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Mindconnection eNL, 2008-02-03

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In this issue:

  1. Product highlight
  2. Brainpower tip
  3. Time tip
  4. Finance tip
  1. Security tip
  2. Health tip/Fitness tip
  3. Miscellany
  4. Thought for the day
 

1. Product Highlight

Avoid career derailment
This is a tough economy, and things do not look like they will improve any time soon. While CONgress continues to spend us into oblivion, employers keep cutting back. How can you avoid being cut? How can you get a promotion instead of a layoff slip?

Answers to those and many other important questions are in our newly revised Career Success Secrets Course.

See our limited time $10 instant rebate offer, below.

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  • Understand why people move ahead in organizations.
  • Understand why people fail in organizations.
  • Understand why you are not going where you want to be in your organization, and what to do about that.
  • Be able to employ simple strategies to succeed in your job (present) and career (future).
  • Be able to improve your income, reduce your stress, and enjoy a fuller, more productive life.

$10 Instant Rebate Offer. This offer is valid until 23JAN08. When you make your purchase, the system sends you a receipt. Just reply to that receipt and change the subject line to "$10 Rebate."



2. Brainpower tip

Recognize patterns.

People tend to see what they want to see. If there's some scrap of truth in something that is otherwise false, they will usually latch onto the entire concept as valid.

One such concept is the federal "election" in the USA. Here's the pattern: No matter who gets "elected," the result is increased spending and increased regulation. This pattern has held true since the Reconstruction era. There are historical reasons for that, but we don't need to go into them here. The point is, the pattern of behavior among the Democrats and Republicans has been the same (regarding matters that properly fall under the aegis of the federal government), and it's a strongly negative pattern. It's why the USA is dead last among first-world nations on several important metrics (e.g., life expectancy).

So, we de facto have a single-party system. When you see a ballot with only one choice, does it matter which flavor? Does it matter if you get mugged by the Crips or the Bloods, or is getting mugged by one gang somehow more pleasant than getting mugged by the other?

All of this is why paying any attention whatsoever to the "election" runup is a complete waste of your time. That's time that could be spent on something that actually matters. Yet, the "mainstream" media are obsessed with reporting the non-events as if they somehow were newsworthy. Go figure.

This is just one example of where we (people in general) don't see the patterns. We are blind to what goes on because we have a predetermined view against which the facts must fit or be rejected.

Look for patterns in other areas, and you'll open up massive amounts of brainpower.

3. Time Tip

4. Finance tip

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one (1) olive from each salad served in first-class. If each member of CONgress could eliminate one pork barrel program from his/her annual spending glut, the savings could exceed $17 billion each year. What could you do with your share of that money?

Why don't you pose that question to your CONgressman and two senators (addressing US audience, here)? Let them know that you expect at least semi-marginal responsibility in the use of your tax dollars.

5. Security tip

Do you need to discuss something sensitive? Do you want to discuss it privately with your spouse or your attorney? Don't stand near your windows when you do. Here's why. It's very easy for a Patriot Act enabled, Constitution-violating federal agent who is bored and looking for a career-boosting bust to listen in on you. And to jump to wild conclusions based on a few innocent statements or the unfortunate use of the wrong word choices.

That agent, who isn't accountable (remember Ruby Ridge, anyone?), has the freedom to cherry pick information and identify you as a threat that has to be neutralized. That agency can then send people to arrest and detain you for over a year without charging you for any crime. You cannot contact an attorney, notify next of kin, or contact the outside world in any way. Nobody you normally contact will know where you are. Nobody will know that you are being waterboarded and subjected to other tortures, because you haven't yet divulged your nonexistent plans to do whatever it is you haven't yet been charged with. Think Catch-22.

But won't this embarrass the FBI or CIA, once you are ultimately proved innocent? Well, perhaps. But if you disappear off the side of a ship in the middle of the Pacific, who is to know? And if you are allowed to survive, how do you pick up the pieces of your shattered life, now that you have no job, no home, no credit, no money, and no possessions?

Not to mention the IRS troubles you would have, due to being secretly incarcerated and unable to file your income taxes. Tax evasion is a felony. And no, being detained illegally isn't a defense--the IRS does not list this in its manual and the braindead procedures must be followed. So, off to prison you go. Again.

But it's not just gummit types who steal your private information. Ordinary thieves do this as well. They are most interested in your credit card information (use your computer's secure browser, rather than giving c/c info over the phone) and vacation plans.

Your defense here is to keep sensitive conversations private. Here are some tips:

  • Play a stereo with bass turned up so it vibrates your windows. This will help distort the reflections.
  • Purchase an anti-surveillance device that vibrates window panes at varying frequencies.
  • Carry on your conversations in a room that doesn't have windows, if possible.
  • Speak in quiet tones. Whispering in the other person's ear is a pretty good practice.
  • Recognize that a cordless phone can be easily intercepted. The range of your phone is the range over which its calls can be intercepted. The encryption on these phones is easily overcome.
  • Invest in a secure e-mail program that encrypts outgoing messages, and communicate via e-mail. Understand that it is still possible to capture your monitor's screen images and recreate the text even if your monitor isn't near a window (the rays from the monitor pass through walls, even if the monitor is an LCD one).
  • Be careful what you say. Don't use buzzwords that you think may cause you to get on the "suspicious" list. You can google search what these are. I'm not mentioning them here, because my doing so would be a security breach.

Understand that these measures do not afford absolute protection. They merely tilt the odds in your favor. Your most valuable strategy is to steer clear of subjects that can get you identified as a threat. So, don't even talk about things that, if overheard, could be misunderstood and result in having you misbranded as a troublemaker. Don't use buzzwords (e.g., the word b*mb) that these folks are looking for.

"What about the First Amendment?" If you believe this actually protects you, I'm really sorry about that. Please, for your personal safety, let this myth go. It's a nice thought, but it has zero to do with reality. The passing into law of the Patriot Act was the final blow to this and other Constitutional freedoms--which were all tenuous by then anyhow.

Attorney client privilege

Most people grossly misunderstand this.

  • Attorney client privilege applies only to things you have already done. Your attorney actually is required to report you if your attorney believes you may be planning to commit a crime.
  • If you have something you really need to discuss with your attorney, either go to the atty's office or talk about the subject indirectly.
  • Your attorney cannot advise you how to avoid prosecution, skip bail, evade authorities, etc.
  • Remember that language choices can trip you up. So, rather than discuss the specifics of your case when trying to understand something conceptually, discuss it in theoretical terms. Use numbers that are far smaller than your actual numbers. Your attorney will understand the "code" aspect of this and follow your lead. If, on the other hand, you put your attorney in a compromising position, your attorney may have to fire you and turn over notes to the authorities or risk disbarment.

In short, be careful what you say and where you say it. People are monitoring conversations and reacting to the barest of evidence.

In addition to protecting yourself from unjustified "enforcement actions," you will prevent the diversion of these resources away from catching the "bad guys" they are allegedly supposed to detect and neutralize.

6. Health tip/Fitness tips

I hate to seem like an old far

t, but this article may help you avoid being completely embarrassed in an elevator some day.

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

7. Miscellany

  1. Pearls melt in vinegar.
     
  2. 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).
     

  3. Please forward this eNL to others.

8. Thought for the Day

Are you more concerned with impressing others, or with how you make them feel?

 

Wishing you the best,

Mark Lamendola
Mindconnection

Authorship

The views expressed in this e-newsletter are generally not shared by criminals, zombies, or brainwashed individuals.

Except where noted, this e-newsletter is entirely the work of Mark Lamendola. Anything presented as fact can be independently verified. Often, sources are given; but where not given, they are readily available to anyone who makes the effort.

Mark provides information from either research or his own areas of established expertise. Sometimes, what appears to be a personal opinion is the only possibility when applying sound logic--reason it out before judging! (That said, some personal opinions do appear on occasion).

The purpose of this publication is to inform and empower its readers (and save you money!).

Personal note from Mark: I value each and every one of you, and I hope that shows in the diligent effort I put into writing this e-newsletter. Thank you for being a faithful reader.

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