitable for those that can perpetuate them. Consider for a moment that this perpetuation of the war on terror is done for the sake of profit and economic control by the richest people in the world.

If anything should scare the living daylights out of you it should be the greed that drives leaders to use fear against free people as a means to divert attention and accountability from positions of power and authority. If we are truly at war, why are laws enacted against the people of America? Should not our way of life and liberty remain intact while under attack from these “terrorist”? I am sorry to tell you this, but they are not. If America is worth protecting, why dismantle our way of life one new law and amendment at a time? Why are more laws and bigger Government needed to fight a small number of extremist in desolate places of the globe? If there really is a war, where is the tally of lives that represent even a fraction of a single-digit-percent of the lives taken by disease, abortion, accidents and the misuse of resources and technology for the sake of human beings? Take a moment and Google death statistics and you will be amazed how small of a problem terrorism is as a cause of death amongst human beings.

Killing people to stop people from killing is so primitive and backwards, words escape me in conveying my frustration. And isn’t that why we fight terror, because they might hurt someone? Wars are tools for profit and building governments, not taking care of the actual causes of human suffering. There is no terrorism beyond the fear we have that someone is going to hurt us or our family. The good news is, terrorism is the least of our worries. You will most likely die of heart disease or cancer.

It really is easy to see the worst in people. It doesn’t take any talent or discipline. Just look and the darkest part of humanity is played out plainly in front of our earthly senses. From the tone of our voices, to the clothes we wear or even the smell of our skin, we draw mental conclusions about one another. One has only to be aware of their own self to see others at surface value. And like thinking that ice bergs float upon the water, we only get a small part of the entire individual. Every single “sensing” of another person casts an unfair judgment upon them and in sliding scales of personal and silent criticism. Mostly we see each other through the lens of our own set of preferences, no matter how smart or spiritual we become. We do this through our senses and we relate with our surroundings through the mirror of memory. For instance, my sister thinks I am a saint and my Mom thinks I’m still a kid. One friend thinks I’m a wild rocker while another thinks I’m some computer guru. Some people know that Brooks and Dunn is my favorite group but others would say KISS or Motley Crue. Some clients called me genius, others called me useless. True? Or just partially true?

The fact is that life, (consciousness) does not just happen. The stuff that makes up the cosmos and the billions of stars of the universe does not just become aware of itself without some real God-like love occurring somewhere beyond our ability to sense things. And in this way everyone is truly sacred! Every time a judgment about another person arises in my mind (good or bad), I have to remind myself that I am just like them, we come from the same stuff. Hell, I might even be them if any of the Copenhagen Interpretation holds a drop of accuracy as to what is going on in the unseen world of physics. Everyone is scared. Every single person, no matter where they came from, what they did or what they have achieved, is sacred and valuable to someone (or something) who loves them enough to make them aware of creation.

Every human is a potential miracle for amazing goodness in this world and is a living, breathing monument of the miracle of life. Every human is a earthly product of our environment, social conditioning and merely an image trapped in time (Dio, anyone?). We are the fleshy puppets of fear in some corner of the human genome trying to come to grips with the cycle of life and death. Call it the “Golden Rule”, “Karma”, “What Goes Around, Comes Around” or “Reaping What You Sow”, it appears that the earth and all of us on it, are subject to perception. Let us deem everyone sacred and look for the very best in one another.

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: “This is not just.” – Martin Muther King, Jr.

If cash in the pocket or our people is any indication of prosperity, our country is in a pretty sorry state. While good, common people burn through savings, lose investments and face foreclosure, our Government continues to focus the extent of its attention on Wall Street. While bankers fund our ruin by way of the Federal Reserve to the tune of Billions of dollars in profit, social security and medicare wither away like dusty promissory notes in an empty vault. Young people are coming out of higher education with no place “higher” to go unless it is with the Government or its contractors. If fact, if it is not government funded and run , its a risky endeavor. Government just can not get Americans to act right towards the corporations that they keep helping so Government gets bigger and the dollar gets weaker. Wall Street has become the measure of the economy.

America was NEVER Wall Street. It used to be Main Street, filled with people that had belief. The belief that they could do anything, have anything and accomplish anything. America was once a place run not by entertainers and personalities, but a place of workers and problem solvers of necessity. Many great men stood in the way of greed and the human tendency to be fat and happy over our history. Mostly dead and their words forgotten, like Kennedy and King. Gradually, our leaders forgot that it was America’s people that was her greatest asset, not Cadillacs. They forgot that families made a country great, not financing. The American people were exploited to buy things and we did. We went from human beings in the minds of our leaders with a Bill of Rights to being merely consumers represented on a projection grid somewhere on Madison Avenue. When we could no longer buy another thing or pay the interest that climbed higher than the original loan, our Government’s allegiance crept from serving the people to serving the products.

There used to be Mom and Pop dreams standing on Main Street but not anymore. There isn’t even a Main Street anymore. There is a Wal-mart or two in every town. There used to be family run drugstores and service stations. Gone. There are Walgreens on every corner because we are all on drugs we can’t afford. There are energy company run conglomerates where we can get gas but no service. Look around or better yet, look back twenty years. You do not even see flags on houses anymore unless things blow up somewhere. No flags but wi-fi in every house and 500 HD channels. Today, we can not find a human answering a phone to assist with any of the things for which we have to pay. Why should they talk to people that have to pay? If you are going to make a purchase though, talking to someone and being treated well is almost guaranteed. Kindness is easy to find when we are paying, harder to find when we can not. For most of America an e-mail address is only a means to sell something to a faceless consumer.

But we did this. We let this become the norm. We had to go faster, be more efficient, mulit-task and automate so we could get more (fill in the blank). The American dream used to be something we did together but it became a contest of how high we could climb stepping on heads and breaking each others back. We played the game and the corporate sponsors cashed in on the show. All this is SO ironic considering communism, so long fought as an evil force on the earth, wins a long and silent war without firing a single shot. Hong Kong is boom town and Main Street is a freaking ghost town. I wonder if the dead veterans would like the idea of dying for our “chicken fried” and consumer slavery.

I always knew I would live to see the end of America. Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, America often seemed like the fat, spoiled kid down the street. He was big enough to kick your ass and would if you crossed him but mostly he was content filling his face and looking at his Dad’s Playboys. The rules were easy on the block and at the bus stop, don’t mess with “his”. And if “his” was “yours”, so be it. If you were his “friend”, life was good even if he was a bully. Not only was he a bit of a thug, he was scared. Scared of everything. You could see it on his face. He was afraid people were not doing right, living right or agreeing with him. He would fight you just for thinking wrong. If history is any teacher at all, I knew that kind of control could not last for long. One day someone would beat his ass or he would be too stupid to change and just fade away. America, at least in my lifetime has been like that guy, fighting wars in he smallest, poorest places on the globe and scare to death. Fear like that has produced little over the past twenty years but eating disorders, new illnesses, lots of prescriptions and addictions to everything.

Somehow America never got big enough to exist without fear. This is the story of the end of our country. We are watching it happening right now nearly powerless in our fear that we may not be able to afford a latte one day. Perhaps we will live to see society evolve yet again. Maybe the cup of human want will be filled to the extent that humans will want for something else. Like the use of all that humanity has to offer, to serve all of humanity. A single brotherhood, without fear.

After the holidays, I was set on getting out there and looking for freelance work. I had a plan, prospects, appointments, a checklist and a mental picture of everything I was going to do in order to start the year on the best possible foot. I worked myself up for this task and then tragedy struck. I had to go to a funeral. Not a lot of time when you think about it, but a mentally derailing circumstance to say the least.

I had to go. One of my dearest friends lost his Mother from this earth unexpectedly. Standing out there in the cold doing what I could to comfort his father while his sons eulogized their Mother, my mind went to how many funerals I had missed over the years while “working”. How many times loved ones could have used an extra person to support them in their time of grief?

Standing out in the brisk cold was fitting for a funeral for such an interesting woman. I didn’t know her that well, but I bet she would have liked the idea. It was a reminder that the discomfort in life is proof that we are alive and breathing. Sometimes, the things we don’t like can remind us that grief and hope walk together hand and hand. It was surreal as I watched a glisten of moisture dance on the tip of the speaking Rabbi’s nose. The diverse collection of people gathered there shivering to remember her life, all very much alive and not fully aware of that miracle.

My friend and his family were amazingly gracious and did so much to comfort those that were there to comfort them, that I was moved to tears. Not for the passing of their Mother, but for the void they must feel in their lives at this time. I learned a lot about Jewish tradition and had to call my own Mother when I got home.

No matter how bad I have to work, it must wait when these times come. I will never miss another chance to pay my respects and support my loved ones. Never. I love you Ian and I thank your Mother for putting my New Year in crystal clear perspective. She will be missed.

I remember you too:
Spurgen (Chris) Tony
Alfred Garr II
Melvin Fletcher
Aaron D. Gautier
Walisi “hey” Jablonski
Betty Haines
Jerry Man
…to name just a few.

The worst thing about rising to greatness in any area is that all of your flaws have to be remain hidden in order to get there. Why? Because people can not accept that you just might be human and thus, imperfect. If you are great at ONE thing… you must be perfect at ALL things. I believe Tiger Woods is the victim of character assassination and just like Michael Jackson, you helped bring him down. You set Tiger up because you took your eyes (focus) off the ball and put them on his balls.

Here are some questions to ask when considering my above allegation.

1. Why does it bother so many people what Tiger Woods is/was doing off the golf course?
2. What does his private life have to do with how well he plays golf (a talent for which he is a star)?
3. Can you enjoy watching any other golfer play NOT knowing who he/she is poking?
4. Did he really “fall”? Do you think he might have been “not-so-honest” leading up to his greatness?
5. Is your sex life any of my business?
6. Why is sex the number one killer of character in the collective conscious of the public?

If you think someone is perfect because they hold office, play football, play the guitar or preach, you really need to get over yourself.  Most likely, all great people are as jacked up as you may be in some area of life. Oh, but you’re perfect. That’s right.  “Let he who is without sin…” is something we say in church or when we ourselves are “not so clean”.

I admire people like Michael Jackson, Tracy Lords, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee, Britney Spears, Bill Clinton and Michael Vick for being imperfect and rising to greatness in some area of life. It takes a lot of commitment to be great in spite of ourselves. History will remember Tiger Woods for the great things that he did on the golf course with those little white balls. Oddly, that is the only reason people even cared about him in the first place.

Remember, famous people are smart. Lady GaGa, Marilyn Manson, Gene Simmons, Alice Cooper and the Kardashians all use our self righteousness to their benefit. Without them most of us would have nothing to talk about. That is the real commodity for which we are all paying for in giving credibility without grace to a member of our human family.

I have come to realize that getting by is a great way to live. Getting by means no dollar comes into the house that is not fully appreciated. Getting by means that every part of the chicken is getting used and eaten (Crockpot). Getting by means baking ginger-bread cookies is a past-time on a Sunday afternoon. Getting by is the smell of homemade stew (Crockpot, again) all day long. (Hey, that’s a lot of food references, but Fallon is a foodie.) Getting by is enjoying the things we DO have, the way we had hoped when you bought them but forgot once we got them home.

A big thank you to my Father-in-Law for all the work and support these past few months and for Fallon’s amazing dress. I have to thank my Mother-in-Law, Rhonda and her husband Troy for covering so many expenses. A loving thank you to my dear friends Alfred and Cheri Garr for the salon appointments, wedding bands and the decorating. I have to thank Joe Heilman for marrying us with such elegance and honesty. And Jack Pepiot for taking such amazing pictures that captured the mood of the evening so well. Lastly, I would love to thank all the people who came to our wedding and gave so many wonderful gifts and good wishes.

If having people like you in our life is “getting by” than I can think of no greater luxury on this earth.

As a freelancer, I have discovered that many businesses (brown and purple), are finding it hard to believe there is enough money out there for their efforts to make a difference. I hear them say things like, “…when this recession thing is over”. There is a prevailing belief that it does not matter to do something great because “…no one has any money”. This view is not entirely true.

In addition to having an exceptional product, dish, experience or service, we have to be willing to do two things; endure inevitable change and fill needs in the lives of others. Without those abilities, it may not matter how good you are or what color your cow might be.

Honestly, I do not know why this cool little place closed two locations. I do know they offered a wonderful experience with great folks behind the counter and on the floor. I will miss your purple shakes, but we have been making them at home. They’re just not purple.

That is what they told us growing up. Work hard, make money and THEN enjoy life. We watched our parents age, crack and splinter under the strain of working to get a Buick and a clothes dryer. They worked hard to make money so they could one day enjoy life but the enjoyment never came for many. Why? Because having gone so long without, they were trained that happiness is a new home, a new car, a diamond ring and to keep up with the Jone’s was healthy. They never told us the Jone’s might be crazy broke and miserable. We inherited a twisted belief that enjoyment comes from work and money.

Money has nothing to do at all with the enjoyment of life. NOTHING. Americans have learned the hard way that the time to enjoy life is right now, regardless of what is going on. The enjoyment of life will be short-lived once we move in, drive away, dial in, bite into or stick it in whatever we think is going to make us happy. We have had it all wrong for so long and never knew it until we had it up to our eyeballs in possessions and bills. Then with the tears in our eyes and prescription bottles in the cabinet we try to fend off the truth that none of this makes us happy at all. There is no wonder we have ailments only found in this country that are related to stress. Let us and future generations learn to enjoy life first, whatever that means for each of us. And may we all find things we love doing and share those things with others!

Old thinking is still around and enjoyment of this wonderful phenomenon called life is being sold for the pursuit of possessions offered to us at interest. This sign which resides at the corner of a busy intersection in Virginia Beach is a recruiting call for automobile salespersons. Where once stood the newest models of vehicles are just empty slabs of gravel and dark spotlights. I guess enough people aren’t working hard enough to “buy” right now.

Enjoy life, do what you love and the money will come. This sign could have read “Enjoy Life? Have Fresh Ideas? Help Us Put Cars Back On These Slabs!”

Conflict is inevitable in a team … in fact, to achieve synergistic solutions, a variety of ideas and approaches are needed. These are the ingredients for conflict. Susan Gerke, IBM, Leadership Development

This quote is a great indication of why emotions can run high organizationally. People don’t like conflict. They shun it. But conflict is healthy for the ego. Personally, I want conflict because I need to know that I am not always doing it right or perfect and that there may be another way to do it. It keeps me honest and forthright and IT KEEPS ME LEARNING.

Do you folks want to agree on everything in little groups or do you want someone to cause you to think a little differently? Do you want your own checklists to be done regardless of the efficiency of effort? “Like minds” never amassed anything but stagnant pools of complacency.

Give me someone with the balls to express their opinions and learn in the process of discussion over the egocentric fool any day. Give me someone with the ability to shift convictions quickly in light of new knowledge over a small mind too afraid to look upon truth as relative.

Inventory (in the form of commercials) on the radio is “fixed”, meaning there is only so many commercials that can run per hour. Otherwise, the entire hour would be commercials (and believe me, GMs wish they could have just that) but then no one would listen. The selling of radio spots however, is not “fixed”. They will sell as many SPOTS as they can. Why? Because the more demand there is for the FIXED number of spots, the more they can charge for each spot in their PRIME. The highest paying advertisers in any given daypart will run and those that have CHANCES (at lower prices) to run WILL NOT. As a rule of thumb, the smaller the daypart the higher the rate. In other words, to run between 6-7am cost more then running 6a-6a. Get it? Reps can not tell you this as they earn commissions on what RUNS and is COLLECTED through billing. Run up the rates with inexpensive packages is one such tactic Sales Managers employ.

This package is ALL rotating spots with very broad dayparts and WITHOUT any PRIME. Before I saw this package, the rep expressed to me that this flight was 70% prime. Very few of these spots will run from 6A to 9A or 4p-7P, which is by definition “prime” because supposedly people are in their car listening to radio at those times. If these commercials do run during PRIME, it will be because no one else was paying more then my friend WOULD PAY for these spots.

While working at a radio group years ago, the market’s number one station was 170% over sold. WTF?! Their morning drive was $300+ per spot. many people could not get their spots to run at all because their buys were being used to run up the rates. This is called being “BUMPED”. It is also an example of how perceived scarcity feeds the greed of people who seek to control the resource, in this case radio.

If radio has listeners, why the lottery of ad buying to be there? Because greed says, “get as much as I can right now”. Those days are coming to a close. It is like we have all woken up and said, give me more than you take and we can do business!

Solutions: Let someone you trust that knows the game place your buy. Know your target audience and purchase the most prime you can for your budget where your customer may be listening. The cheap spots are cheap because few are listening. Also, compare actual run times (LOGS) with your “package” and watch the invoice when it comes time to pay up. OH! Try not to pre-pay for commercials! Remember, you don’t know when they will run.