Mindconnection eNL, 2007-10-28

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In this issue:

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

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

You can even view the Table of Contents and get more information by clicking on the image at right or the link below.

Good, results-getting business letters are about as rare as dodo birds. Don't you want to get the results you are after? Now you can write business letters that have punch, are clear and concise, and have others bending over backwards to help you.

Many people, frustrated by the poor results of the letters they have written, pick up the  phone. That's not a good solution, either. In fact, the phone is almost guaranteed to get you a scripted response because it puts the person at the other end in the position of trying to help you without substantiating documentation s/he can forward on to decision-makers.

A letter done based on what you learn in this course will not only solve your initial problem, but will probably leave you better off than if you'd never had the problem to begin with.

Dan Kennedy charges corporations $250,000 to write a single business letter for them. And it's usually a form letter. You can learn to write your own business letters as many times as you want, getting results that far surpass those of a form letter, for only $29.95. Click the image or the link above, and make that small investment now. You will be glad you did.

• If you phone an attorney, you will be billed.
• If you eat at a restaurant, you are presented with a bill.
• When your car stops at a toll booth, you must pay.
• When you use a non-prepay parking lot or garage, you pay to get out.
• Each month, your electric company sends you a bill for electricity you've used.
• Water, sewer, gas, garbage disposal, and any other utilities--you get billed for what you've used.
• If your employer pays weekly, you get paid for the work you did in the prior week (or a similar arrangement).
• When an engineering firm engages to do $5 million of design work on a power plant, that firm collects partial payments at several milestone points during the life of the project.

Have you noticed something about these solutions to the problem of getting paid for services provided? Not one involves building a fence to keep people out. The common practice here is people pay for a service that has been rendered.

The illegal alien "problem"

The Department of Homeland Stupidity (made that way due to Executive Branch mismanagement, not due to those working the front lines and offices of DHS) is responding to the illegal immigrant "problem" by building a costly fence.

And it's being done with our money. Well, actually with the money of the grandchildren of people not even born yet because all of our money is already going to other useless or counterproductive projects that have yet to be paid for.

That particular "solution" got shoved down DHS throats by CONgress, despite some actually decent recommendations made by DHS staffers.

Mexican kids are crossing the border to attend American public schools. Why is this is a problem? Because instead of placing the issue in the hands of, say, mere idiots, we (the American voters) have placed it in the hands of absolute morons (every other November, Americans inexplicably "elect" the Demopublicans back into office).

To the US CONgress, the illegal alien situation is yet another opportunity for political gamesmanship, increased regulations, and ever more irrational and irresponsible ways to burn our tax dollars.

Questions to ponder:

• Why do members of the US CONgress believe the Treasury has a painfully huge money surplus?
• Why do these absolute morons believe the alleged surplus is a national problem of such import that CONgress must pull out all the stops to waste money wherever the opportunity for waste presents itself?
• What part of "a $9 trillion debt is not a surplus" do they not understand?
• What part of "at this point, even the next five generations won't be able to support the $63 trillion in unfunded and growing obligations CONgress has accumulated" do they not understand?
• How can people of such egregious ignorance and incompetence be rehired every two years?
• Why do we pay these absolute morons 6 times as much as the average voter?

Next time you walk into a Walgreen's count how many employees are in that store. Your CONgressman makes more than twice as much as all of them put together. And what do you get for all that money? Less than nothing, actually. Paying members of CONgress to keep doing what they're doing like paying the mechanic who sabotaged your brakes to work on your car yet again.

Yet every other November, we line up and do just that. You are better off paying them to just stay home and do nothing. You do have the option of not paying them and they stay home--by voting for anyone other than a Demopublican. Of course, getting the desired outcome depends on whether enough other voters would rehire a sabotaging mechanic or not.

A real solution

For anyone applying even a smidgen of brainpower, the illegal alien "problem" is a great opportunity for the United States. Making money by charging people for something they will use anyhow is never a bad idea. Especially when you consider how much more beneficial that is than going through a rapid money burn in vain efforts to stop them.

Again, refer to that list that this article started out with. Therein lies the very simple and cost-effective solution to the so-called "illegal alien problem."

Note to the State Department of Mexico: Please send us as many kids as you can. We will invoice you $40,000 per annum per kid, but give you a 2% discount if you pay within 20 days. If they don't speak English, no problem--we offer tutoring for an additional $20,000 per annum per kid. Sorry, no 20-day discount.

Just suppose....

Let's play with a ridiculous notion for a moment. Assume, for argument's sake, that the US CONgress would apply some brainpower to a problem. And assume they apply it to the illegal alien "problem."

With brainpower applied, this wouldn't be a problem for us. But it would be one for Mexico. We just use the common practice of invoicing for services rendered--see how easy this is? Very little brainpower used, but big results.

The response from the Mexican government would be significant and immediate. They would have to build their own fence and take other measures to keep Mexicans from crossing the border. They couldn't afford for their citizens to come here.

Why are we not doing this? Well, we (in the aggregate) keep voting Demopublican instead of voting in our own best interests. Consequently, things are done absent the application of brainpower. As long as we keep going to the polls and saying, "I approve of this stupidity" by voting the same way all the time, we will get the same stupid results. Which is why, instead of making billions of dollars from Mexicans flowing across our borders, we are spending millions of dollars to kinda sorta stop them.

This is like spending a lot of money to cover up that irritating seam of gold that makes it hard to grow grass in your backyard,  or spending money to stop up that oil that's seeping through a crack in your backyard instead of placing a well there....

"Wait. There's a fly in this ointment. We don't have a way to make them pay." Yeah, right. There is a totally useless federal agency with 115,000 employees who spend half their office time surfing p*rn and gambling sites [source: GAO], with the other half divided between extorting and terrorizing innocent American citizens. Give them the job of collecting from the Mexican government. Problem solved.

Ah, we are leaving so much money on the table. Let's take a look at what applied brainpower could do....

Apply common solutions to even more problems

Let's apply this "If you use it, you buy it" to some other problems coming from Mexico:

• Mexican laborers? Send the State Department of Mexico an invoice for each one, charging them some kind of work permit fee.
   
• Mexicans using our hospital emergency rooms? Invoice Mexican hospitals selected at random.
   
• Mexicans having babies here, making them citizens? Invoice the Immigration Department of Mexico for the fees legal immigrants pay, including language classes. Add in interest and penalties, plus a special handling fee.
   
• Mexican pollution wafting across the Rio Grande? Invoice the State Department of Mexico based on particulate density, carbon content, and other measurements made automatically by instrumentation.
   
• Mexican exports? Send the Commerce Department of Mexico an invoice for each item crossing our borders. What what about NAFTA? Sure, just as soon as Mexico conforms with EPA regulations, OSHA regulations, and other burdens under which American companies must operate.

The visible hand

I see no problems with Mexico that the market can't fix. Lest statists criticize the "invisible hand" of the market as being too "19th century" to fix these problems, let me point out that I'm advocating the simple billing and collections process of the market. It's actually a very visible hand. They hold the bill in their hands, and they see what they owe--you can't get much more visible than that.

The idea of billing for services isn't radical or new. And we expect it when it comes to the services we use. Why then, do we not expect it for services that Mexicans use? Is this a "duh" question?

Ask that brainpower be applied

Instead of an intelligent approach that puts the monkey on the back of the people who cause the illegal alien "problem," we are saddled with expensive, counterproductive non-solutions. Your tax dollars at work against you, yet again.

Ask your CONgressman if, perhaps in this one instance, it would be possible to actually do something for America instead of using every waking moment devising ways to do things against America. Who knows? They might make an exception to their standard practices and follow a standard practice that the rest of us apply all the time. Maybe. If you ask nicely and say pretty please.

Apply it yourself

While your CONgressman struggles with the notion of doing something that actually makes sense, go ahead and apply this principle  to other problems you see. Look at what other people are doing to solve problems and see if the concept behind those solutions can apply to your situation.

https://www.mindconnection.com/main/timemanager/files/timetips/manageattentionspan_002.htm

You can clip coupons until your hands bleed and still not come even close to making a dent in your real financial burden. If you don't think it's important to insist on cutting government programs and repealing regulations, consider the following (along with a brief commentary afterwards):

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries, then
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his a..

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers,
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin ,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.

Put these words
upon his tomb,
" Taxes drove me to my doom..."

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

These taxes seem to be quite extensive, but they compose only a minor part of your total tax burden. Government spending is so voracious that the government uses the "hidden" taxes of inflation (done by the Federal Reserve, when it creates more money) and "borrowing" (government bonds and other *in*securities) that drives up the cost of capital.

You can thank Alan Greenspan for stealing half the property Americans owned while he mismanaged the Federal Reserve. He pumped so much money into the system as a hidden tax that the dollar lost half its value while he was grossly overpaid for a job he simply refused to do. He was supposed to control inflation. Instead, he created inflation, and in so doing stole half of what every American had worked hard to accumulate.

Ordinarily, someone stealing half of another person's entire worldly assets would be arrested. But Dr. G. did it to 300 million people so he gets a free pass on that one.

Credit card spending junkies get into debt so far, they can't even make minimum payments. That's where we are right now with the federal debt. So all the money that is collected in taxes can't bail us out fast enough. It's like being in a ship that is taking on more water than you can pump out. Only one thing can happen--it will sink. The Titanic was a maritime disaster. We, as a nation, have hit the iceberg of rampant spending and are in the middle of a financial disaster. As with the Titanic, there aren't enough lifeboats.

It may be possible to plug the leaks. It certainly is not possible to bail any faster.

We reviewed some highlights regarding how the government answer to any problem is nearly always colossally counterproductive. And, we looked at some ways we can be more secure despite the government's best attempts to truly screw things up.

The Dept of Homeland Stupidity plays Chicken Little games in an effort to justify wasting ever more tax dollars on ever more agency bloat. If these people were just allowed to do their jobs, they could actually make us more secure. A lot of the people hired on have impeccable credentials and impressive backgrounds. But the micromismanagement they are subjected to means nothing is actually done about our security.

At least, it's not done for us. Take a look at the evidence, by answering half a dozen questions:

1. How "secure" were those folks on the bridge in MN this summer?
    
2. How "secure" are we in our Constitutional rights, which increasingly appear to be a checklist of things unelected federal agency bureaucrats deny us?
    
3. How "secure" are we from being illegally assaulted by federal thugs?
   A. Would someone care to ask Randy Weaver's dead wife and baby?
   B. Can you guess why David Koresh isn't available for comment?
    
4. How "secure" are we from being conscripted to labor 40 hours per year just to fill out the forms so we can file our individual federal income taxes?
   A. What about the 180 hours needed (on average) for a small business?
   B. If time is money, why does the government forcibly extract from each of us an entire week's pay each year for no valid purpose?
    
5. How "secure" are we from being robbed to pay for the mind-numbing array of federal regulations that result in huge costs that show up in every product or service we buy?
   A. Can you pay your $660,000 share of the federal debt?
   B. Did you get $660,000 worth of goods and services from the federal government?
   C. Have you ever read the 10,000 page index to the Federal Code of Regulations?
   D. Who pays the compliance costs of all those regulations?
    
6. How "secure" are we from rogue employees of the IRS and their lawless approach to acting out sick fantasies on defenseless citizens?
   A. Why are our misrepresentatives in CONgress not doing something about the rampant level of crime in that particular agency, as reported by the OMB, GSA, and other sources?
   B. What about scaremongering from the DHS--duct tape on the windows, and people actually fell for that?
   C. Why do we need a Department of Homeland Stupidity anyhow--don't the newspaper and television execs already provide enough stupidity?
   C. Who said there was a stupidity shortage?
   D. What about putting steel chains and padlocks on the doors of the FBI, IRS, and the other useless but harmful agencies?
   E. How about fixing our bridges and roadways--how can that be a lower priority than protecting us from an alleged stupidity shortage?

By now, you should have surmised that government--at least when it's run by unelected, unaccountable, incompetent but powerful people--is mutually exclusive to personal security. That is, the more government we have, the less secure we are. In our case (Americans), it's because of the politics and lobbyist-driven interference in every nook and cranny of the government machinery. Instead of setting clear goals aligned with the country's interests, the politicians do the bidding of those who buy politicians.

You don't have a representative in CONgress. You have a misrepresentative.

The idea that regular Americans have any meaningful representation in a government that saddles them with a personal debt of $660,000 each defies logic. Would any sane person really ask another person to have someone rob him/her of this much money? Maybe I'm blind or something, but I haven't seen a single home that has a "Please rob us" sign in the front yard. Have you?

The idea that American have any representation in a government that praises Alan Greenspan for cutting the value of the dollar in half (thereby stealing half of everything you own and ever will own) is without merit. I have just listed two items from a vast list of items that show very few people have any representation at all when it comes to what regulations are made or what money gets spent.

Since the vast majority of American citizens have zero representation in the federal government and zero recourse for its abuses, what can we do?

In regard to voting, there is one thing you can do. Vote against the Demopublicans by voting for anybody else. Write in Charles Manson, if you want--at least he's being made to answer for killing someone. Ted Kennedy is still a free man. Just don't write in O.J. Simpson, please.

By voting for anybody else, even Mickey Mouse, you are actually using your vote as opposed to simply throwing it away by rubberstamping the election fraud via a selection of either Demopublican "choice." You are using it because you are showing that you don't approve of the same old hacks and the same old "good cop bad cop" game these people play while pretending to be on different sides. They are on the same side, and they do the same things--spend more money and generate more regulations.

Outside of that, what can you do? Write your CONgressman a short letter or e-mail (you can usually do that via your CONgressman's Website) stating you approve any and all federal spending cuts, but oppose any and all federal spending increases. If even a handful of such letters get to a staffer (the one who actually reads mail to the CONgressman), the idea of financially responsible behavior will eventually come up in conversation in that office and your CONgressman just might reduce the rate at which you are being robbed blind.

Then, repeat this process for both of your senators.

Follow up a month later with the topic not of spending but of regulations. Write that you are opposed to any new regulations for any reason, and you approve of any and all elimination of any federal regulation for any reason. This also plants the idea that perhaps Americans are not 100% freedom-averse. This might actually get a CONgressman or senator to propose the radical idea that simply coming up with new ways to limit people's freedom isn't the fundamental purpose of CONgress.

What about other threats to your personal security? If you have an RTC permit, you don't have to worry about street criminals.

What about foreign terrorists? Statistically, we know that your odds of being killed by a foreign terrorist are something like 1/1000th as great as the odds of your dying in a car crash. Of course, acknowledging that doesn't sell federal pork programs or spawn huge, security-diminishing agencies, so the state-serving media keep hyping up the lesser danger as though it's the one thing we have to worry about more than anything else.

What about white collar crime? Well, yes, that is a threat. But start by not giving out your government-issued Social inSecurity Number. Don't give out personal information unless you absolutely have to. If you have kids who are using MySpace or some other community site to give white collar criminals all kinds of info on you, make them stop. Basically, if you make people really work to rip you off, they will be inclined to look for an easier target.

So now we can see that the only significant threat to your personal security is the federal government. And that's not because a bunch of evil people are out to get you. It's because large, politically-driven organizations frustrate the best efforts of those who are trying to do the right things while simultaneously driving and rewarding incompetence.

And there is the problem of zero oversight and zero accountability, which is why psychopaths like Janet Reno can order the murders of dozens of innocent children, make a public spectacle of it, and not go to prison. Of course, we are referring to the incineration of children at Waco (done for their own protection, she said), not the other abuses that happened on her watch. She has some Freudian issues I suppose, but that doesn't excuse her from being held accountable for these atrocities. Apparently, being a government official does.

That problem is also why a handful of IRS employees were able to skim over $100 million from a scam they ran with Jay Hoyt. The resulting illegal cover-up operation has cost the government at least another quarter billion dollars and costs are still mounting. The central strategy of that cover-up was to destroy 4300 innocent American citizens--more than were killed in the WTC attack--via a long list of illegal activities. For which nobody has even been arraigned. Some believe the cover-up occurred because the crimes showed how incompetent the IRS upper mismanagers are, while others believe those mismanagers were in on it. Who knows? Does it matter? The issue is the rampant crime gets a blind eye from law enforcement, making the DOJ a defacto accomplice to it. DOJ salaries are paid for out of your tax dollars.

While your tax dollars are hard at work against you, what can you do?

I'm not advocating anarchy. It always results in replacing a broken system with one that is broken even worse.

What I'm advocating is that you speak up. Let your misrepresentatives know exactly how you feel about the absolutely moronic and callous way they treat your property, your freedoms, and your rights. Do that, and you best enhance your personal security. It may not be much, but it's really all you have. Make the most of it.

Great bodies are made in the kitchen, not just in the gym. This article will help you get it right:

http://www.supplecity.com/articles/diet.htm

1. Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty (50) years of age or older. Members of CONgress never produce anything useful, no matter how old they get.
    

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The best solution to a problem is seldom the most expensive solution.