An entertainer, Michael Jackson, was memorialized at a ceremony in Los Angeles yesterday. Many were troubled by the attention given to this one individual.

Below is a comment on that event by a soldier in Iraq.

If it weren’t for the United States military, there’d be NO United States of America.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was just watching the news, and I caught part of a report on Michael Jackson . As we all know, Jackson died the other day. He was an
entertainer who performed for decades. He made millions, he spent millions, and he did a lot of things that make him a villain to many people. I understand that his death would affect a lot of people, and I respect those people who mourn his death, but that isn’t the point.

Why is it that when ONE man dies, the whole of America loses their minds with grief. When a man dies whose only contribution to the country was to ENTERTAIN people, the Amercian people find the need to flock to a memorial in Hollywood , and even Congress sees the need to hold a “moment of silence” for his passing?

Am I missing something here? ONE man dies, and all of a sudden he’s a freaking martyr because he entertained us for a few decades? What about all those SOLDIERS who have died to give us freedom? All those Soldiers who, knowing that they would be asked to fight in a war, still raised their hands and swore to defend the Constitution and the United States of America . Where is there moment of silence? Where are the people flocking to their graves or memorials and mourning over them because they made the ultimate sacrifice? Why is it when a Soldier dies, there are more people saying “good riddance,” and “thank God for IEDs?” When did this country become so calloused to the sacrifice of GOOD MEN and WOMEN, that they can arbitrarily blow off their deaths, and instead, throw themselves into mourning for a “Pop Icon?”

I think that if they are going to hold a moment of silence IN CONGRESS for Michael Jackson, they need to hold a moment of silence for every service member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan . They need to PUBLICLY recognize every life that has been lost so that the American people can live their callous little lives in the luxury and freedom that WE, those that are living and those that have gone on, have provided for them. But, wait, that would take too much time, because there have been so many willing to make that sacrifice. After all, we will never make millions of dollars. We will never star in movies, or write hit songs that the world will listen too. We only shed our blood, sweat and tears so that people can enjoy what they have.

Sorry if I have offended, but I needed to say it. Feel free to pass this along if you want.

Remember these five words the next time you think of someone who is serving in the military; “So that others may live…“

The first couple of times we approached the nursery room, he was onto us.   His grip started to clinch tighter knowing that the “drop-off” was coming.   Once we were in the room, the devil came out.   A reenactment is pictured above.   Crying, screaming, kicking.  He did not want to be left in there.

As the weeks went by, we tried to get creative.   I would walk him and attempt to distract him with a toy, hoping to divert his attention.   That worked for about 5 seconds until he realized that I wasn’t standing right behind him.   At that point it was a mad dash to the baby gate and let the nursery workers take over.   I can’t tell you how hard it is as a parent to walk away when your child is screaming.   It never got easier, but then something happened.   He actually liked going!   This morning, for example, he went into the nursery just fine.   And then when we came back to pick him up, we were greeted with a smile and a “Dad-dy” came out.   How precious is that?  Sorry to sound like a sap, but I know that I only get a little while longer to enjoy the younger years before he’s off to college and “Dad-dy” is just an old fart.

Due to today’s rapidly changing stock market, the following terms have had to be revised for investors in order to more clearly reflect today’s economic condition:

CEO — Chief Embezzlement Officer.

CFO — Corporate Fraud Officer.

BULL MARKET — A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius.

BEAR MARKET — A 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no allowance the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex.

VALUE INVESTING — The art of buying low and selling lower.

P/E RATIO — The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing.

BROKER — What my broker has made me.

STANDARD & POOR — Your life in a nutshell.

STOCK ANALYST — Idiot who just downgraded your stock.

STOCK SPLIT — When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally between themselves.

FINANCIAL PLANNER — A guy whose phone has been disconnected.

MARKET CORRECTION — The day after you buy stocks.

CASH FLOW — The movement your money makes as it disappears down the toilet.

YAHOO — What you yell after selling it to some poor sucker for $240 per share.

WINDOWS 2000 — What you jump out of when you’re the sucker who bought Yahoo @ $240 per share.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR — Last year investor who’s now locked up in a nuthouse.

PROFIT — An archaic word no longer in use.

Liquidity– What happens when one looks at their retirement account statements and wet’s their pants.

So my buddy Steve in L.A. text me at 3 in the morning today and said, “Dude, I just saw you on the Jimmy Fallon Show.”  My initial thought was, “That’s funny.  I’m sure “The Rock” was on there.  Really original”.   He called me today and told me that they had my picture used on one of their skits entitled “Save the bankers”.   I found the skit online on their site.  Fast forward to the 1:17 mark to see the infamous pic.   I made it to my first talk show!  Kind of…..

Jimmy Fallon Video

When you look to the left, you see a picture of me.  What you probably might not notice is the sentence above the picture that reads,

“Hi there my name’s Michael Vincent and yes that’s a picture of me below.”

Confused yet?  Let me explain.   So that you understand, I have to tell the story in two parts for it to all tie in.

The Story Begins

My best friend is a photographer and has taken several “business professional” pics of myself to be used for marketing purposes. You’ve seen much of his work on my blog.  I figure he’s saved me thousands for all the work he has done.  The trade off for him not charging me is that he is able to submit my pictures on stock photography sites such as I Stock Photo. If you are not familiar, these are sites where photographers can submit pictures that anyone can purchase from across the globe to use for their business marketing purposes.  Most anytime that you have seen ad with people in it, most likely the picture was purchased through a stock photography website.  Fast forward to modern day.

My Friend’s Discovery

Several days ago an unemployed friend of mine was looking for a job on the Internet.  He simply typed the word “Job” into Google and in the right hand column a Google Ad appeared that read “2009 Top 10 Work At Home”.  Curious, he clicked on the ad and came to a site http://www.best10workathome.org. (I have taken out the link because I did want to have any affiliation with the site.  Just copy and paste into your browser if you are curious). This is where it gets good.

On this site, Robert Corum claims to have reviewed several work from home programs and these are the ones that have made him money. (Uh-huh. Sure…..Robert)  The number one that he recommends is UCS (Underground Cash Secrets) having the big “#1 Best Pick by Robert himself”.  So it has to be legit, right?

Update: I just revisited this page and they changed the #1 Best pick now.

When you click on the site, it takes you to http://www.undergroundcashsecret.com. Once there you instantly here a voice that says, “Hi there.  My name’s Michael Vincent and yes that’s a picture of me.”  Wait, I’m confused. That’s not Michael Vincent, because that’s a picture of me!  That’s not Michael Vincent who is making $150,000k per year working one hour from home on his computer (that’s his claim, by the way).  That’s Jeff Rose, a Certified Financial Planner out of Southern Illinois.

Underground Cash Secrets is a Scam

Obviously, the whole thing is a scam.  “For only $49.95 you can unlock the secrets to making millions.”  Ha!  The best part is when you try and leave the site, they reduce the price to $17.00 for a “family and friends” benefit.  What a deal!

I was going to contact them directly to talk to Michael Vincent and ask him about his military background (Hence the American flag on the his bookshelf-which I received for serving in Iraq).  I didn’t because I did not want them to change the picture yet.

Seriously, Enough is Enough

To top it off, my wife got an e-mail just by coincidence shortly thereafter.  I couldn’t believe it.   Here’s the email she received:

Hey

Michael Vincent here, and yes I wanted to let you in on a very special money earning secret of mine.

First of all, I used to work a very bad paying job and I could hardly pay my bills. I was feeling really sad and down.

It was at this point where I was looking for any way possible to earn money. Luckily, a guy named Jason came to my call.

Jason was already rich with a huge mansion and tennis court. I asked him if what he did to earn money was legal.

Jason excitingly answered yes, and if I can earn money then you can too. Jason didn’t feel bad for me, he doesn’t like handouts.

Jason taught me how to not only how to earn money but how to have life more relaxing by working smarter instead of harder.

I asked Jason to help me create a website that would help others in the same type of situation earn money.

Below I would like you to check it out.

For more information follow this link (I have removed permalink)

Your Friend In Success,

Michael Vincent.

I mean seriously?  I was appalled.  I went searching on the net trying to find others that had encountered this scam and I found some good info at Work at Home Blog. They shared some experiences where others got scammed from the Underground Cash Secret program.  And the best thing I learned is that they have the program plastered over many different sites.  Here’s the list of them all:

The Underground Cash Secret | Theundergroundcashsecret.org
The Work From Home Program | Theworkfromhomeprogram.com
U Cash Program | http://www.Ucashprogram.com
U Cash Programs | http://www.Ucashprograms.com
U Cash System | http://www.Ucashsystem.com
U Cash Systems | http://www.Ucashsystems.com
UCS System | http://www.Ucssystem.com
UCSSystem | http://www.Ucssystem.net
UCS Work At Home | http://www.Ucsworkathome.com
UCS Work From Home | http://www.Ucsworkfromhome.com
Underground Cash Info | http://www.Undergroundcash.info
Underground Cash | http://www.Undergroundcash.net
Underground Cash Organization | http://www.Undergroundcash.org
Underground Cash Secret | http://www.Undergroundcashsecret.com
Underground cash secrets info | http://www.Undergroundcashsecrets.info
Underground Cash System | http://www.Undergroundcashsystem.net
Underground-Cash-System | http://www.Undergroundcashsystem.org
Underground Cash Systems | http://www.Undergroundcashsystems.com
Underground Cash Systems Info | http://www.Undergroundcashsystems.info
Underground Cash Systems Network | http://www.Undergroundcashsystems.net
Underground Cash Systems Organization | http://www.Undergroundcashsystems.org

Initially, I thought the whole thing was kind of funny.  But now I’m ticked because the website is using my face to rip people off.   What would you do?

The best part about having a blog is that anybody from anywhere can read it.  Not only that, it’s an open mic where people can read and share their comments.  Between this blog and my main financial blog Good Financial Cents, I have received many comments. Most have been complimentary and engaging.  Until, of course, I received the following comment on my other blog:

Studies show that half the population lives longer than the average life expectancy. Reread this statement. Is this rocket scientist someone who you woauld want to invest you rmoney? Jeff Rose is not a certified financial planner. He is a certified financial idiot.

Isn’t that special?  It was so nice of him to leave such a complimentary comment. When I first read the comment my initial thought was, “Crap, what did I do wrong?”  Then I actually reread the comment.  Let’s look at the third sentence in particular…..

First, let’s look at, “who you woauld“. Okay seriously, that’s two errors 5 words apart.  If you’re going to insult somebody, at least spell check yourself.  And lastly, ….”you rmoney?”   Wait, so who’s the “rocket scientist” here?

Point is, if you’re going to call somebody an idiot, don’t make yourself look like a bigger idiot.  Anybody else ever have anybody leave a rude comment on your blog?  If so, please share and vent!

When I was younger and the Tickle Me Elmo was released, I didn’t get it.  Growing up in the Sesame Street generation with Big Bird, Ernie and Burt, Oscar and Snuffaluffagus, I wasn’t exposed Elmo as a kid and by my older years, wasn’t really that fond of him (Sorry to all the Elmo lover’s out there).

I guess this is Karma in the making because guess what is the only that my son loves that will keep him occupied and content…..Elmo. Doesn’t it figure?  The other Sunday afternoon (thank goodness football is done) all “P” would do is point at the DVD Player and do is usual suggestive grunt.  What does that mean?  Put in Elmo or else.  What is a parent to do?  Make the kid happy by pressing play? Or have him give you a taste of his new favorite past time: Tantrum Time.  It’s only Elmo right?  Could be worse?   How about Elmo three times back to back to back.

Seriously, I can almost sing it now.  I hear Elmo talking to his pet fish Dorothy and asking Mr. Noodle to go play.  Wow!  I got to go put my ipod in before it’s too late.  It’s Elmo Time!

I remember the first time we had to give Little ‘P” his first bath.  It’s was actually at the hospital during the out process orientation.  We were volunteered in the group to demonstrate how to clean a new born as the other rookie parents watched.  No pressure, right?  Keep in mind that I’m an only child and never really been around babies that much.  I was scared to hold him, yet alone give him a good cleaning.  Can’t you just spray him with a hose or something….okay, just kidding.

Bath At Home

As you’ll see in the pic above, the little guy was not too keen on getting wet.  Once his body hit the water, it was a constant shreek until he was wrapped up again.  It’s so funny when you think of that now, because of his most favorite times of the day is bath time.  Don’t believe me?  Here’s some proof…

His smile is usually three times this big, but this was the best pic I could find (and awfully cute, I might add).  He can literally sit in the tub forever and will usually get upset if you take him out too early.  Complete 180 from when he is younger.  It’s fun to watch him splash him around and even try to swim.  Who knows, I might have the next Michael Phelps on my hands.  What do you think?

At first glance, you might think you’re catching the tail end of Night at The Roxbury II.  But what you actually have is two tuckered fellas ringing in the new year passed out on the couch.  I remember when it was just a couple years ago and my wife and I were counting down the minutes while having the time of our lives at the Las Vegas Strip.  As much fun as that was, how can you top cuddled up with your son as Dick Clark counts us down to 2009? Call me old. Call me a fuddy dud.  But I’d be just fine doing it again next year.  Happy New Year everybody!