Mindconnection eNL, 2007-01-21

Past issues

In this issue:

1. Product Highlights
2. Brainpower tip
3. Time tip
4. Finance tip

5. Security tip
6. Health tip/Fitness tip
7. Miscellany
8. Thought for the day

But most people fail at this resolution. The reason for that is they don't have a game plan. The first step in any good plan is to see where you are, so you know what you need to do. The handy item at right allows you to measure your body fat and accurately track your progress.

Bad information leads to wrong conclusions and bad decisions. If you simply don't have information, you theoretically have a 50-50 chance of being right. But with wrong information, your chances can plummet to zero.

One source of disinformation today is the newspaper. Due to short deadlines, some inaccuracies are to be expected. But the blatant injection of patently false information and the blatant efforts to distort instead of report have turned newspapers into brain poison.

The newspapers produce a product that has no quality control, whatsoever. People buy Toyotas because they get a quality product. Toyota focuses on the needs of the buyer. Newspapers focus on the petty personal political views of the publisher and the worker bees who spent four years being indoctrinated in the personal political views of their J-school professors.

Newspapers do not report the news; they distort it.

People do not become "aware of what's going on" by reading newspapers. They are, instead, assaulted with the journalist's personal agenda and filtered version of what's going on.

But how can you know what's going on in the world if you don't read the paper? Newspapers are not the only source of current events news, and among all possible sources they are the worst. If you feel it's important to be informed about what's going on, then the last thing you want to do is read a newspaper. If you desire to be manipulated, fed BS, come to conclusions based on leaps of logic and incorrect information, and not know what's really going on, then newspapers are the perfect solution.

My point here isn't that a person should not be aware of what's going on. I personally don't get excited about current events, because I can't do anything about them--but that is beside the point.

My point here is that you will not KNOW what's going on by reading the newspapers. You will, instead, have to GUESS at what's going on after you sift through the suppositions, lies, leaps of logic, misrepresentations, quotes taken out of context, and general BS put out by people whose main goal in life is to push their personal views under the guise of "informing" people.

I just find it more efficient to get reasonably reliable information to begin with.

We can sum it up this way. If you were buying new suit, would you want to stand in front of a mirror that gives an honest reflection, or would you want to stand in front of a funhouse mirror? That is the difference between getting your information from quality sources vs. from newspapers.

The audience for newspapers has been declining markedly. Some people say this is because of the Internet. But the heaviest users of Internet-based news sources are retired people, and they are also the largest demographic of newspaper readers. So, the Internet has nothing to do with it. The cause is very simple: people don't like their intelligence insulted by left-wing propaganda presented as "news." Until newspaper moguls begin to grasp this fact, they deserve to see their empires crumble.

Newspapers hold a great deal of potential. Too bad the papers are in the hands of people who don't care about that. Don't let them drag you down to their same level of "ignorance on purpose."

Here are 3 articles with different tips on finding hidden time:

• https://www.mindconnection.com/main/timemanager/files/timetips/findinghiddentime_004.htm
• https://www.mindconnection.com/main/timemanager/files/timetips/findinghiddentime_005.htm
• https://www.mindconnection.com/main/timemanager/files/timetips/findinghiddentime_006.htm

Budget-stretching is now a fact of life, with over 80% of our income being sucked away by taxes before we can buy so much as a square of toilet paper.

One way to stretch your budget is to forego those high-priced cleaners. With a little effort, you can cut the costs dramatically. You can make your own cleaner for less than 1/10th the cost of the typical fancy-label cleaner. Try these:

• Carpet cleaner: Make up a mild solution of water and clothes detergent, and gently scrub dirty areas with an old sock. Actual mixture depends on how concentrated your detergent is. This method is not appropriate for really tough stains.
   
• Floor cleaner (tile or linoleum): Make up a mild solution of dishwashing liquid, and use a sponge to clean up grime. Use a different sponge to remove the soapy residue, and use old socks to buff dry. Good for routine maintenance. You may eventually need to use regular tile cleaner.
   
• Plant leaf polish: Add two teaspoons of soap (unscented) flakes and one teaspoon wheat germ to a quart of water.
   
• Room deodorizer spray: Mix one tablespoon of lemon extract scent, 1/4 cup of ammonia, and one cup baking soda into a gallon of warm water. Store in a suitable container. Pour the mixture into a cheap atomizer, and you have inexpensive room freshener. Shake well before using.
   
• Silk flower cleaner: Put the flowers in a paper bag with salt and shake. Note that some "silk" flowers are actually polyester. Not much you can do with those.
   
• Window cleaner: Mix 1/2 cup ammonia, one pint of isopropyl alcohol, and one teaspoon liquid dishwashing detergent into a gallon of warm water.

Today, with taxes in the USA at an all-time high (see our previous issues if you don't understand that taxes have never been higher in the USA than they are today) and heading higher, people are becoming desperate for ways to raise money.

One way some people are doing this is they are starting their own "insurance" companies. They aren't licensed, but they sell policies. A legal operation must be licensed by each state to sell policies in that state. Each state has certain requirements each insurance company must meet.

Regular insurance companies tend to play games and squirm out of paying on claims. But most of them eventually pony up, especially if the claim is legitimate and they can't find fine print to say otherwise. And some will even go out of their way to ensure you're properly taken care of.

But the unlicensed "insurers" simply don't pay. They aren't in business to pay out, only to collect premiums. They nail about 100,000 people a year this way.

The most common way they dupe someone is by offering cheap premiums. People conveniently forget such things as:

• You get what you pay for.
• A good business deserves adequate compensation.
• A lousy business can afford to be cheap in price because everything else is cheap--including the value of what you thought you were getting.
• There is no free lunch.
• Cost reduction has to come from somewhere.

There's a demographic trend on this forgetfulness problem, this desire to assume your situation is different and everything will be OK. The primary targets are:

• Older people who are on a fixed income.
• Small business owners who operate on a shoestring.
• People who have Democratic Party signs in their yards (amazing, but true--it has to do with supporting big gov't/free lunch ideas, even though the Republicans do the same thing).

The kinds of "insurance" being offered are usually health insurance policies, but the problem applies in other areas as well.

Some danger signs:

• You never heard of this company before (even if you have, that doesn't mean it's legit).
• Premiums are really, really low. A 50% savings is a bit too obvious, so these scamsters shoot for 10% to 20% reductions off the typical policy for someone of your age and hope you'll bite.
• The salesperson points out exclusions your coverage now has, but tells you something like, "We cover you anyhow!" How can they afford not to have that exclusion? By never intending to pay!
• You have to take advantage of this offer before a certain time or date. If you hear that, stop. Point to the door, and tell the salesperson not to let it hit him/her on the way out.

Cautions:

• Do not let testimonials sway you. These are meaningless. Just because other people have been duped doesn't mean you should be. But what if they provide a reference for someone who got paid on a claim? A clever outfit might actually pay a few people just to get those ecstatic references. But they shaft everyone else.
• The fact they haven't been investigated, there's no formal complaint filed against them, or they are endorsed by such and such group means nothing.
• Any "proof" on printed material the salesperson hands you is meaningless. Anybody can have something false printed up--newspapers do it every day.

If the policy sounds good, then check this company out. That's easy to do. Go online and find the contact info for your state insurance board. Find out if the company you're considering paying insurance money to is licensed. If not, report them to that same state board. While you're on the site, take a look around. You'll find other resources for checking up on insurance companies.

• http://www.supplecity.com/articles/fatloss.htm
• http://www.supplecity.com/articles/fatlossfacts.htm
• http://www.supplecity.com/articles/fatlosstips.htm

1. Leaving the water running while brushing your teeth can waste four gallons of water in a minute. Leaving Congress in charge of the government can waste $50 billion in less than an hour.
    

2. See: Special Offers (expired link now removed). It has some great offers that are worth following up on.
    

3. We don't run ads in our newsletter. We do get inquiries from advertisers, all the time. To keep this eNL coming, go to www.mindconnection.com and do your shopping from there (as appropriate).
    

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