DOUGLAS E CASTLE - The Daily Burst Of Brilliance™

Good Versus Evil: Human Skepticism

2012-02-12T12:47:00.000-05:00

I sincerely believe that until such time as hostilities are shown to be less profitable IN THIS LIFE than hospitality, Humankind will persist in a state of barbarianism. The promise of a reward in "the next life," or aphorisms such as "virtue is its own reward," do not seem to work in a "show-it-to-me" cause and effect world where the violent and amoral are most often the obvious victors.

The challenge that faces our species is to demonstrate, in the here-and-now physical and sensorially perceivable world (because people are increasingly obsessed with immediate gratification and quantitative proof to overcome the barriers to faith in goodness imposed by persistent disappointment and disillusionment) that "doing well by doing good" is not just propaganda to keep the poor but faithful distracted and misdirected while the rich and powerful continue to plunder and rack up victories glorified in the media.

In the simplest terms, we must be able to show a somewhat cynical, somewhat average (and perhaps pragmatically materialistic) Human Being visible, tangible, measurable proof that in this world, in real-time, an act of kindness will operate more to his or her benefit and survival than an act of criminality or callous indifference.

That is a tremendous challenge, I'll admit...

Douglas E. Castle
[http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com]

The Unexpected Significance Of Small Things

2012-02-06T14:40:00.000-05:00

THE UNEXPECTED SIGNIFICANCE OF SMALL THINGS (12/22/07)

A turning point in the life of Douglas E. Castle

In the winter of 1996, my life was saved by a homeless man.

He was standing out in the freezing cold near Penn Station in New York City, pacing behind a makeshift card table with a large plastic bottle on it which said "Coalition For The Homeless." I was on my way to catch a train home. I had $30, a train ticket and a suicide note in my wallet. I was being treated, unsuccessfully, for depression, and was on a final mission to go home and to kiss my young daughters goodbye before going to a nearby motel to take my own life. I felt like a condemned man and actually felt relief at my determination to end my pain.

The homeless man at the card table was a colossus...a tower of a man...big, black, scarred and intimidating, in a torn up flak jacket and soiled carpenter pants. He paced in the bitter cold like a starved lion.

He looked at me, obviously expecting to be met with indifference. His jar was filled with pennies, dimes and quarters, with a dollar bill or two. I was well-dressed -- with all of the outward trappings of success.

For no reason, as I had chosen to end my suffering anyway, I looked him directly in his impassive face, took out my wallet, and stuffed a ten-dollar bill and a twenty-dollar bill into his jar. His face was a study in puzzlement; perhaps disbelief. I turned on my heel and continued rapidly toward the Penn station .

Within seconds, I heard the huffing and puffing of a giant man running to catch up with me. He grabbed me by the arm, fully turning me around. He said, "Please let me do this, brother," and he literally lifted me off of my feet in a crushing bear hug.

And then he said it.

"Man, thank you, thank you, thank you! God bless you, my brother. Do you have enough money to get home? I numbly nodded "yes." He said, "you know, 'cause of you, do you know how many people's gonna be able to eat tonight for the first time in days? You saved lotsa people's lives, Man. You like an angel from God or something." He had an immensely wide, gap-toothed smile -- like a little boy. It was shockingly, incongruously beautiful.

As I walked down the steps to the station, I impulsively reached into my wallet, only to find my suicide note missing. I do not, to this day, know how this happened. I took it as a sign that my plan was not meant to be carried forward. I was dumbstruck. I was given a reprieve. I was frightened with my new hope.

For a contribution of $30.00, that man saved my life with his words and his smile.

---------------

Douglas E. Castle

p.s. You might feel compelled to forward this article to someone you know. Maybe more than one person...

p.p.s. If you'd like, I would be honored if you would follow me on my Twitter accounts:
http://twitter.com/DouglasECastle1 and http://twitter.com/douglascastle

p.p.p.s. Thank you.

Spam As Big-Time Entertainment!

2012-01-28T15:40:00.000-05:00

With spam currently comprising slightly in excess of 70% all email, text and social media communications, there's enough of it to cater an enire block party in my old neighborhood in Queens, New York. For the most part, it is annoying -- but in segregating my "good mail" from my "junk mail" I must manually wade through spam in my inbox, and hunt for important correspondence in my spambox, I have found that some of the spam is not only more entertaining than much of my serious inbound correspondence, but that in some cases (perhaps 1 in 20) it is interesting and educational.

In celebration of this latter realization, I have created a new blog called SPAMBOX GOLD, at http://SpamboxGold.blogspot.com, with a Twitter account (won't you please follow me....please!) at http://twitter.com/SpamboxGold.

Please indulge me, and read my second post, truly destined to become a classic (amongst a very small circle of persons). Please click on the link and let us know what you think:

http://spamboxgold.blogspot.com/2012/01/mass-email-spamletter-collectible.html

Thank you, as always, for humoring me. And remember: when graffiti got its start, it was merely regarded as defacing public property - now it's an acknowledged art form!

Douglas E Castle

"Spam may seem like a silly thing to complain about. We've all gotten used to the dregs of the netverse trying to hit our mailboxes with Viagra deals, organ enlargement offers, casino sites and Nigerian hoaxes, after all. Spam blockers have a full time role in our online lives today." -- ideasmithy.wordpress.com

Quora: Interactive Promotion And Feedback

2012-01-24T15:24:00.000-05:00

Social media platforms tend to be either too broadcast-oriented and self-obsessed (like Twitter, for example), or they tend to be detailed chronicles of our personal victories (exaggerated) and failures (understated) -- that's Facebook...the data miner's paradise and any marketer's means to access deadly-targeted data with which to either seduce you or to spam you. I believe that Quora is going to link some of the best attributes of the other platforms together, and enhance everyone's social media mix.
---------------

Quora Discussion Forum? Eh?

The Forum will feature open, give-and-take discussions on a variety of cutting-edge social and business topics initiated by Douglas E. Castle . All are invited and encouraged to participate.

Although I do not believe that Quora will displace Twitter or Facebook in the social media universe, I firmly believe that it is going to provide a wonderfully intelligent forum feature which will complement all other social media.

I hope you'll be joining me here at http://QuoraDiscussionForum.blogspot.com. There will be polls, surveys, back-and-forth discussions on a number of controversial, current topics...and best of all, you will absolutely have a chance to express yourself through a very, very large bullhorn.

If you say something clever, you might even be quoted. The Quora Discussion Forum will bring a whole new dimension of real-time interactivity to by all of us.

Join us -- to sit down and be counted. Find out what others think. Let them know what you think. We'll even give you more than 140 characters to express your view. We'll even give you a chance to upload photos, video clips, and voice clips.

Thank you for letting me brag. And for deliberately and conspicuously stuffing the following topics, keywords, tags, label, search terms and keywords in, as well: Twitter, Quora, Facebook, Social media, Online Communities, Quora Discussion Forum, Douglas E. Castle, Social network, marketing, promotion, advertising, interactive media, IT,

Oh, and by the way, you can follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/QuoraForum. Things should be heating up rather quickly. Be patient as we gather momentum...

At the very end of this article, there are a number of articles related to this topic. Get to know Quora -- the potential is exponential.

Douglas E. Castle
[http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com]

Follow Douglas E Castle on Quora

Being A Rich Dad. Really

2012-01-12T21:01:00.000-05:00

Douglas E. Castle (none of us) wrote the beautiful heartfelt words which follow. Their author is unknown, but the inherent spiritual wisdom has doubtless created a profoundly deep fingerprint on many a father's soul. Its perspective is sacred, but is all too often forgotten. Read it, let it touch you, and then re-evaluate what is priceless and what is merely expensive.

"A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms even when his hands are empty."

How many of us have earned this kind of love. It must be earned, for it cannot be bought at any price.

Thank you, whoever you are, who sent these words in an anonymous email to me when I was feeling the wind whipping around me as I opened the window to step out onto the ledge. Your timing was impeccable. And now I must be prepared to do the same for someone else some during his dark night of the soul.

Douglas E Castle [http://DouglasCastle.blogspot.com]

Homelessness - Elin Nordegren Style.

2012-01-09T13:08:00.001-05:00

The article excerpt that follows appears courtesy of Yahoo! News -- a tremendous resource for gathering news about celebrity excesses, superficial things, pop culture and other things which I try not to take all too seriously. Knowing that so many of my fellow Americans are homeless, and realizing that the Great American Dream of home ownership is fast fading into history, I truly took offense Ms. Nordegren's incredible display of bad taste, huge waste, and utter callousness to those realities which face so many other Americans who have lost their homes, or who are squatting in vacant dwellings, constantly wary of eviction. Take a look at the article, and then hit the "BACK" button on your browser. I'll wait for you.

Tiger's ex destroys $12 million mansion

Elin Nordegren levels a home that she bought shortly after her divorce from the golf star. See 'before,' 'after' shots

---------------

By my estimates, based upon the deflated home values across most of the United States (let's assume that you can purchase a home for, say $150,000.00, all in cash, without an unobtainable mortgage), based upon families with an average of 5 members, I arrived at the following rudimentary conclusions concerning the bulldozed $12.0 million:

1) 80 homes could have been provided for eighty needful families;

2) Housing could have been provided for 400 persons.

Now: If banks were actually making mortgage loans to people of "average" credit at, say, a ratio of 80% of the purchase cost of these homes, the following conclusions would apply... (are you sitting down?)...

1) 400 homes could have been provided for four hundred needful families;

2) Housing could have been provided for 2,000 persons.

In all candor, some people just set terrible examples at the worst possible times. I would have been ashamed -- but then, I understand the notion of shame and have felt it before. Too often.

Douglas E Castle

Famous Quotations You've Never Heard

2012-01-05T15:19:00.000-05:00

By "famous" I actually mean "should be famous" or "deserve to be famous," but which have either been passed over by great historians and academicians (academia nuts), or which haven't been publicly stated yet. Personally being obsessed with activism and nonconformity versus the status quo and somnambulistic life in the Matrix, I've come up with one which I believe warrants your serious (not Sirius, which is that company that provides commercial-free musicus non-interruptus to your BMW or Volkswagen Barf (cars don't impress me -- great music and great sounds do) attention.

If you like it, forward it to everyone who still has you white-listed, and twitter (or re-tweet) it far and wide. If you don't like it, twitter, re-tweet it and forward it despite yourself.

"Activism is sometimes dangerous, but whoring is always boring."
-- Douglas E. Castle

Pass it down. Pay it forward. Not just for me, although that would be a wonderful selfless deed that would land you a good position in the New World Order, but because you believe that it is a statement of truth.

Thank you.

Douglas E Castle
[http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/douglascastle]

Verizon Cancels "Convenience Fee" - Consumer Power

2011-12-31T10:30:00.004-05:00

It is curious that the first business news item that I noticed today was that Verizon, the communications megalith and tyrant, backed off and decided not to charge their extortionist $2.00 "Convenience Fee." In the press they have said that this is in response to "customer feedback." It was not exactly "feedback" -- that was a euphemism for overwhelming threats of switching to other services, complaints to regulatory agencies, and the undertone of "Storming The Bastille."

This type of improved customer experience management (CEM) only happen when enough customers complain at a high enough volume level and threat level. What helped to unite the consumers to threaten not to pay any more bills, to switch to ATT, and to file complaints with regulatory authorities? Here's the formula:

Aggressive journalistic coverage + social media in hyper-viral mode + a critical mass of disgust and distrust between consumers and big business.

It's times like this that make me happy to be a Blogger (or an 'Electronic Journalist,' as I prefer). What a process! Mainstream Media prints and broadcasts it, bloggers talk it up, and social media creates a perfect atmosphere for consumer activism, protest and rebellion.

Can you imagine the possibilities if consumers actually formed large, focused "Action Committees" to collectively bargain with these beastly utilities and territorially 'licensed to kill' big businesses?

This is one of the slowly emerging trends (people are difficult to unite and organize) which I will undoubtedly be discussing in THE GLOBAL FUTURIST.

Douglas E Castle

Verizon's 'Convenience Fee': Customers = Victims.

2011-12-30T09:17:00.000-05:00

The state of customer service, and the trendencies (a Lingovation) toward its complete deterioration are being seen worldwide, but especially in the United States. In this latest episode of CEM (Customer Experience Management), the nation's largest telecomm carrier, Verizon, has decided to charge its customers an actual fee for paying their bills!

This is not about a late payment fee, or a legal surcharge, or anything worthy of punishment: this is about Verizon's attempt, as part of a great and powerful oligopoly, to 1)) steal as much money as possible while they have leverage in terms of customer demand, territory and absentee regulation, and 2) behavioral modification in order to force customers to pay their bills online so that Verizon isn't burdened with the personal overhead associated with processing payments received by other less 'streamlined' means.

Fascinating: First Verizon fires customer service and support staff to make room in its budget for more advertising and promotion; now they want to eliminate those people (i.e., eliminate their jobs and salaries) who work at payments processing. Verizon wants direct and recurring access to your wallet via direct debit. They want you to be plugged into their Matrix.

If the US Postal Service weren't so close to closing up shop, Verizon probably would have gone a step further -- really ticking off Big Government -- and would have said that they no longer accept payments by mail.

It's kind of ironic that I can't pay my Verizon bill by telephone (although I use ATT)...Verizon could have simply have just made the telephone payment service slower and longer, so that they could cause their customers to incur greater telephone charges for all of those additional minutes. How did they miss that?

No, ladies and gentlemen...Verizon does not hear you now. They are victimizing you because they (in their clandestine mathematical modeling laboratory hidden in cyberspace) have calculated that they can and will get away with it. And if they don't, they will be able to reap a nice "bonus" until somebody stops them. Expect this trend to continue with every large utility or dominant territorial company.

It also proves one basic tenet of Classical Economics (I majored in Economics after doing miserably at chemistry): Where there is no competition, there is no incentive for keeping prices reasonable, or for providing customer service. And competition (one of the old-school entrepreneurial directives) is on the decline at macroeconomic levels as the large get larger and more gluttonous with each economic recession.

If consumers cannot become activists and gather their collective, collaborative bargaining strength to bludgeon these predatory beasts, the bloodfest will indeed continue.

Large, intrusive government and giant companies are positioned as enemies (under the guise of providing the best possible service) of the consumers...consumers (collectively) are comprised, by the way, of fearful, weakened, conditioned individual Human Beings. To see an example, look in the mirror.

Verizon is charging a "fee fee". Sounds a bit like a name for a toy poodle, doesn't it?

The following article appeared today, courtesy of Yahoo News!
---------------

Verizon to charge customers for paying bills

The nation's largest cellphone carrier adds a "convenience fee" for some forms of payment. Angry reaction

Related links

---------------
Although the above is indeed saddening, while changing flights at the Hong Kong International Airport, I saw an encouraging sign of some entrepreneurial movement in the direction of giving away something for free, in the interest of acquiring customers. I was delighted, so I took a photo with my iPhone:

Douglas E Castle

Mobile Device Breakthrough! - SUMSING

2011-12-27T15:22:00.000-05:00

We are inundated with news about mobile phones, apps, media, utilization, viruses, fixes and incredible new capabilities which can be appended or installed in modular fashion. The idea of this mobile multitasking is remarkable, and I'll admit to being just a bit behind the times in my technical knowledge of the increasing breadth of capabilities.

That is why when I saw the Sumsing video, I was totally awestruck. To see a breakthrough, not only in terms of mobile device technology, but to see the clever way in which the company demonstrates the revolutionary advantages of its superior product in a brilliantly-conceived video.

If the video does not appear in a player below, you can instantly access it for viewing or for downloading and forwarding (you'll want to) by clicking on this address:

http://www.mediafire.com/?gy8dg1n16dh8hi9

The Video:

I am continually amazed at the innovative abilities of mobile device manufacturers and applications programmers to increase the spectrum of possibilities associated with this fast-growing medium. And I thought I was clever just learning a bit of HTML code!

Douglas E Castle, [http://BusinessAndProjectPlanning.blogspot.com]

The SubPixular Engine Room - LINGOVATION

2011-12-21T07:13:00.000-05:00

Image via WikipediaLingovations (you may simply Google this term if you'd like) are one of my principal contributions to the art and science of communications, as well as to the urban lexicon. Far more than neologisms (admittedly cousins), Lingovations are more than mere communication expedients -- they are better, more meaningful descriptors...words that needed to be created in order to avoid paragraphs of explanation. And usually (for example, in the case of the term "Technullity")

Expressions like "sexting" are merely contractions of convenience (not unlike when my mother was pregnant with me). Abbreviations such as "LOL," "IMHO" and even the French (yes, French!) nicety of "RSVP" at the end of a query or invitation are merely acronyms of convenience. An irrelevant picture follows for no particular reason other than my own entertainment -- maybe yours, too.

Thank you.

Now let's return to the latest expression to find its way into the informal lexicon of commonspeak (as I am still waiting for acceptance from the august board of linguists and lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary - the "OED," for those of you who had either the academic record or the paternal wealth to enter and to graduate from Yale or Harvard - to accept my submission). Perhaps you can help by writing them a letter, or by posting some of my other additions to the world of words to Wikipedia or some other forums):

*SubPixular: A Lingovation used to describe (adjective) printed copy in a font size which is far too small to be comfortably seen by the naked Human eye. SubPixular text is usually used for the benefit of robots, spiders and other non-Human SEO effectuators.

A "SubPixular Engine Room" is a long listing of site links, keywords, labels, search terms, categories, topics or anchor text placed on its own separate blog or webpage which is strictly for the purpose of search engine 'priming' and for other technical purposes. It is not meant to be read by Humans (or family members), as the type size is far too small (the objective being to maximize the content on the page given its space limitations) and it doesn't serve any site mapping, reference or other purpose. It is meant for robots, spiders, scanners, and other devices which are not subject to Human fatigue or boredom.

So now you know in the event that anyone should ask.

I truly appreciate your indulging me. In fact, if you like, the SubPixular Engine Room can be found on the navigation bars on the home page of any of my blogs so that you may click on them and inspect them. I'm not legally liable for eyestrain, somnambulism or any other side effects associated with this exercise -- you do so strictly at your own risk.

Douglas E Castle [http://Braintenance.blogspot.com]

Douglas E. Castle| Reputation Management. So?

2011-12-09T15:53:00.000-05:00

Your online reputation is indeed important and there are a great many services which purport to be able to help save your good name and professional career by engaging in some mysterious process (nothing short of 'Special Ops') to keep your search engine results and profile (your bio) clean and pristine. These organizations may be helpful, but without going into detail here, I will fall back on an old cliche, taught to all of us by our elementary school physical education (back then it was called "gym"): The best defense is a good offense.

If you don't experience life, express opinions, take actions, take risks, and rattle some cages, you may get by without insult, injury or offending anybody enough to have them drag you off to arbitration, court, the principal's office, or to write potentially damaging things about you on the Internet. You are most likely either in a coma, or are a chronic underachiever. All of those of you who are boat rockers will invariably become the target of someone who feels threatened by your persuasiveness or potential. After all [today is National Cliche Day in Melaka], you cannot make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

I personally view myself as a flamenco dancer in a world paved with eggs. It's just my nature.

Now, for your edification and entertainment, I present an excerpt from a blog written by a fine author with whom I have an intimate relationship dating back to my birth...

Reputation protection and management are indeed crucial aspects of building your credibility. Because anyone can post anything to any number of complaint boards, fraud alert boards, or to the web in general, unless we have never been alive, someone has been angered with us over something which we have said or done -- whether baseless or absolutely true. Some are matters of opinion and some are matters of documented fact.

Many online credibility management or social media "cleanup" services have recently sprung up to combat the increasing problem of getting negative news (posted on the web for all to see) by either persons you've wronged, persons who just don't like you, or personal details about your divorces, regulatory issues, multiple bankruptcies, business failures, table manners, misdemeanors, felonies, arrests, time in a sanitarium, firings and dismissals, censures, license revocations, affiliations, rotten posts which you later regretted after placing them on FaceBook and other social media, your pending foreclosure, pictures of you with a lampshade over your head at an office party, personal telephone and residence information, sealed court records (incidentally, nothing is ever actually either sealed or is actually inaccessible for an assiduous muckraker) consumer complaints either 1) off of the the major search engines (particularly Google), or 2) "buried" deep in the bowels of the search engines (i.e., the 59th page in Google) where no "normal" person would have the time or patience to look.

There is actually no good news here, folks. There are no panaceas. No "black hat" hackery/ crackery or quackery tools or cleanup squads available... even powerful governments have been caught in massive lies, coverups and political scandals -- WikiLeaks, anyone? There is some useful information which can help to minimize or mitigate the effects upon you and your career by these pesky postings that befoul your otherwise exemplary search engine reports.

1) If someone has posted something that is a matter or published fact or public record, don't even bother trying to delete it or remove it, unless it is a civil matter which has subsequently been legally settled, paid, satisfied, rescinded, vacated, dismissed, released or otherwise satisfied with a court-stamped or other evidentiary agreement. If this is the case, the cheap fix is to publish the document evidencing the satisfaction. The better fix might be to retain a professional firm, as referenced above to have the posting party issue a publicly-posted rescission.

2) If there was a regulatory investigation, whether dropped, or prosecuted, it will not be expunged. Don't waste a minute. Don't try to eliminate facts. Be prepared to briefly explain them (denials are invariably perceived as admissions of even greater guilt and wrongdoing) only if asked and don't offer apologies or feeble, wishy-washy discussions about mitigating circumstances. Stay in command, and never assume a defensive posture. Remember -- whatever happened in the past is done. Right or wrong, it is now merely a piece of history. Let it strengthen you, or even have a third party spin it in your favor.

When a corporate executive and aspiring statesman was asked (as in an "Is it true that...?" open question-style confrontation) by a reporter at a press conference about a previous felony conviction (from some years prior), the executive (after waiting for a hush from the crowd of reporters, and signaling them to be quiet), simply said, without, engaging the reporter, something to the effect of, "Yes. That is absolutely true. It was a troublesome thing. Now, ladies and gentlemen of the press, if you don't mind, I'd like to avoid wasting any further of your valuable time and get back to the matter that needs to be addressed immediately. I'll continue, but I will insist that we keep the nature of this conference relevant and highly-focused. I have limited time, as we all do, and a business to run. Thank you."

That "Thank you," was fully and deafeningly dismissive.

3) Do not waste a minute of time or a penny seeking legal relief for defamation of character;

4) Do not engage the other party by any inflammatory response.

5) The best of the professional services will either 1) legally seek to have incorrect factual information corrected or removed, or what they will do is use some SEO chicanery to "stuff" the search engines with all manner of articles related to all manner of possible search engine queries which speak of you or your business in glowing terms.

Having said all of this, the best advice that a leader who has chosen to be successful is to avoid wasting too much time with off-target problem solving, lest you fail to conserve adequate time to invest in pursuing growth opportunities.

Douglas E. Castle [http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/douglascastle] and the Taking Command! Blog.

Never, ever let defensiveness or desperation be a motivating force for your decisions or actions. Leaders and commanders are permitted to err. The idea is to keep your Achille's heel (which each have one or more) out of a bear trap, and to keep from letting emotion turn the present path of progress into a detour into the woods. Stay in control, and never exhibit submissiveness. Nobody said that it would be easy.

The tried and true coward's way out of all of this is to go through the process of legally changing your name and building up a new legend (a world borrowed from the KGB, the organization which I believe used to provide the CIA with most of its vodka) with a new identity.

I saved some money and time by being myself. After all, if your cover is ever blown, there is no strategy or ploy that can save you from looking like a spy (at best), or a fraud (at worst). Wear those scars with pride.

BlogCatalog | Douglas E. Castle's Law Of Gratitude

2011-12-08T01:56:00.052-05:00

If you are well-read, intelligent and endlessly curious (as I am sure that you are, as you are reading this), you've probably heard of BlogCatalog. They have recently done me the honor and kindness of posting several of my articles from several of my blogs. I haven't mentioned Douglas Castle's Law Of Gratitude in some time, but I saw my letter, which follows, as an opportunity to offer a formula (or template) for a public thank you letter. It serves to offer thanks to BlogCatalog, a fine blog and RSS feed directory service - but it also does helps me achieve a personal and professional promotional objective for me that I could not have done without their help...or, for that matter yours, as readers, colleagues, supporters, social media fire starters, tweeps and sponsors. It lets me demonstrate three (yes, three) of the most significant aspects of networking:

1) Showing gratitude by offering thanks in a public forum (with a helpful hyperlink or two) where it will be seen by many;

2) Promoting and endorsing the source which (or who) decided, unsolicited, to promote me - BlogCatalog;

3) Showing that I am a believer in reciprocating; despite what my third-grade teacher said once, although I've long since forgotten that comment.

Please read on, and, if you have caught the spirit and have a moment to spare, TAKE ACTION:

Updated at 12.19.2011

Image via CrunchBase - a tremendous informational resource.

Blog Catalog has recently picked up a number of my articles from my Daily Burst Of Brilliance The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist and one or two of my other blogs (you can access many of them by clicking on the RSS 3-D style icon below). I want to thank BlogCatalog for honoring me with their re-publication of my material [which is published under decastle or Douglas Castle], and to recommend them as a wonderful directory for fine articles, RSS feeds and other information on a variety of topics. I am also hopeful that they will feature more articles about international commerce, global production and consumer trends, geopolitical economics, citizen ambassadorship and worldwide joint venturing.

If you should chance upon one of my articles on Blog Catalog (henceforth, you'll have to look me up under either under Douglas Castle or DouglasECastle1, my soon-to-be-new-username) when you've gotten to the BlogCatalog site, please re-tweet it or forward it. It might be a wonderful idea if you were to rate the article (they have a 5-star system) as highly as you believe warranted. The greater the number of viewings, the higher the ratings, and the more re-tweets, he more that the subject matter category will become a higher priority focus in their directory.

Lastly, but most importantly, I want to thank my readers and colleagues for your encouragement, inspiration and support -- I am forever in your debt.

Please also Google or otherwise access BlogCatalog to boost their prominence, as they have boosted mine in terms of the causes of worldwide prosperity and peace through increased civilian communications (are you listening, Skype?), import/export, transnational co-venturing, and citizen ambassadorship. This sacred mission cannot be left to international agencies, sovereign governments or mainstream media -- we must use the blogosphere and social media in order to create a shift in destructive zero-sum thinking, and paradigms that are hopelessly outdated. Please continue to help me -- together we can move mountains.

I will give you my spanking new BlogCatalog direct url address as soon as I've received it. The old one will still work, but it will no longer be active -- my contributions will be to the new address. Oh, the suspense.
---------------

Networking or relationship capital-building (both increasingly trite terms in my view) have become mere exercises in joining groups, amassing vast lists of strangers' names, having "meet and greet" events, collecting (and misplacing) business cards, polishing up 'elevator pitches' and the like. Why is everyone so blasted surprised when they summon their vast network records in search of a favor, a recommendation or an action, only to find that the "connection" is weak -- like the Wi-Fi in a cheap motel?

If you feel that you will ever be in need of help, make certain that you never miss an opportunity to help someone who has done you a good turn -- especially, before they even get a chance to ask. Once again, I thank the readers of my blogs, the directories that give me and my commentary third-party endorsement and exposure, and those of you who hit tweet, re-tweet and otherwise forward my work to your associates and friends for their consideration.

Douglas E. Castle, an ingrate no longer.

Closed Minds And Chronic Educators - Same Coin, Opposite Sides.

2011-12-03T06:11:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipedia: A description of communication.

There are many people we encounter who either do not wish to listen to us (they are preoccupied with their own thoughts or they do not respect our views), cannot stand to listen to us (as they do not want to be awakened from their philosophical somnambulism or comfortable, established bigotries or blissful phychological self defenses), or are simply unable to hear us (because of a physiological or other legitimate communication or 'connection' impairment). This last group of fellow Humans is absolutely not intended to be the subject of this article.

The prior two groups of persons are categorically referred to for the purposes of this article as "Closed Minds." De-humanizing and de-personalizing, indeed, but Closed Minds it is. You just can't talk me out of it. [This last comment is intended to be ironic]

There are, at the opposite end of the spectrum, people who are obsessed with either winning arguments, making "points" or proselytizing any other person who cannot escape quickly enough. These persons ("Chronic Educators"), for a multitude of reasons, need to convince or convert others in order to fulfill what they perceive to be an important mission.

---------------
And now a brief interlude for shameless self promotion:
[http://twitter.com/DouglasECastle1] and [http://SendingSignals.blogspot.com]
---------------

Closed Minds and Chronic Educators cannot work together. They will waste each other's time, and get into unnecessary quarrels. Each personality type must learn to identify the other as expediently as possible in order to minimize the likelihood and possible length of futile interaction. More importantly, each type must recognize his or her propensity to be either type of non-conversational participant.

If you are Closed Mind, you might consider opening up a bit to let out some of the stale thinking and permit some new information to stimulate your imagination -- I know, I know... this can be unsettling, but it is a part of intellectual and emotional growth.

If you are a Chronic Educator, you might learn to rapidly shut up if you are not being well-received by the person whom you are addressing -- if you think that you can achieve anything productive through preaching to a subject who looks like he or she has either been to a taxidermist or embalmer, or refuses to engage with you - learn to shut up and leave the other person alone. Write blogs, books, keep a diary or become an elementary school teacher -- but don't waste time trying to tilt at windmills. In fact, you might even be better served to start to do more listening and a bit less talking.

Closed Minds and Chronic Educators would do well to know themselves by type respectively, and to recognize others by type as well. I suggest this to help either both types to either 1) avoid intellectual atrophy (if they choose to remain as they are), or to conquer themselves and to entertain the possibility of changing unproductive speaking and listening habits which have probably been impeding their personal and professional growth and standing in the way of their happiness.

I'll shut up now.

Douglas E. Castle

p.s. I do believe that it is a far better investment of time and effort to find friends (people whom we would like to listen to, and/or people who are genuinely interested what we have to say) than to aggressively struggle to "sell our wares" to people who have no interest in buying from us, or to hold still and pretend to listen (like stuffed toys, seated corpses or household furnishings) while others try to "sell their wares" to us.

p.p.s. In learning about marketing and management, we are always being told to, "be certain that we are speaking with a decision maker." We should also go a bit further, and recognize when a supposed decision maker is actually a Closed Mind who, rightly or wrongly, perceives us as a Chronic Educator.

Pragmatism Can Destroy Your Potential

2011-11-23T23:49:00.003-05:00

From the very beginnings of our alterations in self-perception based upon the influential, hypnotic feedback of others, we are given conflicting signals about the crucial importance of being "pragmatic"(as if this term were synonymous with 'smart' and 'worldly' and 'sensible' and 'mature') and about being a "dreamer" (as if this term were somehow pejoratively associated with all things irresponsible, impossible and wasteful).

While a balance between the two makes a great deal of sense, dreaming and creativity are played down so severely in the journey that is life, and are so pedagogically overshadowed by the presumed virtues of pragmatism, that we run the danger (as any mobile-synched Millennial or enormously successful inventor, entrepreneur or artist will tell you, if he or she is not too deeply lost in thought) of becoming inveterate, fearful conformists who are given (usually too late in life) some corporate crapola in the occasional motivational meeting about "thinking outside of the box," and not allowing ourselves to be stunted in our careers by falling prey to our "'self-limiting' beliefs."

Many employers think that this of occasional off-site pep rally will somehow change their prevalent sycophantic "follow the leader and don't be a 'boat rocker"[a reference is made here to a book mentioned in the movie "Field Of Dreams"] employees into creative, innovative problem-solvers. These well-intended bosses should not be surprised when their employees (following an initial endorphin, caffeine and sugar rush at the close of the conference) simply revert to being robotic.

These employees have been so sautéed in the Pragmatism Paradigm for such a long time that they simply have unconsciously adopted it as a fall-back default setting. What makes it even more horrific is when an employee tentatively comes up with a brilliant, fresh, imaginative new idea, and the boss says, " I think it's a bit too aggressive for the Board to really buy into...you know how conservative they are -- let's tone it down a bit so they won't feel threatened. Interesting idea though! Now get back to work on that'Leveraging Mediocrity and Embracing Stagnation" Report that the chairman's son wanted to get onto the next meeting agenda. Oh, and you might want to wear something a bit less flashy -- you know what I'm talkin' about. By the way, Smitty, you're looking good for that promotion!"

These conflicting directives have turned all but the most entrepreneurial and creative firms into slow-moving beasts in danger of distinction. Most firms in the industrialized nations are actually subcontracting or outsourcing (at great expense in terms of both time and money) substantially all of their innovation functions. Consultants, coaches and other "externals" love this. They are expected to be creative where the employees are expected to simply conform. Conflicting signals, starting with our own home upbringing, schooling, and early career experiences, keep us from being of maximum benefit to our colleagues, employers, partners and, most lamentably, ourselves.

I personally believe that if dreaming is societally subjugated to follow-the-leader-pragmatism and the beloved "course of least resistance" our ability to dream will atrophy, our ability to adapt will diminish and our largest institutions and companies will become the least efficient and most unproductive.

This is already happening. The distant winds of extinction are getting louder. Yes -- an overdose and hyper-adherence to an inculcated doctrine of pragmatism can destroy our potential, as individuals with wonderful ideas, and as organizations that merely pay Politically Correct lip-service to the notion of realizing dreams and great visions.

My solution is not scientific. It merely has the virtues of my belief and sincerity. It requires the combined efforts of parents, teachers, mentors managers and organizations, starting today. The doctrine should be taught, reinforced and rewarded that, "Dreams are our most deeply-held objectives; they are the children of our most brilliant flashes of insight; they are the sacred seedlings of all advancement. And pragmatism, which comes secondarily, is a skill through which we navigate our way through a world littered with defeatists, conformists, and jealous underachievers in order to convert the raw creative energy of our most splendid visions into tangible, appreciable results.

As individuals, and as members of an endangered species, we cannot let a hyper-vigilant obsession with obstructionist pragmatism rob us of our potential to accomplish great things. Every great change and advancement started with a dream. Pragmatism is not evil -- but it must be seen in its proper perspective... and that is as a way to convert our divine visions into reality.

Dreams separate Humankind from machinery.

Douglas E Castle [http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com]

Social Media/ Branding Innovation: FUXXNET?

2011-11-14T12:24:00.000-05:00

Ah, the birth of an idea from a vision in my dreams!

Occasionally I will wake up in the middle of the night with what seems like an excellent idea for a branding slogan, a marketing campaign, or a product or service name. Two nights ago, I was struck (not too hard) by the name "FUXXNET." Unfortunately, I cannot think of an application for this catchy, seemingly-familiar name. It is as problematic as would be the case of an inventor who works in his garage for years and years and finally creates the device he's been trying to build; and then, struck by senility (or possibly the cumulative effect of long-term, low-dose carbon monoxide poisoning), he completely forgets what the device that he's constructed was actually designed to do.

Years ago this latter phenomenon was a hot topic of discussion -- it was referred to in many academic circles and encounter groups as the "Professor Emmett Brown/ Buckaroo Bonzai Effect," and a number of highly obscure and dispensable doctoral theses and term papers were written about this. Then, like the 8-track tape player or the Betamax, it just vanished from all social consciousness. Like the legendary lost city of Atlantis, or the Veg-O-Matic...

With FUXXNET, I know that I have a winning name -- it is a dream-state amalgamation (I believe) of "Fox News" and "Stuxnet."

I hate to waste a good-sounding name. Perhaps you would be kind enough to help me.

Should FUXXNET be a new television channel or an incapacitating computer worm? Perhaps it could be both. Anyway, after you've run off to GoDaddy to reserve the domain name, please post any suggestions to the "Comments" Section at the bottom of this post.

Douglas E Castle

Stupid, Useless Expressions And Philosophies: Because I Said So.

2011-11-08T11:15:00.001-05:00

I spend too much of my time writing about things that other people are thinking but just haven't the testicular fortitude (meaning "gumption" or "audacity," both of which terms come directly from the best-selling e-book "Forrest Gump and Barack Obama Have Lunch at IKEA,"). But one of the most important things of value which I have ever brought to my readers is this brief treatise [feminine for treat] on Stupid Sayings, Philosophies and Useless Things - A Collection (If Someone Would Only Take It Away).

There are only two types of people in this world: The type of people who like to divide this world up into two types of people, and the type who don't. I dedicate this post to both types of you. I do not dedicate this post to anyone who has ever stated, when offered a choice (and I once had a boss -- at least until he fired me -- who actually said this) "Six of one and a half a dozen of the other."

First, here's an embedded photo, for those of you who fancy that sort of thing:

Note: Actually, the title for this particular post should be somewhat better-qualified, but several of the geniuses upon whom I rely upon for internet marketing and search engine optimization advice told me that a lengthier title would not be quite as "market effective"... or that it might not have enough "traction". Even if I must settle for a fraction of the traction that would lead to SEO satisfaction (oh, yes!), I'm going to re-title the article, with an Immensity of Keyword Density --

“STUPID SAYINGS AND PHILOSOPHIES THAT EITHER: 1) DO NOT MAKE ANY SENSE, 2) ARE COMMONLY MISQUOTED FROM THEIR ORIGINAL UTTERANCE IN SUCH A MANNER AND TO SUCH AN EXTENT AS TO BE MEANINGLESS OR MISLEADING, 3) I’VE INVENTED JUST FOR FUN, BUT ALL OF WHICH, IN ANY CASE, 4) WILL NEVER BE OF HELP TO ANYONE.” - Amen

Having said that, and without gratuitous apologies for the artwork appearing in the upper left-hand corner of this post, I will proceed with a short list (the pizza delivery guy is at the door):

"Stupid is as stupid does."

"Be a pessimist. You'll never be disappointed."

"Live in the past; the future will take care of itself."

"It's all good."

"My bad."

"Rich or poor, it's always good to have money."

"If I wanted your opinion, I'd tell you what it is."

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

"You just can't win for losing."

"I know they're small, but you'll grow into them."

"The more you buy, the more you save!"

"God is giving you a challenge because He just wants to make you stronger."

Well, now....isn't that all nice?

Faithfully,

Douglas E Castle

And How About This SEO-Confounding List Of Tags, Labels, Keywords, Search Terms, Categories And Passwords, In No Particular Order, and Serving No Particular Purpose?, to wit: the tragic irony of lysdexia, mourning becomes Alexa, Bourning becomes Ludlum, the existence of the present, things that are, things that aren't, Humor, Hummus, Humvee, Haitch, trite aphorisms, bromides, chlorides, the Halogen Family, The Addams Family, cliches (without the thing over the "e" or the "s") old saws and the orthopedic surgeons who use them, mending your trouser cuffs with a stapler during bachelorhood, braces, britches and trailer hitches, Gypsies Tramps and Thieves, Tito Nieves (whose Latino last name does not rhyme with "Thieves"), spellling, repetitive stress injuries, Technullities, Justin Bieber lovechild scandal, Occupy Main Street Now (it's getting lonely), Search Option Enginization, Dr. Phil's Hairstyling Guide, Goodbye To Andy Rooney [I'll miss him - he was someone special], Heidi Klum is heartless, the legality of paregoric, why you cannot polish a turd, raw sushi, fried ice cream, BOGO, WTF, WTC, Solutions from Washington, Tomfoolery, Carousing, Gallivanting (sp?), rapscallions, too small to fail, too hot to trot, Dazzology, why is it spelled 'phlegm'?, UFOlogy, reality TV,

p.s. Is there any such thing as "lysdexia"? Why is or isn't there? And if you can read it, does it mean that you have it (assuming, of course, that it exists and can be had), or that you don't?

p.p.s. The term lysdexia, above is a perfect example of a Lingovation which artfully incorporates a spoonerism.

p.p.p.s. I watched Dexter the other night and realized that the characters on that show use more profanity per minute (on the average) than the characters in The Jersey Shore series. Really. I swear.

"I'm Struggling Too Hard To Survive To Get Rich." - The USA, Revealed.

2011-11-04T13:04:00.000-04:00

The majority of the working US citizenry (which includes those ambitious persons actively searching for employment) is struggling to survive economically -- to pay household operating expenses; to service accumulated mortgage, credit card and automobile debts; and to cover increasing healthcare costs. Typically, compensation at anything lower on the hierarchy than the C-Suite Level in a middle- to large-sized company is actually insufficient to meet these expenses.

As a matter of survival, people are selling off limited assets (in a highly distressed market), attempting to borrow more (a temporary solution which actually augments the ultimate problem), or are raiding their retirement funds, 501K plans, 403B plans and the like (many of which contain pitifully little due to tremendous investment losses) in order to simply meet their obligations. And the obligations remain and actually increase mercilessly while the resources are rapidly depleted. The average US citizen (currently under 65 years of age) cannot afford to retire, and will have to work [assuming economic conditions don't change radically for the better] until death. Sounds like a Charles Dickens novel, doesn't it?

People are becoming poorer. Their standard of living is declining. Their emotional state is suffering. They are stuck in the midst of an immutable law of simple mathematics.

The decreasing percentage of persons who are actually rich, or who are becoming rich are either celebrities, professional athletes, trust-fund beneficiaries of dynastic families of great wealth, and a few exceptionally successful entrepreneurs whose fortunes are largely on paper. They can use their assets or credit to leverage purchases of assets which will increase in value or generate income. They could never do this without being rich to begin with.

The paradigm has shifted from the Horatio Alger "Strive And Succeed" work ethic to the notion of "get rich quick, or die trying." These latter strategies require a great deal of risk, and, in many cases, a very "flexible" interpretation of the laws which seem to bind "ordinary people," but not giant institutions, the captains of industry or some powerfully-connected politicians.

As you will note in The Global Futurist Blog, and in InfoSphere Business Alerts, I am predicting an era of continued struggling, increased risk-taking, and lawlessness. The futurescape is frightening.

This scenario is further exacerbated by the loss of faith, by the majority of the populace, in their financial institutions, in their political process, and in the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government in general. While movements like Occupy Wall Street (#OWS) are having some sort of impact, they are too unorganized, too unfocused and far too late to timely address this problem.

As an acquaintance of mine said some years ago, quite in jest, "If it weren't for money, I'd be a millionaire today."

Douglas E Castle

Alert: An Increasingly Armed Citizenry

2011-11-01T13:05:00.000-04:00

Gun ownership, according to one poll, discussed in the article excerpt which follows, is at a 20-year high. I am inclined to believe that the statistics might even be a bit understated in that certain non-violent "give peace a chance" persons do not want to admit to being armed.
The principal reason given for ownership is for "home protection," which certainly sounds reasonable enough -- in fact, I believe that this certainly is in keeping with the "right to bear arms" as contemplated in the US Constitution. But it does speak of a growing movement toward an armed citizenry.

I don't believe that these people are going to use these guns to commit crimes or to terrorize others. I believe that they are afraid that either a) the government, police and other law enforcement agencies are not able to protect them from those of ill intent, or (more ominously) that b) the government and its agencies may eventually pose a threat against the citizenry which it is supposed to protect. There could be a disastrous anticipated confrontation in an increasing number of people's minds.

Robert Heinlein, a science fiction writer (and an expert swordsman, to boot), once said that "An armed society is a polite society." Others have called the gun the "great equalizer."

Everybody seems to understand that an armed minority can easily overpower an unarmed majority -- and they are probably trying to level the playing field.

I don't like guns, per se. I think that target shooting can be a wonderful eye-hand coordination exercise, but I believe that inanimate targets are preferable to Human ones...or even to animals, unless it is a matter of life or death survival.

I'm curious and frightened. I do not hunt. I am not a contract killer. Most gun owners (and I am not one) are not hunters or contract killers -- most of the gun owners polled have purchased guns as a desperate self-defense measure, born of growing fear.

Why is this happening?
---------------
####

Poll: Gun ownership at 20-year high

By Liz Goodwin | The Lookout – 2 hrs 12 mins ago

Nearly half of Americans say they have a gun in their household, the highest percentage since 1993, according to a new Gallup poll.Forty-seven percent of Americans say they have a gun on their property. Gun ownership is up among Republicans as well as Democrats, though only 40 percent of Democrats say their home has a gun, compared to 55 percent of Republicans.
Support for personal gun-ownership rights is also at a high.
(The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four points.)

Reported gun ownership dropped sharply in the early 1990s and remained in the low 40s until today. Gallup says it's hard to know whether fewer people actually owned guns over that period or if they felt uncomfortable saying they did due to lower public support for gun ownership.
####

---------------

A widespread perception is that law enforcement either draws chalk lines around fallen bodies after the fact of an act of carnage, or that they tend to work at shaking down citizens in order to get money to re-fill the government's empty coffers, or to elevate their prosecution statistics and to justify their existence and promotions.

Isn't government (at least in the case of a democracy) supposed to serve the people? Why then are the people so fearful of either the government's inability to protect them or of its possible intentions?

Douglas E. Castle

WikiLeaks Starved By Its Detractors. Free Speech Is Expensive!

2011-10-25T01:11:00.000-04:00

The payment servicing companies and major banks which service (process) the inbound income [i.e., the fiscal lifeline] which supports WikiLeaks' operations, have decided in an act of obvious and malevolent collusion to stop permitting payments to the controversial whistle-blowing organization by refusing to process them. While I'll admit that I am not overly fond of Julian Assange and his possible lack of tact or timing in exposing some of the darkest truths regarding some of the most powerful governments and companies in the world, I think he is within his rights to reveal whatever information he is able to ferret out through any legal means.

He had made the political mistake of openly questioning authority, and 'outing' the news, without first having asked the permission of the persons and organizations which could be affected or offended. Or prosecuted.

Sometimes your target decides its time to target you. We've all seen it in movies.

His bigger mistake, perhaps, was his failure to realize that the bull which he was flagging was really going to charge him. And this bull, ladies and gentlemen, is an inbred colossus of corporate-owned mainstream media, unhappy 'elite' governmental and quasi-governmental agencies which conduct covert operations (which theoretically don't happen, and would be clearly illegal if they were to happen), some financial megaliths (i.e., large banks, investment banking houses, and other privileged TARP recipients and other members of the highly exclusive "too-big-to-fail" club), and perhaps -- and this is mere speculation on my part -- a few big oil companies and pharmaceuticals manufacturers making a great deal of background noise.

It would seem that many of Assange's past, present and potential future targets have something to fear from this 'mouse that roared.' It would also seem that they have believe that they are the only ones entitled to know the truth. When someone cuts the power switch, it is usually because they are doing something in stealth that they would not want brought to light.

Years back, what Assange is doing today through WikiLeaks was respectfully regarded as "investigative journalism." This was a noble, and sometimes dangerous pursuit of the truth in the greater interest of informing and educating the public. This was an understood necessity in a true democracy. It was about honest reporting, and protecting sources. The common person had a 'right to know the truth.'

Free speech, just like knowledge of the truth, has become very, very expensive. Most of us cannot no longer afford it. We conform, we scratch our heads, and we merely shrug our shoulders at what would once have been considered an absolute outrage. We're like sheep.

In looking at this unsurprising turn of events, the citizens and subjects of governments the world over have to take pause and wonder..."Who are these persons and organizations who would want to keep us enslaved in ignorance? What types of secrets are they keeping from us? What is their greater agenda? Have they usurped our rights and stolen our access to information to protect us? -- or to control us?"

At a time when governments and large corporations have access to every bit of information about every individual who engages in electronic communication or commerce, why would these same parties want to keep us from the light of truth?

Julian Assange is neither Diogenes nor a selfless saint -- but the Founder of WikiLeaks is not Satan, either. Someone is laying siege to the truth, and is trying to either stopper up WikiLeaks completely, or to get its founder to start behaving like a good boy. After all, shouldn't we all just cooperate?

This reminds me of a movie, or maybe several; "The Invasion Of The Body-Snatchers," "The Matrix," and possibly, "Enemy Of The State."

Douglas E. Castle [http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com]

p.s. The excerpt which follows was taken from a Google page left on my computer screen by some anonymous tipster. Don't worry...Google knows who he is:

WikiLeaks Says It Could Close

Wall Street Journal - 2 hours ago

By PAUL SONNE LONDON—WikiLeaks said it will shut down by year-end if financial-services companies don't lift restrictions on donations that have hobbled the ...

1009 related articles

Founder Says WikiLeaks, Starved of Cash, May Close‎ - New York Times

WikiLeaks suspends its work to raise money‎ - MiamiHerald.com

More news for wikileaks »

Win Friends And Innoculate People! - Give Something (Anything) Away For Free.

2011-10-17T16:56:00.000-04:00

They are giving free flu shots to senior citizens at our local pharmacy. There are literally throngs of people (some with walkers, some with canes, some with a peculiar type of breathing apparatus, and at least one fellow with a Hitler-like moustache on a Hoveround) walking, limping, staggering, clattering and rolling to the prescription area to sign up, wait as long as an hour, and receive a free innoculation against the latest strain of influenza virus. It truly resembles a scene from one of those late-night zombie/ vampire movies movies, where the undead keep relentlessly advancing.

The staff is frantically working to meet the enormous demand. It is rather like a Halloween Trick-or-Treat fest for septegenarians, octagenarians and Cryptogenarians (a true Lingovation meaning "persons who are of indeterminate age and can't seem to find their way to the 'other side,' the 'world beyond,' or, in some cases, the back of a store.").

One of the overworked pharmacy personnel confided, "If you give anything away for free -- even if it's liver, or horses**t, or even tumors, people will go nuts."

Whether the economy is booming or busted, people love to get free things. In fact, in marketing, if you mark up the price (visibly), and then offer it for free, it (whatever "it" may be) becomes an even greater bargain.

If I have some sort of membership or subscriber-oriented website, if I offer a "$250 value!" for free as a sign-up bonus, I'll get loads of takers -- even if it's moldy bread; but if I offer something that's "Ordinarily a $500 value!" [probably the same thing as I was giving away with a $250 value], it will invariably be perceived as even a greater bargain (even more free!) and will net me more members or subscribers.

This phenomenon is as predictable as what will most likely happen if a parent tells her three year old child not to touch something.

If I were to post an article about this (which I would certainly not), I would probably be compelled to title it (theoretically, of course, as I would never reduce such a cynical observation to writing), "Win Friends And Innoculate People! - Give Something (Anything) Away For Free." I would then owe Dale Carnegie an apology.

Douglas E Castle [http://aboutdouglascastle.blogspot.com]

http://MadMarketingTactics.blogspot.com
http://Links4LifeAlerts.com
http://BusinessAndProjectPlanning.blogspot.com

The Transformative Experience - Freeing Prisoners Of Our Limited Perceptions

2011-10-12T20:50:00.000-04:00

We are each ensnared in our own perceptions. We are limited by what we have been taught, what we have actually experienced or been told about, what we are able to determine using our recognized senses, and by a time-molded perception that incorporates a limited spectrum of a broader, multidimensional reality -- a reality that may far transcend our self-limiting belief systems or even the confines of what we call our senses.

People who have had truly transformative experiences include those who have occasionally felt synesthesia (a crossing over or a combining of discrete senses),or have experienced so-called hallucinations, Near Death Experiences, lucid or prophetic dreams, the sensation of astral projection [real or imagined - Robert A. Monroe's writings kept me fascinated as a youngster], experiences with psychedelic drugs, prolonged meditation, deprivation of food, drink or contact, physical torture, mind-altering sensory or sleep deprivation.

It seems that the common denominator to having a transformative or transcendental experience involves a severe disruption or overstimulation of our senses, where we lose our sense of control (or even our ability to maintain control), and of sense our differentiation, by individual identification, from the rest of the environment around us. It is through these occurrences that entire lives are changed.

I try to keep an open mind, but I know that I spent too much time controlling my consciousness through my self-identification and limiting context of the "I". It brings me loneliness, and keeps me chained to the same tree in the same forest.

There were only three times in my life where I felt a power greater than my own definition of 'self' take the reins of my self-governance from me: Once was when I smoked pot in college (not a great experience - I remember paranoia, intense hunger, and a very distorted sense of time, sound and tactile sensation); once when I was mis-medicated by a rather negligent and free-wheeling psychiatrist; and the moment when I witnessed my youngest daughter being born.

I noticed this article in the BigThink Daily IdeaFeed Newsletter, and wanted to share it with everyone. While I am not an advocate of breaking the rule of law, or of doing unsupervised experimentation with dangerous experiences or substances, the article extract which follows, truly fascinated me. I hope that you'll enjoy it as well.

The one thing that I am compelled to say is that our minds are seldom opened to altered views, perceptions and transformational experience without the intervention of a shock to the system, that knocks us out of our captain's chairs and our deeply-embedded defenses against the unbelievable or unfamiliar. In this case a chemical agent was used to catalyze a trans formative experience, with some curious aftereffects common to all of those who took a certain drug:

Thank you, BigThink:

IRREVERENCE
Magic Mushrooms Inspire Openness

A single dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in 'magic mushrooms,' brings about a measurable and lasting personality change—'openness'—lasting at least a year.

Our minds are opened by force, or by almost unfathomable discipline. Transformation is seldom self-directed (this is rather analogous to the cliche about the blind leading the blind), it is usually imposed upon us by circumstances which we cannot control. Some of us, in search for a connection with something greater than our individual identities in our closed-circuit containers, hand ourselves over to others to guide us -- but this decision is the last part of the process where we are in control -- ultimately we surrender our consciousness and sense of identity to someone or something which takes us over so that we may observe without the ability to avoid confrontation with those things that lie beyond the perimeter of the circles which we draw around ourselves during the course of our contol-centered lives.

Douglas E Castle [http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com]
Braintenance - [http://Braintenance.blogspot.com]
The Global Futurist - [http://TheGlobalFuturist.blogspot.com]

Braintenance Posters 1 And 2:

BRAINTENANCE at http://Braintenance.blogspot.com

Bank Of America - Dark Secrets?

2011-10-04T18:29:00.003-04:00

The Bank Of America has been experiencing computer problems for several days now, and has been offering no explanations. As a responsible, powerful, wealthy bailout-recipient and well-regulated fiduciary with no lack of access to computer resources and experts at its disposal, this seems suspicious. Perhaps it is deliberate. Perhaps they are "amending" some of their internal records and deleting others. Perhaps they have a rogue FOREX Trader whose bad bet they are trying to cover before the news hits the media. Is Perhaps, they have been hacked into by an outsider and are either being laughed about or extorted.

They've been aggressively raising fees (non-interest service income) on virtually all of their standard consumer and business services. I hope that they are using that additional income wisely.

There's another possibility -- maybe the FDIC is working (in conjunction with the genius star chamber staff of financial engineering economists and other experts at the Fed and The Treasury Department) behind the scenes -- they do their work in stealth , by night -- at brokering a merger between B of A and some other institution which routinely abuses the public trust as well, so we can have an exciting new merger [a tactic used to postpone the declaration of insolvency] to read about in the papers, or on the internet.

In the meantime, I'm saving my quarters in a jar, where I know that they'll be safe. If our currency becomes fully devalued, perhaps I can sell my collection for its intrinsic metal value. This might be a clever strategy. Save your glass jars. Re-use and recycle. Think...er, ah...green. That's it!

Here's an excerpt from an AP article which I noticed earlier:

NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America's consumer online banking service was slow for a fifth day Tuesday, and the bank still wasn't saying what the problem was.

The  bank said many times starting Friday that it had resolved the problem,  but visitors to its home page still saw an error message for much of  Tuesday saying the site was "running slowly" and customers might  experience delays or have difficulty accessing parts of it.

The  message encouraged customers to try again at "a non-peak time" or visit  an ATM or one of nearly 6,000 branches to get into their accounts.

Bank of America Corp., based in Charlotte, N.C., is the largest U.S. bank by deposits and has 29 million online customers.

####
If you'd like to read the whole article [I'm stifling a yawn], you may click on this link:
http://news.yahoo.com/bank-america-website-still-having-problems-154118877.html

I have to go shopping and I need some cash. I hope that their ATMs are working.

Douglas E Castle [http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com]

Man Versus Machine.

2011-10-03T20:47:00.000-04:00

It is crucial that I write for my readers, and that I not pander to the raining (perhaps "reigning" might be more appropriate) code of the search engine algorithms. I'm a bit technophobic - I'll admit it. But I'm working on developing my uplink to the Collective Consciousness and my telekinetic powers. As I figure it, this will free me of the need for computers, robotics, operating heavy machinery, hailing cabs and trying to get some imbecilic waiter's attention when I'd like to settle the check. Only kidding... Mostly.

Incidentally, and totally off topic, the footer graphics on this post are in very poor taste, and it is my sincere intention to be certain that they stay that way. People have expectations for me, and I feel obligated to live up to them.

Lingovating (if I may) for just a moment, I fancy myself to be a "Selective Conformist." This descriptor is not an oxymoron by any stretch. It simply means that I choose the persons whose standards I feel aligned with, and strive to meet or exceed those standards.

As always, you will find the most significant parts of this article in the "p.s." and the "p.p.s." If you've read me often enough, you've already gone there first.

Douglas E Castle [http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com]

p.s. If you have just a moment, I would like very much for you to read my most recent post of earlier today, while it is still fresh and steaming, on the little known but soon-to-be-famous http://BloggingTipsTricksAndTools.blogspot.com. Apologies in advance for the construction on the site. Don't be deceived by the title of the blog -- the article is right on point with what was stated in the opening paragraph of this great work of short-order literature. Thank you so much for giving the blog a look. -DC

p.p.s. Man versus machine? Not really. If we do things judiciously, Humankind may use machines to expand its knowledge, its ideological reach, and its ability to accelerate the evolution (or graduation, if you like that better) to its greatest break-through self-actualization. We can build partners in these machines - or make partners of them.

The concern here is that we don't let our Human abilities atrophy because of our overdependence upon them as enabling agents. The development and deployment of extra-cranial intelligence tools ("thinking machines") are part of Humankind's desire to create, to extend, to improve and to immortalize itself. I believe that our motivation is very positive. More importantly, I believe that the potential, as we approach a kind of Singularity, is for something wonderful to happen.

If computers are, metaphorically, children of our longing to create, can we not teach them? And can they not eventually grow to teach us?

Updated List Of Most Popular Blogs - 09.22.2011

2011-09-30T11:08:00.000-04:00

This article is an amended re-post. Previously, it was a combination of friendly self-promotion, news and some compost; that last ingredient is what is spontaneously generated when you try to do things in too much haste. This time, I have included hyperlinks embedded in each of the blue blog buttons (try saying that three times fast), which are hosted courtesy of CoolText, a wonderful graphics and design tool.

If you think that you've seen this post before, you actually haven't -- as they used to say on every package in every supermarket when I was a mere lad, this article is "NEW and IMPROVED!"

I've even added a picture to this article. The subject matter of the picture is irrelevant, but that doesn't make it any less entertaining - and entertainment, like education, is always welcome.

Please visit some of my most popular blogs, and feel free to comment on articles, to link to any of them (and I will reciprocate your backlink with an inbound link to your site), or to re-publish any of the content. You can re-publish without permission, provided that you republish any articles in their entirety, with all images and hyperlinks left fully intact and 'live,' and with attribution given to the author (that's me).

At the end of this post, you'll find a listing of links to related articles that involve various aspects of these search terms, categories, tags, keywords, labels and topics for your reference and use.

As always, I truly appreciate your reading me.

Thank you so much.

Douglas E Castle

Related articles

Word And Tag Cloud-Making Tools: Enhance Your Site And Posts (freetoolsforwebmastersandbloggers.wordpress.com)
How to Analyze Your Link Profile with cognitiveSEO Tools (seo2.0.onreact.com)
Backlink PR: Learn How Gurus Handle Their SEO Link Building Packages Efforts (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
Introduction to Quality Link-building (plus Webinar) (webdesignfromscratch.com)
High ranking web-site via Link-building Organization (bigsexymedia.com)
How to Grow Inbound Links With Guest Blogging Opportunities [@InboundNow #34] (hubspot.com)
3 SEO Lessons From Dreamforce (hubspot.com)
Understanding Your Backlink Profile (searchenginejournal.com)
What is a backlink? (seofreelancingsahmedabad.wordpress.com)
Cheap Link Building Services: Traffic And Ranking Is Not Anymore A Problem (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
Improve Your SEO Success with The Basics (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
Backlink Submitter: Implement Great These Suggestions To Enhance Traffic (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
What Time To And What Time Not To Make Use Of 3 Way Link Exchange (ronmedlin.com)
Backlinks Building: Top Secret Resources To Get More Traffic (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
Begging: Marketing Simplified! (madmarketingtactics.blogspot.com)
Improve Search Rankings with Effective Link Building (hubspot.com)
PR8 Backlink: Great Traffic Assets And Suggestions For You (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
Massive Backlinks: Learn How To Increase Your Site Visitors In Much less Time (preciseinternetmarketing.com)

Tags, Labels, Search Terms, Categories, Keywords and Topics: attribution, Backlink, gurus, Hyperlink, PR Ranking, promotion, expanding readership, social media, reciprocity, inbound links, guest blogging, commenting on posts, original content, re-publishing, link profile, Methods of website linking, quality links, Search engine optimization, increasing traffic, hub-building, blogging resources, PageRank, Douglas E. Castle, Alexa, Google Analytics, CoolText, HubSpot, RSS feeds, communication, experts, messaging, irrelevant pictures, entertainment, education, Braintenance, Lingovations, Slingovations, Technullities, self-growth, business planning, project management, shameless self-promotion, LinkedIn, Zemanta, Link Within, Widgetbox and others...

Question: Is time merely an illusion? If that's true, then I can stay up as late as I want! - DC

The Order Of The Illiterati

2011-09-29T16:52:00.000-04:00

Image via WikipediaThe ORDER OF THE ILLITERATI (usually referred to in its more Twitter-friendly abbreviated form, The Order Of Illiterati) is rapidly taking over the hearts and minds* (*since nature abhors a vacuum, as did my late Augusta, but in a different context) of the world's citizenry.

Anti-intellectualism, fueled by mass media, imbecilic politicians, and 140-character status updating formats, is very dangerous indeed. It allows people to be enslaved, led about, and herded like cattle.

It stunts questioning, learning, innovation, collaboration, expression and some of the greatest attributes of our species. It keeps us from growing and evolving as individuals and as a society. While Dan Brown hasn't written a book about this particular secret society yet, its tentacles are all around us.

Growing anti-intellectualism and the excessive encouragement of conformity have always been portentious of dangerous times to come throughout the course of Human history. The status quo of a society does not positively change if questioning and original thought are discouraged or punished...what invariably emerges is some witches' brew of fascism, somnambulism, mass hypnosis, mob-thinking, paranoia, and a system of the ignorant (but tranquilized) enslaved and their masters.

Maybe we should start offering more positive reinforcement and incentives to brave, original thought. Maybe we should shine a brighter light on intelligence and innovative ability.

What do you think? - Douglas E Castle
-------------------------------------------------

Subject: A Letter To Sam Alexander In Response To A Comment Which He Made On An Article Which I Posted In The Global Futurist.

Note: You can find Sam's blog, which I found to be excellent, at http://www.xamuel.com/

Dear Sam:

There is absolutely no offense taken, and I sincerely welcome all constructive commentary, criticisms and suggestions regarding any of my articles. Really, 'Bro. I doubled back to your blog and found it quite interesting. I will likely be adding it as a link to both http://TheGlobalFuturist.blogspot.com and to the newly-being-reformatted http://Braintenance.blogspot.com blog (one of my personal favorites, but then again....my sample is not indicative of the population as a whole -- friends have told me that I am a "few standard deviations from the mean.").

You are truly a wellspring of native thought about a number of fascinating observations and concepts. We need more minds like yours in a society which is increasingly under the thrall of the Order Of The Illiterati . This last secret society is, in fact, so secret that its members are generally not even aware that they've been recruited. While the Order Of The Illiterati (not to be confused with the Order Of The Illuminati ) is a Lingovation which I have coined, it definitely exists, despite that (Descartes notwithstanding) it is apparently not self-aware. You may take issue with this curious paradox -- but they wouldn't. Why, I'd wager that if they cared enough, they'd have to go to dictionary.com to look up the term paradox.

My compliments to you.

Yours Faithfully, And In The Spirit Of Friendship,

Douglas

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Xamuel
To: douglas.castle@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 2:50 PM
Subject: [THE GLOBAL FUTURIST - Douglas E Castle] New comment on Prediction: There's No Single Method..

Xamuel has left a new comment on your post "Prediction: There's No Single Method.":

Hope my comment didn't upset you this much. (You mad bro?) I just recently added a bunch of futurism blogs to my reader because I wanted to get more in touch with futurism-- suppose I should have lurked more before posting, gotten a better sense for this blog.

Posted by Xamuel to THE GLOBAL FUTURIST - Douglas E Castle at September 28, 2011 9:46 PM

Credibility Killers - Conflicts Of Interest

2011-09-28T16:12:00.000-04:00

I just finishing publishing an article on InfoSphere Business Alerts, and discussed establishing credibility for companies, brands, products and services by the prudent use of the blogosphere and social media. The idea is to be honest, to be real, to develop and expose your Human personality (with its quirks and foibles -- and perhaps a peccadillo or two) ... to avoid non-transparency, propaganda and credibility-killing conflicts of interest.

As soon as I hit the "Publish" button (I publish on Blogger, which is owned by Google), the following popped up on my screen, no doubt a product of Google's user analytics (data accumulation and personalization collected and utilized by Google for the purposes of either marketing more things to you ("personalizing your experience" - ahem), or for re-sale to parties unknown:

BlogWorld Expo 2011
Create killer content. Grow traffic. Monetize your blog. Learn from experts at BlogWorld, the world's largest blogging conference!

Nov. 3–5 2011, Los Angeles CA.
Enter BLOGGER20 at checkout.

----------------

While this was just a harmless little popup, it evidences something far more troubling: Is Google an objective search engine and a source of information, or is Google a voyeur, filtering and customizing its data feed to each of us in order to sell things? The fact that I am asking this question means that Blogger, as a publishing platform, and Google, as an information source and communications media sponsor, are already showing the signs of having been compromised. What do you do to restore lost credibility -- especially after vigorously denying the allegations of conflicts of interest to begin with?

It sometimes seems as if there really is someone on the opposite side of my computer screen who is logging my every single move and adding more information to a growing dossier on Douglas E Castle.

Then again, perhaps it's just that I need more medication...

Douglas E Castle Leaves TNNWC - 09.27.2011

2011-09-27T15:40:00.001-04:00

Public News Announcement
Douglas E Castle Leaves TNNWC to Pursue Other Interests
27th September, 2011 - Westchester, New York
---------------

Dear Friends, Readers And Colleagues:

This is one of the most difficult letters that I have had to write. While I am quite enthused about the challenges and opportunities which lie ahead, I am more than the slightest bit forlorn about what I am forced to leave behind.

Effective one week ago (29th September) I officially left my assignment with TNNWC Group, LLC and formally resigned from my duties as the Company's Acting Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

After much consideration, I have decided to pursue my own interests and passions in writing, speaking and strategic planning, as well as a number of my long-neglected hobbies and research in a number of areas. The prospect of working on my own is a daunting one, and I am grateful for the friendships and camaraderie which developed during my time invested with TNNWC, and continue to remain a source of inspiration and support.

This is both a timely and an amicable parting. I will continue to publish prolifically, and the rights to re-publication and re-printing of any of my syndicated blogs, RSS feeds and other content shall continue to be available, without restriction to TNNWC and Adam J. Kovitz, who remains a dear friend and shall be holding the reins at TNNWC.

I intend to remain actively engaged in my areas of business expertise domestically and internationally, and will be doing so on a very selective basis.

To those of you whose emails, networking invitations and requests to me have gone unanswered, please accept my profound apologies. I fully intend to get caught up with all of my delinquent correspondence during the next two weeks. Your patience with me is deeply appreciated. As a number of you might have surmised, things have been beyond hectic.

None of this constitutes any type of retirement; rather, it constitutes a renewed pledge to my own personal and professional growth, and to the next stage in the evolution of my life.

I wish each and all of my former associates at TNNWC and its affiliated companies the best of health, happiness and fulfillment in all of their endeavors. I am appreciative of the opportunity to be of service, and I am thankful for all that you have taught me.

With Great Respect,

Douglas E Castle

http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com
http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/douglascastle

####

Updated List: My Most Popular Blogs - Douglas E. Castle - [Re-Post]

2011-09-22T15:30:00.013-04:00

Related articles

Word And Tag Cloud-Making Tools: Enhance Your Site And Posts (freetoolsforwebmastersandbloggers.wordpress.com)
How to Analyze Your Link Profile with cognitiveSEO Tools (seo2.0.onreact.com)
Backlink PR: Learn How Gurus Handle Their SEO Link Building Packages Efforts (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
Introduction to Quality Link-building (plus Webinar) (webdesignfromscratch.com)
High ranking web-site via Link-building Organization (bigsexymedia.com)
How to Grow Inbound Links With Guest Blogging Opportunities [@InboundNow #34] (hubspot.com)
3 SEO Lessons From Dreamforce (hubspot.com)
Understanding Your Backlink Profile (searchenginejournal.com)
What is a backlink? (seofreelancingsahmedabad.wordpress.com)
Cheap Link Building Services: Traffic And Ranking Is Not Anymore A Problem (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
Improve Your SEO Success with The Basics (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
Backlink Submitter: Implement Great These Suggestions To Enhance Traffic (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
What Time To And What Time Not To Make Use Of 3 Way Link Exchange (ronmedlin.com)
Backlinks Building: Top Secret Resources To Get More Traffic (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
Begging: Marketing Simplified! (madmarketingtactics.blogspot.com)
Improve Search Rankings with Effective Link Building (hubspot.com)
PR8 Backlink: Great Traffic Assets And Suggestions For You (preciseinternetmarketing.com)
Massive Backlinks: Learn How To Increase Your Site Visitors In Much less Time (preciseinternetmarketing.com)

Question: Is time merely an illusion? If that's true, then I can stay up as late as I want! - DC

Slingovations Are Not Lingovations

2011-09-16T13:42:00.000-04:00

When I coined the term Lingovations (you must look this latter term up in Google), I had intended something very specific. It involved an artful melding of words to create a new word which better described something (i.e., an object, a situation, a feeling, etc.) than any other word already acknowledged and in common use in the English Language. More than a neologism, a Lingovation has a certain non-pop-culture zing , and is the product of much cerebration [my Asian friends will forgive this last word choice, as I had intended to describe "much thought," and not a comical mispronunciation of something which you might use to describe a "big party."]

No... A Slingovation is quite simply a made up word, or grouping of words (as might be used to describe a Law of Physics, a medical condition, a ceremony, a protocol, or just about anything -- my preference is to invent medical conditions, much like some of my distant acquaintances in the legal "class-action lawsuit business" are wont to do) which is used to mystify, qualify* or intimidate our audience. I like to use a Slingovation every so often, with great conviction to see if people will nod their heads in vigorous agreement, as if they knew what I was talking about.

Sometimes, if a Slingovation sounds reminiscent of a more familiar word or grouping of words, it can be doubly funny. These are like malaprops, but are premeditated.

Just last week I mentioned to a scholarly-looking fellow at a local Dunkin' Donuts -- try their iced coffee to truly understand what is meant by "America runs on Dunkin'!" -- that the economy was suffering due to "sociological deprofriation." He said, "Damn right." He was not a law enforcement officer, by the way. I believe that he was probably a state legislator.

Douglas E Castle

p.s. A Note follows.

Note: A brief list of a few cute Slingovations might include: asbestosis, deniable plausibility, limpococcus, Glaubner's Syndrome, Hooked On Colonics, Lakanookie Pandemic, Brownsteppers, pestophilia, chremises, prawnbrokerage (hmm...)...

Learning And Growth Through Pain.

2011-09-15T12:14:00.001-04:00

We Humans learn best through pain and we are motivated more by fear (of injury, loss, humiliation, discomfort, pain, and so forth) than by the opportunity for gain. We educate ourselves best through our own painful experiences and seek to avoid them after dealing with the consequences. Sadly, we do not learn as well, or as memorably, through pleasure. Similarly, we acquire knowledge through information offered us by others (our teachers, trainers, mentors, parents, professionals in various disciplines, and through media), but it is not fully anchored and actionable, and does not become "real" to us until we've experienced it ourselves. Acquiring knowledge is relatively easy, but truly learning generally requires some basic stimulus-response experience. Inefficient, but true.

Knowledge is an accessible accumulation of information stored in our memory. Intelligence is evidenced by our ability to apply (by association, analogy, extrapolation and imagination) that knowledge in solving problems and performing tasks. But I suspect that real Learning is achieved through the experience of living, acquiring and applying knowledge. To truly learn, and to grow, we do so by overcoming obstacles, many of which involve pain.

I would like to share two quotes with you about the Human Learning Experience. The first one was spoken on an episode of CSI:NY, which I watched last evening [is that Gary Sinise's real hair?], and the second is one from a brief poem which I wrote many years ago. Enjoy them:

"Pain is the payment for each precious thing."

... and, in a self-deprecating moment where I was berating myself for my failure to learn by observing and listening to the wisdom of others and instead, insisting upon going into a difficult situation to "see for myself..." The results were disastrous, but they strengthened me and taught me much. By analogy, I no longer have to run in front of a moving bus to understand that the experience can do me grave damage. I always think twice before I say, "Let me try this for myself," if I've been forewarned by a person ins whose expertise, integrity and motives I trust. Amen.

"I have learned at great expense,
what others know by common sense." - Douglas E Castle

The seemingly trite notion of "no pain, no gain," is, lamentably true. We Humans just don't truly learn anything unless we've experienced it directly, in full sensorial detail, personally. That gives the learning an internal tattoo. Scar tissue is evidence of first-hand experience.

Douglas E Castle

http://SendingSignals.blogspot.com

http://Links4LifeAlerts.com

http://Braintenance.blogspot.com

http://TakingCommand.blogspot.com

DOUGLAS E CASTLE - The Daily Burst Of Brilliance™

Good Versus Evil: Human Skepticism

Related articles

The Unexpected Significance Of Small Things

Related articles

Spam As Big-Time Entertainment!

Quora: Interactive Promotion And Feedback

Related articles

Being A Rich Dad. Really

Related articles

Homelessness - Elin Nordegren Style.

Tiger's ex destroys $12 million mansion

Related articles

Famous Quotations You've Never Heard

Related articles, some genetically, and others by marriage. By the way, my youngest "daughter" insists that I use "quotation marks" "excessively," and that I should simply "drop" this "juvenile habit."

Verizon Cancels "Convenience Fee" - Consumer Power

Related articles

Verizon's 'Convenience Fee': Customers = Victims.

Verizon to charge customers for paying bills

Related articles

Mobile Device Breakthrough! - SUMSING

The SubPixular Engine Room - LINGOVATION

Related articles

Douglas E. Castle| Reputation Management. So?

BlogCatalog | Douglas E. Castle's Law Of Gratitude

Unrelated articles from various of my blogs, which may or may not be of interest, but all of which are obnoxiously self-serving and as promotional as they may be incidentally informative [that's honesty for you]:

Closed Minds And Chronic Educators - Same Coin, Opposite Sides.

Pragmatism Can Destroy Your Potential

Social Media/ Branding Innovation: FUXXNET?

Related and unrelated (but hysterical, nonetheless) articles for your education, entertainment and inspiration:

Stupid, Useless Expressions And Philosophies: Because I Said So.

Related articles

"I'm Struggling Too Hard To Survive To Get Rich." - The USA, Revealed.

Related articles

Alert: An Increasingly Armed Citizenry

Poll: Gun ownership at 20-year high

Related articles

WikiLeaks Starved By Its Detractors. Free Speech Is Expensive!

WikiLeaks Says It Could Close

Related articles

Win Friends And Innoculate People! - Give Something (Anything) Away For Free.

Related Articles, as well as some unrelated articles with interesting-sounding titles - I've even read a few of these!

The Transformative Experience - Freeing Prisoners Of Our Limited Perceptions

Related articles

Braintenance Posters 1 And 2:

BRAINTENANCE at http://Braintenance.blogspot.com

Bank Of America - Dark Secrets?

Related articles

Man Versus Machine.

Related articles

Updated List Of Most Popular Blogs - 09.22.2011

The Order Of The Illiterati

Related articles

Credibility Killers - Conflicts Of Interest

Related articles

Douglas E Castle Leaves TNNWC - 09.27.2011

Updated List: My Most Popular Blogs - Douglas E. Castle - [Re-Post]

Slingovations Are Not Lingovations

Related articles

Learning And Growth Through Pain.

Related articles