Can't We All Be Rich

Bush "All Human Life is Sacred" as he Executes Prisoners

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Whoop de doo the Pope is trying to claw his way back into American hearts this week by visiting America on his Birthday (today). This being the first visit by a Pope since the 2002 case of the serial molester which started the uncovering of many more cases both in the U.S. and abroad. Anyone else feel offended by the governments enormous amount of preparation and press for this guy? Why is there suddenly no seperation of church and state? That dosen't make any sense to me; but anyway that's not what this article is about- I'll go on....

On this most joyous of occasions- note the sarcasm -I thought Bush had a funny contradictory statement that I'd like to point out =>

"In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that each of us is willed, each of us is loved, and each of us is necessary," the president said, drawing sustained applause from the lawn.

What the hell is Bush talking about?
I realize he must mean that "all human life is sacred" in terms of his Pro-Life agenda; but dosen't he see that his excessive amounts of capital punishment (a la execution) go against this exact principle. Why is he allowed to execute hundreds of prisoners in Texas, yet he dosen't give rape victim women the right to choose when it comes to abortion. Surely, choosing to have an abortion for the sake of the baby's environment and conditions of conceptions are a more noble cause than because someone committed a crime.

Silly Bush, think before you talk...

Get Google AdWords Pay-Per-Clicks FREE

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:23:00 +0000

A new breakthrough secret is all you now need in order to get your Google AdWords pay-per-clicks FREE!

A gentleman from New York discovered what he calls an "oversight" on the part of 99.9% of all marketers that allows him to get otherwise paid-for advertising at Google as well as all other search engines that allow sponsored ads.

And no, nothing about his "secret" is illegal - nor does it require that you know someone on the "inside" at Google, Yahoo, MSN, Overture and others.

Instead, the New Yorker boasts proudly "...this is something that I caught onto just before 2000 when there was so much search engine craze running around, and started doing small just to test things at first ... but which I later expanded on after getting the hang of it."

This same fellow went on to start and operate sixteen separate online companies selling everything from pet food, DVDs, children's toys & games, books, software, and sold not only his own manufactured products but became an affiliate for other web businesses - all the while applying his mastermind secret.

Over the course of nearly eight years the New Englander confesses "I've actually gotten over $87 million in advertising that using my secret I never had to pay for ... and the largest share of which was more recently in Google pay-per-clicks as well as other forms of pad advertising at search engines ... all of which I got for free ..."

So powerful is his secret that he's able to monopolize any niche online, and can always secure the top premium spots just above the usual organic results featured at most search engines.

He still has to set up an account with the search engines - but after applying his secret he is removed from having to pay for all the costs otherwise involved.
Again, nothing about his secret is either illegal or robs from the search engines.
One spokesperson from one of the most popular search engines said chuckling after being made privy to this amazing secret "Wow! Ha! This is really unique ... and in my expert opinion it would only serve to enhance and bring more business to us at [name of search engine withheld for legal & confidentiality reasons] and not cause us to lose business in the slightest. Amazing!"

The northerner revealed that in this nearly eight years' period of time since applying his secret he's done well over $300 million in sales revenue with a most diverse line of products, and most recently in the last two years netted nearly $166 million after really "buckling down and pressing my secret to its fullest potential."

Now to everyone else's fortune, the city slicker is releasing his secret for getting an unlimited amount of pay-per-click ads to the general public. But he's not promising any of us for how long.

A bit of an eccentric, the gentleman says "We'll see just how long I can make it available before it saturates things."

One famous public web guru pointed out that although this man may gain economically more so as a result of the publication of his secret "he's already so amazingly rich that whether he continues or discontinues its sale will neither make nor break the man, but not grabbing it for yourself while it's still available could prove disastrous for you as you may only have one chance, and a very limited one at that, to get this."

It is currently available at:

...so you may want to head on over there now and get it.

It's in a very easily readable format and is quickly and readily understood and mastered by anyone with even a 4th grade reading level.

While you're there, why not scroll down and review for yourself the huge successes others are now having with this incredible breakthrough in targeted advertising now made freely available to the rest of us?

To your success,

The Nort Report

Value Proposition

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:33:00 +0000

Theres this concept in marketing, that explains how the consumermentally feels your products quality and brand, and it's the value proposition.

The need that your product fulfills or the value it brings to the consumer has a value proposition in relation to the market enviroment and the activities of your competitors.

The best way I've seen Value Proposition explained is through this simple chart. It is a good way of getting an idea of where you're going to want to position your product as well as many other marketing decisions.

When introducing a product to the market, make sure it lines up in one of the 5 areas where you can competitively conduct business and not in those areas marked with an X:

More: More for More, More for Same, More for Less

Same: Same for Less, NOT Same for More, NOT Same for Same

Less: Less for Less, NOT Less for More, NOT Less for Same

Top 20 Best Paying AdWords - Mesothelioma?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 19:47:00 +0000

The TOP 20 best paying Adwords
*Note - Keywords and their payouts are CONTINUOUSLY changing.

$69.10 mesothelioma treatment options
$66.46 mesothelioma risk
$65.85 personal injury lawyer michigan
$65.74 michigan personal injury attorney
$62.59 student loans consolidation
$61.44 car accident attorney los angeles
$61.26 mesothelioma survival rate
$60.96 treatment of mesothelioma
$59.44 online car insurance quotes
$59.39 arizona dui lawyer
$59.04 mesothelioma article
$58.44 new york mesothelioma
$57.93 epithelioid mesothelioma
$57.87 michigan car accident attorney
$57.54 mesothelioma facts
$57.13 mesothelioma resource
$56.59 free auto insurance quote
$56.57 mesothelioma doctor
$56.24 mesothelioma
$55.67 mesothelioma lung

The best paying keywords on Adwords are still dominated by lawyer referrals. Mortgage, credit, insurance, personal injury, wrongful death, DUI and Most notably: Mesothelioma lawyers.

What is Mesothelioma? and why are the Mesothelioma Attorneys paying so much?

"Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also metastasize(spread) from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the pleura or peritoneum" (Cancer.gov)

Why is Mesothelioma paying out so big?
It's simple, Mesothelioma Attorneys pay big bucks per click for referrals to people who have Mesothelioma because Mesothelioma is contracted from exposure to asbestos.

"Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma.
A history of asbestos exposure at work is reported in about 70 percent to 80 percent of all cases. However, mesothelioma has been reported in some individuals without any known exposure to asbestos."(Cancer.gov)

So these Mesothelioma Attorneys compete with each other for these referrals and have driven the price up to it's current payout - because these referrals could be a possible lawsuit against a former employer who was negligible in their handling procedure of asbestos. So, these Mesothelioma Attorneys ran their math, and each click converts to a lawsuit at a rate that keeps it profitable.

Use this Google AdWords tool to look this information up.

Source for Mesothelioma Information

EDC Gold - how is it not MLM?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 19:40:00 +0000

I came across the EDC brand yesturday while parousing some of my favorite financial websites. It is damned interesting.

Basically everyone buys a website and advertises to sell EDC's assortment of marketing ebooks/software/audio etc. Now there are 1,000's of products in this catalogue.

The first two sales you make go to your sponsor (referral)
and you get to keep every sale from then on.
100% of the purchase.

So that means that every person you drag into the program eventually has to drag 2 more in or else they never get paid.

Its a never-ending multi-tier'd business model that is in fact pyramid in nature.

Once you give your email up to any of their man affiliate sites then you get calls and emails from your sponsor (and their sponsor). It's all very interesting to me, as I have some experience with sales and I seen everything as it is - a pitch, a rehash, a sales funnel.

It's really incredible the kind of mass marketing of the same materials that EDC does. I don't know how many more marketers the market will let breakeven. Eventually it will flood.

The calls I got reminded me of the movie "Boiler Room", all the sales talk and "act as if" stuff. That movie rocks.

Stand Apart in the Competitive World of Domains & Hosting

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 21:04:00 +0000

I have recently entered the marketplace for domain name registration and hosting; and boy is it competitive.

Their are thousands of options for hosting and domain name registration and it can be ENORMOUSLY difficult to make your site standout.

Some things I have learned about how to narrow your marketing focus so that you will be able to avoid directly competing with the big boys that offer rates that you cannot.

Niche Market

Find your little corner of the industry and stick to it. By focusing on select groups of people (example: musicians in the united states) then you can market directly to this specific target audience and you are then better able to advertise (whatever method you choose) more effectively.

Niche Marketing and AdWords Advertising

I am currently in the midst of experimental Google Adwords campaigns to hone in on what keywords and ads have the best click and conversion rates - like many will tell you, Adwords is serious stuff and if you are going to try and sell clicks for the keywords "domain name registrar" or "cheap hosting" then prepare to start a bidding war with multi-million dollar web companies.
Is that what you want to do? although you will be hauling in clicks from people who are looking for your exact product - are they going to find it? By using the mainstream keyword you are going to be paying a substantial amount per click and you are going to get terrible placement.

Instead, by Niche Marketing you can target a different audience ( a more specific, refined audience then simply "people who need domains or hosting" and instead target "musicians in the united states who need domains or hosting". By doing this - yes, your are limiting your amount of potential customers - but you are going to get great ad placement if you choose the right keywords for that niche and low cost-per-click.

How to find your keywords

There are many tools available for free online that can help you find the popularity/prevalence of use of certain keywords. I suggest using:
Overture Keyword Selector Tool
and
Google Adwords: Keyword Tool

Believe me, you are better off spending your advertising dollars on longtail keywords and a niche'd target audience then trying to advertise to the entire internet about your dime a dozen ebiz.

The Merging of SOA and Web 2.0 by Darryl K. Taft

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:21:00 +0000

Excellent article from Eweek; it discusses how the User has become such a focus with modern web site design and how programming languages like Ajax. Syndication and all that is Web 2.0

The Merging of SOA and Web 2.0
By Darryl K. Taft July 15, 2007

"...growing trend of merging Web 2.0 technologies with SOA (service-oriented architecture) to address issues normally handled through PC-based software, resulting in faster, cheaper and more flexible solutions."

"On the social side, Web 2.0 is about a phenomenon of shifting the publishing power out to users and away from centrally controlled publishing processes," Hakman said. "The ability for users to blog and syndicate their posts, the notion of a wiki as a collaboration amongst users, [and] the evolving idea of a mashup as something the user can assemble from existing Web parts and data are all examples of the power to compose being provided to the many."

"This trend touches on RIAs (rich Internet applications), mashups, AJAX, RSS, REST (Representational State Transfer) and other Web 2.0 areas. Now being referred to as Enterprise 2.0, the Web 2.0 technologies are helping to create rich interactive front ends to SOA back-end systems. In addition, line-of-business users who typically are nondevelopers can take services and build mashups without IT involvement—a potential boon for productivity but also a possible problem without proper governance."

Full-Length Original Article

Take Back the Net by Cade Metz

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:13:00 +0000

It wasn't published too recently but I still find it completely relevant. Mentions how web pages use to be much more static; and how everything nowdays is all about constant update with Feeds (RSS) quickly becoming the preferred route for continuous information.

Take Back the Net
By Cade Metz

"Everyone was supposed to have a voice on the Internet. Thanks to tools like blogs and wikis, everyone can.
Think back to the earliest days of the World Wide Web. Before Amazon.com and E*Trade. Before CNN.COM and ABC online. Before CRM, ASPs, and B2B marketplaces. In the early nineties, when the Web first rose to prominence, few saw it as a business medium. Few saw it as a fresh outlet for major newspapers, radio stations, and television networks. The Web would be the tool of the masses, not The Man."

Go to PCMag.Com to get full article.

4 Hour Work Week - plausible lifestyle?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:37:00 +0000

'The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich' by Timothy Ferris was one of those books that once I picked it up at the bookstore - it didn't leave my hand till I had read it all.

Why was it so captivating? Because in this self-improvement/success story/case study of a book tells of this remarkable lifestyle where everything in life that you don't enjoy doing is outsourced and you have passive income generated by an automated business that he calls your "muse", that which allows you to pursue things in your life that you want to.

What I didn't like was how Ferris dosen't help much in guiding the reader on their own journey to create a muse. Sure, he makes some vague references to some wholesale and reseller websites - but simply knowing a manufacturers website address dosen't change the fact that for a successful business you need a marketing strategy, initial start-up capital, and a creative idea for a product/service that is different (preferably better) from other product/services currently on the market.

Though I understand where he is coming from in this book; he dosen't really help me understand enough how you get to the point of having a profitable business that you own. This book takes it from that point on.

Definitely a good read though
http://www.4hourworkweek.com/

Potheads Smarten Up?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 19:09:00 +0000

At first glance, CannabisDomainNames.com may seem like a normal domain name site.
Sure, they offer cheap Domain Registration, reliable 99.9% uptime web hosting, 24/7 live support, but also a "higher" future?

Site owners say that through the power of collective bargaining; what they call consumer networking which is the grouping of consumers by a common cause and using their collective purchasing power to contribute to that cause, the people who believe in the cause can provide some much needed funding. www.CannabisDomainNames.com donates a portion of every purchase to Marijuana Legalization organizations that fight for reform.

Through this effect, CannabisDomainNames.com hopes to "change the world, with our buying power". They are currently in talks with NORML; but the money is donated monthly to any Marijuana Legalization organization that the directors deem best able to use the money effectively in the fight for freedom.
Domains (dot Com’s) @ $8.75
Hosting @ $3.99
Check’em out www.CannabisDomainNames.com

Finding Your Niche Market

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 03:45:00 +0000

In the era of online business the American dream has evolved. It has lost it's sense of hard work and patience. Everyone wants to be an Internet Mogul, an Entrepreneur of the technological age. Just set-up a site and watch the money roll in and actually spend little to no time doing anything related to it. Well, with so many people wanting the same thing - markets can get crowded.

How to avoid the crowd? How to get the word of your product out of competition and on a island of its own?

This is done by marketing to a specific group of target audience, A Niche.

Don't be fooled! With so many competitors it is impossible to compete with 100% of possible customers all the time. Although you are advertising to much less possible consumers when niche marketing; you are doing it better and will be directly competing with fewer and fewer businesses the more focused your niche.

There are many ways of finding what Niche is best for you; I will discuss my two methods that I used to help me figure out my Niche Market for several recent business ventures.

Use the Overture Keyword Selector Tool
With this you can, for free, search for how many times a certain keyword was searched for. It is used to decide a bid on keyword advertising. Fantastic tool. Consider this a small representation of all searches on web; but it shouldnt be too far off from the average amounts of searches for most keywords.

Use Nichebot - it "finds what people search for"
This website does a variety of digging tasks. "Search The Major Keyword Services All in One Place to Easily Locate the Highest Traffic/Lowest Competition Keywords Like a Laser-Guided Missile!". However, they do have many programs that cost money to use. If you are looking for professional grade reports on search figure - nichebot is a nice tool.

Self-Analysis
Look at your life; what groups/demographics have you been a member of? Activities, academics, occupations, material possesions? Does this give you a unique advantage to a niche?

It is a much more useful advertising dollar spent if it hones in on a specific niche market. Niche Marketing will also lead to increased CTR for your adwords and text-link-ads. Better CTR means saved money. Now you have more uniqueness for the search engines; you can be #1 in the listing for Rock Climber Yoga(example) or you can be page 1 for Sports Yoga(example) or page 10 for Yoga(example). All while spending the same amount of money due to fluctuations in the price of common vs. uncommon keywords. That is why you should Niche Market.

Was Bartender School a Good Decision?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 08:07:00 +0000

It has been more than a year since I graduated from Bucks County School of Bartending. Top of my class of 12 or-so non-traditional students. Meeting 7 o'clock every weekday night for our education on all that is 'Bartending'. It was a blast; but was it nescessary?

Could I have gone a better route if I wanted to be a Bartender?
The Bartending School I went to did offer post graduation - job assisstance by providing a bulletein board full of restaurants and bars that had called and told the school about their job opening. I didn't use it because I was going away to college and a job around home would not be possible. Though, when looking into Bartending schools it is absolutely nescessary to make sure they will help you out with some kind of job assistance or even placement post-graduation.

I have yet to work as a bartender.
The few restaurants I did talk to about employment opportunities behind the bar said that they hired from within. They liked to start people as waiters and once they are known to be able to handle responsebility - are then put behind the bar. This point adds to the arguement that anytime you get a new job that you have to memorize new recipes and some oldies and learn - perhaps the most difficult part - your surroundings and become comfortable with your bar.

Another interesting point is that in bartending - the drinks vary from place to place. Different locales have different local drinks as well as serve variations of popular drinks. Ingredients can change significantly based on local taste.

However; the one area where employers were impressed by bartending school was in the area of background knowledge on alcohol and the various types of liquors, wines and beers. When a customer asks which liquor is sweetest; you will say rum - when they ask why - because it is made from fermeanted sugar cane, which sugar is derived from. Knowledge like that is assumed for the position of bartender and it's easier to serve your customers better having learned it.

So I wonder, could I bartend without doing the waiter thing - because of my schooling?
I believe so; employers like to know that you have a general list of popular drinks minimized. They like it when you can elaborate on commonly asked questions at the bar. Also, It is nice to be able to walk in an interview and know exactly how to whip up a Cosmopolitan using the right glasses and everything. Guess the tip is that if you do wish to go that route - apply EVERYWHERE. You can always switch jobs, once you have behind the bar experience it's easier.

Need Traffic? Start Social Bookmarking

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 00:35:00 +0000

The reason why most blogger don't end up making any money from their efforts is due to low traffic.

This lack of traffic can be due to a variety of things; most likely either:
A) Poor Quality Content
B) Good Content, but people cannot find the site.

What I have come to learn is the easiest, most cost-efficient way to advertise and drive traffic to your site is to use social bookmarking. There are a variety of social bookmarking sites out there, like Digg.com, Del.icio.ous, Technorati, etc.

What these sites do is after you submit your article to their database; it varies from site-to-site, but your article is ranked and index'd according to how many people from that specific site bookmarked your article. For example; with Digg.com - each digg is like a vote of confidence in the article, telling other Digg.com readers that this article has this many votes.

Exponential Growth
The thing about sites like Digg.com is once your article reaches a particular level - it tends to grow exponentially from there. I watched an article I wrote yesturday go 6 hours after published without getting much more then 1 or 2 diggs.
Then suddenly; it became popular. Pretty soon, hundreds and hundreds of people had "dugg" my article and it had gotten onto the main page. From there it only grows faster because it has even more exposure. Eventually it got onto the Top 10 in all subject areas list. It currently has more than 2,000 diggs and has attracted more then 30,000 people to my site. Incredible - especially considering that my blog averaged around 200 visitors per day.

The article I'm mentioning can be found Here.

Now their are those who believe that you should only bookmark your very good articles - I am not one of those.

I bookmark every article; because I believe it is a game of chance and the Law of Averages tells me that if I submit X number of articles then eventually I'm going to get another article that breaks loose.

*This article is from a different blog I had tried for a few days; that is why It is not dugg or bookmarked here.

Advertisers, Affiliates and Future Business Associates

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 23:53:00 +0000

The Nort Report is proud to begin arrangements for:

Advertisers - Want to get your banner on The Nort Report? Want a Review? Well it depends on your product and whatnot - I am attempting to make the move away from unknown advertisements like Adsense and more towards products and services I have used and can actually endorse while being entirely truthful and know that it will add value to my readers time on my blog. Send me an E-mail (currently using Mbolton2181@yahoo.com for spam reasons).

Affiliates - Drop me a line; but it really depends on what you're offering. I'm not going to try and lure my readers into some multi-level marketing/referral game. Send me an E-mail (currently using Mbolton2181@yahoo.com for spam reasons).

Future Business Associates / Link Exchange / Networking - This is to my fellow bloggers; If you are interested in working together on a few pieces, maybe in giving or recieving an interview or writing or recieving some guest writing then drop me a line. Also, if you'd like to get on my BlogRoll then add me to yours and email me (currently using Mbolton2181@yahoo.com for spam reasons).

In the past 7 days, this website has had 38,000 impressions. I can't gurantee that every week will be like that - in fact, the majority of weeks will not be anywhere close to that. I got one of our articles above 2500 diggs and it was on the main page of digg.com and the whole she-bang. Although I can't gurantee the next time I'll get that kind of influx of readers - I CAN say that we will post everyday and try and try to get another article to break loose. If it happened once within the first month of our existence - I think think I can get it to happen some more...

Teen Birth Rates All-Time Low: Symptom of Industrialization?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:28:00 +0000

The percent of teens having sex is at the lowest it's ever been. The rate of condom use is the highest it's ever been. A product of our sex education programs or less than replacement level issues in our industrialized nation?

"In 2005, 47 percent of high school students - 6.7 million - reported having had sexual intercourse, down from 54 percent in 1991. The rate of those who reported having had sex has remained the same since 2003."(ChildStats)

Although I believe that teen birth is not a good thing; it does beg some questions. The theory is that the youth education efforts as well the HIV/AIDS epidemic have led to the trend of falling birth rates among teens.

What I wonder is, is this a product of the industrialization evolution process. The proof is in the pudding; many european countries have total population birth rates below replacement level. Meaning: Each couple is having less then 2 children on average. Which means the population is diminishing with each generation that operates at below replacement level. Oddly enough the birth rates for muslim countries are around 6 children per couple.

"Of those who had sex during a three-month period in 2005, 63 percent - about 9 million - used condoms. That's up from 46 percent in 1991."(ChildStats)

This statisitic I believe represents the population of teens who are looking to their professional future; and making sure with each act that they can maintain their freedom from having a child. This is a bold thing; in other modes of production, for example with agriculturalism - families start having kids early and have lots of them. Also in Horticulturalism and Pastoralism. The only other Mode of Production that resembles the birth rate changes and sexual equality and egalitarian relationships in families is foragers.

Foragers are known for having replacement level birth rates. They also had many kilometers per person; and often would not give birth much. Due to a lack of food - women missed menstrual cycles due to starvation and lack of nutrients. Even in the unlikely event that they concieve; they would breast feed for an extended period of time: in the attempt to prevent another birth.

However, What we're seeing in our nation is just above replacement level birth rates. With many similarly modeled industrialized nations operating at below replacement level birth rates it is interesting to note that - although doing fairly well for birth rates as an industrialized nation - we are slowing down though.

"The teen birth rate, the report said, was 21 per 1,000 young women ages 15-17 in 2005 - an all-time low. It was down from 39 births per 1,000 teens in 1991."(ChildStats)

What I wonder is if this drop in teen birth rates may in some represent the values and ideals of an upcoming generation of children brought up on computers and everything technological that is advancing so quickly. I think so... I'm not saying that we are immediately in need of upping our birthrates like some of the European countries need to; but just that it is something to look out for in the future.

The report was released by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics - a consortium of federal agencies that includes the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Census Bureau and the Administration for Children and Families.
Report available after midnight: http://childstats.gov

Design Your Life - Figure out what you want, Then Do it

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 04:27:00 +0000

How do you want to live? Honestly? Not how your family wants you to life, not your friends - Just you. Why aren't you living the way YOU want to? NO, thats the wrong question. the question is "How can you live the way you want to?"...

My Awakening
Over the past year, going on 2, I have experienced an awakening. I have begun to actively seek out success and learn & grow everyday because of it. Now, I'm not saying I'm perfect - but I'm trying to get there and how we get closer is by trying everyday to get better. Through use of the things I will explain I was able to plan what I wanted out of my life at the time - and developed a plan what I have to do daily to achieve these goals. Well, My goals were to do good in my current semester in college, and to lose weight.
By using the things I am talking about - I was able to achieve my goals. I got a 3.6 GPA, Dean's List and everything -while also losing weight. To-date I kept the weight off and I now way 60 pounds less then that night I planned out what I wanted to achieve. Figure out what you want; set the goal and be resilient about making sure you do what you want to do. You feel good when you are growing and learnign right? Well, you have the choice all-the-time whether to participate in positive activities that will work towards your goal or negative activities that push you farther away from what you want to do.

Figuring out what you want
It's all about Personal Power. Finding true power. Power as defined by the ability to shape your life. Reveal the true you and live exactly the way you want. I strongly believe it's possible. Who says we can't live like we want to? Other people? What they say dosen't matter - it's what you say. If you say you can do it; If you say nothing is impossible.

Time Management
We can create our outcomes. Think of the quote "The Things I practice in Private, I will be rewarded for in Public". This is so true. Our time is the only thing we control; every minute is an investment in a given activity. The more time we invest in given activities - the more return we see on that activity.

Set Goals
One of my favorite books, "Alice In Wonderland", there is a very good quote about goals. Alice asks the cat "Where does this road go?" The cat responds "Where do you want to go?". Alice says "I don't much know", to which the cat said "Then it dosen't much matter".
If you don't know where you are heading, how will you get there.
Figure out where you want to be heading. Then start getting there. Thats how you get to where you want to be.

Philadelphia Sue'ing State Government Over Gun Laws

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:28:00 +0000

In an unlikely battle over gun control and laws; several members of the city council of Philadelphia have sued the state government of PA (Harrisburg) for creating, what they call, a "state-created danger".

It is no secret that Philadelphia has more than it's share of violence. With a murder rate that is more than 4 times the national average and headlines everyday of violence it has become an issue on everyones mind. The city council wants to make it more difficult to get guns, as well as better checks and more requirements for registration as well as stricter policies regarding lost or stolen guns.

Evidently, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires gun laws to be the same all over the state and will not allow Philadelphia to put into effect stricter gun laws.

When asked about it, North Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham said she does not believe the case has any real chance. She said the State trumps the city.

This is not the first time either; last time the case got to the supreme court of PA where it was defeated 4 -1 (2 judges declined to vote). So although technically the case was lost by the slimmest margin possible - it seems unlikely to win this one.

Better to try and fail, then to not try at all I suppose.

Chinese Weight-loss Patch Under Scrutiny

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:21:00 +0000

The most recent fake product to be revealed as a faulty chinese product:
A topical weight-loss patch

The patch was marketed on t.v. commercials as being the reason Chelsea Clinton lost 26.5 pounds in a month. The instructions on the product say to just stick on the area of your body where you want the weightloss and the fat will just ooze out of you. It was marketed as a product made in America; although the name barely translates into "America Seven-Point Thinness".

After some testing by the China Central Television agency it was revealed that the oilly discharge that was secreted from the patch was caused by the patch itself when it is applied to a warm object; and that no weight-loss happens at all.

Somehow; the makers of the topical patch were able to make 200 million yuan, or $26.32 million before they got investigated.

Due to all the recent faulty products and poisonous toothpaste that has been discovered china's place as a major manufacturing capital of world is in jeopardy. "Made In China" seems to bring more negative connotations then positive nowadays. Who knows what the next product will be that China has to pull from the selves.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSPEK1575020070709?feedType=RSS&rpc=22&sp=true

If you're gonna write, Have your own site

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 01:14:00 +0000

I wrote 60 articles in one month for Associated content. I made $300 writing about whatever I wanted.
Thing is... I wasn't writing for myself.

I was writing for them; and although they do offer a profit sharing program (an extra dollar for every 1,000 page views) it dosen't come close to what can happen if one of your articles on your own blog hits it big.

HERE'S THE PROOF:
My last article was about how FreeCreditReport.com screwed me over. I thought it was a fair piece; alittle life lesson and experience that can help hopefully a few people not get jipped like I did. This article blew up; as I'm writing this, that article has more than 1,000 diggs. It was on the main page for quite a bit and is currently on the TOP 10 list.

Sure, I got ALOT of flames for being foolish enough to fall for it - but what does that matter. If we cant laugh at our own mistakes then we're screwed. You have to be able to laugh at oneself once in a while.

It suffices to say that by writing that article for myself, at my own no-name, free-hosted blog - I made more then I would have with associated content.

Bottomline:
If you want to hone your craft and start drawing an audience, perhaps pay-per-article sites like Associated Content and Helium can help you out. However, the real money is in having your own blog. I could have made so much more money if those 60 or so articles I wrote for them - were instead on my own blog. However; sometimes having a blog dosen't provide consisten income - in fact, often blogs lack consistency in their monetization. In those cases It can be beneficial to continue to sell to sites like Associated Content on non-exclusive deals so you can still publish them on your blog while drawing a growing audience from AC to your blog from links on your profile.

DO NOT GO TO FreeCreditReport.Com

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 03:01:00 +0000

Yes, yes, we've all seen the commercials. The lovely jingle.. free credit report dot com!

Well the site is not lovely. I signed up for that one day. I thought I was signing up for the once-a-year free credit report that all people are legally granted. I figured this because the same credit agencies who keep track of scores and reports are the same people who get paid when you sign up to FreeCreditReport.com

Sure, when you sign up they do ask for your credit card information; but I assumed this was just one of the steps that they used to check identities. I was wrong. What they don't tell you is that after a brief trial period with the program they call "Triple Advantage" they then charge around $30.00 a month.

Sure, I called. I told them how it's bull, that they fool people by saying "free" credit report. Even more; they don't let you quit until after your trial is over - it dosen't make any sense. Whatever, I got screwed by these guys. Don't let it happen to you.

If you ARE looking for your annual free credit report that is required by law (because of how often credit report mistakes happen) then the website you want to go to, and oddly enough is run by the same credit agencies, is AnnualCreditReport.com

Good luck; happy credit reporting.

Miss New Jersey Refusing To Give In To Facebook Blackmailer

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 19:02:00 +0000

Facebook photos of Miss New Jersey being used by unknown person in an attempt to Blackmail the beauty pageant winner. She has decided not to step-down as Miss New Jersey and instead to stand tall against the unknown blackmailer.

Apparently, she had some photos on Facebook, that, when paired with "unflattering" captions cast Miss New Jersey, Amy Palumbo, in a very different light. She declared in a press statement that she will not let this unknown blackmailer get into her life and will not negotiate or succumb to their demands.

Ironically enough; Palumbo platform during the pageant was internet security -and specifically- using the internet as a tool instead of a method of crime.

This story comes at a time when photos on myspace, facebook and other social networking sites are becoming less and less a private thing. It's no secret that many employers run google searches for job applicants but some still don't realize that employers also dig up pictures from these social networking sites.

It's this editor's opinion that if someone is going to put a brand to their own name and publicize themselves (as in the case of beauty pageant winners, where they are the product they are selling) that they strictly control what general information/photos/videos and multimedia in general is available on the internet.

Press Release Video available at CNN

U.S. to market itself to foreign travellers

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 04:34:00 +0000

Bill S. 1661, recently approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, will start a non-profit public-private corporation whose mission would be to market the United States as a tourist location and work with other agencies to resolve issues that deter travel to the United States.

Apparently the U.S. is the last "global destination" to implement such a program. Many countries spend millions a year in advertising to increase tourism. Greek spends roughly $150 million a year, Australia $113 Million, Britain $90 Million.

This decision to pro-actively attract tourist to the U.S. comes at a time when travel to the U.S. has been at a low, due mostly to visa issues, the increased airport security since 9/11 and fear of the inconveniences it could cause; not to mention how the global image of U.S. has suffered due to the highly unpopular war on terror.

"The global pie of international travel is steadily increasing, while the U.S. share has been slowly decreasing," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association.

Hopefully this bill can change that; it plans to draw most of it's funding from Industry contributions (foreign business delegates have also been visiting less) and an additional $10 visa fee.

Source: Original Article

Brain scans reveal science behind Meditation

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 23:37:00 +0000

This article was very interesting; it discusses how meditation causes "mindfulness". Mindfulness being how keen one is to knowing their own emotions. In this study they hooked a bunch of people up to brain scanning equipment and observed what happen when they were subjected to various "stimulus" and the results were conclusive.

Those that meditated often; also had a better ability at mindfulness and were able to deal with their emotions.

"In the same way you hit the brake when you’re driving when you see a yellow light, when you put feelings into words, you seem to be hitting the brakes on your emotional responses,”

“These findings may help explain the beneficial health effects of mindfulness meditation, and suggest, for the first time, an underlying reason why mindfulness meditation programs improve mood and health,” said David Creswell, a UCLA psychologist who led the second part of the study, which will be detailed in Psychosomatic Medicine.

Original article

Does Higher IQ Make You Smarter?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Norton) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 23:29:00 +0000

In an interesting followup to a recent article about a study done in Norway, which you can find here, they explain how that article did not say that first born is always the smartest in the family, although they do-on average- score better on IQ tests.

What the study did conclude is that Nurture had more to do with IQ then Nature. This is due to the fact that out of the Norway men tested; those that were first born tested (on average) slightly better then their later siblings- HOWEVER, in some cases where the first born son passed away early on and things of that nature, that the second born son would have the "elder advantage" and would test at roughly the same amount of points better then the younger siblings.

This goes right back to the idea that the eldest son, on average, did better on IQ tests because he was brought up in that kind of leadership/teacher role.