New BLOG Direction

I have decided to take this BLOG page in a different direction. We will be discussing all things business related. Specifically we will concentrate on business evaluations and tools used to improve customer relations. 





   “Two tired eyes are sleeping, two willing hands are still. For one who suffered far too much is resting in God's will. You never said goodbye to us, perhaps its just as well, we never could have said goodbye to one we loved so well.”

― Unknown 

BLOG Reactivated

I apologize that my Blog has been inactive for some time. I will be posting to my BLOG soon and often

Quote

  “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

― Nelson Mandela

Tips for Improving Your Match Play Scores

Title: 3 Tips for Improving Your Match Play Scores

 

 

The game of golf essentially has two forms of play. One aspect of the game called stroke play has a golfer playing against the course being played and possibly a large group of golfers. The other aspect is match play which pits one golfer against an opponent. The opponent is right in front of you and in most cases changes the way a golfer may approach the game.  The tactics and strategy in match play influence a golfers approach on how he is going to attack the course depending on the flow of the match. . The best advice you are going to get when playing a match is to play your game. There are going to be a myriad of influences that may put pressure on you to stray from your game but again I stress if you stay on your game a majority of the time you will prevail. The reason you will prevail is because in match play it has been shown that most golfers will play above their handicap due to influences of the match.

The following three tips are going to help maintain and improve your match play scores. These tips are designed to keep you on your game and not let the ebb and flow of a match influence your approach decision process. These three tips will help you maintain and your game throughout the match and improve your match play score overall.

Tip 1 – Manage the Course – Think your way through the course and plan your shots. Avoid the tendency to overthink or try to do too much with a shot. If you are playing your home course you already know where the devil resides and if playing an unfamiliar course you have to plan your shots based on the layout of the hole. Ask yourself what is your best option based on your abilities to keep the ball in play and make the shot. The key point here is to keep the pressure on your opponent by keeping the ball in play. Play your game, stay focused. Visualize your shots before you hit them to help keep your concentration and focus. Make sure you pay attention to your opponent on the green is he a good or poor putter. This may give you an advantage in deciding later in the match whether to concede a putt or have your opponent make a six incher. The last thing you need to do is after nine holes take a couple of minutes to assess your situation and make the necessary adjustments if necessary. If your ahead do not become complacent stay focused.

Tip 2 – Know the Rules – The biggest mistake a golfer can make in match play is give away a hole because you did not know the rules or follow the rules. Violation of a rule in match play, in a majority of cases, will cost you the hole and give your opponent the advantage. Check your ball before making a shot from anywhere on the course. You would be amazed how many times golfers hit the wrong ball. Make sure you know your options for an OB shot. The lateral water hazard OB shot has five options for dropping the ball back in bounds make sure you know and assess the situation to make the best possible drop. When should you or can you concede a putt? Knowing the rules can not only save you strokes but could possibly save your match.

Tip 3 – Don’t Speed the Game Up – Nerves and stress make you want to hurry your shot and force a poor shot. Make sure you take a couple of breathes before you set up for your shot to help subdue these nerves. Make sure you stay in your shot routine throughout the match. Shaking your arms and head can help keep you calm. Be prepared for your match and have a good mental approach and this will help you stay within your game.

These tips can help you improve your match play scores and allow you to play your game. If you can execute these tips you will find that your matches will be under control and give you the best possible chance at being successful and reduce your score in match play.

Unemployment Benefits Updated

The Senate failed to pass legislation to extend unemployment benefits for over 1.4 million Americans. The Legislators have decided that bickering over the bill and holding to party lines is more important then resolving this issue. The Congress had over a year to resolve the issues with this piece of legislation. They can't even agree to extend the benefits for three months while they try to reach a resolution to this problem. These actions show a total disregard for the Americans that are without any kind of resources to support themselves or their families. The issues that are being discussed have validity and need to be resolved, but not at the expense of these unfortunate people. The time to act is now but the indicators show that this may not be the case.    

Unemployment Follow Up

The Senate voted on the measure to extend unemployment benefits to 1.3 million Americans. The measure did not pass. The plight of the people affected is starting to surface and as expected the stories are sad and heartbreaking. These Representatives who voted not to extend these benefits should have to experience the heartbreak and despair of the people who have their lifeline terminated because of political derision. We as Americans should be outraged that our representatives are allowed to treat our friends and neighbors with total disdain.

         “I've learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.”

― Tom Landry 

Haus of Weber- Unemployment Benefits Update

The Senate voted to put forth a measure to extend unemployment benefits. It passed by the narrowest of margins, the vote was 60 – 37. The bill now needs to be voted on again by the Senate and if successful goes to the House for ratification. This is not going to be an easy task and may not be ratified soon because of strong opposition from some Senators and Congressman in the House. The main points of contention are:

·        The legislation be paid for in advance by finding savings elsewhere in the budget. They don’t want the savings to come from the farm bill, which by  the way hasn’t reached final agreement or implementation.

·         Possibly reducing benefits

·        Requiring a strict end date to these benefits

·        That after one year of unemployment job training participation be a requirement.

 

These ideas and requests are not unreasonable and deserve to be given just consideration but right now 1.3 million Americans are without benefits and could be destitute and homeless very soon. There are approximately 600,000 children that are being affected by Congress not acting on this legislation. The time has come to bail our own friends and neighbors out, just like we did the big companies a few years ago. These unemployment benefits are essential to the survival of many of these people. Although I agree with the idea of having to pay for something before legislating it into law and some of the other contentions being raised I do not agree that you wait until the last hour to try and fix the problems with unemployment benefits. There are too many people hurting right now. It is time for Congress to act and stop politicking and get this done for the American people. They can extend the benefits for a fixed period of time and then work on the issues that need to be addressed and inform the people well in advance what the limitations and expectations are so they can reasonably adjust to any changes. The time to act is now.

         “Let our New Year's resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word.”

― Goran Persson

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Immigration Reform

Title: Immigration Reform – Do we have the answer?

 

 

The immigration reform issue has been with us for some time now and we can’t seem to resolve this issue. It appears there may be a resolution passed by the Senate and waiting on the House of Representatives to adopt or reject. The resolution S 744 is pending debate and action in the House as soon as Congress returns to session. This is a bipartisan bill that has been designed to address the pertinent issues of immigration reform and provide something for everybody in its design. Immigration reform is a term used in political discussion regarding changes to current immigration policy of a country. Reform being the keyword which by definition means to change into an improved form or condition, by removing faults and abuses. There are hundreds of issues involved in this debate some of which are:

·        There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

·        Border security poses a potential risk to officers patrolling those borders.

·        Immigrants take American jobs

·        Work visas are not strictly enforced

·        Fixing the issue will only invite an increase in illegals by 10 – 15% each year.

·        The system is currently dysfunctional in all respects.

·        Workers are exploited and discriminated against in the workplace because they have no options.

·        Since 2009 there have been 2 million aliens deported, disrupting families and separating children from parents.

·        Difficulty for agricultural workers to enter for seasonal work.

·        There have been 2 bills proposed one in 2005 and one in 2006 that never got out of committee.

·        Pathway to citizenship flawed.

·        Adverse effects on the economy

 

These are just some of the problems that have been apparent for some time and need to be addressed and reformed. This bill addresses the following issues:

1.      Fix border enforcement

2.      Interior enforcement – fix visa overstays

3.      Prevent people from working without work permits

4.      Creating a committee to regulate visas depending on changing economic times

5.      Amnesty program to legalize undocumented immigrants. Pathway to citizenship

6.      Programs to help immigrants adapt to life in the U.S.

 

The bill S744 was passed on January 28^th, 2013 in the Senate. This bill was created by a bi-partisan group of Senators. These Senators were Democrats Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Bob Menendez and Michael Bennett. The Republican Senators were John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and Jeff Flake.   The legislation is a product of bipartisan cooperation among lawmakers, business groups, labor unions, agricultural interests, and immigration advocates, who negotiated many compromises resulting in this structure for reform. This is a 1300 page bill and addresses the issues previously outlined and for the first time in a while has the ability to resolve immigration reform issues.

The issue of immigration reform needs to be resolved and this seems like the best chance we have at getting a bi-partisan bill that actually can make a difference in people’s lives and resolve the issues. The Congress has to do the job they have been elected to do and make people’s lives better and truly enact the real meaning of reform.

 

Related Sites:

www.newsmax.com

www.huffingtonpost.com

Wikipedia

  “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Happy New Year

                                                               Happy New Year

Haus of Weber – Current Events – NSA Information Gathering

Haus of Weber – Current Events – NSA Information Gathering

Is your privacy being invaded?

This is a topic of discussion that has many conflicting aspects because it’s such a complicated and ironic subject. I started to research this subject and decided to first understand the meaning of privacy. When I researched the meaning of privacy I found a myriad of information and began to realize that I could write an article on the meaning of privacy alone. This was not the purpose of this article but let’s just say privacy is a complicated issue.  The Constitution of the United States does not use the word privacy but alludes to it in some of the Amendments such as the 1^st and 4^th amendments.  

The NSA is gathering vast amounts of information especially phone data in order to safeguard the American people against foreign enemies. This poses many questions as to the legitimacy and need to gather this information and its infringement on an individual’s right to privacy.  These are legitimate questions and concerns but are kind of ironic in certain respects.

We started to lose some of our privacy when we went into the Internet age and put our information out there. You could even say that the use of credit cards began the private information gathering age. It became apparent after a period of time that these companies, that were gathering our information, found many beneficial ways to use that information by developing files to track our buying patterns and also selling some of that information to other business concerns for their use. The internet and technology have grown substantially since then and with every passing year more and more of our private information is gathered and used decreasing our expectation of privacy and we do this voluntarily, in most cases. The following examples are just some of the ways our privacy is being compromised:

·        Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, Spotify are just some of the companies where you provide your private information for communication on a site with other individuals and these companies are sharing your information with each other and you provide pictures, communications, videos, private thoughts and other personal information for people to see.

·        Credit cards track your buying habits.

·        Cameras on street corners can track your movements

·        We wear medical devices that can locate our whereabouts.

·        We use GPS devices that can pinpoint your location while you try to get to your destination.

·         Cell phones with locating software and camera options that can take pictures and video of private moments.

·        Finger prints stored to provide access to your devices

·        Google Earth that can zoom in on your home.

·        Drones

·        Satellites

·        Taxation – you provide information on your salary and earnings.

According to Amitai Etzioni

The government is no longer the only or even principle threat to people’s privacy. Corporate data miners or privacy merchants stand to profit by selling massive dossiers of personal information, including purchasing decisions and internet traffic to the highest bidder. This information is also available to the government.

The other thing I think we should be more concerned about then the NSA and companies infringing our privacy is hackers who steal our information for illicit and illegal purposes. This poses more of a threat to our privacy then any aforementioned issues.

The bottom line then becomes how is the NSA using this information and how do we control it. There is a report that was submitted to President Obama that outlines the uses and possible abuses of this information gathering and provides viable solutions to control this delicate situation. You can go to Huffington Post and look up Geoffrey R. Stone’s blog and read how this report proposes to resolve this issue. It’s a good read.

What’s your opinion? We would enjoy your feedback.    CLICK HERE

Sites of interest:

Reuters

Wikipedia

thewire.com

huffingtonpost.com

 Updates from previous blogs;

The emergency unemployment compensation benefits have not been extended and many people who have collected benefits for over 26 weeks are no longer collecting benefits.  

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Personal Finance-Plan, Reduce, Maintain

Title Personal Finance – Plan, Reduce, Maintain

 

 

Personal finance should be a plan that outlines your strategy for making, spending and investing your monies. Investing will be a variable depending on your monetary situation. Paying your expenses as they arise and not having a personal finance plan most likely will leave you short of money before your next paycheck. A plan that is tracked and reviewed on a regular basis will help you avoid and protect against financial hardships. It is a good idea to form long term goals for your finances once you have established and implemented your initial plan.

Personal Finance Plan Tip 1 (Plan) – It is a good idea to get a notebook and track your income, bills and living expenses daily. The first item you will enter at the top of the page is your total income for the week, bi-weekly or monthly depending on how you earn your income. You will then list your expenses underneath your income subtracting out those items from your total income. List your income and expenses by date.  This will give you an idea of how much money you spend as opposed to the monies you take in for a period of time. If you find that your expenses exceed your income it will help you decide more systematically which expenses can be reduced or eliminated. Review your expenses on a regular basis to evaluate which ones may be reduced or eliminated. Make sure you enter any bills paid as they are paid. This is key to improving your personal finances.

Personal Finance Tip 2 (Reduce) – Review your plan periodically and you will find that you may be able to reduce expenses by eliminating non- essential costs. You may also reduce your costs by using coupons when you do your food shopping as well as other items of needed. You may want to look for cheaper plans for your cell phone, cable services and internet services to assist in reducing costs. Shopping around for gas stations that sell gas cheaper may be something to help reduce costs. When purchasing any item you should always ask yourself “ do I really need that?” If it’s not essential you may want to eliminate that expense. You may also consider eliminating eating out often, massages and fitness programs on a temporary basis to help improve your personal finances. Review your debt owed and number the least of the debt to the highest of your debt sequentially. Set up a plan to pay off the lowest debt first by paying more towards that debt while pay the minimums amounts on the others. This will help improve your personal finances steadily overtime.

Personal Finance Plan Tip 3 (Maintain)- Review your plan on a regular basis and make sure to maintain your cost saving items. This will eventually improve your personal finances. Eventually you will have more to spend on the luxuries you eliminated and will enjoy a better financial situation.

You may want to check these sites out:

www.intacct.com –free accounting software guide and know your options

www.ehow.com –personal finances

www.personalcapital.com –complete money management for the next generation investors.

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My Opening Blog

 

This is my opening blog for this site. I look forward to writing, discussing and sharing information on my blog. My intention is to discuss current events, money management, trivia and little known facts. I will also include sites to obtain additional information about the current events and money management. I hope to make this an informative and fun blog to follow. That said let’s get to it.....

Current Events

Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits are about to expire on December 28th. The discussion going on now is whether to continue benefits and if so how do we pay for it. The definition of unemployment is when people are without work and are actively seeking work. The estimates of people eligible for these benefits vary depending on the source of the information but government organizations (Labor and Commerce) place it at 1.3 million people and by the end of the year sources have it as high as 4.9 million if these benefits are not extended.  These benefits are only for people who have collected more than 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. This Emergency Unemployment Compensation act was passed by congress in 2008 and was implemented due to hard times. It extended benefits for up to 73 weeks and if extended in 2014 the estimated cost would be $25.2 billion.  

There are many theories about unemployment and how to manage the issues. The Marxian theory and the Keynesian theory seem to be the most followed. There are also other factors that affect unemployment. Cyclical, frictional, structural and classical factors provide a reasonable explanation as to how and why unemployment occurs.

There is a group in congress saying they will support the extension of unemployment benefits if we can find a way to pay for it. The other side is saying the savings from the passage of the farm bill could be put towards paying for those benefits. According to the CBO the extension of benefits would boost the economy by 0.3% and create 300,000 jobs.  The fear for most economists is that if benefits stop, those that have been looking for work for over 26 weeks will stop looking. Studies have found that companies are reluctant to hire people that have been unemployed for over 26 weeks. This was set up to be an emergency program for bad times, are bad times over is another argument. Economists are proposing a myriad of ideas to help end unemployment.  This does not resolve the problem in time.

The one factor that is not being taken in to account in all this is the family (people) factor. If we don’t continue these benefits what are families to do?  What do you think……….

To find more in depth information about this subject visit these sites:

www.usnews.com

www.washingtonpost.com

www.miamiherald.com

www.econproph.com

 

 

Money Management

A good way to decrease your debt faster is to list all your debt to be paid. Number your debt sequentially from lowest owed to highest owed. Then pay more towards the least of these debts while paying minimums on the others. Once you pay off the first debt you can put those monies toward the next debt in line. You will find that you will eradicate your debt faster.

 

Trivia

Did you know English people drink more tea than any other country.

 

  “Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.”

― Winston Churchill

 

Please visit our website at www.hausof weber.com

We seek your feedback on all phases of this blog…..click here

 

Please visit our website at www.hausof weber.com

We seek your feedback on all phases of this blog…..click here