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I first read it in an old Kiplinger letter. Save on Asacol Cost Generic. Compare Asacol prices from every licensed pharmacy & save 20 to 85%. Buy Asacol Asacol 400mg 100 tabs only $55 Over 2 Million Prescriptions Filled. Learn about the prescription medication Asacol (Mesalamine Delayed-Release Tablets), drug uses, dosage, side effects, drug interactions,Answers to frequently asked questions about Asacol, also called Mesalamine, including dosage and other medical conditions which could contraindicate itsFind information about the safety and tolerability of Asacol (mesalamine), maintenance of remission, and factors affecting patient adherence. Basically it said that Dick Cheney moved a massive percentage of his personal wealth into European-backed investments. A quick google search found a reprint on MSN Money here.

Whether or not this article angers you is another story (yes it should in a Pete Rose betting against his own team sort of way). The quick and dirty of the article:

“Vice President Dick Cheney’s financial advisers are apparently betting on a rise in inflation and interest rates and on a decline in the value of the dollar against foreign currencie ElavilRead the reviews and link to mind health and enhancement products like ElavilTablets ELAVILHow to article - how to use elavilBuy Cheap ElavilYou may have thoughts about suicide when you first start taking an antidepressant, especially if you are younger than 24 years old. Tablets ELAVIL 75 mg also contain FD&C Yellow 6. Buy Elavil From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Tablets ELAVIL100 ELAVIL should then be initiated cautiously with gradual increase in dosage untilI was originally placed on Elavil as a treatment for Fibromyalgia pain. s. That’s the conclusion we draw after scouring the financial disclosure form released by Cheney recently. “

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So where does that leave the middle class, wage earning, small savings, hoping for a better future average American?

My initial visions are of a large creek and Joe is in a canoe without a paddle.  Fill the creek up with whatever you li 6 Topical Antibiotics PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTION: Pharmacodynamic properties:Academic Presentation on Mupirocin 2% Ointment and Cream (Bactroban) Skin Therapy Letter Articles STL Family Practice Edition. It may also be used for other conditions as determined by your doctor. Buy Bactroban 2% Apply to area three times daily. Buy discount bactroban-2 drug no prescription needed. ke….there’s a problem.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/SimpleStrategies/InflationProofYourPortfolio.aspx?page=1

As requested.

I assume others have been in the the same situation.

So, in the spirit of listification, I have decided to plot the:

Top 10 Ways to Effectively Kill a Sales Team

10: In the middle of the month, increase quotas for the month, and make them retroactive to the beginning of the month.

9: Change commission structures to eliminate 35% or more of the payouts.

8: Move the sales team into the room with no windows and poor lighting. Then monitor trips to the bathroom.

7: Institute a “No Laughing” policy. (This one was my personal favorite)

6: Pay people incorrectly over and over again. Then come up with novel ways to pay them like “gift cards” or “time off”.

5: Have constant meetings about why numbers are so low and institute #7. Then, when the morale drops, have more meetings about the importance of morale. This may include “team-building” exercises like the creation of a team “Constitution” which everyone on the team will be forced to sign even if they do not agree with any of the principles outlined.

4: Have your most senior and/or highest performing salesmen call the worst leads.

3: Arbitrarily set “Net” on products in order to manipulate the commission payouts.

2: Set unattainable “goals” that constitute an increase of 50% or more above the highest performer on the team. Then, when that fails, institute #5.

1: Instead of working to improve the team, set the team up for failure. Use #4 as a starting point. Then perhaps get out the gloves and have the team clean the toilets for good measure. Then institute #2 and start the firings!

If I were ever forced to get married again, I believe I would marry the Kiplinger Report. It has never steered me wrong, it provides wonderful and exceedingly insightful information on the state of the economy, and it seems to genuinely care about what I care about the most….my money.

I just read this post by ING Money Manager Jim Griffin, and, as is usual, the article provides a clear, historically-based hypothesis on the near-future direction of the economy.

As I have said elsewhere in this blog, and, if I am to toot my own horn, I’ve been saying for the last 4 years, the US is heading for a painful inflation problem reminiscent of the 1970’s (I’ve been saying it mockingly since Bush and his troglodites were touting the “But there’s no inflation” line. Remember that one? It was a hoot!).

Now that we are clearly smack in the middle of said problem (go ahead and argue, perhaps you should look up the GAO’s surreptitiously changed accounting standards since that time), I wonder at the abilities of our myopic elected leaders to effectively navigate this crisis.

Have no doubt, it is a crisis.

As Mr. Griffen states in his article:

“The real purchasing power of incomes has been shriveled in the United States…by the doubling since last August of the price of crude oil. The result is a reduction in real incomes — a pay cut — for energy consumers around the world. “

Since we produce about 70-80% of the energy we consume, depending on which analysis you look at, we are inherently going to feel it in the wallet.

But, during all of this pain, Mr. Griffin believes that the Fed has a strong “institutional memory” and that the Fed has no desire to relive the embarrassment of the 1970’s debacle.

The end of the article may get a little too deep for the average economics 101 graduate, but the gist of the article is that we are paying for over-investment in domestic real estate while simultaneously suffering from the poor economic policies of other (unnamed but I assume he implied China) countries.

The article kind of felt like someone had started to crack a window on a painfully stuffy pity-party room.

via Poorer But — This Time, Maybe — Wiser - Kiplinger.com

Thrillingly, my foresight (and, to be fully honest, some combined personal circumstances fortuitously thrown in), worked out very well.

I just read an article in our local Gannet Corporate Rag entitled:

Tough economy taking toll on Chandler restaurants

…that got me to thanking my lucky stars that I didn’t actually set the coffee shop into motion.

I would like to go into further detail as to why the retail idea is a poor one, but let’s just sum up: online businesses are much better. Less overhead, no long-term contracts, more flexibility, relatively new and growing markets, easy and cheap advertising, global and local market reach and much more that I’m not thinking of right now.

So, unless you are already established and have about $1 mill in the bank, start off small online.

(Also, I read somewhere that rising fuel prices are adding to the bottom line of online stores because people are less willing to drive in order to make purchases. Now I can’t find the link. Don’t you hate it when that happens?)

Few things in this city surprise me anymore. I’ve lived here since 1980 (the year I was born) and seen quite a bit of change combined with, oddly enough, a simultaneous respect and wanton-neglect of historic sites.

Yet every time I drive east on the 202, I peer over and view an awesome castle-like structure and wonder about its history.

Ever ask someone about the “Wedding Cake” building on the 202? Everyone has seen it. No has any information other than: “Isn’t that the Wrigley Mansion?”. No. It is not the Wrigley Mansion.

The name of the structure: Tovrea Castle

Built by Italian immigrant Alessio Carraro and subsequently sold to Della Tovrea, the castle and 36 surrounding acres were recently purchased and refurbished by the city of Phoenix.

Further reading:

Phoenix ASAP

Tovrea Castle at Wikipedia

Saint Timothy — Britannica Online Encyclopedia

To my surprise, after clicking on the EB link, they had very little information for me…but plenty of up-sell for me to subscribe for $70/year.

Looks like I will be sticking with wikipedia for awhile yet.

But this idea kind of stood out.

I thought, as the economy tanks, people making less money than ever per capita, inflation out of control, no leadership from government or corporations, and a myriad of other things, perhaps people just need to call up and argue with someone.   Maybe a nice bitter, angry, seething with vitriol argument that you would like to have with your boss about his worthless management practices would really assuage the pain of daily life.

Or perhaps that argument where your significant other is allowed to go out and spend money but for some reason you must stay home.

It seems like a service people would like to pay for.  It would pretty much be the opposite of phone sex.

Here’s the fun part.  I  wouldn’t let anyone win.  I definitely promise that whatever you dish out, I’m giving right back to you.  No holds barred.   Just like that movie with Hulk Hogan.

I have no way to wrap up this post.  So I’ll just say: “I’m right and you’re wrong so there!”