✔ But sometimes one just has to be different. Being human is after all, is only human. Professionals cater to humans, or at least they should aspire to do so. Some organizations are up ≥ to that challenge. The marketing game is all about the wants and needs of people.

We are processed from childhood to adult, to think rationally and to conform to the extreme. Today’s market requires a complete turnaround of thought. You’re considered to be a diamond ♦ if you’re different these days. On the same wavelength, the empowerment of the people is a practice that should be optimized. The more the customer or reader is engaged, the better the experience will be.

The company that does not get the blog — may be the company that falls behind in sales. Blogging has created a social and economic impact that can no longer be ignored ∞.

The pie π has exceedingly changed in the past few years. Consumerism has integrated with a social-cultural background. Technology has rocked the boat for sure.

It’s really a very potent idea if you stop and think about the social media environment today. Just a few years ago one might have asked, “what is Twitter”?

The social factor demands that companies adhere to the responsibility of profit, and weigh in the obligation to the customer. A company’s statement or action can be published in a second. This is remarkably powerful.

You might say I have a magical crystal ball hidden in a dark room. You might say I have the exquisite touch of Nostradamus. You might speculate that I may be gifted when it comes to politics. My response — well not exactly.

Let’s take a look at the LA Times script for example — “Obama campaign’s staggering haul: $86 million raised for reelection. Republican candidates combined are expected to raise less than $35 million this quarter.”

The headline says it all. Doesn’t it take an atrocious amount of money to win an election these days? What ever happened to keeping campaign promises and holding the politician accountable after the election? Is this a bit of nostalgia that Americans have forgotten about? Accountability?

By enlarge, the matter is not groundbreaking. The GOP has not really raised a clear argument against President Obomba. Why?

Because his presidency model is a replicate of George W. Bush. More spending on largely unpopular wars, more promises that have mostly been broken, more tax breaks for the wealthy, and total gridlock in government. President Obama has moved far to the right as it would appear to most of the crowd. Some are starting to say he looks more like Dick Cheney every day. Others say Obama resembles President Herbert Hoover.

Obama has become the chief collaborator of the Republican Party. It’s hard to oppose something that you resemble the most. What were media pundits calling him — the “change president”? Change in your pocket maybe.

Relegate fact from fiction. Assess the incumbency advantage. Since World War II, a whopping 90% of incumbents who ran for reelection did get reelected!

What will the slogan be this time? Because the “change” and “yes we can” lines do not apply anymore. Then you have the Republicans trying to hold the President hostage over a routine debt ceiling deal. President Obama will certainly remind the public about this extravaganza coming out of Washington.

And the winner of the United States presidential election, 2012 is…

Analysis in the mainstream media gets rehashed on a regular basis. You have the so called researchers, writers, educators, and the privileged few who sometimes act as if the public is really beyond any type of understanding.

Propaganda and populism are ubiquitous as we sift through the nonsensical jumble of fabricated streams. The burnt ideology invades our critical thinking level. It’s absurd to even question the populous nowadays, or so they say at least.

More often than not, a simple basic understanding of any subject leads to real truth eventually. Everyone claims to be an expert and only the truly gifted are totally irrefutable. There are patents of knowledge on every corner of the street.

The speculation of oil for instance, we are told time and time again, has no bearing on what the price of oil commands. Again, MSM gives us the daily dose of disproportionate, manufactured consented news to brainwash those that do not dare to question authoritative journalism.

Today, the price of a barrel of oil is $96.48. The price has been hovering around this range for weeks now. Earlier in the year, a barrel of oil fluctuated over the $100 mark. Could there be other circumstances causing the fluctuation?

Here’s where I fail to grasp what the experts are saying. If political unrest is a key factor, then oil should keep rising indefinitely. Right? The world has seen more political thunderstorms this year than in past decades. Some predict that worldwide economic collapse is just around the corner. So, why has the price of oil fallen recently? How can you justify this? The truth is you can’t. It’s a rigged game.

On May 12, 2011, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, asked Exxon Mobil Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson a simple question. What would the price of oil be if it was based on supply and demand fundamentals? Without the speculation?

Senate Finance Committee hearing

Senator Maria Cantwell: What do think the price would be today if it was based on the fundamentals of supply and demand?

Rex Tillerson: Well again it’s… If you were to use a pure economic approach the economists would say, would be set at the price to develop the next marginal barrel.

Senator Maria Cantwell: What do think that would be today?

Rex Tillerson: Well, it’s pretty hard to judge. But it would be, you know, when we look at it, it’s gonna be somewhere in the sixty to seventy dollar range. If you said, if I had access, that’s the assumption.

If I had access to the next marginal barrel, what would it cost, everything in, to put the next barrel of supply in? Now, soon as I develop that one and it depletes, then the next barrel marginal cost goes up. Okay, now over the years the industry has historically done a very, I think, successful job of mitigating that through technology advancements, efficiencies, things we learn how to do better to keep the cost of the marginal barrel down.

But in a purely economical, you know, if all things were according to economics and people didn’t risk manage and they didn’t do everything else they do, uh… it would be set at the marginal cost of the next increment of supply.

Senator Maria Cantwell: Sixty to seventy dollars a barrel of oil sounds pretty good today. I can tell you that.

In conclusion, Senator Maria Cantwell goes on to say: “Well, I would just say this — that with 70% of that futures market now being made up of speculators, that are not in use of that oil product is a problem.

“To go from having the market made up of 30% today of people who legitimately have to hedge, dominated by 70% of people who are just getting obviously in on this oil game is a problem. Do you agree?”

The online press is singeing with the hottest story of the day. The Republican party is willing to hold out on the debt ceiling and risk going into financial default, because of the unwillingnness to close tax loopholes for the wealthiest on Wall Street.

John Boehner will say publicly on television that the rich business community needs these tax breaks (loopholes) to help create jobs. Republicans should be worried about jobs, their own jobs.

Where are those jobs that were created by tax breaks? Hasn’t worked so far yet.

Do Republicans think that ordinary voters are too dumb to understand the real issue? What are Republicans trying to hide? This is a must watch video!

Big shot managers of financial institutions that deal with certain equities are gaming the system legally. Hedge fund managers are only paying 15% on their profits — which is a capital gains tax. These same hedge fund managers should be paying a personal tax rate — which is 35% (New York Times).

The top 1% of the wealthiest class owns more capital than 90% of the population on the bottom! And they want to remain tax dodgers?

So Americans should be willing to cut funding on social security, Medicaid, Medicare, city parks, college assistance, and much more to let these weasels stuff billions more in their back pockets? Is this fair treatment for the great American Society?

Want to know more about the richest 25 hedge fund managers and how they fared last year? Check out the hit list (Reuters). The poor fellows on Wall Street.

President Obama has his plate full with balancing a deficit budget while the top earners in the nation try everything to avoid paying their piece of the pie. Americans as a whole are paying less on taxes since the year of 1958 (USA Today). This is the real reason that America is sinking. Government entities have existed for decades and the United States flourished. However, the tax rate was much higher.

Hedge fund managers do have one source of competition — U.S. Senators that are getting corporate insider trade information. A study in 1995 shows that U.S. Congresssmen regularly buy stock after they have passed legislation contributing to the same stock (AR Magazine).

Loopholes that Congressmen use are perfectly legal as well. This isn’t controversial either. Right?

Is closing down the hedge fund loophole going to cause the next “class war” (Daily Kos)?

President Bill Clinton is a very astute politician, and arguably one of the brightest in our time. That being said, he is starting to seem tired and some of his rhetoric just doesn’t make sense anymore.

Clinton thinks Obama shouldn’t blink on the debt ceiling (CNN International). Since when does the debt ceiling even matter? Did President George W. worry about spending in Iraq? What about the debt ceiling on that one?

Clinton goes on to say — “President Barack Obama and the Democrats should immediately accept previously agreed-upon spending cuts with Republicans that would allow the government to continue to run for another six to eight months.”

Okay, just go along with the Republicans and throw Americans’ benefits away. Do whatever the Republicans say. And what does conceding mean? Americans losing their Medicare benefits? This is good economic policy? Why do we get the feeling that is going to happen next?

There’s more — “Corporate tax rates be reduced to 25% from the current range of 35%-23%. Then, with tax loopholes eliminated, revenues could rise $1 trillion.”

Doesn’t this sound like Reaganomics? Reduce taxes for companies? Since when are companies paying their share of taxes now? Didn’t Clinton raise taxes to get the economy on track?

Eliminate tax loopholes? It’s international knowledge that many Fortune 500 companies have found every trick in the book to avoid paying taxes. And you think they’re going to stop? Seriously? Ask the people in New York about this one.

“Under Obama’s leadership, Wall Street has been salvaged. The automotive industry has been saved. Manufacturing jobs have increased.” Wall Street salvaged? They are among the most despised groups in America. And guess what, they’re still getting huge bonuses and they still have a green light to do whatever they please, without regulation. Americans get stuck with the bailout bill.

Manufacturing jobs increased? Where, in China?

“Obama has also delivered on national security with the killing of Osama bin Laden and increased drone activity in terrorist countries.” Delivered on national security? Afghanistan is a dirty word with Americans. More money, more blood, and no results.

Increased drone activity. Can Americans be proud of this Mr. Clinton? Those drones are in reality just planes that are indiscriminately dropping bombs and killing innocent citizens. What if those countries did this to us?

“Obama has offered laudable education and health care reforms.” There is more cutting on education and health care than we have seen in 50 years. If the politicians get there way, it looks as if that trend is not going to stop. Look at Minnesota. Look at California. Medicaid funds dry. State parks closing. Government employees unavailable. Happening in America?

Laudable education? This is hysterical. The cost of education has never been higher and less affordable for the mainstream population. What’s even worse — if you get a degree, there’s not a decent job waiting.

The one thing right about the article is the subtitle. Is it “class warfare”. But they have it all backwards.

Back in the 20th century, President Clinton raised taxes on the wealthy. America prospered. America was respected. America was the envy of the world. That’s because Mr. Clinton did the right thing.

Yes Mr. Clinton, you may seem tired and some of us may misunderstand what you are trying to say at times. But to those that are criticizing you and calling it “class welfare” by raising taxes on the wealthy, they are the ones that are misleading the public entirely.

Please stand up for the right again President Clinton. And don’t blink an eye…

The famous Ugland House is reported to be the home, or mailbox if you prefer, of almost 19,000 international businesses, nearly half of them from the United States.

In the Cayman Islands, some of the world’s largest corporations channel trillions of dollars, making the area one of the world’s largest tax havens. However, it faces some stiff competition these days.

Now there are such hiding places in the United States that provide a haven for the same types of racketeering.

One of the Ugland House’s sister networks of America is located at 2710 Thomes Avenue, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The company is called — Wyoming Corporate Services. A Special Report from Reuters calls this special house in Wyoming a place where “shell” companies can hide their assets. Just like they do at the Ugland House in the Caymans.

This Little House On The Prairie could be harboring a shady cast of complex network friends such as a former prime minister of Ukraine, who may be sheltering valuable real estate assets. The report claims that Wyoming Corporate Services currently lists more than 700 shelf companies for sale in 37 states. Business is good.

One special client at the “Little House” sold knock-off truck parts to the U.S. Department of Defense. Well, actually there were two companies involved in shady dealings, one of them under investigation for wire fraud.

Other clients that seek shelter are involved in: bogus subprime credit card scams, online gambling rings, online drug dealing, telemarketing scams, and money laundering.

If you’re involved with such illegal activities and the climate in Wyoming doesn’t suit you, you could opt to locate in Delaware or Nevada, the other two safe havens for hiding company assets. No regulation. No problem.

In fact, if you’re wanting to play shelter company monopoly you can rest at ease. There are only three states that have hardly any regulations at all — Alaska, Arizona and Montana. So you might just skip around these anti-business friendly islands of politics.

But feel free to roam the prairie land in the state of Wyoming. There are plenty of mail boxes for sale.

Or feel free to join the gang at 1209 North Orange Street in Wilmington, Delaware. Home to over 6,500 corporations, and more than 200,000 businesses. Vice-president Joe Biden, a former senator for Delaware (The Loophole State) received more than $1m in donations from law firms with offices in Delaware between 2002 and 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In Tax-Dodge City, USA, the slogan is “yes we can” save you on taxes…

CNN asked 1,015 Americans a few questions on June 3-7, 2011. The hard hitting questions and the tell-tale answers reveal what the true state of the economy is and what the American people think of it. But you probably won’t hear this on the evening broadcast. They’ll probably construct diversions and distract you with the trivial matters of the day.

CNN POLL QUESTIONS [June 3-7, 2011]

1. Another Great Depression Likely in Next 12 Months?

Yes – 48%
No – 51%

2011 – 48%
2009 – 41%
2008 – 38%

2. How would you rate the economic conditions in the country
today – as very good, somewhat good, somewhat poor, or very poor?

Good – 19%
Poor – 81%

3. How Important is the Economy To Your Vote for President?

Extremely important – 51%
Very important – 41%
Moderately important – 6%
Not that important – 2%

4. How Important is Unemployment To Your Vote for President?

Extremely important – 45%
Very important – 42%
Moderately important – 10%
Not that important – 3%

5. How Important are Gas Prices To Your Vote for President?

Extremely important – 43%
Very important – 36%
Moderately important – 17%
Not that important – 4%

Source: CNN – Headline of the day [June 27, 2011]:
Congress pays $6.1 million in bonuses as it debates spending cuts

Steel is an economic barometer of progress. Steel has slowly been replaced by plastics and synthetics in some vital areas of construction. But steel is still a very good economic indicator of how countries are progressing in a global market. Steel is a basic staple in the economy.

Who ranks at the top of production in the current market?

As of 2010, China reigned in as top producer, which accounted for 44.3% of world steel production. China is a major producer and a major consumer. China is booming. The numbers are consistently proving this.

In 2008 and 2009, the production of steel fell. But in 2010, steel production was back on the rise. What companies are top producers?

Top Crude Steel Producers 2010: (Wikipedia)
1. China – 626.7 [million tonnes]
1. European Union – 172.9
2. Japan – 109.6
3. United States – 80.6
4. Russia – 67.0
5. India – 66.8
6. South Korea – 58.5
7. Germany – 43.8
8. Ukraine – 33.6
9. Brazil – 32.8
10. Turkey – 29.0

Steel Trends
Production of steel has grown exponentially — from 28 million tonnes to 781 million tonnes, in the 20th century. Consumption of steel increased at an average annual rate of 3.3%. Today, the production is of 800 million tons per year. Overall, the steel industry is thriving. The demographics are changing.

In 1900, the USA was producing 37% of the world’s steel.

Now Asia produces 40%, Europe 36%, and North America only 14.5%.

Cyclical economic trends seem to run parallel with steel production. However, steel production in western countries is a “sunset industry”. In developing countries, steel production is a “sunrise industry”. Those countries such as China, Brazil, India, and South Korea.

China produced 220.1 million tonnes in 2003, 272.2 million tonnes in 2004 and 349.36 million tonnes in 2005. That is much above the production in 2005 of Japan at 112.47 million tonnes, the USA at 93.90 million tonnes and Russia at 66.15 million tonnes.

India is the country that is growing rapidly and it is the one to watch. Steel production in India is expected to reach 124 million tons by 2012 and 275 million tons by 2020. India is expected to be second in the world if its growth continues.

The most depressing part about the report is the downsizing of the workforce in the industry. Steel was a major player in the second half of the 20th century. Sadly, that trend has reversed in the United States. This has been a huge factor in the unemployment sector.

From 1974 to 1999, workers were starting to hit unemployment lines in record numbers. At least the workers that were not quite yet old enough to retire. In the United States, manpower fell from 521,000 to 153,000 during these years.

In Japan, it was 459,000 – 208,000. In Germany, it was 232,000 – 78,000. In UK, it was 197,000 – 31,000. In Brazil, it was 118,000 – 59,000. In South Africa, it was 100,000 – 54,000. It was only 58,000 in 1999 for South Korea.

In the last 25 years alone, the steel industry has seen a reduction in the workforce by 1,500,000. This number is representative of the global workforce reduction.

It is extremely clear that steel production is growing tremendously; while steel workers are declining in numbers.

Up to 9800 workers in New York state could see layoffs starting as soon as June 15th, 2011. Labor concessions are not yet finished, so the number could be less than that.

Governor Andrew Cuomo hopes to save the state $450 million with budget cuts. The proposed bill could increase the retirement age from 62 to 65, and also double employee contributions from 3% to 6% (theithicajournal.com).

During a speech back in February of 2011, Governor Cuomo stated that the state and local tax burden in New York is 66% above the U.S. average. Cuomo said that New York is the worst of all the U.S. states. “Because we spend so much we have to tax so much”, Cuomo commented (Cuomo speech). The high tax burden has caused many to flee from the state.

“The truth is, we spend a lot of money and we don’t get performance. We spend more money than any state in the nation in education. We’re number 34 in terms of performance. We’re number 1 in spending in Medicaid. We’re number 21 in performance. We spend $1.6 billion annually in economic development and we’re dead last.”

“Well why does this happen? We understand we’re spending too much, we’re not getting performance, it’s been going on too long. It’s a vicious cycle. Why? What you find is that the special interests really control what’s going on in the government. That is the heart of this problem.”

State Of New York Memorandum:

In the Division of the Budgets previous letter of May 11, 2011, which assigned personal cash ceilings for each agency, agencies were advised to immediately begin planning for workforce reductions, including layoffs, to achieve the personal service savings of $450 million reflected in the 2011-12 Enacted Budget. In consultation with the Dept. of Civil Service and the Division of Budget, agencies have begun taking the necessary steps to achieve the target of 9800 layoffs beginning July 15.

DIALOGUE

– May 12, 2011
Sen. Rockefeller: How much profit on a barrel of oil do you have to make to not be needful, of these subsidies that we think you don’t need, but you say your life depends on? At some point you know, you wouldn’t need the subsidies. I don’t… I think you’re there already but you don’t. So, at what point do you think you don’t need these subsidies?

Chevron CEO John Watson: As we described we don’t receive subsidies senator. What we do require is a reasonable return on our invested capital, and I would tell you that I don’t think the American people want shared sacrifice. I think they want shared prosperity. And what we have to offer…

Sen. Rockefeller: Aww, lovely statement, but do you understand how out of touch that is? We don’t get the shared prosperity until we get the shared sacrifice. I think you’re out of touch. Deeply, profoundly out of touch. And deeply and profoundly committed to sharing nothing… [Video]

Sen. Charles E Schumer: You’d have an easier time convincing the American people that a unicorn just flew into this hearing room, than that these big oil companies need taxpayer subsidies…

Sen. Max Baucus: You make a lot of money. That’s fine, that’s the American way. But, it also seems that maybe the subsidies are not really that necessary anymore.

CONGRESS MEMBERS ACT TOUGH BUT WON’T CUT OFF THE HAND THAT FEEDS

* Big oil execs defend $4 billion worth of oil subsidies. The big five raked in a collective profit of $35 billion in the first quarter of 2011 alone. Don’t you feel sorry for them?

* The plan (eliminating oil subsidies) would shrink America’s $1.3 trillion deficit by $21 billion over ten years.

* Members of Congress may grill Big Oil execs and may generate stagnant press, but often leads to little or no reform. These same type of hearings happenend in 2005 and 2008, and no reform yet.

* In 2005, oil execs said they didn’t need tax incentives to drill for oil. That’s not what they’re saying now.

* Lobbying dollars to Congress from Big Oil: Chevron $12.9 million, ExxonMobil $12.4 million, ConocoPhillips $19.6 million, BP America $7.3 million. [Video]

CONGRESS WON’T CONSISTENTLY ADMIT THERE’S A PROBLEM

Speaker John Boehner flip flops repeatedly [Daily Kos]:

“Washington Has a Spending Problem That Hurts Job Creation, Not a Revenue Problem”

“It’s certainly something we should be looking at, We’re in a time when the federal government’s short on revenues. They ought to be paying their fair share.”