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Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent to the dark place where it leads.
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Blog Posts for August 2010

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The Big Test

 

Just in case people aren't paying attention to the current political agenda:

  1. Demoralize the country by demonizing those who create jobs.
  2. Re-route as many jobs through government as possible.
  3. Spend money as fast as it can be spent, no matter how much waste and fraud there is.
  4. When your policies fail miserably on every front, try to buy votes and sink future generations into further and further debt. After all, today's children (aka tomorrow's taxpayers) can't vote against the current crop of politicians.
This November's election and the election in 2012 are not referendums on government, but are instead measures of the intelligence of the American people.

Pass? Fail? We'll find out.

 

5 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 8/5/2010 11:51:44 AM
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Rain Ravaged Bike Trail

 

On my way to the studio this morning, I encountered this area, recently drained of its floodwaters:

It smelled horrible.

 

0 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 8/13/2010 4:46:31 PM
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Outsourcing Our Lives?

 

... or wresting our lives back from the hands of those who would steal it from us.

 

1 Comment
by Brett Rogers, 8/16/2010 4:49:52 PM
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Escape Velocity

 

In mankind's millennia-old pursuit to escape the confines of the earth, it turned out that gravity was the tether and that a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen was the fuel to push into the freedom of space.

I loved space, as a kid. Still do. One of my favorite movies is Contact. Star Trek can mesmerize me. On the clearest nights, I watch for the still persistence of satellites moving through the sky overhead. Space, I guess, stands for what is possible.

My heart aches as I watch my fellow citizens vote for economy-wrecking politicians who push economy-wrecking policies. I've written before that the next elections are not at all about the politicians, but about the collective intellect of the American people.

Speaking personally, I don't care much for tether. I'm a bit like the dog that would chew its leg off before settling for chained existence.

This past Friday, Duane and I moved ahead with Worldwide Amplified by signing franchising papers with Francorp, the #1 franchiser in the world, responsible for helping Jimmy Johns, Buffalo Wild Wings, and McDonalds, to name a few of their hundreds of clients. 90 days from now, anyone can purchase a Worldwide Amplified franchise.

It will be a low-cost franchise. To our knowledge and Francorp's, it will be one of the first social networking franchises available. We're working feverishly to polish the model. Once the legal framework is completed, I'll be traveling just about every week. I'm the guy who will train franchisees and spend a week at their location to settle them into the process.

I'll know more in the next 90 days as they finesse their numbers and we finesse ours, but I expect this to sell well. Even if we only sell 1 per month, we're doing great. And Francorp tells us that they think this might be particularly attractive in certain countries. They have offices in 17 countries around the world. My passport stands at the ready... as does Tamara's when that day comes around that we open a franchise outside of the US.

My personal goal is to reach escape velocity, where I push beyond the reach of any tether and I can move freely in any direction. I've strapped the rocket to my back. The rest is up to me.

 

3 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 8/22/2010 4:12:40 PM
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Lack of Creativity

 

When you can't figure out how to make money, what do you do? Why, you lobby for the government to make the market give you money, of course!

The National Association of Broadcasters is lobbying Congress to stipulate that FM radio technology be included in future cell phones.

In exchange, the NAB has agreed that member stations would pay about $100 million in so-called performance fees to music labels and artists. Radio stations would be required to pay performance royalties on a tiered schedule with larger commercial stations paying more than smaller and non-profit stations.

Obviously, broadcasters have thrown in the towel and have lost all creativity. Anyone in business who turns to the government to coerce the market so that they can stay in business is, well, more politician than businessman/woman.

(And if your government has the ability to mandate undesired requirements to the market, then it has way too much authority. Time to shrink it.)

 

0 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 8/24/2010 10:31:12 AM
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The Super Genius of Endless Golf Outings

 

Ya know... there are some people getting irritated that folks dis' the Super Genius for his endless golf outings.

I think it boils down to this: I believe I work longer hours and expend more energy at my job than our president does at his. And much of my energy is spent trying to climb over the hurdles he's placing in front of our economy.

Pardon me while I resent laziness in the face of hardship. (The same goes for Michelle Antoinette.)

 

0 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 8/24/2010 1:39:43 PM
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Still Dropping...

 

A reprint from the archives, but it's more relevant than ever...

 

0 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 8/27/2010 11:05:52 AM
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Where Do You Fit In?

 

Also found this in the beatcanvas archives...

Just a reminder: you're only as free as you are independent.

 

0 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 8/27/2010 11:17:31 AM
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The Surety of an Investment

 

No one who makes an investment wants to see it sink. They generally do what they can to see it succeed. "Protect the investment" is the wisdom applied by everyone who invests.

Is there a bias in media? Yes, very much so. And when they spend money, people work to see their investment through to its reward.

I have no problem with their investment. But everything in media is tainted, and should be taken as such. Or at least 88% of what's in the media.

 

0 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 8/29/2010 10:45:32 AM
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