‘You are the one…’ An Open Letter to the Honorable Barrack Obama, President of the United States… the subject: the need for immediate, thorough, empowering action against computer hackers.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

Author’s Program Note: It is time for me to again address the President of the Great Republic, as I do from time to time as the pressing significance of a given subject makes such contact necessary, proper, and my duty. Today I address the growing problem of computer hacking… and again I call upon an eminent artist for assistance. Today that is Cole Porter (1891-1964), a genius for music, lyrics and style, an American original, the man who breathed sophistication and a cosmopolitan attitude into all of us… and so changed the world.

In 1932 he wrote a tune that became the signature song for every yearning lover on this planet… “Night and Day”… featuring four words that justified every action, every deed of derring-do, an avalanche of execrable but heart felt poesy and above all constant ingenuity and substantive action. These four words, of course, are “you are the one…” the words a man or woman in love keeps in mind at all times and which justify everything they may do in pursuit of bliss.

Now I am addressing these words to you, sir, because you are the one, the right and necessary person to take the leadership role in what is now a daily, indeed hourly event on the most important method of communication ever invented… the Internet.

So, in a nutshell, I shall today present for your immediate consideration and action a problem of global significance… a problem already causing often baffling difficulties to governments, businesses, non-profit organizations and simple citizens. That is the problem of computer hacking and unauthorized access to and unauthorized use of private documentation, often of the most sensitive and important kind.

This problem has never existed before… no precedents exist for solving it… and no one, not even the most gifted Internet authorities, can be certain which means for curtailing this menace, this clear and present danger to so many good people, may work to solve the problem, or not.

But because it is essential to approach this draining, frustrating, demanding problem in the right state of mind, you, like every other reader, should search for Cole Porter’s masterpiece in any search engine. It will do at least two things: remind you that this is a problem that is with us “night and day”, and it will put a song in your heart, the better for a productive, cheerful day and useful deliberation on the problem overall and my point of view on what is happening… and what must be done to turn the tide… and solve a problem which should never have been allowed to grow to its current unsatisfactory, worrying, expensive, dismaying, infuriating and dangerous level.

We shall not solve this problem in one day with one document… but in one day with one document we can and must begin… and here we shall do so.

Hacking cases proliferate.

Hacking is not an occasional, ephemeral, casual problem; it is not limited to one industry, one country, or one kind of information. As even the most cursory glance at all newspapers will attest, we are seeing daily hacking events. Here is just one, one which must serve for the unlimited number of such events taking place on a continuing basis.

Item: On January 20, 2012, The Boston Globe, the most important newspaper in one of the two most important technology development areas of the Great Republic, reported that the online activist group Anonymous took responsibility the day before for a series of network attacks on government and entertainment industry websites. As a result, service disruptions were reported by the Justice Department, Universal Music Group, and BMI, which collects copyright royalties for composers. In addition the US Copyright Office and the Recording Industry Association of America were attacked.

It is important to note the apparent reason for these attacks, since they illustrate a key aspect of this problem: electronic vigilantes taking the law into their hands, deciding what is appropriate and necessary for any perceived outrage to their affiliations and interests. In this case the digital assault was launched in retaliation for the indictments of seven individuals and two Hong Kong companies accused of distributing illicit content worth more than $500 million. In other words, the alleged guilty parties launched the hacking to hurt the reputable authorities who had hurt them… and Anonymous activists cheered the culprits on, an alarming and frequent situation in these matters where those with privileged and private records are automatically fingered as the villains by hackers who are as close to Anarchists as history can find.

First steps.

The first thing the Great Republic must do to begin the counteroffensive against hackers who have, until now, lead the attacks is to create a department of government under the Justice Department with a name that makes crystal clear what this office is in business to do: The Anti Computer Hacking Division. This agency must be launched in a White House Rose Garden ceremony which will at once indicate the importance of the endeavor and enable you, sir, to announce the formation of the Presidential Task Force Against Computer Hacking.

This ceremony will feature the members of this Commission, senior officials from Congress and the computer and Internet industry, as well as representatives from particularly affected groups such as the federal government itself, the military, banks, universities. etc. It must be the bluest blue-ribbon panel ever picked, and deservedly so given the importance of the subject. The Chairperson of the panel must have national and global recognition and clout, someone like Bill Gates immediately comes to mind. The appointment of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (himself once a hacker of note) would be clever and appropriate, for he will be a power in the industry for life.

Everything you ever wanted to know about hacking.

With the development of this structure, the overall objective must be made clear to all: viz, that EVERYTHING related to hacking and its promptest eradication must be gathered under one umbrella. Of course this will affront offices already involved in the matter, territorial to a person. But that is where you come in, sir, for yours is the job of visualizing this crucial enterprise and using the “bully-pulpit” of your office to sell it to all. But your job does not end with selling all this to those in the Great Republic, no indeed; for this is a global problem and must be solved globally.

Urbi et orbi.

When the Pope offers an encyclical, he speaks to the people of Rome (“urbi”) and the people of the world (“orbi”), and so it must be now, for every poor hamlet on earth has computers and hackers with animus against authority. Their governments must take their place in the war against hacking… assisting in the identification, detention, trial and imprisonment of hackers. And if such governments do not assist this necessary cause? Well, then, that is what economic and other sanctions are for, and most deservedly here.

Take action now.

As I have rightly and often pointed out, the repute and standing of the Great Republic have rarely been lower in the world than now. Whole generations now look upon us and our endeavors as the problem, not the solution. Launching assertive war against hackers and clearing the world’s e-lanes, as we once did for the world’s sea-lanes, cannot but help change such deleterious perceptions.

And so it falls to you, Mr. President, to begin this endeavor, long overdue, a credit to yourself, your Administration and a relief to our citizens and every law abiding regime on Earth. So much to be gained, at such a trifling cost. Do this, Mr. President, do this now… and reap the grateful thanks of all but hackers, selfish, disrupters, arrogant, malevolent, malcontents all who should never have had this weapon, much less so long.

Do this, Mr. President, because it is the right thing to do, and because you are the one who can do it.

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Thoughts on assisted living, aging, Dad, and guilt.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author’s program note. Here is the most important four-letter word in the entire English language: home. It conjures up and is connected to every element of the well-lived life: spouse, family, peace, comfort, security. Nothing can match its importance, nothing can duplicate its significance. Nothing is more powerful than our memories of home and their enduring pull, always tugging at our heart strings. Home and its rhythms, its well remembered aspects, its secrets, its traditions, its confidences, its ways so well known and carefully maintained… these have a power over us that never fails, never pales, never wavers, never diminishes, and are always clear, fresh, joyful, unforgettable, bittersweet, haunting, the sweetest memories of our entire life.
This is an article on the moment that comes to each of us… when this home, our very special, irreplaceable place, must be given up because its proprietors can no longer maintain it, now needing particular care themselves. This is an article about a moment poignant, sad, dreadful, irrevocable. It is about the people who take this step first, our parents… then about their children, us, who will trod the difficult road, too, but not yet… and what they must do today, a day of emotional turmoil, distress, a day for which all preparation is inadequate.
For this article I have selected the song “My Old Kentucky Home” (1852) by America’s first great composer, Stephen Foster. It is one of the most wistful, longing songs of our country… and whenever one hears it one thinks, and tearful too, of one’s own home, now gone, far away, never to be replaced, always to be remembered, the more so as the destination you are now going to can never be a home like the one left behind. Go now to any search engine. Find and play it at once. It is the perfect accompaniment to this article.
The call.
The call we all fear, cannot bear thinking about, but must think about — comes the day our aging parents first consider assisted living, whether outwardly calm and willing, or fighting the hopeless battle to avoid this fate, roiled by turbulent emotions deep within, so clearly visible without.
Assisted living.
The words “assisted living” are two of the most frightening and disturbing in our language. It is easy to see why. Assisted living is mostly the province of the retired, the ill, the aging, geriatric survivors of better times. As such it is a venue to be put off and avoided whenever possible, for as long as possible; as much so as if each assisted living facility had posted at its front door this immemorial admonition from Dante’s “Inferno”: “Abandon all hope ye who enter here.”
Such institutions are perceived as the final way station before cosmic extinction; the place one enters unhappy, angry, misunderstood, and which one leaves dead; the place for the irremediably old, those who are past it, marginal, unconsidered, beyond the care and concern of anyone other than those paid to care and be concerned; lonely people of the Eleanor Rigby variety.
All of life…
Assisted living, with its implied inadequacies and dependence, is always and often indignantly compared to the joy of independent living, where you do what you want, when you want, with whom you want, in just the way you want; in other words the kind of living each of us desires, insists upon, and does everything possible to maintain. Assisted living, of course, is widely perceived as the antithesis of the desired independent living.
But this is wrong.
ALL living is assisted living. For unless you are rabidly antisocial and determined to remain that way, alone, isolated, happy and contented in your aloneness, you are assisted — every single day — by people whose aim is to make you reasonably happy, reasonably content, and reasonably comfortable. Thus, in truth, when one moves from living regarded as independent to living regarded as assisted, one is evolving from one kind of care to another kind of care; one is tweaking circumstances the better to ensure the maximum continuation of your desired life style. One is not undergoing metamorphosis, but comparative and necessary improvement.
Sadly, most people undergoing this process are unable to see this, or at least to state it to guilt-ridden relatives who are thus distressed by the painful thought that Aunt Martha is being cast off rather than moved to an appropriate level of care, concern, and consideration. Most assisted living facilities these days resemble college campuses or resorts; they know the grief, anger, recriminations and distress which new residents bring and work hard to create an atmosphere that is at once attractive, even beautiful; livable, practical, and serene, factors which soothe the guilt of those recommending assisted living to those near and dear but are often dismissed as inadequate or unimportant by those being recommended into the facility.
Receiving the intelligence.
Twice in my life, so far, have I been a participant to greater or lesser degree, in conversations surrounding the movement of one near and beloved to assisted living. The first such conversations involved my mother; the second set involved my father. These conversations could hardly have been less similar — or more instructive about the principals involved and affected.
My mother, student of Dylan Thomas that she was, did not, nor could not, go gentle into this good night. She raged, raged against what she was sure was the dying of the light. Despite weakening health and the myriad of problems stemming therefrom my mother fought hard, strenuously, vociferously, painfully against the notion of “incarceration” in an assisted living facility, thereby branded as penal institution, not comfortable necessity. Her transition from living deemed independent to living deemed assisted was therefore protracted, painful, packed with imprecations, denigrations, accusations, maledictions which made Emile Zola’s famous declaration “J’accuse” look sniveling.
My father handled the matter entirely different… and I suspect this was partly because he will have with him his wife Ellie; to be alone at life’s end is painful; to be partnered with a loved mate lessons the pain while increasing the means to combat and to live with it.
Sad, wistful, practical, accepting.
When my father called yesterday to inform me that he and Ellie had made arrangements to share their dwindling, most precious days together in assisted living, I felt a lump in my throat. He extolled the grounds, their private apartment, the food, the friendly residents… but whether he believed all this as stated or was just trying out what would become the stock reason or their move, I cannot say… for I was reflecting on a few words that he had said.
Entering the dining room where they would find their daily meals, he was surprised to find it peopled with the old, feeble, and infirm. Could this be he at 86, Ellie at 87? Or had some mistake occurred? She, knowing how difficult it had to be for him to transform his independent life to one “assisted”, took his hand and reassured him that no mistake was made; they were in the right place, which he would soon know, if he did not know already. And thus these proud, fiercely independent souls, more used to assisting others than being assisted, move into the next phase of their lives, together, facts faced, practical decisions made, gently, calmly, with love and care. And I admired my father so, not merely as son to father, but as man to man. For he faced the difficult, the fearful, the unpalatable, with grace, quietude, reserve, with good judgement, good humor, and a good wife, well stocked and ready for the journey ahead… which they will travel similarly and with kindness, above all with kindless and the help of those glad to assist them, and with kindness too.
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I accuse you of doing everything you can to sabotage your online success…. and what you must do — at once — to change that and profit.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author’s program note. In 1894 Captain Alfred Dreyfus, artillery captain for the General Staff of France, was charged with treason and espionage… thereby inaugurating one of the most outrageous and ignoble events in the entire history of France.
It was a story of lies… but not by Dreyfus.
It was the story of evidence made up… evidence tampered with… evidence destroyed… but not by Dreyfus.
It was the story of grave injustice… deliberately done and with malice… but not by Dreyfus.
It was the story of a man attacked, mauled, censored, imprisoned, humiliated, villified because of his religion… but not by Dreyfus.
And above all it is the story of how one man with brilliant, slashing language changed the entire debate… securing at long last freedom, restitution and justice for Dreyfus.
This man was celebrated novelist Emile Zola who took just two words and transformed them into the most powerful weapon on earth… two words that galvanized a nation, securing the attention and support of the good people of France who, because of Zola, were outraged by the terrible and enduring blot on the honor of France… and who joined their voices to his in the service of truth.
J’accuse!
These are the words — I accuse — which by making the outrages clear — began the healing process that saved France from ignominy and redeemed her. Now I intend to use the great model created by Zola and to save you from business ignominy… to redeem you… and enable you to profit online… for you have been doing everything possible to fail… and little or nothing to succeed.
To help you on your way I have selected the soaring 1937 score Max Steiner wrote for the Best Picture of the Year; “The Life of Emile Zola” starring Paul Muni. Such grand music must enable success… so go to any search engine now and play it. We are ready to begin the transforming process that starts with “I accuse…” and ends with “I salute…”, wafted on our way by the grandeur of Steiner’s composition.
I accuse you of not understanding what business is… of understanding that business is now and always will be about two things and two things only: the generation of prospect leads… and following up with each and every one of these leads to make offers and close business.
I accuse you of engaging in endless trivia every day, focusing on anything and everything instead of generating prospects… and calling these prospects, to work with them and begin the development of the business relationships necessary to secure success.
I accuse you of trying to run a business solely by email… trying that is to motivate people to buy without doing the most important thing to profit: picking up the phone, calling prospects, engaging prospects, building relations with prospects.
I accuse you of sloth, laziness, of sitting around and waiting for success, instead of doing what is necessary — everything that’s necessary — to build the business you say you want… but for which there is absolutely no evidence that you have ever done on its behalf any meaningful thing at all.
I accuse you of the sin of inertia… of waiting, waiting, waiting, for, what?, a sign from Heaven, an email from God? I accuse you of not knowing what needs to be done, of not educating yourself so that you know how to do it, and not doing the least thing to secure your success.
I accuse you of spending more time gossiping on the phone with people who cannot make you richer (your best friend, your bowling buddies, the chick you met bar hopping last week) instead of using the phone to do what it does so well… connecting with the people who can buy from you, buy now, and make you money every single day.
I accuse you of trying to build your online business alone, all by yourself, when all the evidence says this is not possible, is absolutely impossible, because there is too much to do…too many things to master… and insufficient time to learn them, then do them. You need a team… and you need it at once.
I accuse you of the sin of talking about success far more than doing the necessary deeds and actions that ensure success. You have become, thereby, a specialist in the endless rhetoric and bombastic language of success, while achieving nothing. It is time, therefore, past time, to cease and censure the flatulent babble and get on with the doing.
I accuse you of not staying at your post every day until you have achieved the financial objective you have set for yourself for this day, focusing, persisting until you have achieved this goal… every penny of this goal.
I accuse you of coddling yourself, of a too prompt tendency to forgive your inadequacies, overlook the negatives, whitewash your poor performances, rationalize your failings, pooh pooh each and every peccadillo, extol too greatly minor triumphs instead of pushing on to make the insignificant significant.
The words used by Zola to end his famous declamation to French president Felix Faure, January 13, 1898:
“I have but one passion: to enlighten those who have been kept in the dark, in the name of humanity which has suffered too much and is entitled to happiness. My fiery protest is simply the cry of my very soul.”
I couldn’t say it better myself, so won’t try. Zola’s letter changed the world… my hope is that this changes yours.
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‘Without the help and support of the woman I love.” Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson, love and scandal.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author’s program note. In 1936 the world was transfixed by a story so big, so engrossing, so incredible that only the Second Coming could have topped it. It was the story of Edward VIII, King of England, Emperor of India… and a twice- married American lady from Baltimore, Maryland — Mrs. Simpson. It was billed as history’s greatest love affair… but, as this article unfolds… you may very well draw a very different conclusion.
But let’s start by playing the tune I’ve selected to accompany this article…. “Exactly Like You”. Go to any search engine to find this number. It was written in 1930 by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. I swear by the rendition by Louis Armstrong. You won’t be able to get it out of your head; kind of like the king’s catastrophic obsession with his Wallis… for of all the women in the world who wanted him, he had to have her, the very worst choice imaginable.. to the consternation and disgust of the empire on which the sun never set.
The most important boy in the world.
When your great grandmother is Queen Victoria, ruler of half the world; when your grandfather is King Edward VII, called the Uncle of Europe, because his relations ruled over virtually everything; when your father is King George V and your mother is Queen Mary… your birth, life, and every single breath you take is an event… important, eagerly awaited, commented upon, chronicled. In short, it is life in the grandest fish bowl on Earth; for in return for unimaginable wealth, celestial status, and the adoration and veneration of untold millions… you give up any semblance of a personal life… any semblance of privacy. You belong not to yourself… but to your subjects, the people of England and of all the Dominions beyond the seas…
This was Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, born in 1894, called David by his family and Your Royal Highness by everyone else. The world envied him… but his life was anything but enviable… his parents saw to that.
George (1865–1936) & Mary (1867-1953).
The argument for monarchy goes like this: in a turbulent, uncertain, unpredictable and therefore alarming world, a sovereign is eternal, stable, stalwart, an institution you can trust to be here tomorrow, because it was here yesterday and the day before that. A sovereign rises above the trivia of today, able to take the long view, high above the fray and the little concerns of little men. Having everything, wanting nothing, monarchs can be trusted with the concerns of the nation they exist to improve, to serve, to uplift and inspire.
This is all very well…. but where do you find such larger than life paragons? Certainly not in the lives of George and Mary, people frightened by their unceasing responsibilities and the constant burden of having to appear just so to a world which evaluated, and minutely too, every move they made, every action, every decision.
Most assuredly neither George nor Mary were such people… and therefore like so many people fearful of making a mistake (and being roundly criticized) they embraced rigid severity… and so sought to cover up their many inadequacies as people by a unceasingly stern and unapproachable demeanor. It looked good on ceremonial occasions… for then they were regal indeed… but life lived this way was tormenting to all concerned… especially for the two young princes Edward and Albert, future Edward VIII and George VI.
They were boys who needed love, tender care, affection… but were ignored by their colder than ice mother for whom a peck on the cheek was excessive… and constantly admonished by their father, a man who became king only because his elder brother died young thereby bequeathing the empire and his expected wife, Mary of Teck, to his younger brother Georgie, a man who rose far above his abilities, a man who knew nothing about human relations and thought that communication was nothing more than the business of barking orders and having them instantly complied with.
In such a world how could the little princes of Windsor emerge as anything other than flawed, wanting… and rebellious.
Prince of change.
All children go through a rebellious stage where “no!” is their favorite word. Do you want this? No! Do you want that? No! How about something else? No, again! But in the fullness of time even the most argumentative three year old comes out of this phase and starts growing up. But David of Windsor never did. Whatever was tried, true, traditional, standard… he wanted nothing to do with, wanted to change it, not slowly and unobtrusively but now in the most jarring and thoughtless of ways. He wanted what he wanted, when he wanted it… and as Prince of Wales from 1910… he was in a position to get it, especially as he came to understand how much the world loved and admired him.
Wobbly monarchy, high-flying adored prince.
World War I saw the demise of the great imperial dynasties of Europe, the Habsburgs of Austria, the Hohenzollerns of Germany, the Romanovs of Russia… all swept away. The only major dynasty left was in England, and it was headed by the uninspiring, unimaginative, fretful George V who was majesty in nothing but name. The dynasty needed youth… glamor… connection to the restive peoples of the empire. And for this role there was only one man available… David, now Prince of Wales… a man who shed glamor and allure on the Roaring Twenties. His world tours (from 1919) made him a world celebrity… and lonely.
He tried women, he tried booze, he tried drugs… but because he could have everything, nothing made him happy. Nothing that is except the thrills and freedoms of the Great Republic, particularly its greatest city, New York. Only there were there sufficient dissipations and indiscretions. Besides, just stepping foot in America enraged both his parents, and that made these trips delicious.
Then he met Wallis Warfield Simpson, a woman with a sordid past and two living husbands… a past that could outrage every convention and agitate the world he was destined to rule… a world that bored and annoyed him. Wallis offered him what he truly craved: submission for that was her secret… she gave the man everyone kow-towed to the gift of abasement…. the power to get the man to whom all knelt to kneel to her….
She, of course, despised him, but using him as he wanted her to use him would make her a world figure, maybe even Queen-Empress. She was ill-advised on this point, and so overplayed her cards. Instead of a boyish sovereign over whom she could rule, she got after his abdication in 1936 a semblance of a man whom she systematically and publicly humiliated for the rest of his life. He cried… he sobbed… he adored. It was the perfect relationship, exactly what he wanted. And, after all, isn’t that what love is for?
For as Louis Armstrong sings,
“I know why I’ve waited Know why I’ve been blue I’ve been waiting each day For someone exactly like you… You make me feel so grand I wanna give this world to you…”
… and he almost did.
Honi soit qui mal y pense.

The personal ad you’d love to post… but don’t have the guts!

Author’s program note. As far as I can tell, everyone in the world has either run a personal ad (mostly online), is running one at this moment… or will run one before you can say “Jack Robinson.” This means you. The question is not whether you will use personal ads… but whether they’ll deliver the exact person you are seeking. Sadly, the vast majority of personal ads cannot deliver the bacon (or the cheese cake or the beef cake). They just don’t provide enough detail and so are quite capable of delivering the Wrong Prospects. Witness the personal ad celebrated by Jimmy Buffet in the tune that made Pina Coladas mandatory Happy Hour fare as you bar hopped in pursuit of nirvana.
Start by going to any search engine and listen to Buffet’s anthem. It was written by Rupert Holmes and recorded in 1979. It’s official title is “Escape” but hardly anyone knows that except Buffet who became with each insouciant word the recognized master of la dolce far niente… or, since most of you know no Eye-talian, the art of doing absolutely nothing… and doing it with the utmost style and grace, but without ever breaking a sweat.
Buffet’s tune makes it clear why personals as currently structured are silly, pointless, absolutely certain to deliver people you wouldn’t be seen dead with. I mean, who doesn’t like getting caught in the rain (given the right person on your arm)… who doesn’t hate yoga…. and is hardly into health foods… but insists on champagne? Add long walks on a beach, making love at midnight in the dunes of the cape, and holding hands at the cinema… and you’ve got the personal ad in all its banal insipidity.
The wonder is not that they don’t work for most people investing hope, time and money in them; the wonder is that they work for anyone at all… but then there are people (one hopes not you) who can be fully described with a few generic phrases. Avoid them like the plague.
Time for rethinking the personal ad.
In the olden days when personals appeared solely in newspapers and a few progressive publications like the alumni magazine for Harvard and such finicky folk as insisted on making known their preference for classical composers, stock brokers, and obscure holiday destinations; in those days one paid by the word and through the nose. Publishers counted on your desperation and longing to fill their coffers. Even the august Times of London cleaned up with such ads, universally called the agony column and always run on Page 1: “Should the fine lady in the blue mantle with yellow sleeves exiting the horse cars at Grosvenor Square Thursday last at 10:59 a.m. desire the acquaintance of a gentleman of means…”, but you get the picture.
When writing such ads, where each word raised the cost, it was necessary to cultivate the virtues of laconic language, short, sweet, clipped. The objective was always to meet the person ardently desired but spend pennies, not pounds. As a result, it was understandable, even excusable when advertisers slashed words; robust clarity at all times was desirable… but unaffordable.
Enter the Internet.
The very first thing I learned about the ‘net was that it’s boundless, inexhaustible, absolutely unlimited. Thus, it can hold, maintain and preserve infinity. The implications of this fact are fathomless, too… not least on the matter of creating personal ads that get you the long-awaited apple of your eye. For now, since we have an infinity of space, there can be absolutely no excuse for writing and posting ads which are at once jejune, inadequate, and platitudinous in the extreme. They don’t work, can never work, and must be abandoned, jettisoned, abjured, forsaken and, in case you miss the point, tossed into the dustbin of history at once.
Now you can write this all-important ad without being hobbled and restricted. You are at last permitted, nay empowered and directed to write what must be written, the ad, the whole ad, and nothing but the ad.
… but this will take careful thought and planning, for it is doubtful ere now that even one personal advertiser has written the magnificent advertisement you are about to write, edit, post, and benefit from for a lifetime. As such the most scrupulous planning is de rigueur and cannot be stinted.
Two people, two parts.
A good personal ad, which is to say an ad that accomplishes the desired objective, must be divided into two parts: half about who you are; half about what you desire in the person you wish to present the key to your (probably much bruised) heart.
Brainstorming, musing, total honesty.
Now, we all know that everyone, absolutely everyone lies in their personal ads. Excess pounds disappear as if by magic; years are thrust in the dresser drawer; educational degrees are now cited from institutions which scorned the pleasure of your company; financial net worth up, all manner of imperfections down; spouses of decades unmentioned, and the eight darling children, too. This is the nature of the beast… until now. Now you have the space to tell everything… and complete details on the extenuating circumstances. Yes, you were flunked out of Alma Mater, but it was most assuredly not your fault… and you insist upon making the full dossier available right here and now. You have the space; honesty is desirable; and your bringing up the subject at all proves what a gem you are.
Thus instead of lying about the pounds you haven’t lost, cite the reasons why. Honestly own up to the fact that your dietary habits are lax; list all your favorite foods… and the rate you consume them. List your last month’s worth of dinner menus… and be scrupulous, entirely above board with everything you consumed, the kind of dishes on which you served the repast, and exactly what you did with the left-overs. You want your soon-to-be beloved to know you, fully, completely and so ardently; for after all, honesty is the bedrock of every meaningful relationship, don’t you agree?
The desired one.
Once you have gathered all the critical intelligence about yourself, proceed at once to Part 2 of your ad, the absolutely crucial verbiage about the person to whom you wish to extend the glorious honor of sharing bed and board. Your complete and total focus is required. Again, brainstorm every desirable point, giving equal attention to what you do not want and cannot abide, and what you must have, a deal killer if not readily available, and in the desired quantity, too.
Starting this list is easy, almost effortless. You either want a smoker… or you don’t. You either can accept pets (even the most exotic)… or you can’t. But make it a point to move beyond these obvious points. Consider such matters as the odor you desire in a mate; how many showers per day; the kind, frequency and intensity of bodily hygiene. Honesty is required, and so honesty there must be. And if the length of your ad grows long and weighty, what of it? What you are doing here impacts the curvature of two lives, so no apology is necessary.
Post at once, reap your reward.
First, you are to be congratulated. You are a pioneer, a model of integrity and rectitude. Now it’s time to reap the inevitable rewards which must come with posting. Mind, it may take a little time to get the single response this ad is meant to generate, for so thorough have you been that there can only be one response… from that extraordinary person daft enough to put up with you…and love you anyway.
*** We invite you to post your comments to this article below.

Five Things You Don’t Know About Closing Sales Which Are Eviscerating Your Profits

It isn’t just that most people are lousy at sales…
far more shocking is the fact that most SALES PEOPLE
are lousy at sales.
If you’re one of them, this article is for YOU!
The plain fact of the matter is that the overwhelming
majority of sales people rely on their charm, gift
of gab, and ability to “wing it” to make sales… instead
of being prepared to make sale after sale. STOP IT! Following
these sensible steps means more money:
1)  Closing sales is not a matter of motivation or pressure.
Instead, it’s a question of having the right information readily
at hand, so you can answer customer questions quickly, easily,
thoroughly.
Thus, consider what you have readily available when
you are talking to a customer.
2) Do you have (readily available, mind) a sheet of “you
gets”, that is a list of PRECISELY what your customer
gets when using your product/service?
Dollars to doughnuts, neither you nor any member of
your business has sat down and written out the features
of what you’re selling; then converted each and every
feature into a benefit that the customer gets. Treat each
and every benefit like scoops on an ice-cream cone;
the higher you stack ‘em, the more enticing to the customer!
3)  Do you have a sheet of offers?
Products do not sell themselves; a sales person bragging
“Our product sells itself” is wrong, naive or both. What sells
products is offers; the better the offer the faster the sale.
Thus, have you got a sheet of offers; “add-ons” you can
use to motivate immediate customer action? This list should
make it very clear just what the customer gets for fast action.
AND when the customer must act, for ALL offers must be
limited by time, quantity, etc.
4) Do you have a sheet of results testimonials?
People what to be assured and re-assured about what
they will get when using your product. Here’s where “results”
testimonials come in. These not only provide a happy
customer’s experience in using  your product (“I loved it”),
but the specific results that customer achieved. The greater
the specificity and the benefits, the better and more
effective the testimonial.
Note: whenever possible ALL testimonials must include
full customer and such relevant details as title, location, etc.
In short, testimonials must be detailed and complete to be
completely credible.
5) A page of  objection responses and rebuttals
Face it, not every customer will leap for  joy upon hearing
of what you are selling. That’s why you must be prepared for
the nay-sayers, the procrastinators,  the cautious, and
the merely foolish. For these folks, a list of every possible
objection and your strongest response is required.
Commmon objections include:
“I must ask my spouse.”
“I’m on vacation for the next 2 weeks.”
“I have to check you out.”
“I don’t have the money.”
Now hear this: there isn’t an objection under the sun
which cannot be effectively answered, only not by
“winging it.” EVERY successful sales person knows
that preparation here is mandatory; the rebuttals may
seem spontaneous… but they must ALWAYS  be
rehearsed.  Brainstorm all objections; then work on
the responses. As new objections surface, add them
to your list… and, again, perfect the perfect, objection-
demolishing response.
Last Words
The key to sales success is NEVER a “wing and a prayer.”
It is ALWAYS  a matter of total, complete, deliberate effort.
Such effort can turn a mediocre sales person into a stellar
performer.  That, of course, is precisely what your goal
must be, and now you know how to achieve it!

‘How come you do me like you do, do, do?’ What your customers are saying about YOU!

In 1924 America’s first crooner, red-hot pop star Rudy
Vallee (and his Connecticut Yankees band) had the nation
humming along with the catchy rhythm of his latest hit:
“How come you do me like you do, do, do?”
The legions of liberated “flappers” who followed
Vallee everywhere (unleashing a national debate
about the “new woman”) sang along with America’s
boy next door:
“Why do you try to make me feel so blue?
I ain’t done nothing to do!”
“You better treat me right, or let me be!
’cause I can beat you doing what you’re doing to me.”
It was a phenomenon, and a golden marketing model
was born that in due course produced Crosby, Como, and
Sinatra.
The flappers, and Vallee himself, are now history…  but
the song’s lyrics carry on as insistent questions customers
ask business owners worldwide:
“WHY do you do me like you do, do, do? WHY do you
do me like you do?”
Your customers are talking about you.  Do you like
what they’re saying?
Now hear this: EVERY customer who steps through your
door, calls you on the telephone, writes or emails you is
going to talk about what happened. Were they treated
properly, professionally, promptly…. or was it a case of
“Why do you do me like you do, do, do?”  Remember,
what they say is a direct result of what you do. Thus, you
have it in your power to ensure that they never say — and
you never suffer from them saying — ANY of these:
1) “They never returned my call!”
Not so long ago, every business made it a point to
return calls promptly and have the information the customer
needed readily at hand when they did. No longer. Now, there
is not even the pretense by most businesses that they return
every telephone call… much less promptly and thoroughly.
Yet, let’s be clear, customers WANT their calls  returned…
and they are certain to complain to friends and family
when YOU don’t!
Make it a point to return all calls within 24 hours, even
if you only report that you are working to get what the
customer wants. The returned call itself signifies volumes!
2) “I filled out their online questionnaire and heard nothing.”

This really bugs your customers… and rightly so. This is
how the customer reckons: “you posted a questionnaire on
your web site. I took the time and trouble to complete it. Then
nothing, absolutely nothing, from you.” Oh, yes, you can be
sure the customer will tell the people he knows with a “can
you believe this?” slant to a tale which you may be sure
will lose nothing in the telling.
3) “They promised to send me… but never did!”
Customers are literal. They expect you to do what you
say you’re going to do… and they will shout it from the mountain
tops when you don’t. So, do.
If you can handle the customer’s request today, do so.
If you can’t, then explain to the customer when she may expect
to hear from you.
Don’t just promise action, however; deliver it. Otherwise, in the
words of the song “why do you try to make me feel so blue? I
ain’t done nothing to you.” Believe me; they will start doing
something, something you won’t like, if you don’t come through!
4) “They never told me what was happening.”
When a customer says this, what they are really saying is this:
“Can you believe this? Can you believe that those yahoos would
treat ME like this… ME the all-important customer?” In short, the
customer will make it clear to everyone who will listen that you
are little better than a jerk and certainly far from delivering the prompt
professional service they have every right to expect. Ouch!
Solution?  If you want to impress your customer, instead of
providing the fuel for the fire that ends up scorching you, then
follow-up and keep the customer in the loop. Always.
5) “I waited and waited for service while the staff  gossiped
about what they did over the week-end.”

Want your customers to see red… and tell the world? Then
ignore them. Don’t bother to show your staff how to treat
customers; don’t treat them properly yourself. Just continue
to ignore them while chatting away. This is an absolutely
sure-fire way to lose a customer and launch a stream of
comments, the worse because they are absolutely true.
You and your staff do gossip in front of customers.
Indeed, you seem to not even see the customers, much less
regard them.
As a result, thoughtless, avoidable rudeness by rudeness you
are helping your customers create the negative image that kills your
profits and enriches your competitors. Ouch again!
6) “He was texting his girl friend while I waited for assistance!”
Inappropriate and untimely text messaging has become a worldwide
problem and a sure-fire way to get your customers to bad-mouth
you and  your business.
Be assured that if you text message in front of customers,
particularly about personal matters, you will tap into the
rich, inexhaustible vein of customer irritation, exasperation,
and rage. Text in front of customers, and you can be sure the
customer will retaliate in ways that hurt your bottom line. Count on it!
“cause I can beat you doing what you’re doing to me!”
7) “He left for a break right in the middle of ‘helping’ me!”

More avoidable customer exasperation and disbelief. OK, so you want
your break! OK, you “need” that cigarette… or that sugar high RIGHT NOW.
But must you make your feelings about your acute boredom with
and disdain for customers quite as clear as you do by walking away
from them when you’re supposed to be assisting?
We live in rude, vulgar, selfish, acute me-centered times. These are getting
worse and worse as general acceptance of boorish behavior grows.
Customers, however, continue to expect businesses like  yours to
exhibit service and civility… the more so since they get so little of it otherwise.
Last Words

So,  WHY do you do your customers like you do, do, do when they are
the life blood of your business? WHY do you allow behaviors and actions
which not only irritate customers but hurt yourself and your business? You
see, every negative situation cited above is entirely avoidable. Instead of
doing things which infuriate customers, start singing them Rudy Vallee’s
greatest hit — “My time is your time” . With that as your focus, they’ll stop
moaning “How come you  do me like you do, do, do?” and start whistling
a tune you’ll like a whole lot better.

How to stay focused and make money on days you DON’T feel like it!

Did you lay in bed this morning unwilling, unable
to get up? Did every fibre of your body demand
more time in the sack? Was it a struggle to
open an eye… and get up?
Sure enough, if today wasn’t like this, some
of your many tomorrows will be. You need to be
prepared for such inevitabilities… because they
can and will occur and can and will sabotage your
ability to make money. Here are some suggestions
that’ll help you rise and shine… suggestions I use
myself when getting up and getting going are most
decidedly NOT my first priority!
1) Create a “to do” list before you go to bed.
The key to making tomorrow organized, efficient,
and profitable is what  you do today. Make it a
rule before you retire for the night to draw up a
clear, clean, specific “to do” list. Write it, read it
over, put it next to the bed… then turn off the lights.
While you’re sleeping your subconscious mind
will be busily at work helping you organize and
implement the items on your list. Even when your
body is screaming for more sleep and all the
creature comforts it can get, the brain — and
your crucial “to do” list — will be helping you get
up and at ‘em.
2) Take a cold shower.
The British empire, the largest the world has ever
known, was practically built on a cascade of frigid
water. Its young men, pillars of the imperium, were
shipped off to prep schools and immediately
subjected to the jarring temperatures which will work
for you as well as it worked for them.  Don’t stand
there and debate…. turn up the cold tap and plunge!
You’re about to be invigorated, rejuvenated,  primed
to run your empire.
3) Do some exercise.
Are you huddling in a corner of your kitchen,
hands gripping a cup of joe, comfy in your bunny
slippers? Whoa! This isn’t helping getting your act
together. You need some brisk, bracing exercise…
the kind guaranteed to send vital oxygen to that all-
important brain.
Put the steaming liquid down and kick up your
heels… or quick-step around your back yard or
up and down your street. With every step your
brain will exult. The key isn’t coffee… it’s oxygen.
Move bristly and infuse it where it must go for
maximum good.
4) Give yourself an easy, immediate success.
Don’t feel like doing anything? Then give yourself
an easy, immediate success. This should, of course,
have been indicated on your “to do” list. Before you go
to bed be sure to post on your list an easy thing,
a thing that will start today’s sequence of successes.
Once begun, as we say in New England, is half done.
What could this “easy” thing be?
It could be calling a long-time customer to get
a nice re-order or following up with a new customer to
whom you’ve already sent a proposal and quote.
One success engenders another. Even a small
success is sufficient. Start successful, remain successful.
It all begins when you least feel like it.
5) Put on your head phones and engage with
some stirring music.
Still need help getting into gear? Go to the play list
on  your computer and choose something rousing.
What? You don’t have such a play list? Start it
today. I can assure you, you are going to need it.
Here are some of my sure-fire upbeat selections,
guaranteed to get you going:
Wake up Little Suzie by the Everly Brothers (most
appropriate, don’t you think?)
Think by Aretha Franklin.
Natalie Cole’s version of Pink Cadillac, and
J.P. Rameau’s always motivating Tambourins I-II
from Dardanus.
Your list may well be different from mine; the
important thing is to have a list you can access at
once. Turn up the sound… and move your body.
Your uplifting selections are moving you towards
another successful day.
6) Visualize what you’ll get when you turn this day
into a success.
All too often we work without conceptualizing why.
We work today because we worked yesterday.
This is not nearly good enough.
Remind yourself just why you’re working and what
special thing today’s successes will help create.
In my case, for instance, I have a pile of auction
catalogs stacked high next to my computer. I motivate
myself on days when such motivation is needed by
looking at the things I want from auctions coming up
quickly. Getting myself focused and together is a
precondition for maximum acquisition. Visualize
success; then do what’s necessary to achieve it.
7) Still not alert and moving? Then take the day off
formally and properly.
Like most people these days, you are working
more and longer than either your parents or grand
parents. We are the most leisure-challenged
generation ever.
The plain fact is, you may be unable to get up and
resolutely face the day because you’re just worn
out. If so, take the day off… sleep in, sleep properly,
sleep, relax and goof off without guilt. You’ll be the better
tomorrow if you take what is necessary and do not
regard it as an indulgence but physical need.  Enjoy!

Are you an entrepreneur? Check these crucial attributes and see if you really measure up. (You probably don’t.)

Author’s program note. This is an article about bold, visionary, business risk- takers called “entrepreneurs”. Such people, by their intelligence, diligence, and shear bravado, overawe movie and sports stars in public awareness and regard and dwarf any renown which may come with mere public office, even the most high.
Entrepreneurs are the heroes of our age; never have they been more discussed, emulated, venerated and even worshipped as they are right now. On campuses around the nation and the world, the giants of entrepreneurial fame draw standing room only crowds while mere authors, statesmen, and musicians take second place, or worse.
Oh, yes, these are the heady days for entrepreneurs. It is no wonder you wish to enroll yourself amongst their ranks. But are you really cut out to be an entrepreneur? This article will make that clear, one way or the other.
To put you in the right frame of mind, I’ve selected the theme music for the hit television series “Star Trek”, which celebrates those who boldly go where no man has gone before. This music was composed by Alexander Courage for the series which debued in 1966. It is highly suitable for those who don’t merely move into the future… they create it. You can easily find it in any search engine. Get it now… turn up the volume… and closely follow the points in this article which will make it clear whether you will captain your own Starship Enterprise, or not…
What is an entrepreneur? Let’s start with the definition.
Entrepreneur was originally a French word taken over lock, stock and barrel by the English speaking world, much to the dismay of the Academie Francaise, official guardian of the French language. Its definition is “One who undertakes to start and conduct an enterprise or business, assuming full control and risk.” Now let’s see if you are this person.
1) Entrepreneurs see the world not just as it is… but as it should be. From this fundamental fact about entrepreneurs all other facts derive.
Scratch an entrepreneur and you’ll find a person who is not just tinkering with human reality today… but has been tinkering with it right from the get-go, even from the cradle. They never see just what is… in their mind’s eye they see each and every situation as it can be… must be; they have only to do their bit.
2) Entrepreneurs say with Harry S. Truman, who proved as president of these United States to have the soul and inclinations of an entrepreneur, that “You can’t have anything worth while without difficulties”. And, “Mistakes would be made. No one who accomplished things could expect to avoid mistakes. Only those who did nothing made no mistakes.”
Those without the blood and fiber of an entrepreneur live their lives in chagrined remembrance for all the mistakes, errors, miscalculations and bonehead decisions they have already made… and are sure, given the chance, they will make again. This paralyzes them… for they are sure that when they decide, that decision will be wrong. On this destructive basis no progress is ever possible.
Entrepreneurs are very different.
Each and every decision made opens the possibility for error. This is the real world in which entrepreneurs live and flourish… accepting whatever transpires as yet another valuable learning step, as they walk the road to improving the human condition.
3) Entrepreneurs are “people-people”. They understand their work, all their work, is for people, unlike those without the entrepreneurial wherewithal who, in this withering phrase, “love humanity but hate people.”
An entrepreneur looks at a given situation and sees people unable to fulfill their God- given potential because of a condition, an obstacle which can, given the idea, the desire, the resources, and their own time and energy, be changed, improved, or even eradicated, sent to the scrap heap of invidious, enfeebling circumstances that the collectivity of entrepreneurs and their active, can-do ways have removed as obstacles to the perfectibility of mankind.
In short, while others immerse themselves in fallibilities and dismay, the entrepreneur activates Teddy Roosevelt’s celebrated recommendation to “do the best you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.”
They know to the depths of their being that there is nothing so wrong that cannot be righted by the sum and substance of their parts, their humanity, their problem-solving capabilities… and that je ne sais quoi that distinguishes them from the run of mankind which sees obstacles as finalities… not challenges which they can meet… with grace, joy, and gratitude that they had the chance to serve.
4) Entrepreneurs crash, burn, hurt… and get up to try it all over again.
In the international best-seller “Zorba the Greek” (published 1964), author Mikis Theodarakis writes of a young English entrepreneur who gets entangled with and wiped out by the bad advice and worse assistance of Zorba, who is at best a con man. He follows Zorba’s catastrophic advice… and in a memorable scene watches as the Rube Goldberg machine Zorba has created collapses, costing the entrepreneur every cent he has… and more. For an instant, stunned by the implosion of all his prospects, every dream and expectation, he is stupified, angry, lost. Then he shows the true grit of even the grieving entrepreneur, “Teach me to dance,” he asks Zorba, not at all the line we expected… but should have. It is what a real entrepreneur would say… and dance the sirtaki.
This is how entrepreneurs face catastrophe… for as Thomas Alva Edison, revered of American entrepreneurs, said, â??I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t workâ?, commenting on what he learned from the exasperation of years of “failure.” Sublime.
5) Entrepreneurs uplift, never cast down.
No one knows better than an entrepreneur how difficult the improvement of the human condition can be; certainly those without the entrepreneurial disposition and experience cannot.
Thus, on any opportunity, wherever they happen to be, entrepreneurs lift up, encourage, and ease the way. Thus they administer in friendship and human solidarity essential truths and elements which have benefited them and from which hopeful others may benefit, too.
Entrepreneurs carry with them at all times, truths and insights derived from their unique vantage points, practical advice and admonitions, steady advice, always utilitarian, on what to do… and what not to. They never think, as those without entrepreneurial proclivities do, that to give to others is to diminish yourself. Their point of view is radically different — and always helpful.
And one more thing…
Entrepreneurs, however much they have managed to achieve alone, know that their success is always predicated upon the dedicated assistance and endeavors of the crucial people who constitute their team. It is their honor, their pride and responsibility to recognize and thank these sinews of their success, and they are glad to do so.
When was the last time you did as much for the good people who have helped you? Isn’t it time you did, you who aspire to be an entrepreneur?

Sales Tip: Always Be Closing (ABC). The one simple rule that will help increase your sales.

I don’t know who came up with the phrase, “Always Be Closing” but it’s brilliant. In sales circles it’s known more simply as ABC.
If you are in sales, this simple catchy phrase will help keep you on track to making sales.
Here’s some insight into sales and how to increase the number of sales YOU make.
Buyers like to get the sales person off track.
They like to ask questions, lots of questions.
They ask:
Does it come in blue?
What’s the guarantee?
Buyers like to stall, hedge, avoid.
They say:
I have to ask my wife.
I want to look around.
I think I can get a better deal somewhere else.
Buyers like to know that their business matters, that they are getting some personal attention to earn their business.
But sales people, know the ABC’s of sales – Always Be Closing.
Smart, successful sales people know that happy customers and good sales people go hand in hand.
They know that spending a little extra time with a serious buyer, or creating a personalized offer can be exactly what is needed to clinch a sale.
The buyer wants their questions answered so they can make the decision to buy. The smart salesperson wants to answer those questions and move the person ever closer to buying.
My colleague, Dr. Jeffrey Lant talks about the sales dance. He likens the sales process to a type of courtship. The sales person approaches, the buyer is shy, aloof. The sales person comes closer, offers the right words, and assurances. The buyer plays hard to get but shows interest. The sales person is more engaging, tries harder with a better offer, always moving toward the close.
ABC – Always be Closing means this:
Answering relevant questions, eliminating obstacles to the sale being made, helping with payment plans, reassuring the buyer, making special offers, sweetening the deal, whatever it takes to get the sale.
Closing the sale means finding out from the customer, what it will take to get them to buy NOW, not next week, or next month. The best sales people are listeners. They listen to what the buyer wants and they determine a way to get it for them so the sale is made, today. You can HEAR someone who wants to buy, if you stop talking long enough to listen.
ABC means doing your job right so the customer gets a great deal and you make a great sale!
Most of us have been on the receiving end of a poor sales person, and we also remember that warm happy feeling when you’ve made a purchase that you feel good about. We like to feel special, a good sales person can make that happen or alternatively with the wrong approach can make you walk away.
Happy customer’s who feel they got a good deal can be a repeat customer or a customer for life. Unhappy customers help you learn what you could perhaps be doing better. The right approach with an unhappy customer can convert them into a happy one! In fact, they may end up being your best customer because they see you actually cared and tried to make better a problem situation.
Got a sticky note? Write ABC on a sticky note, and post it on your computer. It will help remind you when you are talking to a customer, or answering an email, or sending a quote, or posting an offer, remember to Always Be Closing.
*** We invite your comments below.

The most bully pulpit on earth — your blog, and how to use it to make a difference.

Author’s program note. Have you ever felt that the problems of our muddled planet are too much for you… that you’d like your brief span on our bit of terra firma to matter… but can’t imagine how to get started? In short, have you despaired… about your power, your abilities, your significance… about the future of our 3rd rock from the Sun… about making a difference that will last and make you proud?
Let me tell you this, fellow pilgrim, every single good person on Spaceship Earth has these thoughts; you wouldn’t be the sentient soul you are if you didn’t burn the midnight oil pondering these great questions of our species and its impact.
If you truly want to make that vital difference, then you will read this timely article and read it again… because it makes clear and in necessary detail just what awe-inspiring power you have at your immediate disposal… and how to use it, over and over again, with ever growing experience and impact; a power that no Caesar ever had… no grave thinker… no nimble statesman… no dedicated man or woman of any kind (no matter how bold and innovative)… until the Internet came along and gave you — you — the power to change… to motivate… to chide… to encourage … to uplift… to censure… to rethink and to re-examine… to educate… to cherish… to bring kindred spirits together… and lighten their labors whilst singing their praises.
You — you — wherever you are on this fast-spinning sphere, can alter the course of events, scrutinize and reshape the present, transform the future, enhance anything, enrich everything, place nefarious and heinous deeds under the most stark and unremitting light… whilst bringing to widespread public notice good thoughts, good deeds, good actions of every kind from every quarter and source.
All this and more is inherent in what we call a blog…and you have trod this world at just the right time… a time every reformer, redeemer, and revolutionary of the past envies you — you — for you possess what they could never even dream of whatever their station, intellect, or influence.
Commit.
First, commit and re-commit yourself to making a difference…not merely thinking of doing so, but actually pledging yourself to do so. When I was a young man thinking often about and baffled by my future, my mother offered me a salient piece of advice I have not only recalled from time to time… but crafted my life by: commit yourself, she said, to a cause that’s bigger than you are, a cause that will need every skill you may master and all your imagination, energy, and the full measure of your heart, above all your heart.
This is a worthy objective for a life… though it never ceases to challenge and make demands which can sometimes seem too great, too exhausting, too strenuous. However, you will never know who you are unless you set such a rigorous pace and objective; for the grand goal and how you handle it make clear beyond question and cavil who you are…
Just one little candle.
Every great deed, every worthy thought, every beneficial action of every kind has begun with one step. Instead of being oppressed by all there is to do, instead be glad and comforted by the fact that you have the power now to begin… for as we say in New England, “well begun is half done.”
Begin by saying, writing down and carrying with you at all times, the first four lines from the song “One Little Candle”. You can find it in any search engine.
“It is better to light just one little candle Than to stumble in the dark Better far that you light just one little candle, All you need is a tiny spark.”
(Music George Mysels, Lyrics Joseph Maloy Roach. Published 1952.)
Bully pulpit, not cliche, dross, drivel.
The term bully pulpit was coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to the White House as a powerful platform for advocating a progressive agenda. In his day only presidents and other holders of high offices had this power… but that is true no longer. You — you — have at your immediate disposal powers and the potential for change, influence, and impact greater even than the man who coined the phrase and used it to effect the broadest possible results.
Unfortunately, some blog publishers are unclear on their mission and thus regularly publish material that is second-rate, old-hat, badly written, verbiage that would be better trashed than recycled through endless editions. Instead be clear on this: the material you publish must be worthy of a blog’s potential and your ability to live up to it. That is every word, every sentence, every paragraph, every page must adhere to the highest possible standards, or else the whole enterprise is pointless, derisory, infra dig. And that result will never do… nor will it help you reach your goal of influencing the maximum number of people on this planet and so effecting meaningful change.
Celebrate, sustain, advance the underdog.
People of power, means, access, influence and position have absolutely no need for your services. They already occupy every significant place on Earth and the benefits and emoluments pertaining thereunto. Your task, to be worth the doing, must be to be clear on what you should be doing… who you should be supporting… and who scrutinizing and holding accountable. In other words, the best use of your blog is to support the underdog in any and every way at your empowered disposal. The world is full of the dispossessed, the disenfranchised, the desperate, the down trodden, the disappeared, the destitute. They are legion as are their stories of alienation, injustice, abuse; all too often thrust aside, deferred, buried, belittled, unregarded, distorted, dismissed.
Which is where you, your commitment, your blog, that bully pulpit, come in. In a world of such unending outrages, your task is clear and crucial, for all there will be days when it seems overwhelming.
Remember this, to have the power to effect good and to fail to use it regularly, pointedly, thoroughly is not merely an error, but dereliction, sacrilege, incomprehensible, immoral.
Thus, vow to set your blog on the path of unremitting reform. It will demand everything you’ve got with results unpredictable and never final. But this is God’s work… and so it must be done… and why not by you and the blog that can touch and transform all? For, after all, you yourself are the one little candle that must be lit, that you may stand out in bold radiance, a beacon of hope for all the world and all who need you so.
### Your response to this article is requested. What do you think? Let us know by posting your comments below.

‘Darling, I am growing old, silver threads among the gold.’ Telltale signs you’re an old coot.

Author’s program note! Do you know the great Irish tenor John McCormack? If not, your grandmother surely did. “I tell you Mary Louise, he has the voice of an angel, an angel…” One of the multitude of songs he popularized and made his own was the famous tune “Silver threads among the gold”. You couldn’t listen without a tear or two dropping gently on your lap… no matter who you were or what your situation. There was that in the singer and his song that made even the most stoic lachrymose.
And so I have selected for the occasional music to this article, “Silver threads among the gold”, perhaps the most popular ballad of the period starting with its copyright in 1873 right into the 1920s. The all affecting lyrics are by Eben E. Rexford, music by Hart Pease Danks. You’ll find it in any search engine. Go now; find it; listen more than once and sniffle… because this music, these lyrics, this article are all about….. you….. the you getting older and stranger by the day…. you old coot, you.
Pity the poor coot.
I want you to know — and coot lovers worldwide demand that I tell you — the coot is an honorable, hard working, entirely meritorious fowl. It is a medium-sized water bird in good standing, well known and up-to-date in its membership in the rail family Rallidae. They constitute, and proudly too, the genus Fulica with eye-catching predominantly black plumage. They are common in South America, Europe, and North America, too.
Now hear this: they vigorously oppose the appropriation of their good name to describe eccentric or crotchety persons and are herewith filing a declaration and grievance with the United Nations. They aver and make clear: there is nothing wrong with coots in general, and old coots must be venerated, never, never derided and made the object of ridicule and derision. However some more insightful coots realize the only bad publicity is no publicity… and so these progressive birds use the expression themselves with glee and impunity.
Are you an old coot?
Consider the case of my honorable father and his telephone answering machine. Over time, this once pristine and useful device has deteriorated. First the machine lost about one in ten calls; then about one quarter of the calls went unrecorded… until now the number of lost calls and messages is hovering at a perfect 100%. It is just about impossible to leave a message for him.
When told of this situation, as he now constantly is, he says “I know. Other people tell me that.” And each and every one of these folks wishing for immediate connection with my venerable sire says the same thing: “You need a new answering machine.” But my father has a firm response based on his current age (86), likely check-out date, and a gnawing belief he will not get his full and complete money’s worth out of any new answering machine… and so the matter rests from day to day… his standing as an old coot now entirely secure and certain. What’s more, if he was to get as a gift, for Christmas say or his next birthday, a telephone answering machine, he probably could not be induced even to take it out of the box, for, after all, he didn’t really need it; his current machine, despite its foibles and idiosyncrasies is still working, never mind that it only performs its necessary function at the most intermittent of occasions.
Out of range.
The same is true with Dad’s O*Keefe and Merritt range. It’s, 25, maybe 30, years old, or even more. And whilst it is no doubt a fine company producing a fine product, this particular product has seen better days; to the extent that it cooks the food he likes hot and just so only about half way. And this, as one may well imagine, irritates the old fellow. But because he is not just an old fellow but an old coot, he is not about to let that range go; after all it still cooks about half his food reasonably well.
And so, instead of calling the Sears appliance center or other venue offering stoves at fetching prices, he called….. O*Keefe and Merritt to see if they had the part that was defective on his unit. The representative he ultimately connected with laughed aloud when he gave her the part number, “Honey, we haven’t produced that part for over 25 years.” And that should have been that… trip to oven store at once… new machine to be installed next Thursday.
But old coots don’t think that way…. no indeed.
All but useless… still good enough for coots.
If there’s a penny’s worth of value left in any object, no matter that that object can not do the job you need done, a coot, any coot, will die rather than lose that value. That’s why dear old Dad, not only did not get a new range, but told the flip wench that he would keep looking for the part until he found it. Then he called a couple of repair places to see if they could help; they couldn’t. This continued until he had the bright idea of going to Ebay, and there the matter rests because he doesn’t know how to use Ebay and daren’t ask me because he already knows what I’ll say and getting rid of the friggin’ stove is just the beginning.
I’d make him chuck the toaster that doesn’t quite toast… “but I only got it 15 years ago, and it should be good for another 5,000 pieces at least…”
The typewriter he hasn’t used, not to type a single letter or address label in a couple of decades at least… “but it’s an Olivetti, top of the line”… Then the punch line, “They discontinued this model years ago, and you can’t get ribbons anymore.” Of course.
Even the bromo seltzer in the medicine cabinet… that he picked up for “Just a penny, I tell you” at the estate sale of my great grandmother, the sale held when I was just 13 or 14 or so; (I’m 64 now). Then, in 1959, it was already over 20 years old. But she’d say when people told her to get rid of it, she’d say with horror, “Why, what an idea, Lura Marshall”… and then these unanswerable words: “You never know”… and these unanswerable words were rendered with the hauteur of a queen… or at the very least of someone who knew a great, dark, secret, like maybe it was a poison reserved for her Satanic rites. But it was worse, far worse than that.
Now I know what that secret is.
You see, that bottle of bromo seltzer arrived the other day, compliments of my father who decided he needed the space, but absolutely couldn’t throw this away. Why, it was owned by his own grandmother.
When I opened that box, I knew; I knew not only I wouldn’t… I couldn’t throw it away.
And so I came to know.. and now I tell you the secret, that .. becoming an old coot is a matter of heredity, genetics, not choice, which makes me a Young Coot.
Thus I called Poor Old Dad (it took over a dozen attempts to reach him on his wonky answering machine) and promised I’ll find him that part if it takes a year, or more; he’s right, that range is far too valuable to discard, and new ones cost the earth.
You don’t have to have silver threads among the gold to know that, although I most surely do. Why if I find that part, and I shall, that range has at least 20 good years left…. Dad says he’s leaving it to me…
*** Your comments on this article are invited.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Heir Presumptive… Joseph P. Kennedy III, we have been impatiently awaiting you.

Author’s program note. When the White Hope of a great dynasty reveals himself and his intentions, it is only fitting that this moment of significance be marked and marked well. Thus, gentles all, I give you Sir William Walton’s stirring prelude to the 1944 film of Shakespeare’s Henry V. It is everything such music about such a king and his great deeds should be: audacious to a degree, soaring, stirring to the depth of your soul.. It’s the kind of music that great sovereigns must have…. but cannot always summon; the necessary genius of such music not at hand.
But that genius and his talents are here now… go now to any search engine to find this music. It delivers just the right mood of challenge, courage, grandiloquence, and awe that this tale and its subject deserve — and which I aim to tell in this way:
“O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!”
(Prologue to Henry V).
I am that Muse of fire…
A state that grew too slow, a House seat lost, a petulant miscalculation, an opening seized.
Every ten years, by law and custom, we the people must be counted and counted carefully, for the great things of the Great Republic, including who will get and who will lose seats in the House of Representatives, are fully determined by this census. And once the census is taken its immutable dictates go out to the several states which have either lost population, seats, and influence, or gained them. And this census stripped Massachusetts of yet another seat… and inaugurated a deadly game of musical chairs amongst the current Congressmen as to who would stay and who would go. And the legislature (which controls the size and contortions of each district) degreed that Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) would be handed the fight of his political life; that he would have to fight and fight hard, with absolutely no guarantee of victory, to retain his place amongst the Solons of the nation.
And so this 16-term Congressman, grown puissant and corpulent in office, a man whose every lightning-fast quip offended someone of consequence who awaited the opportunity to revenge, this man, the man who thought himself too good, too powerful, too venerable to suffer the indignity of campaigning and meeting the people, disdained his high office, thereby opening the way for the Heir Presumptive of The Legacy and a lifetime of regret for himself.
The Plantagenets at 83 Beals Street, Brookline, Massachusetts.
You will never understand the Kennedys (who neither disclaim nor deprecate their designation as America’s dynasty), until you see them at 83 Beals Street, where John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in 1917; for it was here that Patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy and his adamant wife transformed a mere family, Irish at that, into a gifted and determined cadre trained to seize a great nation and rearrange its history to their eternal benefit.
… Just as another ambitious family planned, plotted and persevered. These were the Plantagenets of the 12th century and of England; they are the truest dynastic comparison for the Kennedys; not the timid souls of the House of Windsor who can only imagine the glamor and significance of these royal princes, for they will never have either.
The Plantangents had everything great dynasts and their dynasties must have to rise and prosper. They had grit, personal magnetism and charisma, great ideas, a deft hand at murder and chastisement, and a fortitude and grace that are the very definition of royalty.
These Plantagents, from Geoffrey of Anjou (d. 1151), used their undeniable talents and insistence, catapulted themselves to power and glory, using every stratagem, every while, every expedient, cruel and refined. And so unwittingly not only defined themselves but the Kennedys, too; for every Kennedy knows the power of History… and gladly does what it takes therein to cement their unassailable position… whatever the cost, the inconvenience, or laborious tergiversations.
And now, thanks to the petulance of soon-to-be-ex-Congressman Frank, and the practised and exquisite timing of the Family Kennedy and their now hopeful and expectant again adherents, Beals Street and its environs will again be part of their patrimony, thanks to young Joseph P. Kennedy III, for with such a name as his calling card, can there be anything other than invigoration, restoration, renaissance at hand?
Meet Joseph P. Kennedy III, Heir Presumptive.
To understand the optimism and even joy with which this hitherto virtually unknown man has been lately received you must know this: for 64 years, until the somewhat clouded retirement of U.S. Representative Patrick J. Kennedy (D-Rhode Island), son of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), there had always been a Kennedy in the federal legislature; each one a household name.
When that ended in 2010, there was a sense that this storied family had reached its conclusion, not with a bang but a whimper. But this conclusion, it appears, was premature. For developing in the wings was… the next chapter of this family and its tale that has never ceased to rivet the nation…
But now this tale has every sense of continuing, yea verily even unto the fourth generation. For now young Kennedy (31 years old) is “exploring”, letting the people know he is inclined to run, but not yet quite ready to say so. However the Kennedys are expert at the business of enticement, inciting expectations and anticipations; they want the people to embrace this lad, who constitutes their next best chance to regain federal office and re-ignite the flame of destiny…
Some facts.
Joseph P. Kennedy III was born July 3, 1980 and was handed his destiny along with his name, The Name that firmly marked him as a consequential Personage; a prince in readiness for the good of Family and the Great Republic. Implicit in The Name is this: great grandson of The Patriarch himself, Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy; grandson of Robert Kennedy; son of ex-Congressman Joseph Kennedy. And that’s just the direct line. There are cousins, aunts, uncles of renown… Names themselves, ensconced in History, each desiring restoration; for only with restoration will they fulfill their own destinies, enhance their names, burnish their futures and ensure their immortality.
Thus you can be sure the reshaped Fourth Congressional District will see, as soon as the all-important announcement is made, an infusion of energetic, toothsome, photogenic Kennedys, certain to enchant, delight and capture hearts…. for these Kennedys are past masters at such seductive, vote-snagging techniques and are now refreshing them in honor of the Heir Presumptive on whom perforce their own futures rest.
All that stands between this man and radiant future are the people of Newton, Brookline, Fall River and all the other towns and cities of the reshaped Fourth Congressional District. The man, the Kennedys, the dynasty itself are in their hands, to do with as they wish. But they, too, have been awaiting the next installment of this great story, and to get it must welcome the man, who with his celebrated name, can provide it. So far these people are curious about what’s happening, ready in their dull purlieus to be touched by the Kennedy magic. And this is enough for today, for after all just a few hours ago not one of these people knew of Joseph P. Kennedy III or could point him out in a police line-up. Now, already, things are different, primed for success, as they always are when Kennedys stride the stage…
*** What do you think? Submit your comments below.