by Porter Stansberry

I’d like to make you a business offer.
Seriously. This is a real offer. In fact, you really can’t turn me down, as you’ll come to understand in a moment…
Here’s the deal. You’re going to start a business or expand the one you’ve got now. It doesn’t really matter what you do or what you’re going to do. I’ll partner with you no matter what business you’re in – as long as it’s legal.

But I can’t give you any capital – you have to come up with that on your own. I won’t give you any labor – that’s definitely up to you. What I will do, however, is demand you follow all sorts of rules about what products and services you can offer, how much (and how often) you pay your employees, and where and when you’re allowed to operate your business. That’s my role in the affair: to tell you what to do.

Now in return for my rules, I’m going to take roughly half of whatever you make in the business each year. Half seems fair, doesn’t it? I think so. Of course, that’s half of your profits.

You’re also going to have to pay me about 12% of whatever you decide to pay your employees because you’ve got to cover my expenses for promulgating all of the rules about who you can employ, when, where, and how. Come on, you’re my partner. It’s only "fair."
Now… after you’ve put your hard-earned savings at risk to start this business, and after you’ve worked hard at it for a few decades (paying me my 50% or a bit more along the way each year), you might decide you’d like to cash out – to finally live the good life.

Whether or not this is "fair" – some people never can afford to retire – is a different argument. As your partner, I’m happy for you to sell whenever you’d like… because our agreement says, if you sell, you have to pay me an additional 20% of whatever the capitalized value of the business is at that time.

I know… I know… you put up all the original capital. You took all the risks. You put in all of the labor. That’s all true. But I’ve done my part, too. I’ve collected 50% of the profits each year. And I’ve always come up with more rules for you to follow each year. Therefore, I deserve another, final 20% slice of the business.

Oh… and one more thing…
Even after you’ve sold the business and paid all of my fees… I’d recommend buying lots of life insurance. You see, even after you’ve been retired for years, when you die, you’ll have to pay me 50% of whatever your estate is worth.

After all, I’ve got lots of partners and not all of them are as successful as you and your family. We don’t think it’s "fair" for your kids to have such a big advantage. But if you buy enough life insurance, you can finance this expense for your children.

All in all, if you’re a very successful entrepreneur… if you’re one of the rare, lucky, and hard-working people who can create a new company, employ lots of people, and satisfy the public… you’ll end up paying me more than 75% of your income over your life. Thanks so much.

I’m sure you’ll think my offer is reasonable and happily partner with me… but it doesn’t really matter how you feel about it because if you ever try to stiff me – or cheat me on any of my fees or rules – I’ll break down your door in the middle of the night, threaten you and your family with heavy, automatic weapons, and throw you in jail.

That’s how civil society is supposed to work, right? This is Amerika, isn’t it?
That’s the offer Amerika gives its entrepreneurs. And the idiots in Washington wonder why there are no new jobs…

This link shows the development of the International Space Station over time…. Http://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/iss_timeline/flash.htm

It is amazing to see how it has grown and to think that it is only as big as a 747.

I have just been passed a note to check out this link: www.linkedin.com/in/brentspiller.

Why would you put someone with the name Brent Spiller in the role of Major Incident manager at an oil company that sell Brent Crude Oil……

His link has a blog and a lot of detail, there are obviously people out there with lots of time on their hands….

I spotted this fuel cell technology and was impressed by the claim of having the same amount of energy as 1000 AA batteries.

The device is called the MiniPAK and is a palm-size universal portable power charger and power extender for ANY electronic device requiring up to 2W of power.

The fuel cartridge used in the MiniPak called HydroSTIK has a battery-like form factor and contains a special metal alloy that allows hydrogen to be stored in a solid-state, as part of the metal alloy matrix inside the cartridge.

There is also a refueling unit called the HydroFILL  which is a small-scale home hydrogen station that allows consumers or retailers/distributors to refill solid state canisters in a simple way, using water and electricity as only input. By adding water, and plugging the HydroFILL into a electrical wall-socket (or a solar panel), consumers can generate hydrogen and store it in a solid form automatically in HydroSTIK cartridges. Once full, the battery-like "solid-state"HydroSTIKs can be unplugged from the HydroFILL and placed into the MiniPak (or other fuel cell devices) to deliver power via a USB port.

So it will not be long until we are using solar panels to create the power to recharge our Hydrogen recharging units….

The BBC reports that there is a..

“Mystery surrounding a man wearing a horse’s head who has been captured on Google’s Street View in Aberdeen.”

The man – who has become known as ‘horse-boy’ – can be seen in the Hardgate area of the city.

If you go to Google maps and look up 14 Hardgate, Aberdeen and drag the little orange man-shaped icon onto the map you will see this image.

The “mystery” relates to who this is.  While I have no idea of the person’s name I can tell you that they have white hair and appear to be a “silver surfer”.  If you move up the road and then spin the image around to look back you will see this image:

You can clearly see that the “silver surfer” had not accounted for the rear facing camera and had decided that it was time to go back and celebrate his achievement.

Well done old chap.  However next time stand still until you cannot see the Google car anymore before loosing your head.

There is a fantastic method for fighting oil pills….

At last we have got rid of this useless man. Gordon Brown you made a real mess of this country. Don’t come back.

Here is a great post from Perry Marshall with a fantastic idea on how to celebrate the positive.

Positive Focus

The “biggest thing you have to protect is your confidence”… is a great idea.

Time to celebrate the good things.

Re-written from a post by Dr. Steve Sjuggerud

When I was a child, the world was my oyster…

Some days, my friends and I would go exploring in the woods. Other days, we’d play kick the can… or we’d play "British Bull Dog” at a friends house.

I always had a secret mission, though: I was going to be a "pro" at something. Fortunately, I had the work ethic to get there…

When I wanted to be a professional cyclist, I cycle for hours. And when I wanted to be a professional athlete, I’d practice for hours a day without thinking about it. Remember, I was on a mission.

The challenge was, my mission changed each and every year. But the fact never changed: I believed I could succeed at whatever I wanted if I tried hard enough.

I had no burdens in front of me… I had no impediments to my potential success. If I put my mind to it, I could make it happen. And thankfully, succeed I did. I’m living proof of the idea that you could set out to make your own success and achieve it.

Today? I’m not so sure about things.

When I was a child, we didn’t have money. But that was OK. We were starting from scratch.

Unfortunately, my son will not even have the "luxury" of starting from scratch. Instead, he will start out in the hole…

According to the Governments figures, the government’s debt is $141,416 per person in 2010. For my little family of three, that’s $424,249 of government debt. And it keeps growing.

By the time my son grows up, the  government will have already "mortgaged" his household earnings by hundreds of thousands of pounds, by spending more than it takes in before he was born. Even worse, the government will force him (with the threat of prison) to pay its debt.

We’re quickly replacing the what one might call the American dream with the European Politician’s Dream – that if you’re lazy and don’t try hard, the government will take from those who do try hard and give their money to you.

That is not the Britain I was raised in. And that’s not the Britain I want to live in.

I hope my son has the ability, like I did, to start with a clean slate… with the world as his oyster… with no shackles holding him back… so he can be successful.

But I shouldn’t hold out hope unless we can make a change…

I have now discovered the best reason to vote against the current Labour politicians.  A headline in the newspapers today which read:

Gordon Brown pledges ‘five more years’ as Prime Minister if Labour wins

Why is this a positive thing.

This one-eyed monster lead us out of prosperity and straight into the worst recession ever.  He failed to save in the good times and is now suggesting that we should all pay more to support his myopic vision of the future.

Someone poke his other eye out.