CASTASTROPHES IN U.S. ARE ALWAYS LESS IMPORTANT - Darfur's Situation Is Disturbing, But Action Needed In U.S.

Darfur's homeless

Reading Angelia Jolie’s call for action (in a Newsweek editorial) to the situation in Sudan,  gave me pause for thought.  And although Jolie has some valid points including, “Holding perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable is the best way to ensure justice today and peace in the future.” I wondered who do WE, the American people get to hold accountable for its current and continued catastrophes?
Hopefully Jolie isn’t implying that President Obama should wage yet a third war against Sudan.  As there has been quite enough unnecessary bloodshed to last all mankind a lifetime.   Though American citizens seem to think we are the saviors to each and every war torn nation,  it is quite apparent the U.S. didn’t learn very much from the Vietnam war, practically the need to value American lives as much as some seem to think the U.S. should value the lives of Foreign countries – tragically other nations  don’t seem to be duty-bound  nor compelled to save our U.S. Troops that are still being sacrificed in Iraq and Afghanistan; yet we (America) are suppose to feel obligated to do so for others.  America by no means needs to become involved in yet another war in an effort to save yet another country unwilling or inapt to fight its own battles.  Simply put, we don’t need more slain U.S. Troops,  more American widows/widowers,  nor do we need more American orphans.
Appreciate that (we) Americans are not heartless human beings and as incredibly disturbing as the situation in Darfur may be,  it needs to be understood that the situation here in the United States of America is incredibly disturbing as well, and if we don’t get help soon – we may very well become another third world country whose seeking the help Darfur supporters are demanding from us now.
A reader replied to Jolie’s editorial with: “…we are and should be the President's first priority.  He is the President of the United States and serves the American people first.”   That in and of itself is a truth far too many seem to forget; and that is what should be inscribed on U.S. Currency, as a reminder to everyone who has forgotten which country the President of the United States presides over.  “… I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”  Just wondering when the United States will take precedence over all others.
While Jolie is calling for action from the White House, just wondering if, General Martin Luther Agway the Nigerian military officer and commander of the combined United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur still believes what he said, a week before he was scheduled to leave Darfur? When he declared that the genocide in Darfur was over.  "…people trying to resolve issues over water and land at a local level. But real war as such, I think we are over that."
In Jolie’s Newsweek editorial, she offers recommendations to improve the U.N. Security Council's responsiveness, ‘while urging the United States to make clear its willingness to act on its own if necessary’.  Some may take issue with the latter of her suggestion.  If the U.S. chooses to stand alone, they could very well be setting themselves up for isolation and destruction.  You can not retain allies (in or outside the UN) if you refuse to maintain alliances with them.  With that said…
As we continue to save the world, Jolie as well as others that support (all)causes abroad, may wish to keep in mind, that at some point the United States will have to consider taking care of the United States and the citizens that reside on U.S. soil.

Detroit’s Ruins

homeless man encased in ice in photo above

Clearly we can’t solve the world’s problems in a single blog post or a 30-minute episode as they did in television’s yester-year, nor can it be done in the first year tenure of a Presidency, so until the next episode, lets just continue to make an effort…

Author, Writer, or Pimped?

For as far back as I can remember I’ve always had a great passion for reading the works of other Authors, and for story-telling in and of itself, so much so, that I genuinely thought I wanted to become an Author – and I still do wish to become a published Author.  However, several years later and still without my own published works, other than a 52 page gift book of, Short engaging quotes of love and affection, Internet Marketing projects, and  Content writing projects; realization is beginning to sink in – how can I complete a novel when I don’t even seem to be able to compose a freakin blog post without wanting to pull out my hair.  Am I trying too hard or not hard enough?  Am I inapt or just haven’t found my true Author’s voice yet?  I’ve never wanted to give up my heart’s desire, I’m just wondering if I have the capabilities of fulfilling my dream.

What the heck made me think I could write, or continue to write and make a living out of doing it?  Just because I love doing it, just because nothing else I’ve ever done in life has made me feel this charged.  Is it enough to eat, sleep, and breathe the written word?  Or is an Author truly something special – are they born or breed to be such?  I not certain, I just know I’ve spend numerous years professing my desire to become a published Author – I have several unfinished manuscripts.  I’ve even gone so far as to proclaim that I am a Freelance Writer, starting my own writing service – which initially wasn’t doing as well as I’d hope, but has started looking more promising, and I will commit to a serious marketing campaign before the end of the year to ensure that in 2010 the business will have a higher success rate.  In the mean time, I’m curious, how the heck do people think of the zillions of tantalizing topics they post to the zillions of blogs, on a daily basis without spending endless amounts of time thinking of what to write, not to mention the research involved and still have time to devote to serious writing or to their regular job?  Do they have some magical writing program that I can purchase, do they have a new revised Thesaurus that I don’t have access to, or is it simply a talented gift they possess, that is far beyond my grasp?  I’m wondering too, if I missed a step because I’m not making the mass amount of income that other Writers profess to be reaping.  Don’t get me wrong, I have found some success with Internet Marketing, Reputation Management, and the SEO services that I offer, and although Internet usage has been on the rise for some time now, writing projects seem to have become quite lean during the last few years, especially when it comes to the pay rate.   In an effort to supplement my income, I’ve begin searching the web for writing jobs, and there are quite a number of them listed.   The only thing is, the pay rate for those jobs is insulting.  I have never been naive about the financial riches rewarded to Authors/Writers, but lets be honest, .01¢ - .05¢/wd is freakin ridiculous.  At those rates, I guess I’m not a Writer; and as far as I’m concerned anyone who agrees to write for rates so ridiculously low can’t consider themselves Writers either, and I can pretty much guarantee an Author would never compromise themselves or skills to write for pennies a word.  I may not be able to write the next best-seller right now, or be the greatest Internet Marketing Writer on the planet, but I know what pimping is, and any employer offering pennies for a writing project is attempting to pimp the Writer, and obviously isn’t expecting quality work. 

I recently responded to an ad for a “Social Media/Website/Blog writer”, and received the following response from the poster after inquiring about the rate for said writing project: “I'm not looking for someone who applies for a job with negativity on their tongue.”  This coming from a guy too lazy or inapt to even bother to capitalize the word “I” throughout his four paragraph response, in which he still neglected to answer my question.  BTW, here’s my inquiry: “I would like to know what the rate or project budget will be for this assignment? If the rate is at an insulting pennies per word rate, I must thank you but I really wouldn't be interested in participating.”  Perhaps its me, but I don’t read negativity in my request to know how much I’d be paid for providing unique content that would enhance someone’s business.  I’ve wasted too much of my time and effort applying and submitting samples only to learn the job pays only $3 apiece for 375-400 word articles that as the ad expressed, “expects each of them can pass the scrutiny of Google's duplicate contact checker.”  or $1 for a 500 word article.  I’m trying to write and earn a reasonable wage doing so,  and although I follow a blog entitled Chrystal’s Corner, I can assure you I wasn’t standing on it when I applied for any of the writing assignments, so what makes these employers think they can pimp me or any other Writer?  But I did get an interesting answer from one of the employers: “If you want to thank someone for reformatting the sweatshop for the white-collar, work-at-home, 21st century world, thank Google ... it's all an unintended consequence of the Adword and Adsense bastardization of the Web.”

There is a difference between an Author and a Writer – a Writer wrote this post, the Author is still seeking the realization of a dream – publication of a novel,  neither wishes to be pimped at pennies per word.

Tantalizing Gift Baskets - The Alternative

In these unsettling economic times people are struggling to get the most for their money, yet they still would like to be able to do something special every now and then. An affordable tantalizing gift basket is an easy way to accomplish that.

Gift baskets are an alternative to flowers and are perfect for any occasion.  People are always excited to receive a unique gift basket, and for good reason; tasteful gift/food baskets are perfect creative gifts to be cherished; they are easy to give and always delicious to receive.  Gift baskets make a great addition to any family gathering, are ideal for offices and corporate gift giving during this festive time of the year. 

Almost anything can be put into gift baskets and given away – food, chocolates, fresh fruit, books, stuffed animals, and even wine, but a great gift is one that is a reflection of you – of your taste and style. It reflects how you feel about the person you're buying it for. So by carefully selecting the items that fill the basket you will give it a personalized feel. And it's that personalization that makes people feel like the gift was really intended for them – which makes it all the more memorable. If you’re stuck for an idea, try 1800flowers gift baskets and spend one minute browsing their incredible selection of baskets, towers, and assorted gourmet food gifts and it's easy to see why they're different; because there’s no comparison to their uncompromising quality, selection, and value.

They even offer same day delivery.

Stripper Nicole Forrester vs Josh Duhamel – By Any Means Necessary.

What's interesting about the story that appeared on Huffington Post, is that anyone would actually find the antagonist, Nicole Forrester interesting. 

Strippers are a dime a dozen - they can be found on almost any corner in any major city. What makes one stripper stand out from the others, is when she manipulates, schemes, and managers to get her name in the media by any means necessary.

Nicole, isn't the first gold-digger-stripper who claims to have had sex with a well known celebrity in order to get her name on the D-list of Hollywood in an effort to work (oops) her way up to the C-list, nor is she the first, nor will she be the last, to think that any publicity is worth it's weight toward become famous - even if the fame is only as a D-list low-life-wanna-be, party girl that no one takes seriously and too many have had (yuck!). The question shouldn't be if he was good/bad in bed, but what was truly the motive of publicly stating that she had sex (regardless if its true) with Josh Duhamel? To become the buzz of the moment? Well, buzz buzz the moment is over for most, and should just be over.
You can also read the entire Extra story