TOOLS FOR 2009

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Dear Friends:

Visit these sites, and make each on a favorite to visit every day: Invest a bit of time to transform every aspect of your life for the better!

THE INTERNAL ENERGY PLUS WEBSITE (http://www.internalenergyplus.com/) - For self-help, personal growth and professional success tools superior to any others in the marketplace. You have to visit!

BRAINTENANCE: MINDBUILDERS (http://braintenance.blogspot.com) - Build your intelligence, sharpen your senses and increase the quality and length of your life. You receive a quiz daily (with answers the following day) to keep you razor sharp.

THE INTERNAL ENERGY PLUS FORUM (http://theinternalenergyplusforum.blogspot.com/) - Learn the latest about developments and modalities in IEP.

THE NATIONAL NETWORKER (http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/) - Expand your contacts, relationships and possibilities for friendship and business during the new year! Get a subscription for their free NEWSLETTER, too.

CASTLE's BLOG (http://aboutdouglascastle.blogspot.com/) - Receive an interesting thought or idea every day. Stimulate your mind, initiate productive conversations with colleagues, and have fun. this will also feed my insatiable ego and lust for recognition.

My best for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Douglas Castle

IMITATE, INNOVATE OR PERISH

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Dear Friends:

Here is a brief statement about the economy at present which I feel needs not only to be said, but repeated. This is a re-post of a brief which I published today at DOUGLAS CASTLE, my eponymous (I love this word, and almost never get to use it) blog.

In this difficult economy, survivalists must either imitate the resilience and success of others, or they must innovate and find new ways to either package or bundle existing things. Where there is no new production, and where there are no incentives to research, develop, or build, the entrepreneurs among us must pursue inventive marketing of what is already in the technological inventory.

Packaging, positioning and differentiation through servicing are the new keys to prospering through the worldwide economic depression.

Sadly, or happily, these are things that money cannot readily buy.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

TACTICS AND STRATEGIES - Today until 2012

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Dear Friends:

Two postings ago, I spoke of some of the many hardships that the declining global economy will be visiting upon us during the course of the worsening global recession (which I would never call a "depression," as this latter term has become Politically Incorrect). Yet, as doors to conventional employment and credit markets are being decimated by the frightened people in charge, opportunities are coming to light. I would like to discuss these here. Grinning, and head-nodding are not only permitted, but strongly encouraged.

Here are the ways to think, the places to be and the things to do:

• You probably should never trust a man having the last name "Madoff" with your money... and although every U.S. defense lawyer would immediately jump out at me and say, "according to the American System Of Justice (all rise!), he [Bernard Madoff] is 'presumed innocent until proven guilty'," my bet would be with "any person, at any time, is as guilty as the government wants him to be." To wit: former New York judge Sol Wachler (who, himself, was snared by the FBI while dressing up as a cowboy and stalking his one-time mistress) once said, "A good prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich," and the U.S. Government's conviction rate stands in excess of 98% as I write this. Similarly: do not lend money to a fellow whose name is "Skip"...be very cautious before dating someone whose last name is "Loveless"...and never throw a pair of shoes at another person who is protected by the U.S. Secret Service. As a side note, throwing a pair of used gym socks is cheaper, just as offensive across a broad spectrum of cultures, and might make you famous. This ends the humorous portion of this article;

• Understand the difference between Tactics and Strategies -- Strategies are the longer- term plans you make for achieving your ultimate goals and objectives, in accordance with your ambitions, desires and inclinations. A strategic plan maight cover a span of time from several months to an entire lifetime, but its destination is where you want to be. Tactics are short-term initiatives for dealing with the impediments, complications and situations which you encounter along the path to achieving your goals and objectives. They often involve palliative measures, adjustments in timing, a slight detour from the map -- but they are merely immediate accommodations, and should never keep your ultimate focus from your goals and objectives. The simplest analogy is in a situation where you are planning to go to a supermarket, and your ordinary route is blocked off by Police Crime Scene Investigators, a fallen tree, a picket line of anti-government protestors, an oily chemical spill, or an inoperative traffic light; while you will navigate a new route (the tactic), you will still be heading for the supermarket (the strategy to appease your hungry children who are suffering from Taco-Bell Gastritis). Don't lose sight of strategy when engaged in a tactical maneuver;

• Renegotiate your mortage and other personal debts with institutional lenders -- while they are generally as heartless as they are headless, they would rather have a performing loan (or even a loan settled at a discount) than a defaulted or non-performing loan. They are today's 'bad guys' and have certain suble regulatory imperatives which are making them more receptive. Be proactive and scare them a bit. They want to keep your loan in good standing, even if their tactic du jour is to restructure or modify your repayment schedule. They will be more cooperative if you are very explicit with them about 1) the dire economic consequences with which you are faced, 2) with your knowledge that they are doing this for many other borrowers, and with the fact that 3) it is a "win win" proposition for them [trite but effective]. By the way, don't waste time with those aggressively-marketed consumer credit management companies...negotiate with each credit card company yourself;

• If you must pay Inland Revenue, Internal Revenue, or any tax authority, try to pay by postal money order instead of by check. This may help to forestall or even prevent any levy and seizure of your bank account. I would add that if you are a U.S. citizen, or any party subject to U.S. taxes, pay timely and treat the tax authorities as a high-priority creditor. They have virtually unlimited rights and access to anything you own or earn, and they can tack on interest, penalties and other charges at will. You are outgunned - render unto Caesar before he sends his soldiers after you;

• If you are in a technical business or trade, focus your assets, marketing and efforts on repair and maintenance -- While people cannot afford new autos, homes and other large-ticket items, they are increasingly compelled to care for and maintain what they already have. Don't sell a new box -- sell the servicing and upgrading of the old, but salvagable one;

• Businesses which conduct e-commerce via internet are much better choices for investment and promotion than geographically-anchored businesses which people must drive to in order to procure products. This is the era of the online entrepreneur. Consumer purchases will be declining, but an increasing percentage of them will relate to a) repairs and maintenance, and b) online purchases;

• Identity theft, as well as crime, in general, will be increasing. When purchasing online, use a PayPal account instead of a credit card account. Further, if you are an online merchant, you might consider using PayPal as your principal merchant services provider for this reason;

• In business, try to keep your payment obligations in U.S. Dollars, and your billings, borrowings and receivables in Euros to the greatest extent possible;

• If you have an investible portfolio, you might consider keeping some of your holdings in gold, Euros, international Euro-denominated instruments, and very inexpensive multiunit housing properties (non publicly traded) which are producing current income, and which you do not have to borrow money to purchase. In investing, now is not a good time to leverage up and buy on any type of margin. Invest for asset preservation and current return. The notion of the "hot tip for quick gain" is for pathological gamblers and imbeciles;

• Develop your networking and relationship-building resources, as well as your team skills -- partnerships offer diversification of abilities, revenue sources and moral support in difficult economic times;

• If you are in corporate middle management, start thinking like an entrepreneur and building an independent business. You might also start to circulate a winning resume with a captivating cover letter (see the SELF-HELP, PERSONAL GROWTH AND PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS Sections at either HUMANITAS MAXIMUS or IEP in order to get some superb resources) -- your corporate days may be numbered;

• The fields associated with self-help, counseling, religion, astrology will be growing -- Pay serious attention to them, and get into them if you have the inclination, skills and energy. A world of people is desperate for reason, restoration of hope and faith, and information to help them to deal with a difficult time and a very uncertain future. Help these people in earnest, and profit by it.

I wish you, each and all, a wonderful holiday season, a resurgence of self-confidence, a growth in faith, and a renewal in person-to-person communications and socializing.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

NOTE: THE NATIONAL NETWORKER WILL BE INAUGURATING A NEW PRESS RELEASE, PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE IN JANUARY. IT IS THE BEST INVESTMENT ANY SMALL, OR UP-AND-COMING INTERNET-BASED BUSINESS CAN MAKE. IT PRODUCES MAJOR RESULTS FOR MINIMUM DOLLARS. LEARN MORE...

KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, CIOF, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, LinkedIn, singularity, transportation, IT, intelligence, complexity theory, energy sources, shortages, climatic change, pop-culture, survivalism, mergers and acquisitions...

A COMMENT ABOUT THE U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

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Dear Readers:

I depart from my customary prognostications and pontifications ("P and P" for short) to discuss the U.S. economy, and the Federal Reserve Board (the "Fed").

In today's NEW YORK TIMES, I learned that the Fed is reducing the discount rate, the special rate at which member banks can borrow from the Fed, and from their fellow banking fraternity members, to between 0.25% and 0.00%. This is not the amount of the reduction -- this is the actual borrowing rate! The article can be accessed by clicking on:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/business/economy/17fed.html?8au&emc=au

My response to the article at issue is posted below for your your enjoyment. If you don't have time to read my response, a capsule synopsis of its import might be, "The Fed is doing a miserable job." And they are. In fact, they are not only failing to help the Nation through the current crisis, but they are planting the demon seeds of future runaway inflation. Mr. Bernanke and the Board Of Governors are like a haphazard MASH unit, giving a blood transfusion of the wrong type to the wrong patient. Both patients will likely die.

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Castle Responds To THE NEW YORK TIMES Article, referenced above:

The Fed's rate reduction is a foolish and heavyhanded misuse of monetary policy where a more prudent regulatory or fiscal policy governing banks and lending would have been far more helpful.

The Fed's action is merely symbolic of its continued frustration in dealing with a growing recession fueled by two principal variables: 1)growing unemployment and loss of disposable personal income, and the banking system's tightening credit to both consumers and merchants. The banking industry's pulling in the reins on lending is further ensuring the steepening of this recession.

Sadly, an economy built upon credit, is being starved by a banking system which has not been given any enforceable or quantitative directive by the Fed to extend credit to the merchants and consumers who so desperately need access to capital in order to restimulate the economy through commerce.

The Fed's policies are misguided, and only serve to help the banks to continue their incestuous, low-risk game of unproductive interbank borrowing and lending. Banks are essentially investing in eachother and treasury instruments without putting any money into the hands of needful and legitimate borrowers -- the foundation of our economy.

It does not matter what rate that banks are charged to borrow at the discount window when there is no compelling reason for them to extend credit to facilitate employment, production and consumption.

The irony is that banks are actually curtailing consumer and business lending activities! In doing so, they are helping to perpetuate and steepen this crisis.

What is the Fed doing to get capital into the hands of merchants and consumers? Absolutely nothing.

Douglas Castle
http://theglobalfuturist.blogspot.com/
http://theinternationalistpage.blogspot.com/
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I hope that you found the article, and my posted response, of interest.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle, for THE GLOBAL FUTURIST

KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, CIOF, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, LinkedIn, singularity, transportation, IT, intelligence, complexity theory, energy sources, shortages, climatic change, pop-culture, survivalism, mergers and acquisitions...

A MESSAGE OF HOPE AND OPPORTUNITY

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Dear Friends:

Please take a moment to read an important message of hope and opportunity by clicking on http://humanitasmaximus.blogspot.com/2008/12/doors-close-but-new-ones-open.html .

I promise that you will not be disappointed.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle




KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, CIOF, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, LinkedIn, singularity, transportation, IT, intelligence, complexity theory, energy sources, shortages, climatic change, pop-culture, survivalism, mergers and acquisitions...

A SCI-FI FUTURE OF SLAVES AND MASTERS

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Dear Friends:

We depart from our regularly scheduled program in order to address the future of Humanity, and the notions of eugenics, social Darwinism, transhumanism, posthumanism, behavioral modification, genomime, and the small group among us who have a relentless interest in dominating world affairs, and in relegating those whom they regard as the "lesser members" of our species to slavery, to drones -- mere automatons to do their bidding, while they enjoy the trappings of unbridled power, secured by the remorseless sense of self-righteousness brought about through a multigenerationally-encultured sense of absolute superiority and entitlement.

The notion of the privileged and powerful elite wanting to either eliminate (via genocide) or enslave the majority of the species is nothing new...it has been theorized by and tampered with by the likes of Darwin, Hitler, the Rockefellers... and perhaps some of the key participants in the existing administrations of the G-8 governments.

I offer the following two videos for your consideration. While I cannot warrant their veracity or factual accuracy, I do believe that there is some element of truth to each, and that we, as thinking, reasoning individuals must take time to evaluate these possibilities. At worst, they are a wonderful exercise in imagination -- at best, they are a call to vigilance and preparedness. As my fellow Human Beings, I must trust, and have faith, that you will suspend your defensive beliefs (to the best of your abilities), and let these film clips provoke some serious ideas and concerns within you. Perhaps these concerns will lead to action.



Firstly, the embedded Google Video, THE AGE OF TRANSITIONS, follows:






Secondly, the 2007 movie ZEITGEIST (the German expression for "spirit of the times") follows if you will simply click on http://zeitgeistmovie.com.

I trust that you will find these movies interesting.

Please feel at liberty to let me know your thoughts.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle
THE GLOBAL FUTURIST



TERMS OF INTEREST:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, CIOF, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, LinkedIn, singularity, transportation, IT, intelligence, complexity theory, energy sources, shortages, climatic change, pop-culture, survivalism, mergers and acquisitions...