Late today, by Washington standards, Porter goss resigned as head of the CIA. the suden announcement raises big question marks. Porter Goss, a critic of the agency, who was hand picked by george Bush to run the agency gave no reason for the resignation. No health reason, no "spending more time with the family" reason or anything else. His tenure was only about a year and a half. Is it perhaps that this is about the agency's #3 man, Dusty Faggo's recent scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abra...
A few weeks ago, the nation was debating whether or not the USA should allow the sale of terminals in 6 major US ports to the goverment of the United Arab Emerates. The backlash of this "under the table" deal (the pres. was unaware of it until just before defending it to the press) was swift and severe. The issue found common ground between those on the left and those on the right. Everyone except those who blindly follow the administration despite anything. Eventually, the deal was kille...
Over the past 3 years, The "WMD" debate has raged on. Before the war, I doubted the administration's claims (as did 160 or so congressmen). I was told by more than one congressional staffer "you don't know...they have evidence we haven't seen that PROVES everything" before we invaded Iraq. After the invasion, as our occupation commenced, I was told "we will find them." Then, after a couple of years finally the belated admissions by the President and other true believers in Washington that...
In my many political discussions, I often point out my support for people and issues on both sides of the proverbial aisle. Rarely does anyone challenge me on that, and I often wondered why. Recently, someone who was debating me about another issue being hotly contested in our nation's capitol began on the old tired "what about bill?" "bill did this too!" diatribe that anyone left of Dick Cheney is sick and tired of hearing. Per usual, I reminded my friend that unlike him, I am not here to de...
Last week, I listened in as President Bush rushed out to inform the press and public that his Dubai deal was just dandy and we should once again trust him. Later we learned that Bush had just become aware of the Deal himself and was as uninformed on the details as you or I. We were told that there was no security threat and we should just go about our business. This got me thinking. "What ever happened to " they just have to be right once. We have to be right all the ti me.?"" How ...
Today is 4/20/2004. This is the counterculture's favorite day of the year. For this is "Four-Twenty," the stoner's holiday. Today, more people will toke up around the world than any other day. It has happened every year. And every year hundreds of millions of people around the world enjoy the holiday, with the aid of some good smoke and their favorite piece of smoking paraphanalia. But more than anything else, this day shows just how unobservant we are. It is a lesson that marijuana smok...
In my research, I stumbled across the following column...Quite revealing...I wonder if this will come out at the 9/11 hearings today...According to Novak, a highly respected conservative columnist who is so inside with the administration that he was able to get at least 1 White House official to give him classified information concerning CIA operative Valarie Plame (Joe Wilson's wife). In this article , dated Sept. 27, 2001, Novak contends that in arresting 1993 WTC bomber Ramzi Yousef in 199...
Recently, while doing some research, I stumbled upon some of Bill O'Reilly's writings. I have been taking special notice of what certain writers on both sides of the spectrum had to say before 9/11. As this very innapropriate "Bush vs. Clinton" battle rages on in the 9/11 commission investigation, I took special notice of the famous "non spinning" O'Reilly and his comments pre 9/11. I haven't found much about Bill's thoughts on our foreign policy at the time, but his supossed "non spun" obser...
Ok. we're in the box. Throughout the process, the salesperson has been peppering you with certain "closing" questions. Here, in the box, those questions will increase in frequency. Most of them will not seem like questions that you are giving commitments to, but they are. Remember when I brought up a very common question that the sales manager or sales person may ask you. The question was "Pretty nice car, isn't it?" The important part of that question is "isn't it?" The way it is designe...
Salespeople are told by their management that they have 1 job generally. That job is to close sales. While some dealerships may have specialists who "close" the customer "in the box," it is the salesperson's primary job responsibility to cause cashflow. Their job is not to show cars, be a center of information, be a liason between the customer and service or any other tak that they routinely do. Salespeople may do these tasks, but it always to achieve an ultimate goal of creating a closing op...
After the info has been presented, and you have taken your test drive. Perhaps you had a trade valued. The deler at the earliest opportunity, will move into "closing' mode. There is an old acronym in sales called "A.B.C." or "always be closing." Meaning that at every point from the greeting to the end, always be looking for the opportunity to get a commitment and complete the transaction. When I was in electronics retail, there was a small exception to that. All big ticket retail stor...
Now that we've been introduced to our sales consultant, and have narrowed in, at least generally, on what we might want from this dealer, The sales process moves to the "selective demonstration" part. Depending on how forthcoming you were with his "interview" questions, whether you spoke on the lot or sat down and let him take some notes to help assist you (which is the best way), will determine how precise he or she can be here. The more they know, the more they can point out things that wou...
When you purchase a car, or anything for that matter where a professional salesperson is involved, you get put through a process. This process, which was mentioned briefly earlier, is called the "sales process." Virtually anyone who goes through any kind of retail sales training learns this process in one form or another. It isn't always exactly parallel, but the major components of it are the same. It also isn't as deceptive as it may sound to someone outside the sales world. Understanding i...
Negotiating for a car can sometimes be one of the most frustrating experiences we go thru. But it doesn't have to be. Knowing a few things and being prepared as well as negotiating withthe right people can impressively reduce your time and stress. The first thing to know when going into a car negotiation is that all car dealerships are measured in monthly increments. Since most managers in the industry are more cunning than they are smart, the systems are usually rather simple. The lat da...
When considering financing, is it smarter to go with the dealer? Is it smarter to get your own? Pay cash? Lease? All of these questions come up when financing a car. A little understanding of the process may make the process a little less frustrating and help you get the best terms for you. When the dealer quotes payments, it's usually at a "generic" interest rate. The rate will usually be a tier 1 rate, with about 2 points or so added for the dealer. They do this for a few reasons, and th...