I saw this as a comment to one of the news feeds online... I don't know the author and I did not change their spelling or grammar... I am posting purely on the merit of the content... Why do we allow Congress to do what they do? And for so long?
FROM THE COMMENT:
The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.
Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.
Copy and forward this to a minimum of twenty people in your address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.
Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. Term Limits.
12 years only, one of the possible options below..
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms
2. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.
4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen.
Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
What is the next big thing?
In any business we are often forced to ask ourselves, what is the next big thing? I have spent many years in the financial services arena. And from the very beginning of my career, that very question has always been in the forefront.
When I started we made small loans $300 - $1,500 and we asked, "What’s the next big thing?" Then we raised the loan limits... at one point we were actually loaning people up to $10,000 on an unsecured basis... and we asked, 'what's the next big thing?"
Eventually we began to make Real Estate secured loans and we still asked, "what's the next big thing?" Well Loan Brokers became the rage and 'sub-prime mortgages came into vogue... Soon investors developed an appetite for the so-called sub-prime loan and then big banks got into the fray. And still we asked, "What’s the next big thing?"
Then came the implosion of the Sub-Prime market and then the total Real Estate bubble burst... Today the Loan Servicers are now in the forefront, they are dealing with massive delinquencies, loss-mitigation, foreclosures and shadow inventory. And guess what the question is that they are asking? You got it, "What is the next big thing?"
When I started we made small loans $300 - $1,500 and we asked, "What’s the next big thing?" Then we raised the loan limits... at one point we were actually loaning people up to $10,000 on an unsecured basis... and we asked, 'what's the next big thing?"
Then came the implosion of the Sub-Prime market and then the total Real Estate bubble burst... Today the Loan Servicers are now in the forefront, they are dealing with massive delinquencies, loss-mitigation, foreclosures and shadow inventory. And guess what the question is that they are asking? You got it, "What is the next big thing?"
While attending the Mortgage Servicing Conference in Dallas Texas the week of 4/5/2011 the answer included shadow inventories, outsourcing and a new phrase was coined, "strategic default"... that is when the house across the street from you has lost so much value that letting your house go back to the bank is a strategic way of thinking.
So what IS the next big thing? During the conference it was proclaimed that mortgage defaults are no longer delinquency problems but they are marketing problems... there are not enough skilled sales people on the servicing teams that can sell customers on the virtues of loan modifications and the like... Guess what, the servicers will look for more skilled sales people, like the old lending type Account Executives...
What’s the next big thing you ask? It appears we have come full circle. I doubt that we will ever see the undisciplined (and unregulated) days of the past. But I do expect that the mortgage lending business is bouncing back...
And when it has completed its cycle, I have but one question... what is the next big thing?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
7 Invaluable Skills You Learn in Toastmasters
Wow, I cannot beleive that this is my first post of 2011! I must become more active... a post every week at the minimum! At any rate, I found an article by Madeline Kolb that was so good that I am re-posting here...
7 Invaluable Skills You Learn in Toastmasters
by Madeleine Kolb on August 25, 2009
My first real job involved occasional public speaking, and looking back I’d have to assess my performance as “uneven.” Sometimes I was relaxed and confident, other times, quite nervous. Sometimes I connected with the audience, other times, I didn’t even come close.
I was frustrated because I wanted to be a good speaker all the time, not just from time to time. But I’d never had training in public speaking. Until the day–many, many years later– that I got up my nerve and walked into a Toastmasters meeting.
There I was warmly welcomed and sat back to enjoy the proceedings. I went back the next week and the week after and then I joined. That was over 9 years and 70 some speeches ago. As I expected, I became a better public speaker. An unexpected bonus, however, was the other invaluable skills which you learn in Toastmasters.
1. How to write for the ear
Writing a speech is different from writing a report or an article. A speech is more informal, more conversational: You need to write for the ear rather than for the eye. Writing speeches has taught me how to do that. And as an unexpected bonus, it has improved all my writing.
2. How to prepare different types of speeches for different occasions
In Toastmasters, you learn to write and present not just a speech but many types of speeches, such as informative, persuasive, and entertaining. This involves selecting a topic that fits, doing research in some cases, writing and re-writing, putting together any props or visual aids, and then practicing it over and over.
Some examples of titles and types of speeches I’ve given are:
How to Do the Heimlich Maneuver–A Demonstration Speech (using a human prop)
Multi-tasking Madness– A Humorous Speech (which was actually on a serious topic but had a humorous opening and conclusion), and
Travels through Time and Space–An After-dinner Speech (about my love of reading)
3. How to use personal stories in a good way
There’s nothing more effective in enhancing your own credibility and connecting with an audience than using personal stories. People love these stories and learn from them.
In my professional career in technical, regulatory fields, there wasn’t much opportunity for personal storytelling. But in TM I’ve learned to incorporate stories from my personal experience.
I’ve also learned that using personal stories is delicate. And here’s why:
Talking about a terrible personal experience which happened recently–such as a death in the family–is not a good idea. I’ve seen speakers break down while doing this because they’re still processing the event. It’s much too early to speak about it to a roomful of people.
Giving TMI (too much information) makes people in the audience squirmy and uncomfortable, and
Talking about family members in a way which threatens their privacy or trust is not right. I use a lot of stories which include family members, and I’m conscious of the need to be respectful. My youngest child has provided some great speech material over the years, and I have often talked about her. I’ve also talked about my first date with my BF who’s a member of my current TM club. (It was an unusual and wonderful date, but I would never use that story in a speech if it made him even a little bit uncomfortable.)
4. How to conduct enjoyable meetings that end on time
Each meeting has a designated TM who does much of the behind-the-scenes preparation, such as contacting the speakers and others, preparing an agenda, selecting a theme for the meeting, such as School Daze or Singing in the Rain (hey, it’s Seattle), making entertaining remarks related to the theme to get things warmed up, introducing the speakers, and keeping the meeting running smoothly.
And that’s when everything goes well. Being the TM also requires coming up with a Plan B when things don’t go so well, such as when traffic is even slower than usual and the first two speakers are stuck on an interstate highway somewhere.
5. How to give supportive evaluations to help other speakers improve
At TM meetings, every speaker gets an evaluation. The evaluator talks about what the speaker did well and suggests ways to make the speech even better. When I evaluate a speaker, I usually try to figure out the one or two things which would help him make the biggest improvement in the shortest amount of time.
An unexpected bonus in learning to give evaluations has been the ability to evaluate others and help them to improve outside of TM. For example, I’ve used my skills to help friends prepare for a job interview. We role-play the interview, and I evaluate my friend’s responses: What she did well and suggestions for improvement in the real interview.
6. How to benefit from evaluations without getting defensive
At first I found it a bit unnerving to be evaluated at a TM meeting, but the take-away message is always supportive: you did some things very well, and here are some things you could do to make your speech even better.
The model for learning to be a good public speaker is the same as the model for learning just about anything. You try it, get some feedback, try it again using the feedback you got last time, get some more feedback, and so on. And it works!
7. How to answer a question you didn’t expect when you don’t have time to think
Most TM meetings have a section called Table Topics where a designated Topic Master asks a question and calls on a member to answer. The question could be anything:
What’s the worse job you ever had? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? If you could have a different job, what would it be?
The member stands up–and with virtually no time to think–gives as coherent an answer as he can. Doing this every week builds skill in impromptu speaking which is is a huge help in those real-world situations where a co-worker suddenly turns to you in a meeting and says, “So, Arnold, what do you think about this?”
If you want to learn these invaluable skills; meet interesting, intelligent, and very supportive people; and have a huge amount of fun in the process, I highly recommend Toastmasters. To find a group near you, go to http://www.toastmasters.or/g and search on country, state, and city to find clubs in your area.
7 Invaluable Skills You Learn in Toastmasters
by Madeleine Kolb on August 25, 2009
My first real job involved occasional public speaking, and looking back I’d have to assess my performance as “uneven.” Sometimes I was relaxed and confident, other times, quite nervous. Sometimes I connected with the audience, other times, I didn’t even come close.
I was frustrated because I wanted to be a good speaker all the time, not just from time to time. But I’d never had training in public speaking. Until the day–many, many years later– that I got up my nerve and walked into a Toastmasters meeting.
There I was warmly welcomed and sat back to enjoy the proceedings. I went back the next week and the week after and then I joined. That was over 9 years and 70 some speeches ago. As I expected, I became a better public speaker. An unexpected bonus, however, was the other invaluable skills which you learn in Toastmasters.
1. How to write for the ear
Writing a speech is different from writing a report or an article. A speech is more informal, more conversational: You need to write for the ear rather than for the eye. Writing speeches has taught me how to do that. And as an unexpected bonus, it has improved all my writing.
2. How to prepare different types of speeches for different occasions
In Toastmasters, you learn to write and present not just a speech but many types of speeches, such as informative, persuasive, and entertaining. This involves selecting a topic that fits, doing research in some cases, writing and re-writing, putting together any props or visual aids, and then practicing it over and over.
Some examples of titles and types of speeches I’ve given are:
How to Do the Heimlich Maneuver–A Demonstration Speech (using a human prop)
Multi-tasking Madness– A Humorous Speech (which was actually on a serious topic but had a humorous opening and conclusion), and
Travels through Time and Space–An After-dinner Speech (about my love of reading)
3. How to use personal stories in a good way
There’s nothing more effective in enhancing your own credibility and connecting with an audience than using personal stories. People love these stories and learn from them.
In my professional career in technical, regulatory fields, there wasn’t much opportunity for personal storytelling. But in TM I’ve learned to incorporate stories from my personal experience.
I’ve also learned that using personal stories is delicate. And here’s why:
Talking about a terrible personal experience which happened recently–such as a death in the family–is not a good idea. I’ve seen speakers break down while doing this because they’re still processing the event. It’s much too early to speak about it to a roomful of people.
Giving TMI (too much information) makes people in the audience squirmy and uncomfortable, and
Talking about family members in a way which threatens their privacy or trust is not right. I use a lot of stories which include family members, and I’m conscious of the need to be respectful. My youngest child has provided some great speech material over the years, and I have often talked about her. I’ve also talked about my first date with my BF who’s a member of my current TM club. (It was an unusual and wonderful date, but I would never use that story in a speech if it made him even a little bit uncomfortable.)
4. How to conduct enjoyable meetings that end on time
Each meeting has a designated TM who does much of the behind-the-scenes preparation, such as contacting the speakers and others, preparing an agenda, selecting a theme for the meeting, such as School Daze or Singing in the Rain (hey, it’s Seattle), making entertaining remarks related to the theme to get things warmed up, introducing the speakers, and keeping the meeting running smoothly.
And that’s when everything goes well. Being the TM also requires coming up with a Plan B when things don’t go so well, such as when traffic is even slower than usual and the first two speakers are stuck on an interstate highway somewhere.
5. How to give supportive evaluations to help other speakers improve
At TM meetings, every speaker gets an evaluation. The evaluator talks about what the speaker did well and suggests ways to make the speech even better. When I evaluate a speaker, I usually try to figure out the one or two things which would help him make the biggest improvement in the shortest amount of time.
An unexpected bonus in learning to give evaluations has been the ability to evaluate others and help them to improve outside of TM. For example, I’ve used my skills to help friends prepare for a job interview. We role-play the interview, and I evaluate my friend’s responses: What she did well and suggestions for improvement in the real interview.
6. How to benefit from evaluations without getting defensive
At first I found it a bit unnerving to be evaluated at a TM meeting, but the take-away message is always supportive: you did some things very well, and here are some things you could do to make your speech even better.
The model for learning to be a good public speaker is the same as the model for learning just about anything. You try it, get some feedback, try it again using the feedback you got last time, get some more feedback, and so on. And it works!
7. How to answer a question you didn’t expect when you don’t have time to think
Most TM meetings have a section called Table Topics where a designated Topic Master asks a question and calls on a member to answer. The question could be anything:
What’s the worse job you ever had? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? If you could have a different job, what would it be?
The member stands up–and with virtually no time to think–gives as coherent an answer as he can. Doing this every week builds skill in impromptu speaking which is is a huge help in those real-world situations where a co-worker suddenly turns to you in a meeting and says, “So, Arnold, what do you think about this?”
If you want to learn these invaluable skills; meet interesting, intelligent, and very supportive people; and have a huge amount of fun in the process, I highly recommend Toastmasters. To find a group near you, go to http://www.toastmasters.or/g and search on country, state, and city to find clubs in your area.
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