Many companies are in safe-mode so they’ve hunkered down, no expansion, no advertising, no marketing, etc. These companies are waiting for the storm to pass. Someone will fill that need in the marketplace, why not you? The biggest complaint I hear is that capital is not available. Let me tell you there have been plenty of highly successful people that built their fortune on a shoe-string. Today with the advent of the internet and in our 24/7 news driven world, there are many ways to get your message out there that simply didn’t exist twenty years ago.

If you have lost your job and you’re one of those folks not being counted in the unemployment numbers because it’s been so damn long, try your hand at something different. What is it that you’re most excited about and how can you make money at it? This may be the perfect opportunity for you to look around you and by all means look in the mirror and discover what excites you in life – do something you love! It’s a proven fact that people make more money and are happier when fulfilling their dreams than experiencing the aggravation of a dead-end job that has zero potential.

Risk: The quote from Robert Collier tells the story “Playing safe is probably the most unsafe thing in the world. You cannot stand still. You must go forward.” The one thing you can expect by playing it safe is ‘predictability’. For many, predictability is not a bad thing. Being risk adverse will keep you in your comfort zone alright, problem is you’ll never experience anything more than an average life. Every good idea has a greater return if you push beyond average. Be willing to break through the boundaries until you arrive at the absurd stage.

Rejuvenate: Stagnation is an innovation killer. Those that are able to reinvent themselves time and again; win. Taking defeat and turning it into victory is the sign of a winner. Not just the first time, but the fifth and eight time as well. It is about making yourself and keeping yourself relevant. You can never tell on the surface which idea is the best idea. I see too many people who put all their effort in one direction, while never taking chances in other areas of their life. Keep turning every rock over, one of those rocks will be underlined with gold.

Reward: Without a doubt, if you’re willing to risk it all. If you can rejuvenate yourself no matter the circumstances. Chances are the rewards will be much greater. After you’ve gone through the question everything – leave no stone unturned stage – you’ll find yourself in the valley of the absurdity. The idea that nobody has tried this before, that’s the idea you want. If you can get your idea through the absurd stage, you will be rewarded. You’ll arrive at the Brink. The Brink of a great idea is the essence of following your dreams even when it seems impractical.

If your are willing to risk, and you can rejuvenate your current circumstances, then the greater the reward. Break through the boundaries of your current circumstances, become more absurd in your thinking and you’ll become the Brink Thinker that you always knew you could be.

see Sinking Faster Than An Alka-Seltzer Tablet Or Recovery? on the It’s Time To Get Out Loud blog

Time to Get Involved, Get Loud & Think on the Brink

Get your competitive edge, SMASH the Competition…the right way!

You remember the phrase, ‘the harder I work, the luckier I get’ – well it should have been ‘the more absurd I think, the luckier I get’.

There’s a reason why some people achieve so much, and yet so many others fail to move their agenda beyond average. It’s not determination or even perseverance that propels them forward. It’s knowing that the unimaginable is imaginable. That boundaries are meant to be broken. And questions are meant to be asked, although they may not always be answered. Ask yourself these questions:

When is taking a risk an option worth considering?
When does the absurd become valid?
How do you Make the Leap into the unknown?

Knowing when to push an idea forward or trash it altogether is the sign of a winner. Half-baked ideas can never achieve greatness. Remember you must not subscribe to the ‘getting out of the box’ theory – this is only a random state of mind. If you have the hope and desire to arrive at the brink – keep NO boxes in your life. No limitations. There is a method to a brink thinking lifestyle, here are 8 keys to a new and absurd way of thinking:

1. Take one hour out of your day to expand your thoughts, stretch your mind and dream
2. Review every angle and possibility to your current situation, don’t limit, just explore
3. Form a group of interested parties to collaborate on a specific idea
4. Take one day a month and change the environment around you
5. Establish no milestones in the incubator stage – timelines can prohibit success early on
6. Question everything, and then question it again, and again
7. Start with the desired outcome in mind and then work backwards
8. Has it been done before? Why do it again? What makes your path different?

You’ll know you’re at the absurd stage when you continue to push forward against all odds – your instincts will question you, are you doing the right thing? Yet your commitment to the task at hand is unshakeable. Sounds strange, but it’s really not, it means you are on the brink!

I encourage you today to take that first leap into brink thinking territory, and remove those boxes from your thoughts. Brink Thinking is habit forming, and Brink Thinkers pull out all the stops! Good luck.

Time to Get Involved, Get Loud & Think on the Brink

Read this post: Leave the Box Behind. Stand Out!

Get your competitive edge, SMASH the Competition…the right way!

]]> http://www.malcolmoutloud.tv/tools/?feed=rss2&p=2098 2 http://www.malcolmoutloud.tv/tools/?p=2383 http://www.malcolmoutloud.tv/tools/?p=2383#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:57:09 +0000 Malcolm Out Loud http://www.malcolmoutloud.tv/tools/?p=2383 We’ve become a nation of over-sensitive whiners, complainers and race zealots. Seems to me the United States has lost 50 years of progress in the race department over this past year. Media outlets are adjusting quotes, taking out words and entire sentences in some cases, in order for the “story” to imply racial strife (NBC). It doesn’t sell if it’s not over-sensationalized! Instead of embracing our diversity, we run from it, point fingers at one another and acuse the other of racial insensitivity.  Acura is the latest to fall into this trap.

Acura felt the need to apologize for a casting document that called for an African-American actor who was “not too dark” for their Super Bowl ad. The casting sheet details read: “Nice Looking, friendly. Not too dark. Will work with a MAJOR COMEDIAN.” The controversy began when an African-American actor who didn’t fit the profile sent the document to a media news outlet.

When it comes to advertising, “profiling” is a necessity – it’s the only way to get the job done. I spent 25+ years in the advertising business, and I can tell you there was nothing odd about selecting the right actor with the right look whether it be hair color, height, weight, attitude or skin color. In advertising you play to the target audience. It truly is that simple. It has zero to do with an insensitivity toward stereotype or race.

Acura should not have apologized but explaining that their casting company was simply doing their job, and that they’ve produced plenty of commercials with actors that are dark black, medium brown, light beige, stark white, tanned and any other color imaginable. They could have stood up for American corporations by refusing to take the position that race was in anyway involved – they simply wanted the best commercial that would hit that target audience – period.

The truth of the matter is ad agencies have been profiling since the beginning of time. Sometimes we want asian people, elderly women with blue hair, a brown kid with an attitude, a light black man with a polished look or maybe a white mother with blonde hair – Get the picture!!!

Acura, not taking any chances and electing to remain politically correct: “We apologize to anyone offended by the language on the casting sheet,” the carmaker said in a statement. “We sought to cast an African-American in a prominent role in the commercial, and we made our selection based on the fact that he was the most talented actor.”

Listen, there have always been bigots and zealots in the world that use racial differences as a means to destroy people. These people have so many issues with themselves, that they actually believe they’re actions are somehow fixing society. Unfortunately this racial insensitivity has now negatively influenced the mainstream and the result is racial OVER sensitivity.

Acura said it was “taking appropriate measures to ensure that such language is not used again in association with any work performed on behalf of our brand.”

The Out Loud Truth is there was nothing incorrect in the casting agency using the term ”not too dark” in their document and Acura should not have acquiesced and suggested that wrongdoing occurred by stating “such language is not used again”. They instead should have defended the principles in how they do business, why they do business this way and who they are in business for.

Their position for the future leads one to believe that Acura will only use animated rainbow colored people in their commercials as they hide behind a mask of political correctness.

Time to Get Involved, Get Loud & Think on the Brink

Get your competitive edge, SMASH the Competition…the right way!

Seven year old Annie Clark writes with a pencil wedged between her arms, because she has no hands. Annie’s handwriting sample was chosen as the Grade Level Winner for the first grade at Wilson Christian Academy. Along with the Nicholas Maxim Special Award for Excellent Penmanship, Annie received a trophy and a check for one thousand dollars. 

Annie is a first-grader at Wilson Christian Academy in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania who was born without hands. Yet at 7 years old, she has learned to do all kinds of things that you would come to expect any 7 year old to do. ”Annie has always been very, very determined, very self-sufficient in dressing herself and feeding herself,” said her father Tom Clark. “She can ride a bike. She swims. She is just determined that there’s nothing she can’t do.” Her parents, Tom and Mary Ellen Clark, said it’s the same method Annie uses to feed and dress herself, cut with scissors and even paint her toenails. 

The award, presented by Zaner-Bloser language arts and reading company is awarded to students with “a cognitive delay or intellectual, physical or development disability,”. It was given to Annie after her handwriting sample was sent in as a regular competition entry, having been selected as the best writing sample among those collected from ALL first graders at the Wilson Christian Academy.

Now if you haven’t finished that cup of tea, let me go on to tell you that you can do anything you set your mind to. There is great truth in the phrase ‘mind over matter’. It is the belief that the mind is more powerful than the body and the challenges that you are faced with can be overcome. Specifically, mind over matter refers to controlling and overcoming those obstacles that stand in your path. Through the power of concentration, positive thinking and a positive mindset – human beings can do anything.

If we put our minds to it, we can overcome those obstacles and change those negative thoughts that control our actions and outcomes. When put to the task, the human spirit is your most powerful weapon. When you put your mind to the task at hand with the focus and concentration of the most positive outcome possible, the odds of you accomplishing your feat rise exponentially. Think of the energy, determination and power in the last two minutes of a football game. More is accomplished in those two minutes than all the other quarters combined, because athletes know they have to put it all on the line. They make their mind up to win the game, even though the odds are against them.

The boundaries that are in your way have been placed there by YOU, and only you can remove them. Pushing through those boundaries is the key to a brink thinking lifestyle. It’s when things seem a bit absurd around you, that you’ll know the answer is close by. Brink Thinkers are a special breed. Brink Thinkers are human beings who know no boundaries and except nothing less than victory in their lives. Annie Clark is a Brink Thinker.

I think this is why people always question me as to why I am so determined and so driven to win the race of life. It is because I harness all my power in the moment and focus on the challenge or opportunity at hand. I put my mind to the task and tell myself “I can do it”!

If Annie, who was born without hands, can overcome her handicap and win, you and I can to!

Time to Get Involved, Get Loud & Think on the Brink

Get your competitive edge, SMASH the Competition…the right way!

According to the Wall Street Journal, ”The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, alleges Apple and the publishers reached an agreement where retail price competition would cease, retail e-books prices would increase significantly and Apple would be guarantee a 30% ‘commission’ on each e-book sold.”

My question is – Isn’t this just smart business? Didn’t Apple and the publishers just simply capitalize on an opportunity. In the marketing business we would just call this ‘Smart Marketing’ or ‘Keeping our Competitors in Check’ or even ‘Product Streamline & Advantage Marketing’.

With the advent of the iPad, the Kindle and other related tablets, consumers are reading more digital books than ever before. They’re convenient, take up less room and you can take them on the run. After all what else did you buy that digital tablet for? E-books are not so intimidating to up-and-coming authors and inspiring writers. By eliminating printing and shipping costs, digital versions generate higher profit margins than traditional books. When you consider that sales from e-books rose 117% in 2011, generating one billion dollars – it’s an industry with untapped potential.

Attorney General Eric Holder stated “As a result of this alleged conspiracy, we believe that consumers paid millions of dollars more for some of the most popular titles,”. Some publishers hit back at the allegations, saying they did nothing wrong and were acting to prevent Amazon from taking a dominant position in e-book retailing.

So what is the real argument here? Amazon has been manipulating their vendors for years. By offering pricing that may be under market value – aren’t they hurting the profits of their supply-chain? One might argue that Amazon is controlling pricing and has created an unfair playing field for other online retailers.

“The legal concern relates to the possibility of collusion among nearly all the major publishers, which would introduce an monopoly effect on the retail cost of books,” explains Wired’s John Abell. “Publishing is made up of legally sanctioned mini monopolies anyway, since a given title is available only from one and, unlike cars, there are no equivalents per se from another. But if the major publishers were to collude, then any semblance of competition would disappear, and the market would have little say in the pricing of books at all.”

The Out Loud Truth is that competition breeds success. If you don’t like the price of Apple’s e-books, then don’t buy them. Set up your own online books store and sell them yourself at whatever price point you wish. I come from the world of ‘Whatever the market will bear’ – that’s the price that matters. It’s called capitalism.

There is an ‘ass for every seat and a seat for every ass’. The U.S. Government just wants to dictate which ass is sitting in which seat.

Time to Get Involved, Get Loud & Think on the Brink

Get your competitive edge, SMASH the Competition…the right way!

I was recently in a room of business leaders who were all at the top of their career ladders within their respective companies. In fact it was an organization that elevates performance and measures standards of excellence. These business leaders represented the best in class throughout the state and made up the Board of Directors. Conversation had ensued amongst the board on overall strategy and future plans of the organization. The conversation seemed to go on forever, but it was only about an hour and a half of back and forth between the members on previous policy and limitations on future policy, when a member stood up and declared that maybe they should think outside of the box for just a few minutes. I looked around the room and all the members seemed to be in agreement that since no breakthroughs were evident, the time had now arrived that required taking the conversation outside the norm.

I could not believe what was playing out in front of me. Here were a group of business leaders who represented the very best and it took them an hour and a half to discover that average is truly overrated and that to stand out, they had to get beyond their self-imposed limitations. I couldn’t help myself any further even with the risk that they may not invite me back again; I rose to my feet to help this group out and asked “Why would you bring a box in the room to begin with, why not leave it outside the door?” to a room full of both empty stares of confused people and some nodding heads of agreement.

Allow me to set the record straight, the BOX is equivalent to your LIMITATIONS. So in essence you’re saying LET’S THINK OUTSIDE OUR LIMITATIONS which clearly indicates that your everyday thinking is saddled with limitations, and that occasionally you’ll wander from that norm by thinking outside the box. Just imagine a life where you had no limitations and no boundaries to hold you back. Imagine a world where you could STAND OUT amongst your peers, within your sphere of influence and position yourself at the top of your chosen career.

“Creativity is unpredictable and disruptive. The quest for a new idea often inspires fear about whether executing it is possible; whether the costs of change will swamp its benefits.” says Robert Safian, Editor of Fast Company.

I have never understood why people bring a box in the room, or in their immediate space for that matter. Just having a box control your every thought forces you to limit yourself and restrains all the possibilities that would otherwise be present. How many times have you been engaged with business leaders where you had hoped the conversation would be invigorating and inspiring? Instead it was average if not quite boring. Why do we limit ourselves when we could achieve so much more?

Might it be that:
We’re scared of the unknown
We’re not sure of the execution
We think we need to fit into society, rather than STAND OUT

Do you often convince yourself:
Everyone else who tried has failed, I don’t have a chance
I have this crazy idea, but it’s just a dream… It’ll never happen
There are so many reasons why this won’t work

Questions to ask yourself:
When is taking a risk an option worth considering?
When does the absurd become valid?
How do you Make the Leap?

Time to Get Involved, Get Loud & Think on the Brink

Get your competitive edge, SMASH the Competition…the right way!

We have all been suspicious of government snooping into the details of our private lives, using their big brother status to delve into our activities, our habits, our preferences. A predominant theme of George Orwell’s classic Nineteen Eighty-Four centers on pervasive government surveillance and the consequential public mind control that could dominate our every action. How ironic that our fear of Big Brother would materialize with the big business juggernauts Facebook and Google. If you’ve been a little alarmed in the past about how much Google and Facebook know about you, brace yourself – they’ll know a great deal more about you in the future. More than your employer, more than your friends and family, maybe even more than your spouse.

Facebook recently released new privacy policies which clearly remind us that the services they provide are not free after all,  we simply pay for their services with our personal data.

Facebook can tell you who your friends are and track both you and your friends:
- We receive data from the computer, mobile phone or other device you use to access Facebook. This may include your IP address, location, the type of browser you use, or the pages you visit. For example, we may get your GPS location so we can tell you if any of your friends are nearby.
- We also put together data from the information we already have about you and your friends. For example, we may put together data about you to  determine which friends we should show you in your News Feed or suggest you tag in the photos you post. We may put together your current city with GPS and other location information we have about you to, for example, tell you and your friends about people or events nearby, or offer deals to you that you might be interested in. We may also put together data about you to serve you ads that might be more relevant to you.

When they say Public, it means the opposite of Private:
- Choosing to make your information public is exactly what it sounds like: anyone, including people not accessing Facebook, will be able to see it.
- Choosing to make your information public also means that this information: can be associated with you (i.e., your name, profile picture, Facebook profile, User ID, etc.) even off Facebook; can show up when someone does a search on Facebook or on a public search engine; will be accessible to the games, applications, and websites you and your friends use.

Okay so we own it, they just use all of it at their will:
- While you are allowing us to use the information we receive about you, you always own all of your information. Your trust is important to us, which is why we don’t share information we receive about you with others unless we have: received your permission; given you notice, such as by telling you about it in this policy; or removed your name or any other personally identifying information from it.

Be careful of the posts you make on Facebook or it could quickly become part or your reputation:
- Facebook Ads are sometimes paired with social actions your friends have taken. For example, an ad for a sushi restaurant may be paired with a news story that one of your friends likes that restaurant’s Facebook page. This is the same type of news story that could show up in your News Feed, only we place it next to a paid advertisement to make that ad more relevant and interesting. When you show up in one of these news stories, we will only pair it with ads shown to your friends. If you do not want to appear in stories paired with Facebook Ads, you can opt out using your “Edit social ads” setting.

A recent example of how this can consume your identity:
According to a post on Nick Bergus’ blog titled How I Became Amazon’s Pitchman For a 55-Gallon Drum of Personal Lubricant on Facebook: I posted it to Facebook with the line “A 55-gallon drum of lube on Amazon. For Valentine’s Day. And every day. For the rest of your life.” And then I went on with my life. A week later, a friend posts a screen capture and tells me that my post has been showing up next to his news feed as a sponsored story, meaning Amazon is paying Facebook to highlight my link to a giant tub of personal lubricant. Other people start reporting that they’re seeing it, too. I’m partially amused that Amazon is paying for this, but I’m also sorta annoyed. Of course Facebook is happily selling me out to advertisers. That’s its business. That’s what you sign up for when make an account.

Google has just updated their privacy policy as well. Google’s policy allows the company to share information about you across all of its services and has drawn criticism worldwide.

Google associates your phone number with your account, which could in turn show up on the web:
- We may collect device-specific information (such as your hardware model, operating system version, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information including phone number). Google may associate your device identifiers or phone number with your Google Account.

- When you use our services or view content provided by Google, we may automatically collect and store certain information in server logs. This may include: details of how you used our service, such as your search queries. Telephony log information like your phone number, calling-party number, forwarding numbers, time and date of calls, duration of calls, SMS routing information and types of calls.

Google tracks you, so if you don’t want to be found – might want to turn location-enabling services off:
- When you use a location-enabled Google service, we may collect and process information about your actual location, like GPS signals sent by a mobile device. We may also use various technologies to determine location, such as sensor data from your device that may, for example, provide information on nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers.

Delete means Google may not delete the information you want deleted:
- We aim to maintain our services in a manner that protects information from accidental or malicious destruction. Because of this, after you delete information from our services, we may not immediately delete residual copies from our active servers and may not remove information from our backup systems.

After all of this, you still have choices. You can go back to using a pad and pen, invest in a dictionary and visit the library (if public libraries still exist in the future) on a regular basis. You can also communicate with your friends via a phone call or an actual visit, or you can accept the fact that privacy is a thing of the past. Which means you’ll need to be extremely careful in what you write and post, what you search for and the information you share on the internet. Second thought, let’s just all get Out Loud and let the chips fall where they fall…

Time to Get Involved, Get Loud & Think on the Brink

]]> http://www.malcolmoutloud.tv/tools/?feed=rss2&p=2067 1 http://www.malcolmoutloud.tv/tools/?p=2060 http://www.malcolmoutloud.tv/tools/?p=2060#comments Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:00:56 +0000 Malcolm Out Loud http://www.malcolmoutloud.tv/tools/?p=2060 Death, particularly when unexpected, is often an abrupt reminder to reassess the priorities in our lives. Allow me to share my Nationally Syndicated Out Loud Minute honoring Andrew Breitbart. It airs Friday, March 2nd on radio everywhere, and can also be heard at MalcolmOutLoud.TV.

Your Out Loud Thought For The Day: Breitbart: An Out Loud Voice Silenced
On Andrew Breitbart’s unexpected death, one word comes to mind – AUTHENTIC! You hear me say it time and again, authentic people rise to the top. You don’t have to read between their lines. Of course you may not like what they have to say sometimes, and they’re not the most PC people in the world, but you always know where they stand.
You have a choice, you can live a meaningless life, or you can live your life Out Loud. Breitbart lived his life Out Loud. There are those that liked Breitbart a great deal and there are those that couldn’t stand him. Why? Because he had an opinion and he wasn’t afraid to voice it. Compare that for a moment to all the weak people you know in your life. Don’t you prefer those people that are willing to take a stand? The people that tell you the truth, even when it hurts? Or are you the type that prefer the common phony?
My mission is to help you live your life to the fullest, to impact people along the journey of life and ultimately make a difference. Pay attention to the details, go the extra mile, and distance yourself from an average existence!
Listen, I continue to tell you we have one chance at this thing called life. Let’s be as authentic as we can be and live our life to the absolute fullest – Out Loud style!
Time to Get Involved and Get Loud

I have breaking news for you my friend. Each of us is going to die. Most of us hope or envision that we’ll live into our nineties, but you just don’t know – it could be that your last day is at 43 or 93. Life is a journey and a gift, and as much as each of us takes life for granted – one day that gift will expire.

We make decisions of importance every day of our lives. We choose our relationships, our careers and our lifestyle. We choose to live our lives in a positive manner, or we venture into a troubled and controversial life – all by the choices we make. We can also choose a life of sadness and one of regrets, or we can make a deliberate choice to be happy and live our life to the fullest.

The fragility and vulnerability of human beings should not be underestimated. One moment we feel invincible, and the next we’re struggling to recapture our health. We see good people die all around us. Life should be lived each day as if it were the last, because there are no guarantees.  Only you can or should define what constitutes happiness for you- it may be fulfillment, contentment, adventure, risk, etc.

I came across an excellent blog and book from Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Here is a summary of the top five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

There are some valuable lessons in that top five. To me the most important is the first lesson, live an authentic life. Be who you are. When you change your life to please other people, it never truly works. I often hear a chuckle when people hear my name Malcolm Out Loud. They often wonder what this Out Loud reference is all about. I can tell you what it isn’t. First, it’s not to raise your decibels just to be loud. Secondly, it isn’t to be crude or arrogant for the sport of it.

I’ve spent 25+ years in corporate boardrooms around the world listening to business leaders. Equally I’ve been engaged with political leaders through events and organizations over those same years. The inspiration and passion that came from those conversations and meetings led me to believe that I had a responsibility to encourage people to get involved in the process, to let their voices be heard. Not to be bystanders in life. Not to simply complain about the process, but to rise and do something about it. Far too many talented, intellectual and resourceful driven people are kept silenced. You have one life to live – live it with passion, integrity and genuineness! It’s time to Get Out Loud in your life.

Time to Get Involved, Get Loud & Think on the Brink

Scott Golder and Michael Macy, two Cornell University researchers analyzed 500 million Twitter posts over a 2 year period and concluded that people across the globe have similar mood patterns even though culture, religion and geography varied greatly among the 2 and a half million “tweeters”. Turns out that just about everyone starts the day in a good mood which slowly deteriorates as the day progresses. You probably won’t be surprised that they further discovered universally more positive moods on weekends than during the work week.

So the next time you need to ask your boss for a raise or day off, or talk to your spouse about a touchy subject, or make a presentation or sale, do so in the morning hours before the cranky circadian clock chimes!

There is a possible exception to this advice- two types of circadian rhythms commonly discussed in research are morning and evening types. Morning people rise between 5 and 7 a.m. and go to bed between 9 and 11 p.m., and evening people tend to wake up between 9 and 11 a.m. and go to bed between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. So, if you are dealing with an evening type- and you are a morning type -remember that your early morning good mood may not sync exactly (and vice versa). And before the majority of you morning people crow about your superiority or productive edge over the evening folks, keep in mind that evidence has shown that the “night owls” show more flexibility in adjusting to new schedules, possibly because they are not as influenced by light.

I’ve often said, you never truly know what someone is going through and what factors impact their thought process. Remember, you can’t always judge a book by it’s cover. Understanding that mood and behavior are indeed impacted through biological factors, will help all of us improve our relationships.

Time to Get Involved, Get Loud & Think on the Brink

Newt Gingrich has been criticized by some in the republican party for his critique of Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital. Some would say that Gingrich is being critical of capitalism while he has repeatedly asked Romney to explain his role at Bain. I haven’t heard Gingrich say that capitalism is bad, quite the contrary, Gingrich has used capitalism to his own advantage with his own consultancy firm. Romney’s chief complaint that Gingrich is attacking the very principles of capitalism is ridiculous. Romney is the one who bragged about his successful years creating jobs at Bain which clearly makes Bain part of the conversation – right?

It’s not an unreasonable series of questions to ask, what were the success metrics? How many jobs did you create at Bain? How many jobs were lost? Did Bain make profits when companies were downsized or dissolved? And if so how much? It might even be a good idea to ask the question: If you had to do it all over again, knowing that you would run for President of the United States, would you change anything? Could you have done anything differently that might have saved some of those jobs that were lost? Alright listen, before you flip out, I am not suggesting that Romney could have changed anything or that he did anything wrong! So don’t accuse me of such. However many Americans would love to know the answer to those questions, without certain republicans jumping on the ‘you hate capitalism wagon’!

These are reasonable questions, and if Romney had been forthcoming it might not have turned into an issue. The point is this: Romney made Bain a big part of his campaign strategy so Gingrich had every right to question his dealings with Bain without republican leadership accusing him of being anti-American!

Conversely, Gingrich is being attacked by Romney for working as a consultant for Freddie Mac (or Freddie Freeloader). Consulting is one of the purest forms of a free market society. He didn’t destroy jobs and he didn’t hustle them out of any money. Whatever they hired the man to do, I assume he did it or they would have not continued to pay the man, agree? Gingrich was a private citizen and he had the right to do whatever the hell he wanted to do to earn a living, just like you or I. The notion that he should not have used his experience as Speaker is rubbish! We all tap into our past experience and influence when seeking employment or the next gig. C’mon give me a break- it’s called a resume! Furthermore, for Romney to suggest that Gingrich should pay money back to Freddie Freeloader is preposterous! Why doesn’t Romney give his money back to all the people that he legitimately screwed while he was the CEO of Bain Capital.  There is no direct correlation between the housing crisis and one temporary consultant (should we project the same animosity to every employee who ever worked for Freddie Mac?). The fact is that people have lost equity and homes because of a complicated mix of banks, lending institutions, and regulatory changes and a recession created by both the republicans and the democrats?

The candidates should be able to discuss in detail their past dealings without anyone suggesting that capitalism is in trouble and being threatened. And if you happened to make a few bucks off of Bain Capital and/or Freddie Mac in the process, then so be it. Just be prepared to explain to the American people the details. They’ll be the final judge on whether they approve or disapprove of your business dealings! The candidates do not need to hide behind the extinction of capitalism. Both Romney and Gingrich made money in a lawful manner in a free market and they both will suffer the consequences should the American people disagree with their outcomes. In both cases, those results may have hurt some people, intentionally or unintentionally. That will be a question only the American people can answer.

In the final analysis, capitalism is alive and well in America.