Golf and Politics

-By Mark Cotter

Notice it is not Global Warming anymore.  The new buzz word is Climate Change.  Because we started a cooling period recently and that does not fit the Al Gore “the earth will fry” scenario.  So Change it is, of course anyone who leaves the house on a daily basis notices that the ‘climate changes’ from time to time.  25 Years ago we were being warned of the great Ice Age approaching, 15 years ago the sea was dying, each time an over reaction of a ‘perceived’ imbalance that unchecked would kill us all.  I wonder if you remember the great Ozone hole?  We were going to all die of UV exposure and all because of hairspray and freon in cooling systems.  Freon was replaced at great expense to the public and profit for the refrigeration industry but did nothing to close the Ozone hole.  It seems after further study that the hole over the arctic has always been there and gets larger or smaller as the earth seems to need it.  The earth regulates it self with or with out us and to think we have a great impact is similar to the mosquito sure that it is his sting that caused the elephant to move left.  We are truly insignificant in that level of things.

As in many things, when we fail to look beyond the surface, fail to ask questions, fail to challenge statements, we find ourselves following a pied piper,  ignorant of why he came or where we are going.

The planet takes very good care of itself thank you very much.  This is not to say that you can ignore your space.  No, keeping clean and using things wisely and efficiently is good husbandry of your assets.  But lets be realistic in our assumptions on the impact both positive and negative we can have.  Take a look at real science and look at the actual impact.  check out this from Heritage Foundation and follow links to all the science then make your own decision.  Be led by the Pied Piper no more!

Man’s Contribution to Global Warming » The Foundry

Obama is the most hard-left president in American history. He does indeed want to radically remake America’s free-enterprise, entrepreneurial capitalist system. But we are not Venezuela or Argentina.

Obamas proposals for drastic energy-tax increases and other antiopportunity, antigrowth levies will arouse escalating opposition.

via But Doesn’t Obama Share His ‘Generals” Ideology? – Forbes.com.

Although Hugo Chavez is happy with the direction of our new president and so is Raul Castro! – by admin

See this entire article at Forbes.com

A Surrogate Parent?

Several years ago during one of the candidate debates between Clinton and Bush, a reporter stood up and asked this question “Since the Government is like a surrogate parent, how are you going to ensure that the government helps us?” 
I nearly fell out of my chair.  What kind of mentality thinks that the government is a surrogate parent?  What kind of person wants that to be a reality and who in their right mind could think like that?  I was even more amazed that the candidates did not just laugh at this insipid remark but treated it as a true question.  They started talking about how the government could do more to take care of people in various ways.

I was aghast!  This is not the purview of government.  The Federal Government is not supposed to take care of anyone!  It is not the job of the government, any government, to do for you.  It is your job to do for you and those around you.  You would give up your responsibility to your self and your community to – The Government?  What comes to mind when you here someone say ‘I’m going to take care of you?’  if it’s the mob you might get a different impression than if it was your mother.  The government is more like the mob, if they say they will take care of you well, you had better run!

I left home because I wanted to be my own man and NOT live under the rules and direction of my parents.  Perhaps this person never left home?  Perhaps he was never expected to fend for himself, to provide for himself, expected to go forward and be a man.  I really thought that that mentality was an aberration, a unique and segregated instance.  Surely most people are proud of their ability to be independent, enjoy the freedom to develop their abilities and skills and direct them toward worthy goals?  We are a nation of over-comers, a people who believe in the sanctity of the individual and the power that individualism brings to bear when there is a community of individuals.  Each using their strengths where another may have a weakness, to complete the whole.  If you want someone to take care of you then go move back in with your mother!  (as if she’d have your lazy no good but back!)    What a far cry we have come from the time of John F Kennedy and “…Ask Not What your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country…”  That attitude and fortitude seems dead now. 

I thought at the time that the questioner was an isolated incident.  Obviously I was wrong.  I look around and today I see that what he was asking has become a call from every corner.  ‘ Take Care of Me, Do something for ME, Don’t expect me to take care of myself its too hard.’ Wah Wah Wah, have we become a nation of cry babies?  Expecting that we are owed something for living?  My mother did me a favor and it was hard on her at the time.  She needed me to be home to help out but when I turned 18 she pointed at the door and said good luck and don’t let it hit you in the but on the way out!  It is time for you to stand on your own you can do it, I did my best to get you started now its up to you.  I was out the door!  It took me several years to know how hard it was for her to do that but she told me that “I raised you to be a Man not a boy and I expected you to be a Man” well thank you very much Mom.  But now I can turn to the government to take care of me.  You needn’t have tried so hard to give me backbone and fortitude to keep going when it got tough.  You did not need to teach me that Success is only won after you have failed so often that you want to give up.  It is to the one who gets up again after being fully face down for the hundredth time that is the valiant that wins success.  The government can’t take care of you, it can only take from you.  Beware!  Beware! 

I have enjoyed the book Atlas Shrugged several times but now this year I am afraid.  It seems that it has come to pass what Ayn Rand warned about in the 40′s is more true today than even then.  When people think they get a job because they need it and government forces employers to hire and pay people for work not done.  We are near the end of the great experiment known as the United States of America.  Read the book again and see the similarities, only there is no island for us to escape to this time.  Then go review my earlier post ‘Why do you get a Job’

Last October my wife and I went on a wonderful 7 day cruise just to get away from it all. I loved the sea days, sit on the balcony and relax just watching the ocean miles from nowhere. It is nice to let your mind relax and just to sit quietly doing nothing. Some call it meditation or sitting sanzen. I call it veggin out!
As I sit watching the waves I saw a family of dolphins keeping pace with the ship – 3 of them a large one and two smaller ones jumping out of the water as we chugged along. I saw birds coasting along just above the water moving just as fast as we were. It was wonderful. My wife on the other hand watched from inside the room and after 2 days of inactivity she… well lets just say sitting quietly meditating is not her way of enjoyment. On this cruise was a golf instructor, now for some of you this is not news but for me it was very awesome. The only cruise I have been on before this was a 3 day excursion to Ensenada and back. So this was unique to get to practice driving out in the ocean. He was setting up the day trips to Jamaica and Grand Cayman Island. Man I wish I had known that was available. But my wife still does not understand the fascination of chasing a small ball around the park and dropping it in a hole – for 4 hours at a time. So as I said I wanted to take that day trip she put the kibosh on that Idea. But I did get some great instruction. This guy got me to keep the ball in the same place no matter what club I was using. Basically center of stance and just adjust how close you are based on club length. Now I have been taught to put the ball in the back of the stance on driver and long irons and move it closer to the center front as I got to short irons. His point was that you are trying to make the same stroke each time – muscle memory- a repeatable movement that you can duplicate each time you address the ball. Well that made so much sense to me and after a while on the driving range with various clubs I could really feel the value of that concept. Keep the ball the same place so you hit it at the same point in your swing every time and let the club do its job. Well this has helped the consistency of my game so it was well worth the time to learn. Man I had fun. Just wish I could have made it to the course in Jamaica I heard that it was both beautiful and tough! Oh well next time I’ll go and give my wife enough money and shopping malls to go crazy!
Talk to you soon again, and remember
ENJOY! treat this as if its the only life you get
Mark-

Hi There everyone!  I lost the blog site for a while and now that it is back up I am retrieving all the posts I had placed here and putting them back up.  I have to rewrite 3 posts because the back up got deleted.  So if you had a favorite golf story, I will be getting them back up soon (or maybe I’ll just go make new memories!).

If you have a great Golf story or want to rage against the machine – go for it (I finally got the comments set up so you can!)

Enjoy!

Mark-

I have come across this wonderful product and wanted to share it with all of you

Imagine all the things you have heard about the so called super fruits and the various drinks that have been marketed over the last few years.  Now here is one that has taken all 7 of the super fruits and created a good tasting fusion into one drink.

And its costs less than most of the others as well.  So go take a look and let me know what you think.

Check it at www.exfuze.com/MarkCotter

Then get back here with a comment or two

Why do you get a job?
With all this doom and gloom talk on the TV and all the pundits trying to equate our current situation to the ‘Great Depression’ I think it is good to step back and think a bit on fundamentals of economics.  Don’t let the press and the politicians control your thinking take a break and think objectively for a bit and think on this question for a moment.

Have you ever heard someone complain that the company does not pay enough?  Or that you need to ensure a “living” wage?  In the news at least once a quarter some one complains that you can’t feed a family of 4 on the pay you get working for Mc Donalds.  No Kidding?!  Why would anyone think they should?  It makes no sense to pay some one more than the cost of the item sold.  Why would I pay you $10 to make a chair that I can sell for $10?
The problem is we know instinctively the truth of the matter but then comes politics and someone promises entitlements.  If someone offered something for nothing who would not jump at it?!  So,
Why Do You Get A Job?
When I ask this question of people in seminars I get the same answers that you are probably saying now your self such as;
To pay bills of course, or I need the money, or I have obligations, to pay the rent, to buy things. Etc and on and on.
The answer is no to all of those statements.  NO you do not get a job because you have to pay your bills or you have 4 kids.  You look for a job to get all those things.  You  look for work to take care of your family, But, You Get a Job because you are willing to something that someone else is willing to pay to be done!
Let me say that again.  You get a job because some one else is willing to pay you to do a job they want done.
If you come to me and say “Give me a Job because I need one” I am not going to hire you.  If you say “I know the work you do and I can be of service to you in this way” Now you have my attention!  Also the income you receive is directly in relation to the service you give and the uniqueness of that service.  You want to earn more money?  Then ensure that your skills are such that they are scarce and you can ask any reasonable price.  Take a look at the difference between a surgeon and a day laborer.
Example, I can mow my lawn myself, I can have a kid mow my lawn for a few bucks.  Or I can hire a ‘landscaper’ to “fulfill my yard’s full potential and beauty” – see I may pay more for that guy.  But then the results become the test.  Is the money I pay worth the results I get?  I may go back to the 12 year old who has the ambition and the cost to me is more to my liking.
Really think about it.  If you tell me that you need to make $200 per day at a minimum and that you will mow my lawn do you think I really care if you need $200 per day at a minimum?  Of course not!  When I can get any one to mow the lawn for $10 bucks That’s what you will get or you will not get the job.  If you would be paid what you want you must first learn to be worth what you want!  The unfortunate truth is that most of us are paid what we are worth
If we understand that we get a job because of the skills we bring to the workplace then we can design the skills we need to make ourselves valuable and earn the money we desire.  But it takes personal responsibility.  So next time you hear (or think yourself) they don’t pay enough or why does the CEO make more than the Office clerk remember to think on this question – Why do you Get a Job? and remember even during the great depression 70% of the people were working!
Keep Thinking!