I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but it seems like every week or two we read about another Powerseller going out of business.

If you want your auction business to be a long-term success, then it’s important that you plan now for it’s continued growth.

According to some people the world economy may be moving toward a 1930’s like depression. Others say there is no chance of that happening.

Even without something as catastrophic as a world-wide depression, there are still plenty of little things that can put a damper on your success. But, whatever the situation, it’s a good idea to hedge your bets.

Here’s eight tips for preparing your eBay auction business for whatever the future may hold:

1. Keep your overhead low

One of the biggest advantages that you, as an independent businessperson, have in today’s marketplace is that you can control your own overhead. You don’t need big offices, lots of employees, and a lot of the expensive trappings of traditional businesses.

By always keeping a close eye on your overhead, you will be in position to weather the slow times on eBay and/or slow economic times.

In this business you can’t always control how many sales you make, but you can control your overhead. Keep it low.

2. Invest in tools and training

Successful eBay sellers survive and prosper because they are willing to invest in new skills and tools; and to take the time to learn how to use them to make themselves more productive.

The key to long- term growth is to continually learn new skills and acquire new tools that will save you both time and money.

The more skills you develop, the more flexible you can be with the types of products you sell and how you sell them.

At the same time, it’s important to invest your time and money wisely. Many people that want to build a full time eBay business willingly spend $200 – $300 over a period of time on several $20 - $30 products, but are reluctant to spend $100 or more on one product. While there are certainly some expensive products that are of little or no value, many times the best products are priced at an amount that belies their value.

3. Have multiple income streams

We’ve all heard the old saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Nowhere is it truer than on eBay.

Try to set up at least three or four different niches, each of which produces it’s own stream of income. There are a couple of advantages to this.

First, while the income you make from each niche might not be enough to survive on, the combined income can provide a comfortable living.

Secondly, should one or more of the niches suddenly slow down, you will still have income from the others to tide you over until new income streams can be created.

4. Have a Plan B & Plan C in place

It’s a fact of life that very few lucrative niches on eBay last forever. What will you do if you most productive niche suddenly takes a dive into the dumpster?

And, what if another of your niches takes a dive also?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help prevent you from having to make decisions out of desperation. You should always have a backup plan in place.

You should be continually looking for and developing new niches that you can move into if others become unproductive.

5. Be flexible and be ready to react quickly to changing conditions or developments

Always be on the lookout for the occasional, short term, hot item that pops up on eBay.

Within the last year it was Dragonball Z, Beyblades and Furreal Friends. Would you have seen them coming and been in a position to take advantage of the craze for one of more of them?

Many so called auction experts talk about utilities such as Hotbids.com or Andale’s Research tool to help you determine what’s hot. But the secret isn’t to find out what is hot; it’s determining what is going to be hot.

There are several web sites and tools you can use to do this. One of the best is Lycos 50, a daily report on Lycos.com by Chris Schatz. He talks about the top 50 keyword searches on Lycos and makes predictions.

If you had been a regular reader, you would have read his predictions for how hot each of these items would have been enough ahead of time to position yourself on eBay to take advantage of the craze when it really hit.

The point is that, many times, the real research tools you should be using aren’t in any way connected with eBay. Neither are they being touted by the so called experts.

But they’re there to be used by you if you are imaginative enough to see how what they offer can fit into your business.

Whenever there is change, there is always opportunity. But only if you can see the change coming and are flexible enough and have the skills and tools needed to take advantage of it.

6. Don’t make decisions out of desperation

Never let any situation get so out of control that you have to make hasty decisions out of desperation. In nearly all cases, doing so will only cause more problems.

It is far better to take the long-term view – constantly monitor your business so that you can take any necessary steps and make any necessary changes before the problems become critical.

7. Always keep your priorities straight

Never let your business take over your life. Your priorities should be family, health, morality, and then business. It’s never worth destroying your family, health, or reputation trying to build your business.

If your business gets in the way of family responsibilities, change your business. If your business is destroying your health, change your business. If your business is causing you to make decisions you know are immoral or illegal, change your business.

Always remember what your long-term goals are and don’t sacrifice them for a quick, short surge in business.

8. Suck it up and hang in there

If you are in business for any length of time you are going to run into rough spots and tough times. Often with that happens you will see a lot of people bail out and quit.

In many cases, those few players that remain in the game are the ones who survive the tough times and go on to become extremely successful.

If you are selling good products, have low overhead, and multiple streams of income from several niches, you can afford to hang in there a lot longer than your competition. And sometimes, just by sucking it up and hanging in there, you become the winner of customers by default – because they have nowhere else to go.

Gary Hendrickson has been making his living selling on eBay for more than six years. He’s the author of two eBay related ebooks, has a blog for eBay sellers, and is the owner of ColdItems.Com.

ColdItems.Com
The Auction Rebel Blog

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It takes many years of experience in trading sterling silver jewelry to tell whether a piece of jewelry is of high quality or not. Especially when you are buying wholesale silver jewelry, a minor difference in the quality might affect your business reputation in the long run. This article summarizes the basic metrics for anyone who is beginning to trade silver jewelry to gauge the quality of silver jewelry.

Finishing
Most of the sterling silver jewelry has some sort of plating because silver itself turns yellow over time. There are several ways of finishing a piece of silver jewelry and they will affect the cost of the jewelry substantially.

1. High polished sterling silver jewelry has no plating on the jewelry at all and is particularly popular with engravable items or for people who are allergic to certain metals such as nickel. The jewelry is polished by machine without additional raw material cost.

2. Some silver jewelry has a black antique look to cater to certain consumers. These items are processed by putting the jewelry into chemical solution to oxide the silver before polishing and the pricing is similar to that of high polished ones.

3. Another common way of finishing sterling silver jewelry is nickel plating. Although nickel plating is illegal in some countries, most of the Italian silver jewelry sold in the market today is plated with nickel. However, since nickel is not considered as precious metal, the price is usually not affected by the cost of plating.

4. The most expensive way of finishing sterling silver jewelry is using Rhodium. Rhodium is a precious metal that is even more expensive than silver. Therefore, silver jewelry with Rhodium plating is usually at least five cent more expensive per gram. Since Rhodium has the property of being highly tarnish resistant and very expensive at the same time, some manufacturers would coat the sterling silver jewelry with a thin layer of copper before plating the Rhodium to reduce the cost. It might be a good idea to ask the vendors if the Rhodium is plated directly or not because some people have skin type that would turn the copper underneath green.

Stone cutting
Sterling silver jewelry usually has natural or synthetic stones set on it. The cutting of the stones, even with the same size, might affect the cost. For instance, the synthetic diamond cubic zirconia stones would cost more if they are in princess cut as suppose to round brilliant cut. Furthermore, emerald cut and baguette cut stones are even more expensive than princess cut ones.

Stone setting
1. The way that stones are set on a piece of jewelry also affects the cost. Many pendant and bracelet styles employ an economical setting method called wax setting. The stones are not really set one by one on the jewelry. Rather, they are fixed on the mold before the jewelry is cast out from the melted silver and come out of the mold together with the silver. This lowers the cost of the silver jewelry significantly. However, the quality of the setting is not consistent and the heat of the silver in liquid form might affect the quality of the stones.

2. Besides wax setting, there are several hand-setting methods that are widely adopted. The most common one is prong setting, where the stones are held in place by three to eight prongs, depending on the style. More advanced settings include channel setting, bezel setting, pave setting and invisible setting. Understanding the labor costs involved in different kinds of settings is one of the keys to getting merchandize with the best prices.

Stamping and Casting
Another categorization for sterling silver jewelry is the way they manufacture the metal part. To save cost, some jewelry is made by stamping and cutting the needed shapes out from a large sheet of silver and than bend it into the desired shapes. On the other hand, a more traditional way of producing sterling silver jewelry is to cast the metal out of a mold, which is more labor intensive and hence more costly due to the polishing and filing required afterwards. The way the jewelry is made affects the durability a great deal and hence the success of your business.

Greg Peterson got his MBA from MIT business school and is now working as marketing manager for jewelry businesses featuring wholesale silver hip hop jewelry.

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While a bird is an easy pet to care for, they do require just as much commitment and preparation as any other type of pet. Whether you are buying a small parakeet or an large parrot, you should make sure that you are prepared to care for your new feathered friend properly.

One thing that all pets, including birds need is attention. If your schedule has you working long hours and not spending much time at home, perhaps you should consider a fish tank instead of a bird. A bird cannot be left in it’s cage alone all the time and still be expected to be friendly on the odd days when you feel like playing with it. Some birds require more interaction than others, but they are social creatures and need you to set aside some time each day to play with them. You can use this time to teach them tricks and strengthen the bond between you.

When considering bringing a bird into your home, you must think about the safety of your new pet. Are there other pets in the house that could be threatening to the bird? Are there tiny nooks and crannies that a bird could get into and hurt himself? Do the other members of your family leave the windows and doors open where the bird could fly out and be lost? All these things must be considered for the safety of your new pet

The purchase and placement of his cage is another consideration. You must buy a cage that is the right size for your bird. Many parrots become quite adept at opening their own cage doors so you should consider how easy the cage is to break out of. The cage should be made out of a safe material and have bars spaced in such a way that the bird cannot get his head stuck in between them. There should be no sharp edges and their should be appropriate food and water dishes as well as perches inside the cage. Cages can be expensive, but don’t skimp on this as it is your pets new home!

Before you buy the cage, consider where you will be keeping it. It is best if the cage can be in a quiet corner but near family activities as your bird really wants to be part of the family. You should keep it out of direct sunlight, and away from any drafts or anywhere that could have a sudden change in temperature like in front of the heater or air conditions. Avoid placing the cage in the kitchen as fumes and hot surfaces can be hazardous. Be aware that the fumes from nonstick pans can be deadly to a pet bird, so make sure you get rid of all your non stick pans before bringing your bird home. Of course, you will want to keep the cage out of the path of traffic so you need to buy a cage that is the appropriate size for your bird as well as the right size to fit in the intended area.

Depending on the size of your bird, you may want to consider the level of noise that he will produce. Parakeets make little chirpy noises that, for the most part, are not annoying. Conures, on the other hand have a shrill call that goes right through you. Most happy birds will not yell constantly, but it is natural for them to call out at times so make sure you (and your neighbors) can handle the level of noise produced by the bird.

Finally, make sure that you want to commit to the care that is necessary to have a happy healthy bird. You’ll need to clean out the cage daily and make sure you provide fresh food and water. Food your bird a varied diet and have him checked by a vet (preferably one who specializes in birds) every year.

Birds can be very rewarding pets and take minimal care but they must be provided with a comfortable and safe environment and your companionship in order to thrive. Many birds can live for 20 years or more, so you are making a long commitment when you bring home your new feathered friend. This commitment to care and companionship is well worth it, however, as the rewards of owning these enchanting creatures are many!

About the Author

Lee Dobbins is owner and editor of ePet Pet Center where you can find information on every type of pet including
pet birds.

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There simply is no other form of advertising that is as effective as
ezine advertising.

Think about what the good ezines do. They offer information,
education, and entertainment to readers. They target specific
audiences. They go out regularly to opt-in individuals, and they
present their advertising as an important feature that readers should
look over.

Think about what ezine publishers are trying to do. They continually
search for additional subscribers. They do their best to keep those
subscribers actually reading the ezine on a continual basis. They
present their advertising as best as possible to give the advertisers
good results in hopes of getting repeat ad sales.

No other form of advertising on the Internet has these same qualities.
Nothing else has the regularity of ezines. Nothing else has the
consistent fresh content of a good ezine.

Turning a profit from ezine advertising requires an advertiser to take
advantage of these qualities.

Targeting appropriate ezines is essential to your ad campaign. There
are many ezines dedicated to bringing information to those who work
online so often this is an easy task. However, consider your product
and match it with the content of an ezine before advertising with it.
Since ezine publishers are targeting an audience with their content, it’s
easy to tag your ad along with that content if it fits your product or
opportunity.

Repeat advertising is also essential. One good ad will generally get
results, but not everyone that could potentially respond to your ad will
do so on just one exposure. There are many factors to be
considered. Not everyone will see your ad in an ezine every time, not
everyone will be in the mood to look into new products or
opportunities every time, and not everyone will be ready to buy every
time.

Consistently placing advertising in an ezine that is itself growing and
trying to attract more readers and better attention to its advertising
will achieve the best results.

Examine also how the ezine you are looking into features their ads.
Do the ads look like an important part of the ezine or an intrusion?
Are the ads featured near important articles or dumped all at the end
with nothing of interest beyond them to attract the reader? Is it easy
to skim over the ezine’s ads or are they offset to grab your attention?

Most likely, however you view the ads in an ezine is how others will
view your ad. Choose ezines that work to put their purchased ads in
front of their readers where they will be noticed.

Ezines are dynamic. The publishers behind them do want your
advertising business and will work with you to achieve results. Ezines
reach people better than any other source of advertising on the
Internet today. Just make sure you work with the ezine publisher as
far as following the appropriate ad guidelines and submission
requirements.

There are many programs available as well to help you take
advantage of the power of ezine advertising. Look into them the
same way you look into advertising with individual ezines. Which
give you repeat advertising? Which put your ads into the best target
market?

A lot of ezines and ezine programs would love to make your money.
However, it’s up to you to make sure your money is well spent.
Ezines are the best form of advertising. That’s conclusive. From here
out, it’s just a matter of finding the best ezines and programs for your
campaign.

Joe Bingham, Editor of the NetPlay Newsletters
Publish Your Own Quality Ezine with Little Work and a Lot of Help
http://www.netplaynewsletters.com/publisher.html

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Homeschooling has become very popular in recent years, but it is not for everyone. Some parents and children do extremely well in a homeschooling environment, while others seem to struggle. So what characteristics are needed for parents to be able to successfully homeschool their children? Here are some of the most important steps that lead to homeschooling success.

1. First of all, you’ll want to make sure that you have a good relationship with your children and enjoy being around them quite a bit of the time. If you have lots of emotional and behavioral difficulties in interacting with your children, homeschooling may not be the best choice for you.

2. As far as academic requirements are concerned, just be sure that you know how to read, write, and handle basic math such as addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication.

3. Having good communication skills is also vital to being a good parent teacher, so try to develop your listening and speaking skills as much as possible.

4. One important quality to cultivate in order to be successful in homeschooling your children is patience. Unless you are an extremely impatient person, you should be able to develop this quality to the point where you can successfully teach.

5. Developing observational skills is important to successful homeschooling as well. You need to be able to determine when a child needs extra help and attention in certain areas by simple observation.

6. Of all the qualities needed for homeschooling, perhaps the one that has more of a bearing on your success is developing a sense of humor. You need to be able to keep the daily lessons as fun as you can, and be willing to laugh at yourself, not taking yourself and the children too seriously.

7. Being persistent in the face of opposition can be very important to homeschooling success as well, as many families face resistance from family or friends that can sometimes be very discouraging. However, perseverance in the face of this opposition can oftentimes cause them to accept your decision later on.

8. Having the ability to organize and prioritize your daily schedule and activities is a very big ingredient for success in homeschooling. It will often seem as if there is not enough time in the day to get both your schoolwork and housework taken care of. The better your organization skills in this area, the better results you’ll usually get.

9. Having both parents united in the desire to homeschool their children is an incredibly important step for success. If one is not sure about the process or is openly opposed, it can easily turn into a recipe for failure.

10. As your children grow you’ll need to be able to be flexible enough to adjust your teaching methods and styles to be able to be most effective with each new lesson.

Of course, there are no perfect parent teachers, but if you continue to develop the traits listed above, they can help lead you along the pathway to homeschooling success.

Steadman Issenburg writes on many consumer related topics including education. You can find homeschool worksheets and used homeschool books and more by visiting our education website.

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Farmers are very important people because their farming supplies
our food. Marketers are also very important people because their
marketing provides us with our status of living. Now the world
contains poor farmers and wealthy farmers and farmers who are in
between these two extremes, and the same truth applies to
marketers.

What makes the difference between these classes of farmers or
marketers? Well many things. Where one lives is one. If you are
a Bedouin living in the Sahara desert your choices of raising an
abundant food harvest are rather limited. Or if you are one of
the thousands of vendedores hawking trinkets on the beaches of
Acapulco you aren’t going to make much of a living either.

But when we leave terra firma and venture into the wonderful
world of cyber space the farmer/marketer finds a level playing
field where location doesn’t really matter. One only needs a
computer to enter into this wonderful electronic land …a place
where the poor farmer/internet marketer can become extremely
wealthy. But, only after he has gained the know how to become
successful. Where can he get this information so that this dream
can become reality?

Well, let’s define our terms so that the point can be crystal
clear….

The farmer is the marketer.

The seed represents the farmer’s ideas or products that he wants
to take to market.

The soil is the marketplace–that means people.

The yield is represented by the profits which the marketer earns
by his work.

The difference between the poor struggling farmer and the
wealthy farmer is in knowing how to connect his product with the
people who want his product. The informed internet farmer knows
where to farm. He has learned the techniques necessary to take
him to the people who need and want his product. It is simply a
matter of connecting the market to the marketer so that both can
be satisfied.

Conclusion: The world wide internet is the vehicle that can
connect the marketer with his warm receptive market. All the
marketer needs is the know how to drive this vehicle. And the
good news is that the dedicated would be successful marketer can
be instructed by an expert internet marketer who is willing to
share his expertise with those willing to learn the ropes. One
could say he becomes an apprentice of the master craftsman.
David Darbro

Finding the right market is one of the amazing techniques taught
at:

http://www.InternetProfitMentor.com Get your FREE 12 hour
videocourse plus other incredible tips

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Have you ever felt like you bought an auto and financed it and don’t really know if you got the right price or financing arrangements after it was all over? Well, don’t feel alone. This is a common experience for many people who make auto purchases.

Guidelines for negotiating the car price can be found elsewhere, but we want to share some helpful tips on getting that vehicle financed at the best rates and terms for you.

The first step is to make sure that you negotiate the car’s price separate from the vehicle financing arrangements. Most dealers want to lump it all together because they can hide quite a bit of the actual price of the vehicle in the loan contract, and they will usually just try to meet a monthly payment figure that you can live with rather than disclose all the details about the loan.

So your work actually should begin before you ever visit the dealer lot. Try to determine beforehand what vehicle(s) you are interested in buying and become familiar with the average cost for that vehicle, either online or locally. Then make sure that it will fit your budget. Most financial experts recommend that you shouldn’t spend more than 10% of your monthly income on vehicle costs, including the loan, gas, repairs, insurance, etc.

Since you now know the price that you want to pay, you need to find out what the loan will cost, so visit some auto loan websites and/or local banks, and apply for an auto loan. See what rates and terms they offer you. Much of that will be determined by your credit history. If you can get pre-approved for a loan, all the better.

Experts also recommend that you try to put at least 20% of the car price on the loan as a down payment toward the purchase of the vehicle, either in cash or in the trade equity of your current vehicle. Why? Well, so many people are being put into loans these days with longer and longer payback periods and little down payment and the net result is that if they want to trade that car in within the first year or so they find that they actually may owe more on the car than it is even worth. So using sound financial decisions beforehand can prevent this from happening.

Now, using all of this information, the price you are willing to pay for the vehicle you want, the average loan you can get, and the best terms that you can get that will fit within your budget, you are now ready to visit the dealer, find the vehicle you have been thinking about and get the deal that will fit your needs. Remember to negotiate the price of the vehicle without financing first. After you settle on the sales price you can then reveal what finance terms you already have found and see if they can beat it.

Get the particulars in writing too. What is the price for the new vehicle? What is the trade amount for your old vehicle if you have one? If you finance through the dealer, what is the APR, the total amount financed, the total amount paid at the end of the loan, the total number of payments and the monthly payment figure itself? If the dealer will not give this clear, concise information, leave and go somewhere else to buy. If they can compete with your prearranged loan terms, then great. If not, get your auto loan elsewhere.

A word of caution. Keep it to business. It’s exciting to buy a new car and it’s also easy to get carried away and buy more vehicle than you need or previously wanted just because it looks so good or has so many features that the dealer will try to convince you that you can’t live without. Having predetermined what car you want and the price you are willing to pay will keep you safe in these negotiations but only if you stick to your guns and don’t give in to being upsold.

Using these strategies keeps you in control of the negotiation process and keeps you informed all along the way so that you can be confident that the vehicle and the auto loan you purchase is indeed the deal that you wanted.

About The Author

Duane Lipham is a senior editor for http://www.loans.dlbws.com which provides free information and resources for auto, personal, mortgage, home equity, and refinance loans.

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Your choice of materials for store fixtures includes wood, metal, plastic and conglomerate materials such as pressed wood and fiberboard. Depending upon your budget, the weight and size of the product being displayed and the style of your retail establishment, one of these raw materials will serve your needs well. Custom metal store fixtures have become quite popular recently due to advances in methods used to improve the look of metal and a serious plunge in its price. Previously thought of as too heavy, too expensive or too limited in style, metal was frequently passed over for other materials more easily altered to suit changing style trends. It used to be that metal was used primarily for industrial-type establishments, but metal is now sought after for modern looking point-of-purchase displays, counters, garment racks and shelving systems.

Modern metals are lightweight, easy to work with, attractive and Last much longer than most other materials used for store fixtures. Freestanding and mounted shelving units, called gondolas, are now made into merchandise display systems in a variety of galvanized metals. Gondolas are useful for displaying merchandise ranging from videocassettes to shoes and clothing to cosmetics. By using bonded coatings, custom metal store fixtures can imitate any appearance you’d like, even wood, at a fraction of the cost. Furthermore, they almost never require any specialized maintenance beyond simple cleaning with a damp cloth. For price, durability and style, today’s metal store fixtures can’t be beat.

Some of the newer custom metal store fixtures are designed to imitate standard slatwall panels. Instead of pressed wood or fiberboard, strong, thin metal sheets are produced with holes or grooves that will support a variety of attractive accessories that enable hanging and shelving displays for many products. Whereas the weight of the product is factor when using slatwall panels for displays, custom metal store fixtures can support far more weight without bending, cracking or diminishing the overall appearance of the display.

Store Fixtures Info provides detailed information on metal, antique, wholesale, and used store fixtures and store fixture parts. Store Fixtures Info is the sister site of Mannequins Web.

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The Florida Iron Man involves swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles. It is one of the toughest sporting competitions in the world.

Many people, including me, have trouble swimming half a mile let alone 2.4 miles. Cycling 112 miles might involve the equivalent of cycling flat out on an exercise bike for 6 hours. I have trouble even making a start on my exercise bike!

Running 26.2 miles is not easy as many young and healthy people find out when they have to stop or stagger to the end. Jane Tomlinson recently completed the Florida Iron Man, in 15 hours and 48 minutes.

Before the race, the announcer told the crowd: “Jane Tomlinson from Leeds, England is racing. She learned 4 years ago that she had only 7 months to live because of terminal cancer. She has been doing triathlons ever since.”

Jane has a supportive husband called Mike and 3 lovely children, Suzanne, Rebecca and Steven. She has had cancer for 14 years. 4 years ago she was told she had 7 months to live. She has now lived 4 years since she was told she would die within 7 months.

Many people, who are on the receiving end of news that they have terminal cancer, just give up and wait to die or take drugs which will hasten their end. Jane, on the other hand, decided to live and coped with her illness by taking up various tough sporting challenges.

One of her daughters commented on a recent TV documentary that Jane was “never a sporty person before all this. She did gardening and walking and that’s about it. I never saw her run or do anything athletic.”

Jane wanted to leave her children a lasting memory of their mum achieving things: “I know having cancer is not a positive thing but I just wanted to find a way to live and remember that I am still alive and pleased to be here. I try to just enjoy what I’ve got in front of me.”

Many sick people give up their roles as carers and wage earners. Jane has kept her roles as a mum and a wage earner. She looks after her three children and works as a radiographer. She started training to be a radiographer 14 years ago after her mastectomy. She needs some of the money to be able to travel to the sporting events she competes in.

What amazes me about her is how she manages to live such a full life and still attend at hospitals and clinics to receive the treatment she needs to keep going.

She does this by first creating her treatment schedule as the priority and then fitting in the rest of her life around this. Her life is so full that many people can’t believe she is ill:

“Some people don’t believe that I am actually poorly but I am. Occasionally you remember that things are pretty dire.” Even walking can be painful because of the tumours in her bones.

Some criticise her being away travelling and competing instead of staying with her family. Her answer: ” If I do these events, I will be fit enough to spend time with my family.” Some of her family went with her to Florida.

Her doctor comments: “Jane is an example of what can be achieved through modern anti cancer treatment but the majority of my patients don’t run marathons.” That is an understatement.

Jane had several obstacles in her path before she actually arrived in Florida.Her hip was sore and stopped her training for the iron man. At times she was undecided as to whether to go or not :

“I don’t think I should go but that does not mean I won’t go”. Her husband Mike did not want her to go: “She could be a paraplegic by the end of the race or even die.”

In the end she decided to go and Mike supported her because:
“She can’t put it off till next year because there isn’t a next year. It’s now or never”. Jane commented: “If I don’t give myself an opportunity to try, it will always be unfinished business.”

She packed her gear with the help of her friend, Ryan, who would be her companion throughout the Iron Man. She made sure she included her pain killers

She arrived in Florida and decided to attempt to start the race even though she was not fit. No terminally ill cancer patient has attempted an iron man before. She explained one reason for racing: “One of the reasons for doing this is to challenge people’s perceptions of illness”.

Mike had never been as scared as this before. “I wish to hell she wasn’t doing this.” He didn’t tell her what he was thinking because she needed all his support in what might be her last great venture.

Mike remarked: “There aren’t many boundaries left that you can bring down in the world. She has gone from being told she is going to die to doing an iron man. I would never have believed it”

Jane seemed to enjoy the swim and got through the cycle ride. In the marathon she was still running after 9 miles. “Absolutely incredible!” exclaimed Mike. “She is obviously not comfortable and is feeling pain in all the places she has got cancer.”

Steven told his dad to calm down. He knew that his mum would be alright.Over 80 competitors had pulled out after 13 hours but Jane was still competing. Mike cried out: “She ’s still running - bloody hell. You’re going to do it! Go for it, love. We’ll see you at the finish”

At the finish, Mike expressed his amazement again: “I never thought in a mllion years she would get to do this.” Ryan, Jane’s companion on the race, commented: “Jane just blew me away!”

Jane’s comment not surprisingly was: “This is the final thing I am doing.” By the end of the iron man race Jane had set an inspiring example for both the healthy and the sick. She and Mike had also raised 1 million pounds for cancer research.

All of us are terminal but not all of us have realised it yet. Life is too short to waste however long we may live on this planet. We all need to take swift action to do what is important to us while we still have the chance.

Jane’s life is just one of those lives that can inspire us to achieve far more than we could dream possible and to make the most of whatever life we have left. We can all compete in our own iron man race.

About the author

John Watson is an award winning teacher and martial arts instructor. He has recently written two books about achieving your goals and dreams. They can both be found on his website http://www.motivationtoday.com along with a daily motivational message.

The title of the first book is “36 Laws To Ignite Your Inner Power And Realize Your Dreams Now! - Acronyms, Stories, And Pictures…Easy To Remember And Use Everyday To Grab Your Life And Soar With The Eagles”

The book can be found at this URL http://www.motivationtoday.com/36_laws.php

The book uses acronyms, stories and pictures to help readers remember 36 laws that can gradually transform your life if you apply them.

You are welcome to publish the article above in your ezine or on your website so long as you do not alter it and keep in the words about the author and the 36 Laws.

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III. ALAN KEYES:

Alan Keyes is a Maryland resident and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Social and Economic Council under Ronald Reagan. He earned a Ph.D. in government affairs from Harvard in 1979 and is also the host the radio call-in show, “America’s Wake-Up Call: The Alan Keyes Show.” He launched his first bid for the Senate in 1988, But lost to incumbent Democrat Paul Sarbanes. In 1992 he ran again, this time losing to Democrat Barbara Mikulski. During this campaign Keyes ran up still un[paid campaign debts while he paid himself a salary of $100,000 out of campaign funds. He counters that the debt is that of his campaign and that he is personally not responsible for it.

Though he has sought the GOP Presidential nomination twice before and is quite charismatic, Keyes is also enigmatic and in some circles considered an “extremist.” Another issue of concern is whether or not Keyes can be a “loyal” Republican, as it was reported by the Washington Post in 1992 that Keyes called the party “racist”, adding “Beyond a certain level blacks need not apply…If I can work out in the fields, I think I ought to be allowed to come into the house for dinner.”

As a Presidential candidate Keyes often lamented the fact that many of the questions asked him were centered on race and he found such questioning disturbing. He believed the media did not portray him as an equally capable candidate, and emphasized his race more than his stands on the issues. Slate’s Jacob Weisberg said that “the racial factor works mildly in Keyes’ favor” because, if he were a white Republican, and thus less of a novelty, the press would portray him more directly as a fanatic. Ignoring Keyes is the kindest thing the press can do for him.”

Keyes is stringently anti-abortion, writing in 2002 “The violation on [sic] innocent human life is the same whether you commit terrorism or commit abortion.” (”The Vocabulary of Terror: Anti-abortion politics since 9/11,” April 10, 2002). Keyes added, “”What distinguishes the terrorist from the ordinary warrior, is that the terrorist will consciously target innocent human life. What is done in the course of an abortion? Someone consciously targets innocent human life.”

During the January 6, 2000 Republican Presidential debate he revealed that his stand on homosexuality is even more biting: “It’s about time we all faced up to the truth. If we accept the radical homosexual agenda, be it in the military or in marriage or in other areas of our lives, we are utterly destroying the concept of family. We must oppose it in the military. We must oppose it in marriage. We must oppose it if the fundamental institution of our civilization is to survive. Those unwilling to face that fact and playing games with this issue are doing so irresponsibly at the price of America’s moral foundations.” (Meanwhile, few know that Keyes’ daughter Maya is a lesbian, a lifestyle he has condemned as “selfish hedonism”).

During the 2004 Illinois Senatorial debates Keyes was asked, “What would you say to your child if one of your children was to come to you and to say that he or she was a homosexual?” Keyes’ response was “I do not say that homosexual relations is an abomination, the Bible says so. And many people in this state believe the Bible when it says so…Marriage—traditional marriage—is based upon heterosexual relations, because they are connected to procreation. In every society and civilization, marriage is connected to the business of regulating the consequences of procreation. And that is the fundamental argument, in a civic sense, against something like homosexual marriage. It is irrelevant. It is not needed, and the idea that one should have legislation that is regulating private friendships for no reason at all strikes me as a fundamental degrading of those private friendships…and to institutionalize that, it seems to me, sets us on a road toward our social self-destruction.”

The eloquent Keyes believes that America needs a return to its morally-based roots. Such viewpoints make him sound “preachy”, but Keyes contends that the lack of moral fiber in this country is one of the causes of the problems affecting the inner cities. Keyes has a a strong following among conservative Christians, but not to the point where he has a realistic chance of ever being elected to anything. He says that abortion provides women “a choice to move against that life in her womb is a violation of the fundamental premise that makes America what it is…it’s about our commitment to what defines us as a people and a free country. I think it’s the most important issue of our time.” Still, others have trouble with his opposition to the constitutional clause allowing for the separation of church and state.

Keyes believes the 17th Amendment, which provides the direct election of United States Senators, rather than their election or appointment by a state legislature, unfairly diminishes the power of state legislatures. In 2004, Senator Zell Miller introduced S.J. Res. 35, that would repeal the 17th Amendment, believing it gave too much power to Washington’s special interests and was an attack on federalism. Also supporting that idea was Libertarian Lew Rockwell.

Keyes argues, “Senators were originally chosen, under our Constitution, by the state legislature–for the simple reason that the Senate was supposed to represent the state governments, not geographic entities, but the governments that are empowered to take care of the affairs of the states, as sovereign entities that, under our Constitution, retained the residual powers of government not delegated to the federal government…our laws, in the state of Illinois, are passed by the state legislature. In the passage of those laws, are the people of this state “disenfranchised”? Of course they’re not. When the legislature makes a decision, puts a criminal law on the books, it is “The People v. So-and-So” when that law is violated, because the legislature is presumed to represent the people. That is the meaning of our Constitutional system.”

IV. KEYES ON THE ISSUES

In 1996 Keyes sought the Republican Party Presidential nomination, but the prize went to Bob Dole who was throttled in the general election by Bill Clinton). In 2000 Keyes tried again. He “…was invited to join the two remaining major candidates, John McCain and George W. Bush, in a number of nationally televised debates. Many viewers were more impressed by Keyes than McCain or Bush, and commentators on Fox News Channel and MSNBC went as far as declaring Keyes the winner of the debates. FOX News Channel analyst Dick Morris said, ‘Bush has no place to go but down. Keyes had an original message and it registered’.”

In 2004 when the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois had to resign due to a sex scandal, Keyes was recruited to answer the bell. Some saw him as a carpetbagger and worse, as a hypocrite for denouncing Hillary Clinton’s New York Senate bid after a brief residency in that state. Keyes said, “I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton’s willingness go into a state she doesn’t even live in and pretend to represent people there, so I certainly wouldn’t imitate it.” He blamed this hypocrisy on running at the Party’s request and to the unique circumstances under which his participation had been solicited. Nevertheless, the final results were Barack Obama won 3,524,70270 votes to Keyes’ 1,371,88227.

Keyes is an advocate of the death penalty and during his failed Illinois Senatorial campaign was asked, “How does your support of capital punishment, and opposition to abortion, conflict with your Roman Catholic faith? Keyes denied a conflict, stating “Abortion and capital punishment are at different levels of moral concern. Abortion is intrinsically, objectively, wrong and sinful, whereas capital punishment is a matter of prudential judgment which is not, in and of itself, a violation of moral right. There are certain issues that objectively violate the most fundamental canons of moral decency, and abortion, for instance, is one of them–the taking of innocent life…But if you take a position that effaces the distinction between innocent life and guilty life, then you not only violate a moral canon-you destroy the fundamental basis of the law, and that is the ultimate disrespect for human life.”

Keyes opposes the CAFTA, NAFTA and GATT agreements. Furthermore, he supports the 23% sales tax, which his Senatorial opponent Barack Obama called, “One of the most, potentially, regressive tax systems that we could have.” Keyes believes that such a flat-rate tax “Would be a net gain for a lot of taxpayers, right there. You would also see an enormous expansion of capitalization of the economy, expansion of jobs and productivity, and the most important thing is that the individual in their spending patterns would determine when they paid the tax. Every Fair Tax proposal also includes measures to make sure that the poor and those willing to live with frugality will not be paying the tax.”

Obama countered with a study backed with research from a University of Chicago economist. “After you had all the exemptions in place (the tax) it’d be around fifty cents to seventy cents on the dollar, on every purchase, if you made some of the exemptions that you suggest. (This tax is) on top of the state and local sales taxes that already exist.”

Keyes also stands strong against abortion citing the following figures: “Did you know that something like thirteen million black babies have been killed since Roe v. Wade, as a result of this holocaust of abortion? Did you know that the black population today is something like twenty-five percent less than it would otherwise be, because of abortion? Did you know that black women are disproportionately likely to have abortions, that more black babies are being aborted today than are being born, and that, as you project these kinds of tendencies into the future, the black population becomes a negligible factor in American politics and other things, over the course of the twenty-first century? I look back on black Americans with a heritage of oppression and slavery that, unfortunately, is involved in this question as well, because seventy-eight percent of the abortion clinics that are provided by the most numerous provider of abortions in America, Planned Parenthood, are located in or near the black community. Blacks are thirteen percent of the population. They account for over a third of the abortions. So I think that, on these important issues, we have to look for the patterns that still target people on the basis of race-and they’re targeting people in the womb.”

More recently Keyes opposed the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, writing “Many conservatives cannot understand why President George W. Bush has taken the stealth approach in his selection of nominees for the Supreme Court. If the Democrats trash highly qualified nominees because their thinking reflects the president’s judgment instead of the Democrat Party platform, it won’t be hard to convince the public that they are simply trying to achieve through intimidation what they couldn’t achieve at the ballot box in the last presidential election.”

V. WILL CONDI RUN?

Dr. Condoleezza Rice, named by her mother after the Italian musical notation “Con Dolcezza” (meaning to play “with sweetness.”), was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1954. During this time Birmingham was the center of the Civil Rights movement, but her family was not the demonstrative type, choosing to emphasize hard work and education as the means of “overcoming.”

B. Denise Rawlins writes, “As the only child of educators, the importance of learning was impressed upon Rice from day one. She learned to read when most children were still struggling to walk and by the age of 3 had begun lessons in a wide range of areas: Classical piano, figure skating, ballet, French. Rice was in eighth grade by age 11, entered the University of Denver at 15, and went on to earn her doctorate in international studies.”

She is idolized by little black girls across the country and in the eyes of some is the darling of the Republican Party. She has the President’s ear, briefing him each morning and speaks to him throughout the day. Former Clinton aide Dick Morris predicts that either she or Hillary Clinton will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States in January, 2009. He and co-author Eileen McGann believe, “There is one, and only one, figure in America who can stop Hillary Clinton: Secretary of State Condoleezza ‘Condi’ Rice. Among all of the possible Republican candidates for President, Condi alone could win the nomination, defeat Hillary and derail a third Clinton administration. Condoleezza, in fact, poses a mortal threat to Hillary’s success. With her broad-based appeal to voters outside the traditional Republican base, Condi has the potential to cause enough major defections from the Democratic party to create serious erosion among Hillary’s core voters. She attracts the same female, African-American and Hispanic voters who embrace Hillary, while still maintaining the support of conventional Republicans.”

It is doubtful that if she were to run for President Rice would get widespread black support. Many blacks do not embrace her, seeing her as the front for an administration that is indifferent to the concerns of blacks. This started with George Bush’s snubbing of an NAACP invitation during the primaries, to the upholding of Michigan’s anti-affirmative action statutes (on Martin Luther Kings birthday no less) to the slow reaction to those left stranded by Hurricane Katrina. In all three instances, Rice was criticized as a “Bush apologist.” A recent article in The Black Commentator declared Rice, “…the purest expression of the race traitor. No polite description is possible.” The article goes on to say, “…the Republican Party adopted a strategy of selective, high profile minority appointments. This approach allowed the GOP to continue to cultivate its core racist base…Of decidedly secondary importance was the possibility of finding substantial support among Black voters.”

Before Rice became a part of Republican politics she was a student at Stanford University. During this time she was influenced by Czechoslovakian diplomat Josef Korbel, the father of soon-to-be Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Rice first drew notice when during a 1984 faculty seminar she challenged Brent Scowcroft, who was the head of President Ronald Reagan’s Commission on Strategic Forces. After a talk on arms control, Rice questioned the wisdom of the administration’s policies. Scowcroft later admitted that Rice was, “somebody I need to get to know. It’s an intimidating subject. Here’s this young girl, and she’s not at all intimidated.”

Scowcroft began inviting Rice to various government events, and when he became National Security Advisor in 1989, appointed her to the National Security Council, as an authority on Soviet policy. In 1998 she met then-Governor of Texas, George W. Bush for a meeting on the campus at Stanford University. A year later she resigned her position as provost of Stanford to lead Bush’s team of foreign-policy advisers. In 2000 Dr. Rice was chosen to address the Republican National Convention in 2000.

While her strength is foreign policy, it begs the question of how she might fare on domestic issues. Rice’s economic acumen might best be illustrated by her tenure at Stanford, where she had to make unpopular budget cuts. Two years later the school was back on solid economic footing, impressing the school’s benefactors.

On the war on terrorism Rice says that the Bush administration, “…acted swiftly to unify and streamline our efforts to secure the American homeland. The president and Congress, through the USA Patriot Act, have broken down the legal and bureaucratic walls that prior to Sept. 11 hampered intelligence and law enforcement agencies from collecting and sharing vital threat information. Those who now argue for rolling back the Patriot Act’s changes invite us to forget the important lesson we learned on Sept. 11.”

However, some see her as nothing more than her playing “Checkers” to Bush’s Nixon. During her Senate confirmation hearings (for the Secretary of State position) California Senator Barbara Boxer said that her loyalty to George Bush, “overwhelmed your respect for the truth.” Boxer also criticized the Bush administration (and Rice in particular) for failing to develop an exit strategy for Iraq and being unwilling to acknowledge mistakes.

As Bush’s right-hand, her policies might emphasize the same ones the President has stressed during his second term. This might include partially privatizing social security, revising tax laws and addressing the issue of immigration. Like Alan Keyes, Rice considers herself a deeply religious person, meaning she is more than likely against abortion and gay marriage, but there is no proverbial “paper trail” in which can be attributed to Rice. Nonetheless, there are Condi detractors such as Grugyn Silverbristle who writes, “As I began to investigate Condoleezza Rice, the first irony that I noted was an almost complete absence of original writings. Her important books and papers are almost always co-authored. In fact, almost the only original ‘work’ by Condoleezza that I could locate was her Class Day speech of June 12, 1999.”

In this speech Rice utters the line, “Our common border is no longer a line that divides us, but a region that unites our nations, reflecting our common aspirations, values and culture…” It has been alleged that this line was lifted from a previous speech by Colin Powell. The accusation that Rice may not be “an original thinker” would probably do nothing to hurt her on the campaign trail. And while Rice is “flattered” by the “Draft Condi” websites, she has no desire to be President, unless it is of the National Football League. (I’m serious, folks).

Rice did however pen an essay titled, “Promoting the National Interest,” which focused on the need for changing the U.S. foreign policy of allowing our allies to have say in U.S. foreign policy. Rice wrote, “…the U.S. should return to the core principle that ‘power matters’.” This was written a year before Bush launched his 2000 bid for the White House. It has now become the cornerstone of Mr. Bush’s foreign policy.

Some candidates have declined to run for the Presidency because they don’t want to subject their families to the invasiveness of the media. In the case of Condoleezza ice’s case she would have to fend off unsubstantiated rumors of her being a lesbian. The question was spawned in all places, in a comic strip called “The Boondocks” and the statement, “Maybe if there was a man in the world who Condoleezza truly loved, she wouldn’t be so hell-bent to destroy it.”

The Washington Post pulled that version of the strip citing its policy of not commenting on the personal lives of political figures. Democrats won’t be so nice, as we saw the attacks on Mary Cheney during the 2004 campaign. Sarah Warn asserts, “Of course, being called a lesbian shouldn’t be any big deal, but the reality is that for women (particularly single women) in public positions of power, these kinds of rumors can be very damaging. (It is) the use of lesbianism as a slur that is so disturbing, since it’s based not only on the assumption that a strong, confidant woman must not be a “real” (read: heterosexual) woman, but that only women in heterosexual relationships are ‘real’ women.”

The politics of destruction are more than a fancy catchphrase, but a distinct reality. When is the last time a presidential campaign was truly about issues? Since the Bush-Dukakis debacle (the political nadir in my book), personal attacks have been launched under the guise of “who has the stronger family values.”

If Condi does run, she will have access to some very deep pockets, “having served on the board of directors for the Chevron Corporation, the Charles Schwab Corporation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Transamerica Corporation, Hewlett Packard, The Carnegie Corporation, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Rand Corporation, and KQED, public broadcasting for San Francisco. She was also on the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame, the International Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan, and the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors.” (Wikipedia). Again, this might cause black voters to be leery of her, believing she (like most GOP members) is beholden to big business.

In August 2004 and 2005 Forbes magazine named her the world’s most powerful woman. So should Condi run? The consensus is she is the administration’s most intelligent member and has an excellent chance of winning. Her popularity cuts across racial lines. Even as the Vice-Presidential nominee she makes the GOP formidable when coupled with Jeb Bush, John McCain or Rudy Giulani. Furthermore, a Rice-Clinton campaign might bring politics back to where it should be: A discussion of the issues between two astute individuals—and may the best woman win—assuming it comes down to that.

COMING UP” McCain, Bush, Giuliani

Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. is a 46-year old novelist and e-zine columnist residing in Pittsburg, CA.

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