The Adventures of CYBERMAN!

Cyber hackers.

In today’s electronic world it’s a term you hear often and usually in regard to identity theft and the ruination of someone’s personal and financial life.  

I’ve often wondered why someone possessing that amount of technical talent and ability would use it to make some working-stiff’s life a living hell.

   I think back to the days of the 1930’s gangster. People like Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde. They robbed banks and according to legend never took a dime from regular people. Legend also has it that many gangsters of that era gave part of their ill gotten gains to help people undergoing hard times. (Keep in mind most of these gangsters operated during the Great Depression.)

   I am aware that these Great Depression Robin Hoods also murdered innocent law enforcement officers and just about anyone who presented a threat, but the average Joe or Joan was rarely a victim. Even the Mafia usually steered clear of involving the public.

   Unfortunately, that’s changed.

   What we need is a modern day tech Superhero. A plain, ordinary IT person by day and a super cyber-hacker by night.

   Faster than a nanosecond…

   More powerful than the WATSON IBM…

   Able to leap firewalls in a single bound…

   Look…up on the internet.

   It’s CYBERMAN!

   Yes, It’s CYBERMAN, a computer and programming genius who hacks into the finances of those bastards on Wall Street— who almost brought about a second Great Depression— and uses that money to pay off the mortgages and credit card debt of the people who lost their jobs because of their criminal acts. And then ruins their credit scores, puts a felony conviction on their recrod (which they actually diserve) and divulges their secret off shore bank account codes to the IRS.

   CYBERMAN!

   Who drains the bank accounts of the companies that outsourced their labor force overseas and uses it to pay for the unemployed‘s outstanding medical bills.

    CYBERMAN!

   Who empties the bank accounts of the war profiteers and transfers their money to the families of those who lost their lives or came home crippled or mentally ill.

   CYBERMAN!

   Who redirects the smallest drones to spy on the secret deals made in the government back offices and uploads them to YouTube.

   CYBERMAN who fights a never ending battle for TRUTH, JUSTICE and the AMERICAN WAY!

   Fast Forward to the ending sequence where a young fresh-faced boy is sitting on the front porch of their house in Everytown, USA with his Mom. Under the twinkling stars the boy turns to her and says, “So we don’t have to move in with grandma? And Dad got a new job and he starts tomorrow?”

   Mom: “That’s right, Johnny. Plus the hospital bills for curing your Leukemia have mysteriously disappeared, as well as the outlandish interest on our credit cards. Looks like this family will be back on its feet in no time.”

   Johnny: “Gee, that’s swell, Mom. But how did it happen? Dad said that financially, we were screwed three ways from Thursday but now we’re okay?”

   Mom places arms around son should and squeezes.

   Mom: “Well, Johnny. Let me just say that there’s someone out there who understands what law abiding decent folks have been having to deal with and has been doling out some 21^st century Prairie Justice.”

   Johnny (wide eyed): “Do you mean CYBERMAN? Is he the one who fixed everything?”

   Mom (pulling back in mock surprise): “Why, Johnny. Everybody knows there’s no such person as CYBERMAN.” (She looks from side to side then winks conspiratorially at Johnny.

   Johnny’s eyebrows raise knowingly: “I know, he just like Santa and the Easter Bunny.” (Johnny then looks around and returns the wink.)

   Stay tuned for scenes from our next exciting episode!

    

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Being Profound for Fun and Profit

See that profound saying to the left? We’ve all heard the first part BUT, I came up with the rest which, I believe makes the adage a great deal more profound.

   Now here’s the deal. Just how does one become known as the profound guy? Personally I go around saying profound sh*t all the time but when people speak of me (as they often do) it’s never to credit me for all my clever bon mots.

   Frankly, this is beginning to piss me off. I mean I got pithy sayings and profundities coming out the ying-yang ut do I get credit for it? No! Do people credit me when they rattle off one of my especially clever axioms? No! They just smirk and act like they came up with it themselves, the bastards!

   I wish I could go back in time and talk with the other profound guys and ask how they got their reputation. You know, guys like Shakespeare, Benjamin Franklin, Gandhi, John Lennon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Yogi Berra etc

   Upon review, it appears getting shot greatly increases the chances of having the stuff you say being considered profound. I prefer however, not to follow that path. Apparently another way is to act irresponsibly throughout your life and die either by your own hand or by a self indulgent lifestyle.  Facebook is filled with pithy sayings from such people as Hemmingway, Curt Colbain, Edgar Allen Poe, Jimi Hendrix, Hunter S. Thompson and scores of others who give supposedly great advice about how to live and subsequently wind up killing themselves one way or another.

   I feel another profundity coming on…

   And here we go…

“Before taking to heart advice from others on how one should live, check first, to see how they died”                                                                                                                                              

                                          -Zackary Richards

   See? I got a sh*tload of them!

   I also give sage council. Which I assume is some kind of offshoot of profoundnicity. I remember one time when my daughter was a teen and very concerned with her body image and how she was viewed by others.

   One day she came home upset and seeing this, I asked her what had happened. Well of course, she didn’t come right out and say what it was, Noooooooo, I had to go through all that drama that teen girls are so good at creating until she finally spilled the beans.

   She was upset because some girls at school had made some disparaging remarks about her looks and she was all bent out of shape because of it.

   So I donned my ‘wise council’ turban and asked her if she thought I was smart.

   She replied that although I had apparently fallen ass over tea-kettle into geezerhood, I still had many of my original marbles and that my advice over the years had been quite good.

   I smiled and replied, “Very well then. I have listened to your story and concerns and can only say that you are by far the oldest, dumbest, ugliest Chinese Man I have ever spoken with.”

   Startled, she stares at me. “What?” she finally says, “That makes no sense. I’m not an old, dumb, ugly Chinese Man.”

   So I reply. “So you don’t believe the guy you said was so smart just a minute ago ?”

   She smirked, "No, of course not! I’m not any of those things.”

   “I know,” I said. “So why do you believe those idiots at school?”

   Ta-da!

   Some kick-ass parenting huh?

   So if any of you guys and gals out there have any idea of how to get accepted into the profound guy's union or club or whatever it is, please email me with instructions.

   That is all.

    P.S. Check out my facebook fan page. It filled with all kinds of good stuff and while you're there, click the LIKE Button. http://facebook.com/aripublishing

The Boston Marathon Bombing

   I will begin by offering my sympathy and condolences to the families of those we lost and those who are still with us but struggling to survive. What happened was an act of pure evil perpetrated by someone so vile that description is beyond words

   

   I said that first because I want you to know that I DO care about those who are suffering because of that horrific occurrence.

   But the hysterics have got to stop.

   Television has learned to zero in on the tragic and most of all on the people who are wide-eyed and on the verge of hysteria. The media paints a picture of a coming apocalypse of nuclear destruction, extremist behavior, poisoned food and economic collapse. They blow these horrible events way out of proportion to gain ratings and internet interest.

   Perhaps I am sounding a little too insensitive. What happened in Boston was indeed a tragedy and as I said earlier my prayers go out to the victims.

   But let’s also keep it in perspective. In the grand scale of horrific events what happened in Boston isn’t a world changer, it’s not going to affect the people of Boston in any long term way.

   Here’s what I mean.

   The 2011 Japanese Tsunami killed over 15,000 people; destroyed 130,000 buildings and caused a nuclear meltdown of the Fukushima Power Plant. Damage was estimated at 235 billion, the costliest natural disaster in world history.

   What did the Japanese people do? They did what they’ve always done. They buried their dead and immediately starting rebuilding. There were no recriminations, no heartfelt searches for answers. No bemoaning their fate. They know real horror. Their history notes that 200,000 were vaporized almost seven decades ago

   The Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami killed over 230,000 people in fourteen countries. The hardest hit being Indonesia with waves over 100 feet high. Which is comparable to having a 10 story building racing toward you.

   The Irish Potato Famine took over 1 Million lives

   The 1918 Flu pandemic killed between 35-70 MILLION people.

   In China in 1931 floods from unending rains during July and August

killed 4 MILLION

   In India in 1984 The Bhopal Gas tragedy killed between 10-16 thousand.

   And stepping away from natural disasters, the city of London was bombed for 57 consecutive days by Nazi warplanes starting on September 7, 1940. After the 57 day onslaught, the bombing still continued intermittently until May of 1941.

   I could continue but my point has been made. The world is and has always been a dangerous place filled with disasters and disease. There is, and has always been, cruel and murderous thugs. And we, as a people have allowed ourselves to become soft. We have replaced personal responsibility with self-indulgent compassion. We are rapidly degenerating into a gaggle of hysterical ninnies who become utterly useless when tragedy strikes and decisive action must be taken.

   I believe the present behavior of the people of today would sicken our ancestors who muscled through plagues, world wars and natural disasters. Let’s take a page from their playbook and instead of trying to ‘understand’ and ‘look for answers’ we focus all our attention on finding the person or person responsible and hang them from the lampposts that stand near the blast sites. 

   And in the meantime, remember to make time for family and friends. To be kind and a pleasure to be around, because we all have our crosses to bear and our sorrows to tend to. 

  Be safe my friends. I love you all

The Economy, The Recession, Unemployment and You. How to Bust Out and Get Ahead of the Game.

   You’ve seen those articles on Yahoo and MSN that tell you what job fields are growing and what jobs are disappearing in the present economy. Here’s a quick example: The fastest growing jobs: Software Developer, Market Research analyst, Medical assistant, Personal Finance advisor and Pharmacy technician.

   Question: How many of you are trained to fill those positions? Are you unemployed and thinking about going back to school to get specialized training? Is it possible those positions will already be glutted with applicants by the time you’re ready and have run up about 50-70 grand in student loans?

   Here’s a list of job that are being phased out or outsourced: File clerk, journalist, air traffic controller, farmers, ranchers, customer service, receptionists, bookkeepers, and tax preparers. There are considerably more but I believe it’s more likely you have a job that’s being phased out than one that’s growing.

   Here’s something else you may not know. It takes approximately 200 thousand new good jobs a month to maintain the status quo, 300 thousand good new jobs a month to start making a dent on unemployment and the national debt. Here’s what’s not being reported. The NEW jobs that are being created are not good jobs, they are minimum wage jobs, and are mostly PART-TIME. Even at full time (40 hours a week) the yearly salary is STILL BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL.

   Did you know this? Those whose unemployment insurance has run out are no longer being counted in the job growth figures!

   Bottom line. The Middle class was nearly destroyed by 2008’s Great Recession. Unemployment rates from then till now still staggeringly high! But don’t worry, the analysts says, the economy is picking up and things will be back to normal soon!

For heaven’s sake, friends, DON”T BELIEVE THEM. THOSE JOBS ARE NOT COMING BACK!

   Do you know what has come back? Advertisements from banks and financial advisors asking you to LET THEM HANDLE YOUR MONEY because they know how to invest.

   REALLY!?? Remember Jim Cramer? That wall street wizard whose daily show advised people what stocks to invest in and which one to dump. Have we already forgotten HOW WRONG he was and how much money his ‘financial advice’ cost investors?

   But they know how it works. They know that even though they had to take a government bail-out of our money to keep from going under, their spin doctors have shown them that if they barrage you with ads that show them making their clients money again and again and again, you’ll overlook the FACT THAT THEY DON”T KNOW ANYMORE NOW THAN THEY DID THEN and you’ll foolishly turn your money over.

   The reason why we do this however is understandable. We don’t have the training and experience to understand the quirks of the stock market and it is true that the stock market does provide the best results regarding return on investment (ROI)  

   But you can LEARN. And you should because its your hard earned money and your future you’re preparing for.

   But the sad point is because of the 2008 recession very few of us have the money to invest. Most of us are working several part time jobs and are barely making ends meet.

   The time has come for us to REMEMBER WHAT WE HAVE FORGOTTEN.

125 years ago, most our ancestors lived on farms, raised their own crops and made a living without multinational corporations. The concept was simple enough. Grow corps, build something, or sell something for someone, then live off the money your work has produced. We survived for thousands of years using that simple system and the time has come for us to stop going to corporations with a ‘Please sir, can I have some more?’ attitude and set off on our own.

   You need to start your own business.

   Am I serious? Friends, I am damn serious!  Because I know for a fact, that for most of you, starting your own business is likely to be your only option. You only need look at the numbers to see what I’m saying is true. Corporations are outsourcing jobs to the equally talented, but considerably less expensive, Asian Indians, Chinese and southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Thailand. So unless you have specialty training that cannot be outsourced, your position will go to the cheapest bidder.

   Just imagine how you will feel if that happens just as your children are starting college and you are starting your look your age. But you have decades of experience! Yes, but at middle age insurance costs increase, as does the likelihood that you will have a heart attack, contract cancer or be emotionally waylaid by divorce.

   “But what do I know about starting a business?” you ask. “I have no clue how to go about it.”

   Neither did I when I started out. Faced with little choice I just did it and you can too. As an example, I’d like you to view three short (under a minute) videos I had made for my company Ari Publishing.

http://youtu.be/Nszhu5VbP7Y

http://youtu.be/khsvCYQCm8M

Full version Advert with woman spokesperson http://youtu.be/OshCWa-JK4I

   Pretty good, right? The thing is I had each one made for less than it costs for a six-pack of beer!

   No kidding. Want to know how I did it and how you can find very valuable products and services that can help you start your business? Then click this link to go to my Ari Publishing business website and I’ll tell you the wheres, whos, and hows. 

http://bit.ly/12BKGcW

The Economy of the US, Have you been Left Behind?

   Let me say upfront that I am not a conspiracy theorist, a political radical, or as we said in the old days, ‘A pinko, commie, bomb thrower’. But lately, the first line from the Rolling Stones song ‘Gimme Shelter’ has been rattling around in my head,‘Oh, the storm is threatenin,’ my very life today.’ And I’ve been wondering why.

   And I think I have figured it out.

   I believe the government is slowly preparing us for a possible second financial meltdown. Why? Because things aren’t adding up. We’ve recently had the biggest day on Wall Street in history yet the job market is abysmal, credit card debt is through the roof and the generation that sparked the financial prosperity of the 1990s, the baby boomers, have become extremely conservative regarding their spending.

   So regardless of what they tell you, or assure you, or try to convince you, the jobs lost in the ‘Great Recession of 2008 are not coming back.

  EVER.

   Take a look at your job. Is the company your work for experiencing growth? Has it begun hiring? Have you been promoted or received a substantial raise since the economic meltdown?

   If you are you’re one of the very few. I look at my daughter’s generation. Most of them are working 2 and sometimes 3 part time jobs for minimum wage with no benefits or insurance. It obvious the taxes paid for those jobs won’t pay down the debt and so the interest keeps accruing.

   We don’t need exceptional math skills or proficiency in economics to see that the piper is coming and one way or another, he will get paid!

   So should the economy collapse into a full blown depression ala 1929 the people are going to demand answers, are going to demand that those in government (or who were in government) be held accountable. That they be arrested, tried and jailed.

   The problem with that scenario is that the federal government can’t allow that.

   Why? Because the people responsible for the 2008 economic meltdown are the same people who are financing the reelections of those presently in office or who are presently lobbying the people in office.

   So since they can’t permit the arrest, trial and imprisonment of the criminals who destroyed our economy, they have to protect them from the citizens who will be demanding justice.

   How do they do that? They begin heavily arming the Department of Homeland Security and begin training them for urban warfare so should the American people rise up and storm Washington, they will use Homeland Security as an armed defense force ready to shoot to kill anyone or any group that tries to have those responsible tried and held accountable for their actions.

   “Wait a second,” you say. “The American government would never sanction such action.   

   Normally I would agree with you except they have already done it. Here’s the link:

  http://youtu.be/LuP7_zKZVFE

   Here’a question. Just how prepared are you should this hopefully unlikely yet still possible scenario occur? Do you have an income stream not associated with your current job? Should your job suddenly disappear and with no money to fund unemployment insurance payouts do you know how to start a business? How to run one? How to find and attract customers willing to buy what you have to sell? Do you know what items people will still buy regardless of the economic times? (top answer, women’s makeup).

   I know the answers to those questions because the financial rug was pulled out from under me during the Great Recession. I had unemployment insurance and Cobra medical insurance, a 401k to fall back on and savings account to draw from.

   And when it became obvious that my job skills had become obsolete and that no one would hire and train someone my age for a new profession, I had to set out and start my own. Today I work from home and with each passing day my business thrives and grows.

   If you want to know how I did it here’s the link to my other blog: http://www.empowernetwork.com/writingguy/blog/the-economy-of-the-us-has-it-left-you-behind/