Saturday, June 28, 2008

I hate to open with such a conspiratorial post, but the mood of the times ain't exactly sunshine and roses....

Also, Newsmax can be tenuous at best as news source, but I believe this article may be right on the mark. Furthermore, Bolton knows what he is talking about, regardless of one opinion of the man.



Bolton: Israel Will Strike Iran if Obama is Elected

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton believes Israel will stage a raid against Iran's nuclear facilities if Democratic nominee Barack Obama wins the upcoming presidential election in November.

Bolton, often labeled a resolute neo-conservative, believes the Israeli attack would take place sometime between the day after Obama's win and his inauguration on January 20 of next year.

In an interview with FOX News, Bolton says, "I think if they are to do anything, the most likely period is after our elections and before the inauguration of the next President."

read the rest here:

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/bolton_israel_iran/2008/06/25/107224.html?s=al&promo_code=64FD-1



Combine that with the latest Iranian threat to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, and the storm clouds become rather clear. It has become clear, to this author, that the Neoconservative lobby has been pushing for war with Iran, and should Obama win in November, the lame duck months will be their last real chance to expand the war. An Israeli strike would provide a perfect pretext, if not concurrently, likely within the week of its occurance. Even should election politics not prove a factor, it isn't out of the realm of possibility that the Israelis would deal the opening blow (in fact, i'd put money on it) of the war against Iran, as IDF commanders do not have to worry about the same level of political fallout that americans do.

If this plays out, it might be time to reexamine what Nostradamus had to say about a great middle eastern war, as I don't see it getting better any time soon. Think 1929 and $250+.

May you live in interesting times....

Thursday, June 26, 2008

ABC - Always Be Closing

This is a great clip from Glen Gary Glen Ross. Probably one of my all-time favorites and definatley Baldwin's best work. This one goes out to all my friends in sales. Enjoy it. Get Motivated. First place is a Cadillac Eldorado. Second place is a set of steak knives. Third place is your fired...

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Tourist Snapshots from North Korea

While on vacation in Asia in 2007, Paul Koontz got the rare chance to spend a few days in North Korea as a tourist. He brought along his kids and his camera. In this talk, he shares his experiences, from quotidian details to grand spectacle. (Ted.com)



Paul Koontz was the first VP of marketing at Netscape; in his current work at Foundation Capital, he focuses on the same kind of right-tech-right-time companies around the world.


Origional: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/244

Sunday, June 8, 2008

The Power of Blogging

I started this blog in March of this year, not really knowing what to make of it but mostly to learn more about the world of blogging, what it entails, and how to use internet communication as a means of marketing. My philosophy is that the best way to learn something is by diving in. So I jumped, and landed in a crazy world. Not only have I learned a tremendous amount about what blogging really is but I've also come to understand why it's so widely popular.

I remember when I was young my mom would always threaten to write a letter to a business or organization when she was frustrated or had had horrible service. I always laughed and gave her a hard time. "Yeah Mom you tell them what's what," I used to say in a sarcastic tone. The irony is that today's digital age has made "letters" highly replicatable through emails, blogs, newsletters, and article databases. Writing a letter is now a powerful tool.

In my previous post I talked about my horrible experience with Next Student, a Private college loan company similar to Sallie Mae and others. It was a late night when I posted the rant, about three A.M. where I'm writing from. The next day I received a call from a senior manager who had seen the article. It had been found by a member of the company's marketing team and passed on to management in the customer service division. She had called to apologize for the poor customer service and frustrating situation I was going through. To help fix as much as she could, she offered to call my school and speak with financial aid to make sure that they do not drop me from my classes. They also offered to overnight my funds to me in an effort to speed things up and get everything taken care. She understood that student loans are a commodity and people can go anywhere to get them these days. The companies with the best value get the most business. She is absolutely right.

While most of the damage has already been done, it is not to go unnoticed that someone did reach out and apologize. It's just an unfortunate shame that it has to come to what it did to get the value that every customer really deserves. Think about any business. If we treated everyone the way I was treated after I shared my experience with the world there would be some businesses out there killing the competition. The sad truth is that most businesses lack effective training, qualified outsourced services, and experienced individuals (you get what you pay for).

Blogging has made it too expensive for companies to have bad service, because I can tell the world about it instantly. In less than 24 hours over 600 people had read my article. Businesses absolutely do not want this. However, what if I ranted about how great the service was? What if 600 people heard how great my experience was? That's powerful for business. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. Some of the most powerful marketing tools can be customer testimonials. If you have a great service or product, your customers will reward you for it.

The internet has given each and everyone a powerful voice if we choose to use that way. This is what I believe a big part of blogging is about. Consumers finally have a voice. I hope that companies are adaptive enough to thrive in a world that embraces this.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Need a Student Loan? Next Student is Not the Place To Go

With rising tuition costs it's no wonder more and more students are taking out loans to get through college. Because students are dependent on the loans to continue education in many cases, the loan companies often discard the notion of customer service since they know you need them. Let me share the nightmare of my experience with Next Student, a private student loan company with a hip mantra - "College funding made simple".

I first applied for my loan at the beginning of May. After the hullabaloo of document gathering (which is standard don't get me wrong) and time spent waiting for reps to return my calls I had everything signed and sent in. It was May 12th at this point and I was eager to finalize everything since I was taking summer classes and tuition was due sooner than later. Weeks began to go by and my endless calling was answered by a placated voice on the other end telling me that there was nothing that could be done. The department was backed up.

I can understand things are busy, but after 3 weeks I still had no answer, only to be continually told the same thing over and over. Begging my school not to drop me from my classes at the same time I began to feel helpless in the battle to get my student loan. The sight of Next Student's logo infuriated me. "College funding made simple." Soon after I was told that the underwriters had a hard time reading my faxed documents -THREE WEEKS AFTER I SENT THEM - and that I would need to resend the documents to the general fax line and restart the underwriting process. I actually laughed out load I was so shocked.

Upset and perplexed, I worked my way up the ladder until I spoke with someone who had enough intelligence to make decisions on their own. We got the documents into the department without resending them and things were starting to look a bit progressive. I was assured by Next Student the check would be ready at latest June 2.

I am writing this today, on June 5th, frustrated and eager to share my experience because no one should have to go through the stress and frustration of what I have had to go through this last month. Since June 2nd I have left three voice mails, none of which have been returned, and am fearful that despite my efforts I will be dropped from my classes and have wasted the first half of the summer. This will also cause me not to graduate on time.

I hope when you look into private loan funding you look to a company who has a reputable customer service staff. Perhaps a company that still believes in delivering value to clients. That company is not Next Student.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Saving Lives One Dollar at a Time

Many people are not aware, but malaria kills over one million people per year. The most unfortunate part of this is that it can be easily prevented unlike other diseases like HIV. People all over are rallying together to raise support to create awareness and raise funds to help put an end to the destruction causeD by malaria.

Lance Laifer has started an awareness campaign to get more people involved and educated on what's going on. Here is an excerpt from his facebook campaign

"On October 17 - World Poverty Day - we will attempt to blackout all the profile pics on facebook. This will be done to draw attention to the one million faces every year that die from malaria and to draw attention to the fact that malaria is a circular disease of poverty. It causes poverty and is caused by poverty"

This campaign is part of a larger effort to raise money for the proper drugs to prevent malaria. One dollar - notice it's not one dollar a day - will cover the basic costs of getting the right drugs for a child. Africa Fighting Malaria, Laifer and others have launched the highly successful "March of the Washington's" Campaign. The idea behind this is that each person contributes a dollar bill (George Washington had Malaria too). To see more about how to get involved visit

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17178141045

It just never ceases to amaze me that billions of dollars are spent every year on so many things, why can't we use a tiny fraction to help save lives? Below are more recourses for this cause.


Links:
www.malarianomore.org
www.nothingbutnets.net
Study Finds Africans Getting Sub-Standard Malaria Drugs
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/giving/12malaria.html?_r=1&oref=slogin