“Early to bed and early to rise means you miss all of the late night TV.”- Brad Montgomery, Motivational Speaker
“Humor is a serious thing. I like to think of it as one of our greatest earliest natural resources, which must be preserved at all cost.”- James Thurber
The US is outraged over Israel’s recent announcement of plans to build 1,600 houses for Jews in East Jerusalem. Reports are that the US is most perturbed about the timing of the announcement – it happened around the time that Vice-President Biden was visiting that region. Not only does the US feel insulted, but there is fear that this move by Israel will defeat attempts by the US to revive fragile peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
My question is: What is this constant antagonism between Israel and the world regarding Jerusalem?
Jerusalem – all of it – belongs to Israel.
Long before the United States became a thought and the United Nations a proposal, Jerusalem was the established capital of Judah, southern section of what is now all Israel. God chose Jerusalem as the central city of what was then the Southern Kingdom, but always said that Jerusalem would always be His everlasting city of what would later become One Israel, Northern and Southern Kingdoms united again. As was foretold by Hebrew prophets, the 20th century saw the rebirth of Israel and the miraculous defeat of neighboring nations that attempted to prevent what God had foretold and had put into motion.
Go to the Bible and see the facts there.
The US has for a long time benefited from its goodness to Israel. This must continue. Additionally, the US must guard against becoming like other nations in its actions towards Israel.
God will always fight for Israel – against all her enemies.
I will admit that we have a serious situation with Palestians living in areas surrounded by Israel. I will concede that efforts must be to ensure that the two peoples live as harmoniously as possible. However, we should not lose sight of the facts – Jerusalem is Israel’s.
So, how does one succeed at internet marketing? The internet is plastered with 1000’s of network marketing ventures. One needs only spend an hour online to be bombarded with innumerably, great-sounding ideas. How many ideas can one person try? ONE or at most TWO ideas should be enough if you want to achieve internet marketing success.
The reality is, unless one is willing to devote all energy and time to a good idea, one will never achieve network marketing success. It is quite easy to be pulled in many directions if you are not committed to ONE.
What then must one do to succeed at internet marketing? It is simple. Research several offerings and select ONE idea (no more than two). Get to know your business in and out:
1. How did the company begin?
2. What is unique about your product?
3. How have business owners fared with that company?
If someone asks what is special about your business, do not repeat some tow line. You will be more convincing if what you say comes from within and from knowing yourself. Get to know.
After deciding which idea to run with, pay little attention to all the other offers of “quick success” and “latest invention to make you rich.” Focus! Focus! Focus! Yes, I would encourage you to seek additional information on how to promote your business. There are many ideas out there. A lot of it is free and some things you will have to pay for. Seek out the free stuff first and then spend a few dollars on something else. Remember, value is in the price.
Some ways to promote include:
1. Free Ad Postings;
2. Traffic Exchanges;
3. Blog Posts; and,
4. Forum Participation.
The above ideas work only to some extent. What I have found about free ad posting sites and traffic exchanges is that the people who participate are just like you – looking for traffic. They may not be prepared to jump into your business. Why should they, anyway? If they want to succeed they need to do what I am telling you – Focus on their business. However, there may be someone who may be trying something that is not working and may be searching for a way out. Your business idea may be the best thing to hit them.
As I said, the free stuff will only work to some extent, which means you may be forced to spend. Look out for meaningful and productive ways to invest every dollar.
To wrap up – to achieve Internet Marketing Success you must Focus on your ONE (or two) business ventures. Avoid being pulled in many directions.
Do you ever wonder why politicians do not or cannot give a straight answer? It is really amazing and downright annoying to watch a politician being interviewed. There is no “Yes” or “No” answer with politicians. Why is that? Yes, someone will say that they must be careful of what they say for that could come back to bite them. True, but shouldn’t we all be careful? What about speaking honestly to an issue?
If someone asks, Senator, did you vote for Bill A? The answer is “Yes” or “No.” The answer should never be, “I voted for Bill A before I voted against it.”
Let me attempt to paint a picture of what a typical interview with a politician looks.
Hostess: Senators, welcome. Thanks for taking the time to join me tonight.
Senator A: It’s good to be here, Greta.
Senator B: Thanks for having me, Greta.
Hostess: Senator A, the President has called a summit to attempt to push healthcare reform forward. Do you think this shows that the President understands that the American people want both sides to work together to find a compromise and do what’s right for the country?
Senator A: Well, Greta, the President has always been mindful of what the American people want and that is why he has been working overtime to get Congress to pass a Bill that will benefit all America.
Hostess: Senator A, can you say that with all the back-room negotiations and special awards to some senators that the President has really been mindful of doing what America demands?
Senator A: Greta, President Obama was elected by the people because of what he promised them – working everyday to make America and the government work for them.
Hostess: Senator B, do you think the President’s call for a healthcare summit underlines his understanding of what the American people want.
Senator B: Greta, President has been pushing a socialist agenda and is leading this country to the far left. My party has said from the beginning that the health care reform bill in its current form is an expansion of government which will lead to the higher premium taxes and a ballooned deficit.
Hostess: Is the President hearing the calls of Americans?
Senator B: The President is an ideologue who is bent on imposing his views on the America people. Calling the summit is really is a futile effort to give a semblance of bi-partisanship.
Hostess: Senator A, are you wearing a blue shirt?
Senator A: Well, Greta, to you it may appear to be blue. However, what you do not know is that when light hits it, it gives off a silver color.
Hostess: Senator A, is the shirt blue?
Senator A: It is whatever color you think it is.
Hostess: Senator B?
Senator B: Well, Greta, I cannot argue with what Senator A has said. Perception is key. The shirt does appear to be blue, navy blue in fact, but it may not be.
Hostess: Senator A, I understand that following the occurrence of angry demonstrations in your state demanding that you vote against the Healthcare Bill or be voted out of office, you are now leaning towards a “No” vote. Senator A, will you be voting “No” on the Healthcare Bill?
Senator A: Greta, let me set the record straight. I have long opposed many aspects of the Healthcare Bill that is currently being debated in the Senate. I have said repeatedly that we must find a way to fix our healthcare mess without adding to the deficit and piling up debts for our children and grandchildren.
Hostess: But, Senator A, you supported the first vote on the Bill. Why the change of heart? Are you fighting to hold your seat in November?
Senator A: As I said before, I have opposed this Bill from the beginning and believe that we must take time to get it right.
Hostess: Thank you, Senator A. Senator B, your party is accused as being the Party of No. Is there anything that Senator A’s party can do to the current Bill to make it a bi-partisan effort?
Senator B: Greta, the President is pushing a socialist agenda that will bankrupt this country. The current Bill needs to be scrapped and re-started.
Hostess: What must be included to get your party’s support?
Senator B: My party has offered many great ideas that will make for more meaningful reform and not push the country to the brink of a Chinese take-over.
Hostess: Senator B, name one of those great ideas.
Senator B: We have proposed tort reform to control malpractice insurance costs which in turn would lower the number of unnecessary tests conducted. Consequently, a visit to the doctor would cost less. Greta, my party believes the current Bill must be stopped before…
Hostess: Thank you, Senator …
Senator B: We must stop the other party from leaving a mountain of debt to our…
Senator A: What about the debt that your party left the current Administration?
Hostess: Senators, we’re out of time. Thank you for being here.
MARTA, Atlanta – Can you learn anything on public transportation? I believe you can. It’s Friday, February 26, 2010. Yea! I boarded the train as usual at the Arts Center MARTA station rushing to catch the Xpress bus that departs the Civic Center station at 5:14. Like most evenings, the train got to the Civic Center after 5:14 and so I was forced to head to Five Points with the hope of catching the bus there. Today I am glad for the extra ride because of something that happened on the train.
Heading south from the Civic Center MARTA the next stop is Peachtree Center. When we stopped there one of the passengers that boarded our car was a Caucasian gentleman with what appeared to be a laptop bag and another piece of luggage. As he entered it appeared that his laptop bag brushed against an African-American man who was sitting in a seat near the door. The newly boarded passenger quickly turned to the seated passenger and said, “I think I brushed you really hard back there and I am sorry.” The other guy responded, “It’s nothing. You’re okay.” The two men then went on to talk about life being too short to walk around with bitterness and stress the petty.
Two remarkable points came out of their conversation. 1. The Caucasian man said that life should be about loving God, loving people, working hard and prospering.
“Wow!” I thought. I knew that before, but it was great hearing it being said somewhat loudly on a train. 2. The African-American mentioned that he and a friend conducted a test on the train to see if they could find 5 smiling faces among of 100 people.
They failed.
As I got ready to leave the train, the Caucasian said that he was from Alabama, attended school in New York City and that was the longest conversation he had had with someone on a train. Although I was not involved in the conversation, I responded, “You are right.”
That conversation left me thinking how much time we waste on temporal and petty stuff. We board the train or bus and care very little about the person sitting or standing beside us. So often we go about life with a frown on our faces.
What are we so mad about?
As the goodly gentlemen reminded us, life is too short to be wasted. Let us get up; get out there; love God; love people; work hard; enjoy the moments; and prosper.
By the way, my pastor would be happy to hear this because he constantly tells us that it’s about loving God and people. Right on, Pastor!
Everyone likes free stuff, so I thought, “Why not give something away?” If you are reading this, then today is your lucky day. I have 7 free ebooks for you.
If you are saying that ebooks are plentiful on the web, you are right. However, when was the last time someone gave you 7 free anything that you used to your benefit? These ebooks will help you in an area that you choose.
What are these books about? How about: 1. How to Generate Quick Cash; 2. 7 Keys to Success; 3. Budget Travel; or 4. Starting Your Own Scrapbooking Business? Get these and 3 more books designed to help you.
What’s even better about this gift is that you can give the books away, or sell them. Make some extra cash. The private label rights (PLR) are yours.
So, what are you waiting for? Follow this link and get your ebooks. Click here.
If you would like some additional ebooks, 12 more, visit us – click here.
I saw a segment of Bill O’Reilly’s, The Factor, this evening and was alarmed at what some people think of Americans. Two guys, Joe Klein and Bill Maher basically said (written and spoken words) that most Americans are stupid. Their contention is that too many of us do not pay attention to the facts – current affairs – and therefore can be easily swayed or influenced. Wow!
Could it be true that we do not know what the government is doing? Could it be true that when ordinary people oppose legislation it is simply because someone tells us that we should be angry and disagree and so we do? Is it true that most Americans do not really think for themselves?
You answer those questions and let the “Elitist” know who you are and how much you know.
My bigger concern is whether we as Christians suffer from ignorance? The Bible declares that God’s people “are destroyed from a lack of knowledge.” Now that is deep. How much do we know about the Word of God – the Bible? And how much do we allow what we know to influence how we live our lives?
Are we a people who are moved by emotions and charisma, but know little about what God says? What do we do when the minister is not around to give us a word or to pray for us? Do we have faith – the same measure of faith that is given to every follower of Christ – to believe God? When we are lied on, mistreated, verbally abused, etc. what do we use as a guide for how we respond? When the world loves only their friends, and those who look like them, act like them or are from the same neck of the woods as they are, how do we respond to the unlovable, the rejected, the outcast?
What is our guide-book? My hope is that the Bible is. But, do we really know the Word? If we don’t, we will not know when we have messed up – missed the mark. The truth is, getting to know the truths of the God’s Word remains a challenge for all of us. Yet, I believe that our resolve should be to get to know more – always.
We will not be destroyed from a lack of knowledge. Amen.
In your fight to protect or repair your credit score, here is some additional information that you may find helpful.
A. Keep the contact information for credit bureaus handy.
The three major credit bureaus are important to contact if you are going to be repairing your credit score. The three major credit agencies can help you by sending you your credit report. (Note: You can get your credit report for FREE at www.annualcreditreport.com. However, you are only allowed one copy per year from each credit agency. Here’s a good tip: Get a copy of your credit report from a different credit agency every four months. Consequently, you will have 3 copies of your credit report every year – 1 from each agency.) If you find an error on your credit report, these are also the companies you must contact in order to correct the problem. You can easily contact these organizations by telephone or through the Internet:
Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc
Telephone: 1-888-766-0008
Online: www.equifax.com
Experian National Consumer Assistance Center
Telephone: 1-888-397-3742
Online: www.experian.com
TransUnion LLC Consumer Disclosure Center
Telephone: 1-800-888-4213
Online: www.tuc.com
You may want to note this information wherever most of your financial information is kept so that you can easily contact the bureaus whenever you need to. Your local yellow pages should also have the contact information of these credit agencies as well.
A. Develop an action plan for dealing with your credit score.
Once you have your credit report and your credit score, you will be able to tell where you stand and where many of your problems lie. If you have a poor score, try to see in your credit report what could be causing the problem:
- Do you have too much debt?
- Too many unpaid bills?
- Have you recently faced a major financial upset such as a bankruptcy?
- Have you simply not had credit long enough to establish good credit?
- Have you defaulted on a loan, failed to pay taxes, or recently been reported to a collection agency?
The problems that contribute to your credit problems should dictate how you decide to boost your credit score. As you read through this ebook, highlight or jot down those tips that apply to you and from them develop a checklist of things you can do that would help your credit situation improve. When you seek professional credit counseling or credit help, counselors will generally work with you to help you develop a personalized strategy that expressly addresses your credit problems and financial history. Now, with this ebook, you can develop a similar strategy on your own – in your own time and at your own cost.
When developing your action plan, know where most of your credit score is coming from:
1) Your credit history (accounts for more than a third of your credit score in some cases). Whether or not you have been a good credit risk in the past is considered the best indicator of how you will react to debt in the future. For this reason, late payment, loan defaults, unpaid taxes, bankruptcies, and other unmet debt responsibilities will count against you the most. You can’t do much about your financial past now, but starting to pay your bills on time – starting today – can help boost your credit score in the future.
2) Your current debts (accounts for approximately a third of your credit score in some cases). If you have lots of current debt, it may indicate that you are stretching yourself financially thin and so will have trouble paying back debts in the future. If you have a lot of money owing right now – and especially if you have borrowed a great deal recently – this fact will bring down your credit score. You can boost your credit score by paying down your debts as far as you can.
3) How long you have had credit (accounts for up to 15% of your credit score in some cases). If you have not had credit accounts for very long, you may not have enough of a history to let lenders know whether you make a good credit risk. Not having had credit for a long time can affect your credit score. You can counter this by keeping your accounts open rather than closing them off as you pay them off.
4) The types of credit you have (accounts for about one tenth of your credit score, in most cases). Lenders like to see a mix of financial responsibilities that you handle well. Having bills that you pay as well as one or two types of loans can actually improve your credit score. Having at least one credit card that you manage well can also help your credit score.
As you can see, it is possible to only estimate how much a specific area of your credit report affects your credit score. Nevertheless, keeping these four areas in mind and making sure that each is addressed in your personalized plan will go a long way in making sure that your personalized credit repair plan is comprehensive enough to boost your credit effectively.
If you are like many of us, you may be saying, “I wish Jesus would come my way.” Some of us even love to sing one of the old gospel songs, “Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by.” We tell ourselves that we must reach out to Jesus – as if to suggest that He is in a hurry – so that He can minister unto us. And this we do because as a verse of that same old song says:
There’s not a road too rough for Jesus.
There’s not a mountain that is too high.
He sees you – every step you take.
He’s watching with His eye.
When you fall,
He’ll pick you
Don’t stay down there and die -
Reach out and touch the Lord, as He goes by.
Yes, we are right about two things: 1. we can touch Jesus; and 2. we are dead on in believing that He brings change. As one searches the pages of the gospels, there are many instances of Jesus meeting people with needs and bringing relief and deliverance to their lives.
Let’s examine some of those occurrences. In St. Mark we read about the woman who was sick for several years with “an issue of blood.” As Jesus journeyed to Jairus’ house to raise his daughter who had died, the woman touched Jesus’ clothing and was healed immediately. Do you think it was a coincidence that he went by the woman’s way?
We read in Luke that as Jesus traveled through Jericho, Zaccheus, a hated tax-collector, climbed a tree to see him. Now Jesus, who had seen Zaccheus from the foundation of the world, stopped, told him to come down and went home with him. By the time Jesus was ready to leave, Zaccheus the “selfish and hated Publican”, became Zaccheus the “contrite and changed believer.” He restored what taxes he had taken illegally, even up to 4 times the original amount. What a change!
We also read in St. Luke that Jesus and his disciples went walking down the streets of Nain. As they did, they saw a group of people taking a coffin to the cemetery. The dead was the son of a poor widow, who was following close by. Was it a coincidence that Jesus went down the streets of Nain? Jesus went to the group, told that dead boy to arise and gave him to his mother – alive! The group of people, who only a few minutes before was headed to the cemetery, turned around and went to church praising God. Alleluia!
Finally, in St. John we read that some poor, crippled guy sat by the Pool of Siloam for 38 years waiting to get in, whenever the water was troubled, so he could be healed. Jesus “happened by” one day and the rest is history. That guy got on his feet and worshipped God who had delivered him from his miserable existence.
As we look at the examples above, one thing seems to reoccur – it appears that Jesus “just showed up.” I mentioned before that we are right to believe that we can touch Jesus, and that He brings change. However, we are wrong to think that Jesus “passes by.” There is no coincidence or accident with Jesus. For those four people whose stories I recounted, Jesus deliberately showed up in their time of need. He went their way, because those four people needed him.
The fact is, Jesus knows our needs, He feels our pain and He is ready and able to bring about change in our lives. Jesus does not pass by, because He is here, with us, in us (for those who by faith have received Him as Lord and Savior of their lives). The prophet declared that His name would be called Immanuel, which means, God with us. Yes, Jesus is within you and me and He makes change possible.
To add a little more, when talking about the New Covenant, the Bible states in Hebrews that God would dwell in us and we in Him, and that we would be His people and He would be our God – forever. That is what we get with the coming of Jesus into the world – an opportunity to have Him always in us, enabling us to lead powerfully, positive lives as He, by the Holy Spirit, lives and works in us.
If you are going to improve your credit score, then logic has it that you must understand what your credit score is and how it works. Without this information, you won’t be able to very effectively improve your score because you won’t understand how the things you do in daily life affect your score. If you don’t understand how your credit score works, you will also be at the mercy of any company that tries to tell you how you can improve your score – on their terms and at their price.
In general, your credit score is a number that lets lenders know how much of a credit risk you are. The credit score is a number, usually between 300 and 850, that lets lenders know how well you are paying off your debts and how much of a credit risk you are. In general, the higher your credit score, the better credit risk you make and the more likely you are to be given credit at great rates. Scores in the low 600s and below will often give you trouble in finding credit, while scores of 720 and above will generally give you the best interest rates out there. However, credit scores are a lot like GPAs or SAT scores from college days – while they give others a quick snapshot of how you are doing, they are interpreted by people in different ways. Some lenders put more emphasis on credit scores than others. Some lenders will work with you if you have credit scores in the 600s, while others offer their best rates only to those creditors with very high scores indeed. Some lenders will look at your entire credit report while others will accept or reject your loan application based solely on your credit score.
The credit score is based on your credit report, which contains a history of your past debts and repayments. Credit bureaus use computers and mathematical calculations to arrive at a credit score from the information contained in your credit report.
Each credit bureau uses different methods to do this (which is why you will have different scores with different companies) but most credit bureaus use the FICO system.
FICO is an acronym for the credit score calculating software offered by Fair Isaac Corporation Company. This is by far the most used software since the Fair Isaac Corporation developed the credit score model used by many in the financial industry and is still considered one of the leaders in the field. In fact, credit scores are sometimes called FICO scores or FICO ratings, although it is important to understand that your score may be tabulated using different software. One other thing you may want to understand about the software and mathematics that goes into your credit score is the fact that the math used by the software is based on research and comparative mathematics. This is an important and simple concept that can help you understand how to boost your credit score. In simple terms, what this means is that your credit score is in a way calculated on the same principles as your insurance premiums. Your insurance company likely asks you questions about your health, your lifestyle choices (such as whether you are a smoker) because these bits of information can tell the insurance company how much of a risk you are and how likely you are to make large claims later on. This is based on research.
Studies have shown, for example, that smokers tend to be more prone to serious illnesses and so require more medical attention. If you are a smoker, you may face higher insurance premiums because of this. Similarly, credit bureaus and lenders often look at general patterns. Since people with too many debts tend not to have great rates of repayment, your credit score may suffer if you have too many debts, for example. Understanding this can help you in two ways:
1) It will let you see that your credit score is not a personal reflection of how “good” or “bad” you are with money. Rather, it is a reflection of how well lenders and companies think you will repay your bills – based on information gathered from studying other people.
2) It will let you see that if you want to improve your credit score, you need to work on
becoming the sort of debtor that studies have shown tends to repay their bills. You do not have to work hard to reinvent yourself financially and you do not have to start making much more money. You just need to be a reliable lender. This realization alone should help make credit repair far less stressful!
Credit reports are put together by credit bureaus, which use information from client companies. It works like this: credit bureaus have clients – such as credit card companies and utility companies, to name just two – who provide them with information. Once a file is begun on you (i.e. once you open a bank account or have bills to pay) then information about you is stored on the record. If you are late paying a bill, the clients call the credit bureaus and note this. Any unpaid bills, overdue bills or other problems with credit count as “dings” on your credit report and affect your score. Information such as what type of debt you have, how much debt you have, how regularly you pay your bills on time, and your credit accounts are all information that is used to calculate your credit score. Your age, sex, and income do not count towards your credit score. The actual formula used by credit bureaus to calculate credit scores is a well-kept secret, but it is known that recent account activity, debts, length of credit, unpaid accounts, and types of credit are among the things that count the most in tabulating credit scores from a credit report.
There are many misconceptions about credit scores out there. There are customers who believe that they don’t have a credit score and many customers who think that their credit scores just don’t really matter. These sorts of misconceptions can hurt your chances at some jobs, at obtaining good interest rates, and even your chances of getting some apartments. The truth is, if you have a bank account and bills, then you have a credit score, and your credit score matters more than you might think. Your credit score may be called many things, including a credit risk rating, a FICO score, a credit rating, a FICO rating, or a credit risk score. All these terms refer to the same thing: the three-digit number that lets lenders get an idea of how likely you are to repay your bills. Every time you apply for credit, apply for a job that requires you to handle money, or even apply for some more exclusive types of apartment living, your credit score is checked. In fact, your credit score can be checked by anyone with a legitimate business need to do so.
Your credit score is based on your past financial responsibilities and past payments and credit, and it provides potential lenders with a quick snapshot of your current financial state and past repayment habits. In other words, your credit score lets lenders know quickly how much of a credit risk you are. Based on this credit score, lenders decide whether to trust you financially – and give you better rates when you apply for a loan. Apartment managers can use your credit score to decide whether you can be trusted to pay your rent on time. Employers can use your credit score to decide whether you can be trusted in a high-responsibility job that requires you to handle money.
The problem with credit scores is that there is quite a bit of misinformation circulated about, especially through some less than scrupulous companies who claim they can help you with your credit report and credit score – for a cost, of course. From advertisements and suspect claims, customers sometimes come away with the idea that in order to boost their credit score, they have to pay money to a company or leave credit repair in the hands of so-called “experts.” Nothing could be further from the truth. It is perfectly possible to pay down debts and boost your credit on your own, with no expensive help whatsoever.
Look out for more information on fixing your credit.
