Auto

How to avoid the FALSE PROMISE of the Madison Avenue lifestyle

admin

The Madison Ave lifestyle is everywhere we look. You know what I’m talking about… Fast paced… Beautiful homes, beautiful new cars, two new motorcycles in the garage, a hot tub by the pool, fancy restaurants every night… Everything you ever want right there at your entire disposal. Advertisers are experts at tapping into our dreams of having the ability to live like this. (The glamor of a shiny new car on wet pavement at night is a sure sell.) But there is one group of advertisers that is especially good at making us believe that the Madison Ave. lifestyle is possible for everyone… The credit card companies.

Let’s take a look at some of their ads. There is a major credit card that everyone is familiar with. The catchphrase from his TV ad? “Be where you want to be!” And it usually shows people who are traveling the world, enjoying all that life (with credit cards) has to offer. Now what is this company trying to say here? They are trying to make you believe that this credit card will take you where you want to go in life.

I just received a pre-approved credit card application in the mail. The headline read “Get the credit you deserve!” It makes you feel great, doesn’t it? …Knowing that you deserve something. It makes you want to get up and fight, because it implies that you are not getting what you deserve right now. After all, credit is a constitutional right, isn’t it?

Here is an excerpt from another one I received in the mail the other day. Part of the sales letter read: “Only a select group of people will carry the gold card. It instantly identifies you as someone special, someone who has achieved a higher degree of financial freedom (emphasis added), and who expects higher levels of financial flexibility, convenience and service in all your dealings”.

Sounds great, right? Especially the financial freedom part. After all, isn’t financial freedom what we all want?

All of these advertising campaigns are based on one premise: “You can achieve a better lifestyle by using credit than by spending cash.”

Here’s a problem… This premise is a lie!

Here’s the reality: You can live better for a few years using credit, but then you’ll spend the rest of your life living below your means trying to pay it all off. It’s all an illusion.

Credit makes you believe that you’re doing well (or at least doing pretty well) because you have all these “stuff.” But here are the facts: If you make a credit card purchase of $2,000 at 19.8% and only make the minimum payments, it will take you 31 years to pay it off and you’ll pay $8,202 in interest! That means that when you use credit, you’re paying five times more than if you used cash.

Forward. I bought all that nice stuff on credit, and I’ll only use cash. Let’s see what happens. In the beginning, you will have one or two nice cars, a nice boat, nice furniture, and a great stereo, etc. And I will drive older cars. I will have “first American garage sale” furniture and clothing. And I’ll probably go without that bike that I would really love to have, because I don’t have the money to buy it.

From all appearances, it will seem that you are much more successful than me… At first. But what is really going on here? In a few short years I will not only catch up with you, but pass you by and leave you in the dust financially. This is because when you paid $10,000 for a $2,000 purchase with your credit card, I saved until I had the $2,000 to pay in cash. So I was able to invest the extra $8,000 you spent on interest. You had compound interest working against you, but I had compound interest working for me! (And that’s where you want to be!)

Ten or twenty years from now, you’ll be up to your earlobes in debt and still trying to live the illusionary lifestyle of Madison Ave. But I’ll be driving 4- or 5-year-old cars instead of new ones, while calmly watching my investment portfolio grows by millions, literally!

By then, I’ll be working because I want to, not because I have to. And I will be able to afford to buy almost anything I want… Cash! …While you’re sweating the economy and the next cut or looking for that next $50 raise, just so you can stay on top of all those credit card payments you’re making for things you bought years ago and probably have forgotten for now anyway.

Are you starting to get the idea? Credit is not good for you. It promises (and offers) short-term gains. But it always brings long-term pain. By pursuing the Madison Ave lifestyle using credit, she’s actually drifting further away from it. Rich people understand this principle. That is why they are rich. There is a fascinating book called “The Millionaire Next Door” written by Thomas Stanley and William Danko. (Published by Paperbacks, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc.) The authors spent many years interviewing the wealthy. (Those with a net worth between $1-5 million). And some very interesting things have emerged from their study.

Let’s look at the car buying habits of the rich. What kind of car would you expect a millionaire to drive? An expensive, luxury car or an attractive foreign sports car? Well, Stanley and Danko have discovered that this is not the case at all. They have discovered that the most popular brand driven by the rich is Ford. And the most popular models are f-150 pickups and scouts!

Here’s what Stanley and Danko have to say: “How do millionaires buy cars? About 81 percent buy their cars. The balance is leased. Only 23.5 percent of millionaires own new cars. Most have not bought a car in the last two years In fact, 25.2 percent have not bought a motor vehicle in four or more years How much do millionaires pay for these vehicles The typical millionaire (those in the 50th percentile) paid $24,800 for their most recent purchase Note that 30 percent spent $19,500 or less.

Also keep in mind that the average American buyer of a new motor vehicle paid more than $21,000 for their most recent purchase. This is not much less than the $24,800 millionaires pay! Also, not all of these millionaires bought new vehicles. How many indicated that their most recent vehicles were used? Almost 37 percent. In addition, many millionaires indicated that they recently dropped in price, that is, they bought vehicles at a lower price than before.” (pp. 112-113)

In other words, millionaires drive average vehicles! Why do they drive average and old cars instead of new and luxurious cars?

1. They are rich *because* they drive average old cars, and they know that if they bought new luxury cars all the time, they wouldn’t be rich.

2. They don’t feel like they have to maintain a status symbol or “keep up with the neighbors” because they know they are worth much more than the neighbors could ever dream of.

My wife recently spoke with a mechanic who dreamed of purchasing his own facility for his auto repair business. But, for him, it was just a dream. He could never afford it. However, in his driveway sat a beautiful new turbocharged 4×4 diesel truck with king cab and etc etc. In fact, he even joked about “mortgaging” his truck. But what he didn’t realize was that if he hadn’t bought the charm of that nice new truck, he could have bought his garage and owned his own business.

If she had driven an older truck and bought her own business, she would have finally had the freedom to drive whatever she wanted! Reaching the allure of the Madison Ave lifestyle prevented her from reaching the Madison Ave lifestyle.

To live the Madison Avenue lifestyle, you must first avoid the Madison Avenue lifestyle. Don’t spend $10,000 on a $2,000 purchase because you bought it using a credit card! Instead, save $2,000, buy it for cash, and invest the $8,000. Eliminate all your debt, including your mortgage, and then invest the money you’re now wasting paying interest.

If you do this consistently, you’ll have compound interest working for you instead of against you, and twenty years from now you’ll discover that you have a new address on Madison Avenue.

Digital Marketing

Commercial Writing Primer

admin

Writing is a basic means of communication, and we have many reasons for choosing to express our thoughts or requests in writing, rather than verbally. We usually write to make our thoughts official, to communicate with someone we don’t know, or to communicate with a large number of people.

We write to express our point of view or to make a request. We can write to persuade the reader to take a particular action based on the information presented, or to consider a new perspective and change his opinion. In other words, writing is selling.

All writing is about the intended reader, that is, the audience. Whether it’s a book, song, movie, website, marketing brochure, grant proposal, or fundraising letter, the top priority a writer must keep in mind is that the reader comes first. . Writers will benefit from the following guidelines:

1. Aim: Why are you writing?

2. Audience: Who is the reader (audience)?

3. Result: How can you persuade the reader to be interested in your topic or request?

The first question is about you, the writer. What motivates you to write? Are you seeking funding for a project you’d like to advance and need to write a business or grant proposal? Could your goal be to write a sales or marketing letter to be sent to those you think are potential customers for your product or service? Are you producing website content or other promotional material that will communicate your experience to potential customers and persuade them to contact you?

You will be an effective writer only when you develop the self-awareness and confidence to recognize what you would like to accomplish with your writing, so that you choose vocabulary that reflects your intent.

The second question ensures that you tailor your message and vocabulary to resonate with your target reader or audience. The successful writer will consider the reader’s point of view and craft a message that is likely to be understood and accepted by him or her.

If it is a proposal that you will write, it should address the interests of the stakeholders, who will be in a position to speak favorably (or unfavorably) about your application. Grant applications and business proposals always include financial information, as well as operations and marketing information, for example, to satisfy those three important decision-making groups.

The final question addresses the perceived benefits that the reader or audience can expect to derive from what you have written. Here, the writer must strictly focus on the readers’ priorities and preferences, and consider the results attached to the writer’s expression of opinion, creative expression, or application value. How will the reader benefit if he buys your book, spends the time and money to attend a performance of your music, or approves your grant or proposal?

The writer is encouraged to use a communication style and vocabulary that is familiar and reassuring to the reader or audience as a way to build trust, foster acceptance and approval, and achieve mutual success.

Thank you for reading,

Kim

Relationship

Teaching phonics and reading is fun and so easy! (It is! Let me explain!)

admin

At this time of year, some parents are informed that their child is likely to be “held.” That’s a hard message for any parent to hear. As a tutor, I can honestly tell you that this is sometimes necessary and sometimes not. As a result, more and more families, including professional teachers, are turning to homeschooling. Today’s schools cannot produce high school graduates who can compare favorably in knowledge and skills with the eighth grade graduates of the 1900s.

Reading is the most important element of a child’s education. It is a precursor to any other theme. My elementary school teachers eschewed phonics altogether, choosing instead to teach word recognition. Like most kids who don’t learn phonetics. reading was difficult and not pleasant. I got good grades, but it took a lot of extra effort on my part. It wasn’t until adulthood that I learned phonetics. I was surprised at how suddenly my reading skills advanced. It is not surprising that most parent educators are very apprehensive when they start teaching their children to read. However, with a little knowledge and the right tools, I guarantee it’s a lot easier than you might expect. So, let’s start that process in this article.

learning styles

Thirty-eight percent of the children are “practical learners” (Artisan Personality). Unfortunately, the school system does not effectively teach this large group. They are often falsely labeled as dyslexic, attention deficit, or problem children. My eldest grandson was of this type of personality.

At a young age, he was eager to learn anything to do with action… like riding a bike. Bumps and bruises did not deter him. He just got up and went for the toy over and over again until he got the hang of it. He displayed a great degree of intelligence in this way. However, when he entered the school, things seemed to be different. He was not interested in formal seated learning. Like so many, he concluded: “If I can’t do something with it, it’s a waste of time.” You can learn more about this personality type in the book: “Please Understand Me II” by David Keirsey. He describes the “Craftsman” Personality as people who are action-oriented and who bring excitement to their relationships.” Churchill and Patton were both this personality type. In other words, these kids are not dull-witted, dyslexic, or ADD. On the contrary, they are very intelligent.What is missing is the teaching method because it is not designed for action oriented attention.

In third grade, I was visiting this grandson in his class. She was taking a written test and answering multiple choice questions. She got the first three right, and then proceeded to mark the rest without reading them. I said, “doesn’t the teacher want me to read this?” “No, he replied, she doesn’t care.” Because she did no wrong, this kept repeating itself, causing her mother to have to catch up with him every summer. Eventually, his mother took him out of the school system and began homeschooling.

In the school system, it is not uncommon for these action-oriented children to be retained every other year. They gave me those kids midterm because the teachers had given up on them. By simply changing the method used to teach them, these kids catch up with their classmates and graduate on time.

Unfortunately, the repeated failures of practical students are typical. If this is your child’s story, the early learning curriculum must be action oriented.

Fortunately, for my grandson, his mother found the answer. However, many of these children reach adulthood without reaching their full potential because they believe that they are “not as smart as everyone else”, which is far from the truth and the biggest hoax of all.

We recommend that learning be presented as play for young children because it is the most natural way to learn. However the “Guardian personality” adapts earlier than most to formal learning, which is the most common method taught in public schools. Similarly, parents/teachers at The Guardian prefer to teach this way. All children should gradually acclimate to ” formal learning.” (Note: One can learn more about the personalities of The Guardian and others in the book, “Please Understand Me II” by David Keirsey.) Guardian Personality. At a very young age she wanted to help and was eager to point out and follow the rules to her brother’s frustration. My point here is that all children are different, and the school system usually doesn’t consider this when teaching as one size fits all. We don’t have to repeat that same mistake in the homeschool environment. Instead of deciding that a child should learn to read at age five, let her reveal her timing and learning style.

For example, let me tell you a story about my second grandson. koti (“Analytical Personality”) he has never attended public school. His mother homeschooled him from day one. She read to him regularly and it was a fun time for both of them. Once he learned the alphabet, she tried using flash cards to teach him phonics, which is a very unnatural way of learning for most young children. It quickly became a chore for both of them. I reminded him of a game I use to teach children to read. He changed everything. Koty quickly learned phonics from him and begged to play more often than his mother wanted. He was able to read the first reading books. He even uttered difficult words like Premium at local gas stations as they played reading words on the go. However, he had no desire to pick up a book and read alone. After reading Raymond and Dorothy Moore’s Better Late Than Early, his mother continued to read to him. At the age of eight, he picked up a book and asked his mother to read it to him. Not having time at the time, she refused. Impatient to wait for her, she began to read the book himself, and thereafter had an insatiable appetite for reading. Within six months he was reading at a fifth grade level. We highly recommend the book “Better Later Than Early” because it explains how important it is to conform to a child’s natural tendencies rather than to fit a square peg of our own design.

Whole Brain Teaching Verses Left Brain Teaching

The Conventional Method (workbooks, flashcards, lectures… sitting at a work desk) teaches the left brain and reaches about 45% of children. However, Whole Brain Teaching teaches all learning styles by involving as many senses in the learning process as possible. With this method, children learn faster, retain more, reduce stress, and dropout rates drop by 90%. It also improves brain health, making it a good method for people with learning disabilities.

As a homeschooler, can you teach your child to read?

It is a common belief that to teach reading you need to have a teaching degree. In the 1900s, many teachers did not have high school diplomas, and education was better than it is now. Unfortunately, there is no magic: if you can read, you can teach children to read. Of course, the right tools and information are the key to success.

Important notes:

(1) It is important that your child associate reading with phonics as early as possible. Once they learn their first 8 sounds they should be able to read their first reader early. As soon as they learn 6 more letters, they should be able to read their second reader early…and so on.

(2) Many children mislearn some of their phonics, causing them to be slow readers or unable to combine sounds with words. As a tutor, I have found this common with computer phonics games and in public schools. Therefore, it is important for the educator to ensure that the sounds are learned correctly.

Legal Law

When it comes to the emotional abuser, why am I angry?

admin

Isn’t it amazing to get to the point in your life where you’ve been so angry for so long that you don’t even know who or what you’re angry at?

If you have been in a relationship with an emotional abuser, this is a common feeling. The fact that you have experienced continuous rejection, broken promises, lies, deception, belittling, and all the other kinds of disrespect that happened to you is reason to be angry.

This is perhaps where you need to start figuring out exactly who you are angry with and why. Go back to the moment when she began to change from what she was when she became involved with the emotional abuser.

Before this relationship, you would probably say that you were generally a happy person, you felt like you knew what you wanted out of life, and you basically enjoyed life. When unexpected negative situations occurred, you rose to the occasion, thought about what needed to be done, maybe experienced some strong emotions, resolved the situation, and went on with your normal life.

Once you got involved with the emotional abuser, unexpected negative situations did not happen once in a while. They happened almost every day, if not every day.

In this type of relationship, your system could never achieve homeostasis. You were always out of balance.

Being that you were in endless turmoil emotionally, it was easy to lose track of why you were angry. Situations that made you angry yesterday were not resolved and on top of that you had situations that made you angry today.

That brings you to the question: “Why am I angry?” The main answer to that question is that you were disrespected and treated unfairly.

If you go back and look at most of the situations in which you experienced the feeling of anger, you will find that the emotional abuser was disrespecting you in some way or that the situations that occurred were unfair.

Who are you mad at? Initially, I was angry at the emotional abuser and that needs no explanation. After a while, you started to get mad at yourself.

Angry at yourself because you knew how you were being treated and you were letting it happen. Angry at yourself that maybe you got out of the relationship and then went back into it even though you knew things hadn’t changed.

Mad at yourself for this and mad at yourself for that. Angry at the emotional abuser for this and angry at the emotional abuser for that.

The good thing about all this is that you are wondering who and what you are angry with. When you start asking those two hard questions, you’ll be ready to see those answers.

You are at a point of being ready to take 100% responsibility for your actions. You can blame all you want on the nasty treatment of the emotional abuser, try to figure out why they do or don’t do what they do or don’t do, get all kinds of education and answers about narcissists, psychopaths, sociopaths and the like, but bottom line are you ready to assume full responsibility for your choices?

Looking and accepting that you made the decision to stay is something difficult to swallow. Regardless of the situations and circumstances, you are acknowledging that you want to stay.

Are you mad at yourself? sure you are Who wouldn’t be?

So what can you do with this now? Learn from it!

Use the powerful negative emotion of anger and become the opposite end of the spectrum to be positive. Use the force that is present to push you to make wise decisions.

When it comes to intimate relationships, decide that you will only allow people who are respectful into your life. Decide that you will only allow people into your life who treat you fairly.

What other options do you have if you want to be a happy person again? What other options do you have if you want to effectively deal with unexpected situations that arise in the course of living and move on and continue to enjoy life?

The knowledge you learned from being in a relationship with an emotional abuser will help you choose better relationships. You paid the highest possible tuition for this knowledge.

You paid to gain this knowledge with your time and your life. Be encouraged to use this knowledge and move forward in a way that enriches your life.

Lifestyle Fashion

3 delicious healthy desserts for children

admin

If your child was in charge of his daily meals, all he would have would be desserts like cakes, ice creams, and sweets. But of course you won’t let that happen! Instead, opt for healthier alternatives when asked for a sweet treat—they’re just as good, if not better, taste-wise. And the best thing is that they are good for your health, so you won’t have to worry!

Serve up any of these delicious healthy kid-friendly desserts and you’ll get even sweeter kisses from your little one!

Delicious avocado brownies

What do you need:

  • 1 large avocado

  • 3 eggs

  • 1/2 cup coconut flour

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Combine the avocado, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla extract in a blender or food processor. Blend until the ingredients are well combined and the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in the eggs. Add the coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt and stir until all ingredients are well blended.

Add the dough to an 8×8 inch baking dish greased with coconut oil and bake in a preheated oven (350F) for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for at least 20 minutes. Cut it into squares and enjoy!

Keep brownies in an airtight container, shelf life is 2 days at room temperature. Store it in the refrigerator for a longer shelf life.

Grilled pineapple with honey and lime

What do you need:

  • 1 pineapple

  • 4 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

  • 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup

  • 1 tablespoon lime juice

  • Coconut ice cream or sorbet

Cut pineapple into 3/4-inch slabs. This makes about 8 pieces. You can choose to keep the skin on or not, depending on your preference. Combine the honey and lime juice in a bowl and brush the mixture over the sides of each pineapple chunk. Cook pineapples on an oiled grill over medium heat until grill marks appear, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and transfer to serving plates. Sprinkle the pineapples with shredded coconut and top with a couple of scoops of ice cream or coconut sorbet. Serve immediately.

Make snack or dessert time even more enjoyable for the whole family by serving up unique and delicious healthy desserts! Forget about calorie-free store-bought cakes, ice cream and other sweet treats for kids – serve up these delicious healthy kid-friendly desserts packed with nutrition and tender loving care!

Real Estate

How the Foreclosure Cleanup Industry Has Changed: A New Model of Property Preservation

admin

The field service industry, which is commonly referred to as the “property preservation,” “foreclosure cleanup,” or “REO junk retention” industry, has changed considerably over the years.

When the foreclosure crisis and eventual housing fiasco first gripped the real estate industry, a large number of small foreclosure contractors entered the market. Many of these micro-businesses performed a variety of mortgage field service tasks for lenders, banks, financial institutions, REO conglomerates, and asset management companies in villages and various regions of the United States of America.

A slew of larger national entities were also part of the landscape that was rapidly becoming a burgeoning property preservation industry.

Many of the larger entities, such as Pemco, Sentinel, Cyprexx, Safeguard, Chronos Solutions (formerly known as Matt Martin Real Estate Management), and a large number of similar companies, were direct and first-hand components of HUD (“Department of of Housing and Urban Development of the United States”).

These larger companies hired smaller debris removal, cleaning, and trash removal services as subcontractors to handle tasks such as lawn maintenance, property security (boarding doors/windows), property inspection, trash removal/ debris, winterizing and winterizing jobs, repairs, lockout changes, home maintenance, painting, carpet removal, gutter cleaning, pressure washing, tree removal, and many similar property maintenance and upkeep tasks .

Services were often performed at vacant homes, many of which mortgagees had backed out after receiving foreclosure letters from their mortgage companies.

Multiple substitution opportunities, jobs and contracts for REO service providers

Numerous contracts and work order requests poured in, and many small businesses had to rush to hire subcontractors to help with the spillover.

As a result, these smaller contractors made a ton of money in the property preservation and foreclosure cleanup industry at the height of the foreclosure crisis.

A changing property preservation industry

However, fast-forwarding five to seven years, it is clear that the industry has changed exponentially.

The New Junk Business, Foreclosure Cleanup Services, and the REO Property Preservation Model

In recent years, foreclosure trash removal and cleanup services have not only begun to target new key customers and customer bases, but have also added a number of new highly profitable field and mortgage services and signed necessary new policies and procedures that work specifically for his own services and businesses, regardless of who their companies may be aligned with or to whom they may provide services as suppliers and subcontractors and for whom they work, whether locally, nationally or regionally.

Shopping Product Reviews

Cascading Style Sheets and Email Display

admin

Designing the HTML version of your email can be difficult, as there are many different combinations of email clients and operating systems, and they all have their own way of rendering HTML. And there’s really no way to be sure which client your readers will use to view your posts.

If your reader has a Hotmail address, it’s generally safe to assume that they’ll read your message through the Hotmail web client. But what about your readers with private email addresses? Will they use Microsoft Outlook? Will it be Outlook 2000, Outlook 2003, or Outlook 2007? Or maybe you are using Lotus Notes? What if you forwarded your TLD email to a Yahoo account? And are you using a Mac or a PC?

Since you don’t really know the answers to any of these questions, it’s important when designing your email campaigns that you always design for the greatest accessibility.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) offer the ability to make your email messages extremely graphic and attractive. Unfortunately, there is still limited support for r CSS with many email clients and on various platforms. One of the biggest CSS offenders is Outlook 2007; And with studies showing that up to 75% of email readers use Outlook, you simply can’t ignore its rendering flaws.

Unfortunately, Outlook 2007 does not support floats, which are widely used in CSS to position objects. Therefore, it is based on using a table-based design when designing your email campaigns. Think of web design circa 2000. If you’re a new designer and have never worked with tables before, you can get tons of useful information from the W3C.

Although Outlook 2007 supports the property, I don’t recommend that you use it to attach your style sheet. At least 50% of your readers will have their images turned off, which means that linked elements will not be linked, and this includes your external style sheet. Also, Gmail, Live Mail, and Hotmail don’t support linked items, so it’s a good idea not to use them anyway. Instead, define all of your styles within your message, and never rely on an external style sheet for your email messages.

Where, within the message, you should define your styles is another story. Live Mail looks for the style sheet with the , Hotmail looks for the style sheet just below the tag. Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007, AOL, Yahoo, Entourage, and Thunderbird will accept any of the locations, but Gmail does not accept any of them.

The best option is to use inline style tags. Inline styling simply means that the style of each element must be defined individually. Instead of defining your style sheet inside your head like this:

<link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="https://www.mysite.com/style.css">

or even something like this:

</p> <style type="text/css" media="screen"> <p><!-- p {"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;} hr {color: #ff9900; height: 1px } a:hover {color: #ff0000; text-decoration: none} --></p> </style> <p>

you would define each element individually, like so:

</p> <p x-small color:> <p>This is the text of your paragraph.</p> <p>

When you’re defining those elements, keep in mind that not all CSS properties are supported in all email clients. If you want to present a consistent message to all your readers no matter how they’re reading your mail, stick to these CSS properties:

. background color

. edge

. color

. font size

. font style

. font variant

. font weight

. letter spacing

. line height

. stuffed

. table layout

. aligned text

. text decoration

. text script

. text transformation

Those properties are compatible with both Mac and PC in:

. AOL

. Surroundings

. gmail

. live mail

. perspective 2003

. perspective 2007

. thunder bird

. yahoo

Properties to avoid include:

. background image

. background position

. background repeat

. edge-collapse

. edge spacing

. below

. title side

. clear

. shorten

. cursor

. address

. show

. empty cells

. float

. font family

. height

. left

. list style image

. list style position

. list-style-type

. margin

. opacity

. overflow

. position

. good

. above

. vertical alignment

. visibility

. blank space

. broad

. space between words

. z-index

And now for even more bad news: Lotus Notes and Eudora have terrible CSS support, and even many of the widely accepted CSS properties may not display correctly. And with more and more readers accessing email on PDAs and other portable devices, you can never be 100% sure how or where your message will be read. So I suggest you always use Multipart-Mime messaging and always include a link to your text version within the html version of your message.

*** Do you want to have these tips at hand?

Sports

No one took a knee, but a political controversy led to a boycott of the players fifty years ago

admin

In light of the assassination of the man likely to become the next president of the United States, the man in the Oval Office declared a national day of mourning on June 9. Out of sadness and to share their respect for the assassinated senator, a group of players decided to boycott their games scheduled for that day.

Although such a situation sounds like something that could be happening in today’s sports world, when protests are frequent headlines, this case happened exactly fifty years ago. Robert Kennedy, the leading candidate to vote for president in the upcoming election, was assassinated on June 9, 1968.

As Johnson announced a national day or mourning, members of the Cincinnati Reds urged baseball officials to postpone the doubleheader scheduled for that day. Because his words fell on deaf ears, the players decided they were going to boycott the games.

The protest was led by a multiracial tandem, white pitcher Milt Pappas and African-American All-Star outfielder Vada Pinson. The two managed to get enough votes from their teammates to pass their idea of ​​staying in the clubhouse instead of going to the ballpark, as a statement on the assassination of the leading Democratic presidential candidate.

Like the front offices in the sports world today, Cincinnati executives expressed their anger at the players’ refusal to participate in the games. General manager Bob Howsam was especially upset and asked captain Dave Bristol to find nine volunteers to play.

Future hitting king Pete Rose soon left the clubhouse glove in hand, along with Rookie of the Year Tommy Helms and starting pitcher Jim Maloney. Not long after that, the rest of the team showed up on the field and the games were played.

As hesitant as those players have been, the Reds jumped out to an eight-nil lead in the fourth inning. St. Louis rallied in the fifth, compiling ten runs of their own to win the first game 10-8.

The Cardinals built on that momentum into game two, leading six to one. Cincinnati, as the Cardinals had done in the opener, rallied in the fifth to tie the game.

Deadlocked for the next six frames, the score finally turned in a twelfth inning involving three future Hall of Famers. Left-hander Steve Carlton, in his third inning as the Cardinals’ reliever, allowed a leadoff single to Cincinnati first baseman Lee May.

Third baseman Tony Pérez reached on a fielder’s choice, but had to wait to advance because Carlton struck out catcher Johnny Bench. Pérez made it to second, and all the way to the plate, after shortstop Leo Cárdenas doubled him with the winning run.

Although the Reds managed to split up, Pete Rose might have wanted to stay in the clubhouse that day. The perennial .300 hitter managed just one hit in halves at the plate.

Vada Pinson, on the other hand, was probably glad she noticed his boycott. He went a combined four for ten with a home run and five RBIs during the twin bill.

Tours Travel

discovering moscow

admin

As the capital of the Russian Federation and formerly of the Soviet Union, Moscow is an iconic city in Europe. It is steeped in tradition and history and a trip to this infamous city will not be soon forgotten. From architectural icons to a rich cultural heritage, Moscow should not intimidate travelers but rather invite them to experience the Russia of yesteryear alongside a vibrant modern city. Keep in mind that winters here can be harsh and cold, so if you want to avoid inclement weather, spring and summer may be the best times to travel. However, at any time of the year, travelers can enjoy the extremely reliable metro system that services the entire city, making it especially easy to get around and explore. The metro stations themselves are an attraction in themselves due to their beautiful architecture and decoration. Keep in mind, though, that most signs are in Russian, so you’ll want to have your travel guide with you to help you navigate where you are and where you need to be. Whether you are flying into Moscow or traveling from another European city, traveling to the city is easy due to the fact that it is a major travel hub for trains and planes. As you explore all that Moscow has to offer, consider including these must-sees during your travels.

red square

This is by far the number one attraction for Moscow visitors and one of the most famous addresses in the world. Here you’ll find the Kremlin and St. Basil’s Cathedral, the colorful storybook architectural icon that is probably Moscow’s most recognizable landmark. The huge cathedral was built in the mid-16th century and is a must-see. Also, don’t miss the Lenin Mausoleum, believed to be the resting place of the famous leader Vladimir Lenin, although many conspiracy theories have suspected that he is not actually buried there.

On the other side of the square you will see the Kremlin, the seat of the Russian government. Originally a wooden fort built in the 14th century, it evolved over the centuries into the massive complex it is today. There is the huge Grand Kremlin Palace, the Terem Palace and the Senate Building. There are several monuments, museums and clues to Russia’s communist past with several towers still marked with red stars. The Kremlin wall is also a must see. At the beginning of the 20th century, Red Square was primarily a cemetery for soldiers and remains so to this day, with the tradition of burying soldiers and officials next to the Kremlin wall.

The spiritual side of Moscow

For centuries, the separation of church and state in Russia was unheard of, so religious buildings were symbols of power and religion. This has led to a large number of architecturally beautiful churches and cathedrals throughout the city. The Cathedral of Christ Our Savior, the Kazan Cathedral and the Annunciation Cathedral, once the private church of the Tzar family, just to name a few.

There are also several beautiful monasteries in and around Moscow. In medieval Russia, Moscow rose to power in large part because it was a religious center that drew many people from all over Europe to live and worship there.

The Novodevichy Convent and its adjoining cemetery are also a must-see. Originally built in the 1500s, it also served as a fortress. The cemetery has some very famous Russians buried there, including Boris Yeltsin. However, the guide maps are only in Russian, so buying as many guide maps at the airport that are in English will probably come in handy during your travels.

museums

Apart from the Kremlin museums, the Pushkin museum is probably the second most visited museum in the city. It houses a huge collection of priceless works of art. The Andrei Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Art also has an interesting collection of very old artifacts and works of art.

Walking through the streets

Moscow is home to the most billionaires per capita, which leads to certain extravagances, most of which involve shopping. If you have the means, you won’t be short of great shopping opportunities. If not, a stroll through some of Moscow’s most famous streets is an afternoon well spent. Tverskaya Ulitsa has been the main thoroughfare of Moscow since the Middle Ages. It is full of inns, restaurants, and historic buildings, including the prestigious Hotel Nacional. Ulitsa Varvarka is the oldest street in Moscow and is right next to Red Square, as well as Nikolskaya Ulitsa and the trendy Kuznetsky Most.

traveling with children

Children will undoubtedly enjoy the fairy tale aspect of Moscow’s many palaces and churches, allowing them to dream of kings and queens of the past. However, there is much more to see and do with a young traveler in tow. Older children can even enjoy a show at the famous Moscow ballet or opera.

Technology

Obtain a voluntary cooperation

admin

Reward power refers to the ability to deliver rewards or benefits to influence others. These can be financial, material or psychological rewards. Reward Power is the fastest way to persuade.

This power is the opposite of coercive power. With coercive power you punish, and with reward power you offer incentives. Reward Power is based on utility, which is the understanding that there is potential for exchange in every transaction. Basically, the power utility recognizes that there is always something I want and something you want. We can satisfy the needs of others by exchanging what we have for what the other wants. Rewards are a form of utility power. They are a way of rewarding people for doing what you want them to do. The reward becomes the incentive for compliance action. Examples of utilities include sales bonuses, paychecks, incentive clauses in contracts, airline bonus miles, and credit card bonus points.

It is important to understand that some incentives will work well for one person, but not for another. For some people, money is the reward. For still others, recognition is the reward. As a persuader, you must find the motivating force or reward for each person you work with; You must understand the wishes of the person or group. Reward Power is extremely effective in changing human behavior and increasing your persuasiveness. You get what you want with minimal effort. Let’s face it: everyone has their price.

However, there are several inefficiencies to be aware of when using rewards. First of all, the law of diminishing returns quickly takes over when you employ this kind of power. Diminishing returns means that the more you use the reward, the less powerful it becomes. When people get used to an incentive, they may get bored and expect more or lower performance standards if the incentive is removed. One example is the common practice of offering children prizes for reading in primary school. They win pizza or other prizes after they have read a certain number of books. These incentives often backfire because many of the children think they need a reward for reading. Reward Power ultimately leads to the desired result, but the incentive usually needs to be repeated each time to get the desired result. The reward is only effective as long as the person does not see a “better deal.” Your incentive will always be matched against the next person’s offer. Rewards reinforce behavior, so as long as you use them, expect your prospects to continue to demand them.

Reinforcement theory has a lot to do with reward power and coercive power. Basically, if a person knows that a certain action will follow a positive consequence, then he will perform that action. Consequences influence behavior. The type of consequence involved influences what actions people will take and what actions they will avoid. There are three main rules of consequence. They are:

(1) Rewarding consequences increase behavior.

(2) The consequences that punishments give decrease behavior.

(3) Consequences that are neither rewarding nor punishing extinguish the behavior.

Remembering these basic rules can be an excellent guide in deciding what to do in certain situations, depending on the desired outcome. Just be sure to keep in mind some of the limitations of reinforcement theory. Some examples of such limitations are listed below.

Limitations of reinforcement theory

1. What is considered reward or punishment will vary depending on who you are working with and what the exact circumstances are.

2. As mentioned above, rewards can lose value over time. Instead of feeling rewarded, the person will feel like you owe them something.

3. Other sources of reward or punishment may interfere. For example, an employee may value the reward of esteem and friendship from other less productive employees more than what you have to offer.

4. If a person is only responding to a reward, then there really hasn’t been an internal change. They will revert to their old behavior if the reward is no longer part of the new routine.

5. Punishment is difficult to apply well. It is a powerful tool, but it must be executed properly. Punishment must have the following elements to be effective: a) immediate, b) strong or firm, c) unavoidable, and d) consistent.

6. Punishment can generate anger, fear and hopelessness. These negative emotions will be associated with the person inflicting the punishment.

The challenge you face when using rewards is decreased internal motivation. Once you condition them to expect something for your compliance, your prospects will always look for external rewards for their behavior. This causes them to do it just for the reward and not for any other reason. We have found that even if the person were willing to exhibit the desired behavior without the reward, once the reward was given, the subject would not perform the desired behavior without the reward. An experiment demonstrated this concept. The subjects, seated together at a table, worked on a puzzle for half an hour.

After the half hour was up, the experimenter told the subjects that the resolution session was over and they needed to leave the room. The experimenters then began monitoring the behavior of the subjects as they entered the waiting room. What would they do during their free time? Would they play with the puzzles? Would they choose other activities? The study found that those subjects who were paid to do the puzzles were much less likely to play with them for fun during their free time in the waiting room. And those who did not receive an external reward for their efforts were much more likely to play with the puzzles during their free time in the waiting room. Persuaders know that a freely chosen behavior lasts longer than a behavior rewarded by an external reward.

Learning to persuade and influence will make the difference between expecting better income and having better income. Beware of common mistakes presenters and persuaders make that lose the deal. Get your free report 10 Mistakes That Still Cost You Thousands and explode your income today.