The National Networker Weekly Newsletter, Articles and Updates: 03.28.2010 - [Condensed Version]

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Dear Readers:

This posting represents a slight departure from my usual agenda. Having said this, those of you who know a bit about me will understand that sometimes a slight departure from our habits, patterns and repetitive tasks gives us a renewed and improved perspective.

The world is getting smaller, but is feeling terribly crowded and noisy, with so many voices crying out for attention -- some need humanitarian aid, some want to market us their products and services, and some want to express their feelings or promote their ideologies.

As an Internationalist and a Global Futurist, I see both obstacles and opportunities in this crowded but sometimes very lonely room.

With all of this talk about buzz-to-brand, social media, viral marketing and networking, we cannot afford to lose sight of the most important thing: Our sacred Humanity. This world can be whatever we choose it to be if we cooperate and collaborate. In a world where so many peoples are at war, so many are homeless and hungry, so many are suffering unexpected financial calamities, so many are still shaking from a spate of natural disasters...and where everyone is treading cautiously in a state of frightful uncertainty, we must build together.

Together... the only alternative is apart; and remaining apart has never created a civilization or initiated commerce.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. The material which follows has been reprinted, with permission, from The National Networker Weekly Newsletter, Articles and Updates: 03.28.2010 - Condensed Version. I believe that you will find some of the updates and articles of great interest, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to share them with you.
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The National Networker Weekly Newsletter, Articles and Updates: 03.28.2010 - [Condensed Version]

We'll  confess... this is probably one of the best issues of the best newsletter for entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises -- The National Networker Newsletter. And yes -- we have had some idle time on our hands, so we've been playing with colors (or colours, if you are Andy Lopata) in the title. You'll want to read every single article, and every single bit of the Update Bulletin. And now, you can easily comment, read the comments of other readers, give us feedback, forward items of interest to colleagues and clients, and share useful information with all of your social media. This is the condensed version -- for the whole Newsletter, just visit http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/ .

You are reading the RSS Feed or Daily Email re-publication of The TNNW Weekly Newsletter. If you would like to join us (it's free) and receive our publications, access our Suite of Services and enjoy the benefits of membership in our GICBC, simply click on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNW . 

Here's the tree-burning TNNWC Header...

Note: Read the articles which follow, but don't print this page out! You may ask (rhetorically), "Why not?" There are two good reasons: 1) you'll help to keep our planet green by saving a tree, and 2) you'll burn through a toner cartridge if you keep printing things out which have large, rich, multi-colored or black and white graphics. Use your email or the buttons to comment, to forward or to share the golden nuggets of business wisdom in these writings by our Featured Columnists.

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A NOTE FROM THE CHAIRMAN: Big Banking and the Loss of Relationship Capital

Adam J. Kovitz

 

Update Bulletin!

Update Bulletin - Exciting New Developments - The National Networker Companies - 3.28.2010

Douglas Castle



In the Spotlight:  Special Featured Articles

LESSONS FROM THE HOTEL INDUSTRY: The Evolution of Best Practices in Hospitality and Tourism, Part 1

Dr. John Hogan, CHE CHA MHS

JETNETTING: The First Impression Factor XXII: The Gift of Asking!

Heshie Segal



Featured Columns

WHAT BOOMERS WANT: Bridging the Generation Gap by Optimizing the Differences

Terri Benincasa, M.A. Ed.M.

DOUGLAS CASTLE RANTS: Increase Your Productivity.
Douglas Castle

REAL ESTATE... AND OTHER THINGS OF VALUE: Selling or Writing?

Yossi Feigenson

 

SOUND INVESTING: Belief Systems Do Not Equal Fact

Jason Lampa, MBA

 

LASTING IMPRESSIONS: Raiders of the “Lost Art”

Sian Lindemann

 

POWER THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: Power of Compassion, Part 4

Patricia Parham, Ph.D.

 

KENSEL TRACY: Unique Marketing Niche Networking Clubs Are Growing in Canada

Kensel Tracy 

About Douglas Castle 
Douglas Castle - LinkedIn Profile
The National Networker Companies
Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.
The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.
The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.
Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.
Follow Castle on Twitter 
Follow TNNW on Twitter
Follow Braintenance on Twitter
*Subscribe (free!) for The National Networker Newsletter and the BLUE TUESDAY REPORT, and join The TNNWC GICBC at Join Us!

Of Interest To All Bloggers

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Authors: Promoting your Articles and Information Internationally and Easily.

Douglas Castle's Update at 03.24.2010 - A Suggestion of General Interest, Re-posted.

Dear Christine, Colleagues, Fellow Authors, Bloggers and Friends: 

There are numerous problems between Google/ Blogger/ MSN and other US-domiciled services and China right at this moment. They are both corporate and political in nature and beyond the scope of our immediate control.

We are working with programming at this very moment in order to feature TNNWC content on a "multiple platform" basis to mitigate this problem to the extent which we can.

A process that might help if you wish to get your articles and information out to a large number of people internationally is to:

1) Use a remote-hosted fileserver like Mediafire to upload your articles either as locked WORD documents or as .pdf files (there are freeware programs available to convert Word files into .pdf files);

2) Get a link to each uploaded article (it is provided to you by Mediafire automatically);

3) Shorten the link with an url-shortening service (such as bit.ly);

4) Incorporate this url as a hyperlink in your emails and in your postings to all social media and give people the option to read and/or download your actual article from the fileserver service.

This approach is important for every writer to know about. It is a good way to preserve your articles, give people direct links to "hardcopy" downloads of your blogged articles (without their having to go to the TNNWC website or to Blogger, etc., and without their having to read through any material other than your article as it appeared in The National Networker Newsletter at http://www.TheNationalNetworker.com, or wherever it might have been published originally. 

The article will appear with all of its hyperlinks, buttons, and visuals fully intact.

I do this frequently, and clients and readers truly appreciate it.

I'll endeavor to keep you updated.

Isn't it fun to be creative? It teaches you things, expands your skill set and improves your problem-solving abilities. It just isn't as much fun having somebody else be creative for you, but it is easier (I'll admit it).

A smart fellow once told me that "The true nature and purpose of all business is solving problems."....then again, I think I might have simply been talking to myself in a rare moment of clarity.

All the best,

Douglas 

About Douglas Castle 

Douglas Castle - LinkedIn Profile

The National Networker Companies

Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.

The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.

The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.

Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.

Follow Castle on Twitter 

Follow TNNW on Twitter

p.s. You can join The National Networker Companies and our rapidly growing GICBC by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNW. It's free, and priceless.

Of Interest To All Bloggers

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Authors: Promoting your Articles and Information Internationally and Easily.

 

Douglas Castle's Update at 03.24.2010 - A Suggestion of General Interest

 

Dear Christine, Colleagues, Fellow Authors, Bloggers and Friends: 

 

There are numerous problems between Google/ Blogger/ MSN and other US-domiciled services and China right at this moment. They are both corporate and political in nature and beyond the scope of our immediate control.

 

We are working with programming at this very moment in order to feature TNNWC content on a "multiple platform" basis to mitigate this problem to the extent which we can.

 

A process that might help if you wish to get your articles and information out to a large number of people internationally is to:

 

1) Use a remote-hosted fileserver like Mediafire to upload your articles either as locked WORD documents or as .pdf files (there are freeware programs available to convert Word files into .pdf files);

 

2) Get a link to each uploaded article (it is provided to you by Mediafire automatically);

 

3) Shorten the link with an url-shortening service (such as bit.ly);

 

4) Incorporate this url as a hyperlink in your emails and in your postings to all social media and give people the option to read and/or download your actual article from the fileserver service.

 

This approach is important for every writer to know about. It is a good way to preserve your articles, give people direct links to "hardcopy" downloads of your blogged articles (without their having to go to the TNNWC website or to Blogger, etc., and without their having to read through any material other than your article as it appeared in The National Networker Newsletter at http://www.TheNationalNetworker.com, or wherever it might have been published originally. 

 

The article will appear with all of its hyperlinks, buttons, and visuals fully intact.

 

I do this frequently, and clients and readers truly appreciate it.

 

I'll endeavor to keep you updated.

 

Isn't it fun to be creative? It teaches you things, expands your skill set and improves your problem-solving abilities. It just isn't as much fun having somebody else be creative for you, but it is easier (I'll admit it).

 

A smart fellow once told me that "The true nature and purpose of all business is solving problems."....then again, I think I might have simply been talking to myself in a rare moment of clarity.

 

All the best,

 

Douglas 

About Douglas Castle 

Douglas Castle - LinkedIn Profile

The National Networker Companies

Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.

The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.

The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.

Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.

Follow Castle on Twitter 

Follow TNNW on Twitter

 

p.s. You can join The National Networker Companies and our rapidly growing GICBC by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNW. It's free, and priceless.

How Successful People Really Do Business.

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How Successful People Really Do Business

Humor --- but with a strong lesson about the fine art of "Dealsmanship." If a businessperson is really great, he or she can bring forth a stunning success out of thin air...with a good plan, of course. I had to share this with everyone. Thank you, Ann.

-- Douglas Castle


Dear Friends:

My dear friend, fellow TNNW columnist and harshest critic (only kidding....that would be my mom), Ann Barczay Sloan sent me this. It was forwarded to her from a friend of hers with whom I am not personally acquainted, but who receives well-deserved attribution at the end of this article.
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Note: Our story begins with Morris, who is a true Master....

Morris (the father) says to his son:

"I want you to marry a girl of my choice."

The son says: "I will choose my own bride."

Morris says: "But the girl is Bill Gates' daughter."

The son answers: "Well, in that case, yes, ok."

Morris then approaches Bill Gates and says:

"I have a husband for your daughter."

Bill Gates answers: "But my daughter is too young

to get married!"

Morris says: "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."

Bill Gates answers: "Ah, in that case, yes, ok."

Finally Morris goes to see the president of the World Bank.

Morris says: "I have a young man to recommend as a vice-president."

The president answers: "But I already have more vice-presidents than I need."

Morris says: "But this young man is Bill Gates' son-in-law."

The President answers: "Ah, in that case, yes, ok."

And that is how successful people do business.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forwarded by
Daniel J. Benor, MD, ABHM
DB@WholisticHealingResearch.com

For more web items of humor, beauty and wondermentSee: Monthly E-Zines and frequent Newsletters of the IJHC and the WHR sites
 http://wholistichealingresearch.com/CurrentIssue.html

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About Douglas Castle 
Douglas Castle - LinkedIn Profile
The National Networker Companies
Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.
The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.
The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.
Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.
Follow Castle on Twitter 
Follow TNNW on Twitter
Follow Braintenance on Twitter
*Subscribe (free!) for The National Networker Newsletter and the BLUE TUESDAY REPORT, and join The TNNWC GICBC at Join Us!

Frightful Demographics

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Frightful Demographics.

This Article was written by Douglas Castle for publication in The Global Futurist and The Interenationalist Page. The author is a Featured Columnist and Vice-Chairman of The National Networker Companies, the first and prototypical Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community. You can become a member of The National Networker Companies' GICBC, and receive your free subscription to The National Networker Newsletter and to The BLUE TUESDAY Report by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNW. This article may be reproduced, republished or transmitted without the consent of the author provided that the article is published in total, with all attribution and hyperlinks left fully intact and functional.

Dear Readers:

Insurrection and revolution are rather easily fomented amongst the very poor, the ignorant, and the impressionable. Youth, especially pre-teens and teens, are situationally and harmonally predisposed toward disaffection, and have both the physical and emotional energy to pursue causes with great vigor. These impressionable individuals are very like empty vessels, hungry to be filled with purpose and direction. They have a need to belong, coupled with a belief in simple solutions...in panaceas.

These people must be cared for, dealt with, educated and productively engaged, lest them become dangerously volatile.

The following information has been excerpted from a Newsletter published by The Daily Reckoning. I do not fully agree with or endorse it, except in that it shows a demographic shift which I am also observing.  The author also has the temerity to boldy infer that Islam, in general, is a religion which advocates violent rebellion (jihad) and which fosters extremism. Correlatively, the cause of all of this radicalism may not be Islam per se...it might be that radical Islam finds its fastest adopters and adherents amongst the poorest and youngest.


And cultures that celebrate the notion of producing large families despite the inability on the part of the parents to either care for or feed their young are sowing the seeds of violence born of desperation, confusion and hunger. Perhaps radical Islam offers these "lost children" a feeling of belonging, connection, camaraderie and purpose. Nature, as it is often said, abhors a vacuum -- perhaps we need to fill the increasing vacuum with an alternative to violence, instead of trying to wage war against its result.

We cannot fight a war on terror without understanding the nature of how terrorism and extremism come into being. We must address the cause instead of just suffering the effect. Please keep this in mind. Trite? Perhaps -- but the children are our future.

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Battle of the Youth BulgeBy Addison Wiggin
Baltimore, Maryland

How certain large populations of idle young men will likely change the world... for the worse

"Between 1970 and 1999, 80% of civil conflicts occurred in countries where 60% of the population or more were under the age of thirty... Today there are sixty-seven counties with youth bulges, of which sixty of them are experiencing social unrest and violence." - Council on Foreign Relations

A surge in youth population leads most nations in one of two directions: Economic boom or social bust. While much of the world is currently focused on the aging populations of powerhouse nations like the US and Japan, certain regions of the world are growing startlingly younger. Social scientists call these phenomena "youth bulges." By necessity, they take time to play out. But even in these early stages, it's easy to see what's coming...and a lot of it is pretty unsettling.

Yemen has captured American attention just a few times in the last decade. The assailants of the USS Cole were from there, and the infamous "underwear bomber" - who was trained in Yemen - tried to spoil Christmas Day 2009. In both cases, we as a nation spent the proceeding weeks tripping over ourselves...searching for answers as to how this came to be, who to blame, and how to stop it from happening again.

But, as usual, few ask "why?" That's a more stinging question, of course. One of the few easy answers is this: Yemen is overflowing with disaffected kids. An amazing 46% of the Yemeni population is under 16 years old. That's the highest youth ratio for any nation in the world outside of Africa. By comparison, only 20% of Americans occupy this demographic.

Recipe for Disaster

If there's a better model out there for youth bulges at risk, we can't find it. Yemen has been plagued with civil war for most of the last century. 45% of the population lives in poverty. Social mobility is a rarity. Barley half the population can read. Life expectancy is relatively low (60 years old for men). Only 3% of the land is arable and most of the nation suffers a constant shortage of potable water.

What little land and water is available for agriculture is mostly used for growing khat - the same amphetamine-like narcotic that helped turn Americas' brief occupation of Mogadishu into "Black Hawk Down." The drug is hugely popular in Yemen, where as much as 90% of men chew it everyday. A headline of a recent TIME article gives the addiction credence - "Is Yemen Chewing Itself to Death?"

The icing on Yemen's sheet cake of problems: The nation's one great source of income - oil, which accounts for 75% of government revenue - will likely run dry by 2020. In other words, the country has less than ten years to completely reinvent its economy.

Yet despite it all, the Yemeni population has doubled since 1975 to 22 million, now the second most populous nation in the Arab peninsula. Today, the average woman in Yemen has 6.5 children.

Why the West Should Listen Up

Does Yemen's "youth bulge" matter to the Western world? Ask the passengers of Northwest Airlines Flight 253, or seamen of the USS Cole, or all the travelers, soldiers and businesses that will be affected by subsequent policies.

Yemen's porous borders, lack of police force, predominantly Muslim population and disaffected youth are ideal breading grounds for Islamic radicalism. Yemen was second only to Saudi Arabia in the number of soldiers sourced to fight the USSR in Afghanistan in the '80s...the very group of soldiers that would one day form a group called "Al Qaeda."

Any government or business that plans on sailing through the Red Sea should take notice. Other than sailing around Africa, there is simply no way to connect the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea without brushing up against Yemen. Its narrow Mandab Strait is the only way into the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Over 3.3 million barrels of oil pass through this strait every day, roughly 7% of daily global tanker loads.

Worse yet, what can be said for Yemen is hardly dissimilar from many of its Middle Eastern neighbors. At least 40% of the populations of Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and Oman are under 14 years old. In the whole Middle Eastern region, 65% of the population is under 30. Suffice to say many are struggling with plights themselves...food and water scarcity, peak oil, Jihadism, political instability, etc. The same goes for most of Africa, too - though few nations there wield the same kind of petrol- power or propensity for global terrorism as the Middle East.

"The 'War on Terrorism' promises to be expensive," Bill Bonner and I observed in Financial Reckoning Day seven years ago, "simply because there are so many potential terrorists to fight. Westerners constitute a decreasing minority of the global population: In 1990, they amounted to 30% of humanity; in 1993 that number had dropped to 13% and by 2025, following current trends, the percentage will fall to 10%. At the same time, the Muslim world is growing younger and increasing in numbers.

"In fact, Muslims' market share of the global population has increased dramatically throughout the twentieth century and will continue to do so until the proportion of Westerners to Muslims is inverse that of the 1900 ratio. By 1980, Muslims constituted 18% of the world's population and, in 2000, more than 20%. By 2025, they are expected to account for 30% of world population."

Thus, like the Protestant Reformation, the French Revolution, the Iranian Revolution or even the "free love" '60s here in the US - a very large, disaffected population in the Middle East is coming of age. If social and political conditions there remain the same - and we see little reason why they wouldn't - the worst from the region is likely yet to come. And if the social and political scene there deteriorates - with the help of peak oil, religious wars and constant Western intervention - darker times are practically guaranteed.
#### 

We, as responsible adults, had better start investing more in engaging the minds of these emotionally abandoned, wandering children if we wish to have any type of civilization at all. Oil speculating might be a way to capitalize on this dangerous demographic... but I personally believe we would do far better, in the longer-run, to invest in the World's children. An investment in prevention might be worth multiple megatons of "cure."

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

Key terms, tags and labels: jihad, terrorism, demographics, impressionable children, radicalism, the War on Terror, cause and effect, children with guns, cults, Yemen, Douglas Castle,

About Douglas Castle 
Douglas Castle - LinkedIn Profile
The National Networker Companies
Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.
The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.
The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.
Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.
Follow Castle on Twitter 
Follow TNNW on Twitter
Follow Braintenance on Twitter
*Subscribe (free!) for The National Networker Newsletter and the BLUE TUESDAY REPORT, and join The TNNWC GICBC at Join Us!

Yossi Feigenson on Real Talk Radio, Tomorrow!

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YOSSI FEIGENSON on Real Talk Radio, Tomorrow! 

Catch Him on Monday, March 15th, at 11:30 am, (Eastern Time).

Tune In either via web at http://www.onecaribbeanradio.com or on HD radio: FM dial, 97.9 fm HD2.

Dear Friends and Worthy Adversaries:

On Monday, March 15, 2010, at 11:30 am, Yossi Feigenson will appear as a guest on the daily radio show, "Real Talk." 

Yossi Feigenson is well-known for his intensity, candor and incredible wit. Douglas Castle, Adam J. Kovitz and the rest of the Team at The National Networker Companies find Feigenson to be offensive, controversial, occasionally irritating.......and usually right on target.


Yossi is Managing Partner at ORB Real Estate Professionals, a commercial real estate company in Manhattan. 

Yossi is also a Featured Columnist for The National Networker Weekly Newsletter at  http://www.thenationalnetworker.com , where he writes extensively on topics relating to real estate and to business in general. He is widely considered a thought leader on the key issues of the economy and an astute observer of the human condition and how it relates to the business world.

His website is http://www.orbny.com. You can email Yossi directly (he treasures every letter in his inbox!), at yossif@orbny.com.

Tune in to what is certain to be an engaging, hard hitting, stimulating and informative discussion about the current economic situation. Be warned: He's quite opinionated.  

The show is hosted by Berel Lerman and Mr. H. Diggy and airs daily from 10:30 AM - 1 PM, Eastern Time.

And now for the free endorsement:

Be sure to tune into "Real Talk" between 10:30am-12:30pm, Monday-Thursday on our new FM dial, 97.9fm HD2. Call in to the show at 877-623-0740 or send in your thoughts live via on-air email to berellerman@gmail.com

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, concludes my free endorsement, with no further requirements on my part.

I highly recommend listening to Yossi. And I am (as you know) neither fair nor unbiased. I play favorites. I find Yossi refreshingly provocative. He is one of Brooklyn's (the cradle of civilization's) greatest minds. He'll even tell you so. Let me know what you think. I assure you...you'll know what he thinks.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. This kid might have a future. Truly.



Note: The above photo of a fan in rapture (unretouched) was taken by an amateur photographer at one of Yossi's recent seminar presentations. 

About Douglas Castle 
Douglas Castle - LinkedIn Profile
The National Networker Companies
Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.
The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.
The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.
Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.
Follow Castle on Twitter 
Follow TNNW on Twitter
Follow Braintenance on Twitter
*Subscribe (free!) for The National Networker Newsletter and the BLUE TUESDAY REPORT, and join The TNNWC GICBC at Join Us!

Reality Check: The US Economy - The Global Economy

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Reality Check: The US Economy - The Global Economy

============================================================
Personal message from Douglas Castle:

The US economy has not truly "turned the corner," nor has the global economy. What we are experiencing is a confluence of excuses, explanations, cover-ups, creative accounting, deferral mechanisms and CYA* reciprocity. What we might be experiencing is more akin to an unraveling, fundamental systemic breakdown, with a good deal of Global Warming coming from the mouths of the propagandists (the usual) and the lotus-eating, street-avoiding, denial-promoting "pundits" (the delusional). As long as consumers and the Entrepreneurial Sector are strangled, there will be constrained productivity and paralytic unemployment. We do not need duct tape - we need a true paradigm shift instead of propping up an inevitably terminal status quo. -- Douglas Castle [refer to GICBC and The National Networker Companies].

faber and mish: we're doomed and washington can't do anything about it: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/faber-and-mish:-we%27re-doomed-and-washington-can%27t-do-anything-about-it-yftt_441381.html

About Douglas Castle 
Douglas Castle - LinkedIn Profile
The National Networker Companies
Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.
The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.
The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.
Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.
Follow Castle on Twitter 
Follow TNNW on Twitter
Follow Braintenance on Twitter
*Subscribe (free!) for The National Networker Newsletter and the BLUE TUESDAY REPORT, and join The TNNWC GICBC at Join Us!