'I am so happy...' Some thoughts on Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the next incarnation of Wills and his Kate.

Please make comments if you enjoy these articles.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's Note. To get into the right and proper mood for this article, search any search engine for Sir William Walton's resounding "Crown Imperial." This was the music Their Royal Highnesses heard as they walked the Westminster Abbey red carpet to their future subjects, the cynosure of every eye. Walton was the perfect choice... you'll see.
The State Landau, smart and polished had just driven up to the gate where the newly minted, newly married Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were waiting. The woman who started the day as Kate Middleton, turned to her new husband and said the magic words, so telling because we all felt the sentiment before she even uttered it. "I am so happy," she whispered to her prince, truly charming and a bit abashed by his position this day and perhaps thinking, "Waiting was worth it. I am truly marrying the woman I adore... and everyone is so glad about it. And I do believe she loves me for myself."
The pageantry and ceremony in general.
In the 19th century, the British and their monarchy were a byword for sloppy, disorganized, and often dangerous royal ceremonies. The person who was most instrumental in changing matters was Queen Victoria's "beautiful" (her word) hunk the German princeling Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. From his time at Court in the mid-1800s things got better, slowly but surely, as I detail in my book "Insubstantial Pageant: Ceremony and Confusion at Queen Victoria's Court (1979). By the early 20th century the overall reality of ceremonial muddle had been replaced by a professional approach to showcasing the monarch to his people. The British are now justly renowned worldwide for the flawless pageants that punctuate each sovereign's reign and present him to his subjects and the world just the way he wishes.
The now traditional and punctilious pageantry we expect was very much on display on Friday, April 29, 2011.  It was a joy to watch the  aspects emerge... particularly given the fact that this event operated under peculiar circumstances... the inevitable, could-never-be-avoided comparisons to the pageantry and circumstances of the marriage 30 years before between Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. The marriage and ceremonial arrangements of Diana, Princess of Wales' elder son and his beautiful Kate had to be considered carefully so that all of the inevitable comparisons tilted in favor of the soon-to-be Cambridges... as they most surely did.
Princess Diana's marriage to the heir to "this throne of kings, this England", Prince Charles was an affair of the highest state; after all the groom was the heir to the imperium. In retrospect, what seemed so beguiling at the time appears as more an event than a marriage. Splendor (and perfect coordination) was there... love and affection were not. It was an omen for the tragedy which followed, besmirching the reputation of Prince Charles and ending in Princess Diana's sad demise.
Both of Princess Diana's sons, groom Prince William and justly concerned younger son Prince Harry were clear on what they wanted... a real marriage, a real wedding, true and heartfelt feelings all round.
There is no question but that they got what they wanted... which was a decided relief to the British nation and its Commonwealth... and its Queen, Elizabeth II, who arrived back at Buckingham Palace after the marriage ceremony and proclaimed the day's events "amazing." And so they were...
The Married Couple.
After the cynical, loveless marriage of the groom's mother Princess Diana, the nation and body language experts were on the qui vive for "the truth" about this couple, their wedding, and whether it confirmed (or challenged) the good feelings they had about Wills and Kate, and their pivotal role in establishing just the right reality (not merely image) that will allow the monarchy to flourish after the many crises of the current Royal Family, particularly the much married, much divorced children of Queen Elizabeth, a tawdry, shopworn crew.
April 29th delivered what everyone wanted:  a grounded, affectionate, sincerely attached couple, people who are what they seemed to be, not a scandal waiting to happen.
Kate's gown was the first clue. Lady Diana's overdone gown made her look like a confectioner's bride. Who's idea was the taffeta anyway? But Kate, chic Kate, delivered exactly what one would have wanted for one's own family wedding: a form-fitting dress that breathed classic good taste, undeniable (though understated) elegance. It is the dress of a lady of taste, breeding, good judgement, and, so very visible, care, every one a desirable trait for her future job as one-who-may-be Queen Consort.
The little clues so beloved of commentators and would-be cognoscenti began to stack up:
* The interaction between Princes William and  Harry indicated just how close they are; they needed to be given the scandal and tragedy of their parents' relations. Harry, for all that he's a known wise-acre, will be lonely now; Wills has other things to do which, even with the best will on earth, will limit time with Harry.
* The way he looked at his bride for the first time in her riveting marriage attire... and said, quite simply, "You look so beautiful." And so she did... and what every bride longs to hear, the compliment based on affection, awe, and a dawning awareness that he is really getting married, and to the person he has always wanted.
* The body language. As all the world knows, these two people took some eight years to get acquainted, know each other, argue and make up with each other, and love each other. The time they wisely took enabled them to become and be a couple, then yesterday, a married couple. They move together well; I was interested to see how they left the Abbey, hand in hand, the new Duke of Cambridge putting down the heel of one shoe on the toe of the other, so as not to hurry his duchess in her gown and (not too long) train.
Mad for Kate.
I have long been a Kate Middleton admirer; I thought she had just the right traits of heart and mind to be a truly helpful, loving partner to her prince, the better enabling him to do the important work he must do to transform and improve the monarchy in a world of relentless change. After yesterday, my already substantial admiration has substantially increased. She played her part faultlessly and, more than that, with her new husband's complete concurrence they turned their marriage from an event of monarchy and nation into a true wedding, dedicated to each other and their friends and family, including their great nation.
Everything was done well, thus delivering just what everyone wanted: two deeply devoted people with a great task, historic task before them, ready now together ready to do the best we well know them capable of.
And so the newest Royal Duke is now His Royal Highness of Cambridge, the old shire, not the University and Kate gets what the Duchess of Windsor could only long for, the coveted letters HRH. True, of the many new Royal Dukes of Cambridge since the 17th century, not one has been notable for anything other than his capacity for strong drink and wrong women and oodles of FitzCambridge children, royal byblows. Queen Victoria always had trouble with the Cambridges of her day, but from these self-same Cambridges came a pillar of the dynasty. That pillar was Queen Mary, Elizabeth II's dutiful, God fearing, monarchy reverencing grandmother... may our new duchess find such traits in herself. God Save the Queen (to be) and may she remain happy and glorious!
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also a recognized royal expert and historian having penned 18 best-selling business books. Watch for his online televised interviews about the Royal Wedding of William and Kate. Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

Those magnificent men in their flying machines to fly no more.... as NASA's shuttle program ends and an era with it.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. To get into the right  frame of mind for this article, search any search engine for the music and lyrics to "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" (released 1965, music by Ron Goodwin). Prepare to be aroused as one of the great stories of our lives soars...
For most of us the  space age has a quite specific commencement -- October 4, 1957. That was the launch date of the world's first artificial satellite Sputnik I. I was there. Like every single American, my concerned, curious parents herded my brother and me into the backyard of our suburban Illinois home... as we saw our sense of security destroyed by a 184.3 pound device called a Sputnik. In my mind's eye, I remember the event with complete clarity; I seem to remember, too, that it made a beeping sound... but that may not be so.
What was so was that all the verities of the heartland ended for a generation right then and there.
"Better Red than dead," people said. Was that our new reality? We started to look for Russkies under the bed...
Eisenhower blinked.
Sputnik spooked us at the moment of our greatest power; we thought we were the only game in town... Sputnik was a jolting wake-up call which President Eisenhower, old and full of  honors, missed. A restless Senator John F. Kennedy did not. It was Kennedy who read the thoroughly aroused and anxious public mood better... and in due course made him President of the United States, an office Ike, who established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (October 1, 1958), felt Kennedy unqualified to hold. Maybe so... but Kennedy is rightly seen as the man who galvanized America's fears and turned them into the fuel for conquering space -- and giving us back our lost security.
We had to conquer space... and that meant having a space station and the means to get back and forth to them. From the moment Sputnik flew, 1440 orbits of Earth in only 3 months, the shuttle program was a given. And we put all the king's horses and all the king's men to work on it. The result was the launch of Explorer I (officially Satellite 1958), January 31, 1958. It was the U.S.'s first earth satellite. It was rushed to launch so fast that its tape data recorder was not modified in time to make it onto the satellite. Nonetheless, the nation breathed a sigh of relief... we were back in the game.
Project Mercury followed and the grand era of magnificent men in their flying machines....men whose names the nation knew and whose pictures could be found in every schoolroom of a grateful America... astronaut Alan Shepard (first American in space May 5, 1961)... astronaut John Glenn (first American to orbit the Earth, February 20, 1961)... and all the others... culminating in that never-to-be-forgotten day of American pride,  July 20, 1969 when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked the lunar landscape while Michael Collins orbited above.
These were truly the up, up and away days! We were late to the space game, but having started we approached the matter with characteristic energy, imagination and determination, a great people committed to a great goal.
The first shuttle launch, February 15, 1977.
The shuttle program was our way of saying that our connection with space was a permanent one, that we'd be going back and forth as part of our preparation for ever grander explorations. And so...
2/15/77, OV-101, Enterprise (yes, it was named after the television series), performed its first (taxi) test flight as part of the shuttle program. It never flew in space and was cannibalized for parts.
Then April 12, 1981, OV-102, Columbia, blasted into orbit, becoming the first successful space flight in the space shuttle program. (STS-1, Space Transportation System.) It returned on April 14, 1981, after orbiting Earth 36 times. Columbia carried just two crew members: Apollo veteran John W. Young and rookie pilot Robert L. Crippen.
August 30, 1984, OV-103, Discovery, was first flown on mission STS-41-D, launching two communications satellites and becoming the third operational NASA orbital shuttle following Columbia and Challenger.
But tragedy lay dead ahead.
We must never forget that at the core of the shuttle program was danger. Good men and women, dedicated, our nation's finest, always understood that death was always a possibility. That no matter how often the system was tested; no matter how many experts signed off on the matter, catastrophe was always a real possibility.  They all accepted that as part of the adventure, the great game, the cost of doing business.
January 28, 1986, STS-51-L Challenger, a nation shocked, a nation mourns.
This was supposed to be another day of American triumph; instead,  with the disintegration of the Challenger over the Atlantic Ocean it became a signature day of national mourning.
These 7 crew members gave their lives:
Francis (Dick) Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ronald E. McNair,  Ellison S. Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe; the plucky teacher who meant to teach the world's school children about space and instead taught them all about the shortness of life and the costs of commitment. That day the nation was reminded of the terrible costs that may come when frontiers are challenged. That day, too, the nation was fortunate in its president; Ronald Reagan's decency and empathy were notable. We were all grateful for that.
975 days later, September 29, 1988, STS-26 Discovery launched with five crew members into space, always beckoning, always challenging, with so very much more to discover, study and know.
On February 1, 2003, tragedy struck again and again it was brought home to the nation that the costs of "conquering" space included periodic tragedy as it did this day when STS-107 came to an abrupt and tragic conclusion. Seven crew members died...
Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, David M. Brown, Laurel Clark.
And again the shuttle flew. It was the American way.
Now, however, changing budget priorities have done what no great tragedies succeeded in doing. Thus the shuttle, after just a few more flights, will end, thirty years and 133 missions later. Is this the last word on the matter? For the shuttle, probably; but for space? As long as one child looks up and wonders what there is in the great beyond, determined to find out, this story will never end...
Readers: for a thorough bibliography on the history of the space shuttle, search for "Toward a History of the Space Shuttle: An Annotated Bibliography " compiled by Roger D. Launius and Aaron G. Gillette.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

Review of Extreme Niche Empires

Let me ask you a question. Are you fed up with all the lies and garbage put out by a lot of so-called “GURUS” recently? I know I am.
It is getting crazy out there, paid actors (that are really not that good), fake screenshots of trillion dollar incomes, outrageous claims that are just so far out there they are in ORBIT!
Then we have the “Push Button Millionaire” overhype with magic software that will have $1000s flying out of your computer every time you press that button! Really? Are you serious?
Well, even though I have become the ultimate skeptic as I am sure you are now, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Someone has finally stepped up and is setting the record straight… that person is Sean Donahoe.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you should have heard of Sean Donahoe. He was the guy behind the bestselling Video Marketing Goldmine course earlier this year. He is known for “Telling it like it is!”. I really love his no-BS message and REAL solutions for marketing and what actually works.
There are several things you need to know about Sean. First, his products are top-notch and very high-quality and he consistently over delivers. Second, his stuff just works!
No pie-in-the-sky claims, he will tell you straight “Getting wealthy online is possible but it takes work”. Now, that being said, he does show you how to do things the right way to avoid any pitfalls and hassles to really streamline things dramatically.
That is why I am really excited and writing this today. Sean is doing something AMAZING on April 28th. He is finally releasing his Extreme Niche Empires course. This course has been under wraps for almost a year as he honed, optimized and streamlined one of the most powerful money making strategies I have ever seen (and we have seen 100s of these over the years)
What Sean has done is nothing short of INCREDIBLE. He is going to share how he created an EMPIRE of high-authority autopilot income sites targeting niches that scare almost everyone else off… and he is making a FORTUNE doing it.
Now it’s your turn. This incredible course outline exactly how to do this yourself and do it the EASY WAY. This is not some crazy site building software that will get Google slapped (like many of them did after the recent Google Panda update). No, Sean is very unique, he shows you how to create laser-targeted, high authority sites that the search engines LOVE and rank like crazy.
He has packed this course with a ton of his INSIDER SECRETS that I have never seen anywhere else. This stuff is so powerful that it would blow your mind and has made me even rethink how I do things.
So, go check it out. If you are reading this before April 28th he has some very powerful videos that he is releasing too that will AMAZE you and give you a great idea about what is going on and even share some powerful tactics that you can start using right now.
I encourage you to go watch these videos and learn from one of the true masters of Internet Marketing and someone you should listen to!
 Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

'Happy and glorious...' Kate marries her Wills and every grumbler on earth has a field day. April 29, 2011.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
What can  you say about the quintessential non-event that has over 2 billion viewers showing up to watch with unfeigned interest?
Plenty, if you're Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham, "God save me from  the Queen," she wrote on April 24, as if her pen were filled with acid reflux. "And especially from their Wedding of the Century."
Then she goes on her hackneyed way, "I didn't embrace citizenship of a country defined by its violent rejection of monarchy to turn around and be surrounded by all things royal."
My, my Mother Abraham is in a pother today... and will, if she keeps on this way, be positively apoplectic by the time Kate becomes, at the touch of a golden ring symbolizing eternity, Her Royal Highness and the world oohs and aahs.
Ms. Abraham is Australian (she has to get that in in every column she writes), and Aussies can be amongst the rudest people on earth;  too often priding themselves on just how cheeky and brash they can be. It's a sign of their often blatant need to "grow up" and abandon their egregious manners for better ones. But Abraham just cannot let go...
"Come Friday, the birthplace of the revolution will be lousy with cucumber sandwiches, Pimm's Cups and jelly donuts shaped like hearts (Et tu Dunkin D?)"
Why does the lawful marriage of one young man of striking good looks, a mega-watt smile, good posture and average intelligence to one young woman of intelligence, undeniable beauty, a coal miner's grand daughter who once denied him and broke off their thing, irritate so many... turning otherwise sensible folks into grumps and bores on the subject?
Such people tumble over themselves to recite the reasons for their loud lamentations and hostilities.
* The day for a monarchy has, they assure us, passed... down with the Windsors and every other crowned entity on earth.
* No  one should be so privileged as the Windsors are and their ilk. It's time for them to get with the republican agenda.
* America, as Yvonne Abraham has naggingly reminded, went to war, bloody, long, vicious, to get rid of the very people the wedding glorifies.
* The monarchy is a symbol of all that's wrong with the world... being at once elitist, privileged, coddled, protected, immune from the realities of life from which we should all be suffering, prince or pizza maker.
Let's examine these remarks. Is there anything here beyond unsubstantiated opinion, bias, and the need to mouth off?
First and foremost: this is above all else the celebration of a fundamental rite, marriage, the selection for life of one smitten by another, hopefully equally smitten, or even more. A marriage celebrates the decision to try to love, honor, cherish. For 50% or so of the people so venturing divorce and mayhem loom... but people want to try anyway. And they are glad that their princes, too, embrace the concept.
As clever 19th century British journalist Walter Bagehot (1826-1877) wrote in his insightful book "The English Constitution" (published 1867): "A princely marriage is the brilliant edition of a universal fact, and, as such, it rivets mankind." Spot on.
This marriage will feature more carriages, more guests, more presents, and more media coverage than you got at your wedding... but the heart of this wedding will be the same as yours: "Do you...? Do you...?" And they with all their palaces, wide acres, jewels and powdered footmen to spare will then offer the same simple kiss that you gave your new spouse, the kiss that symbolized your desire to love and live for this now very special person and your sanctified relationship. And at that moment, with that kiss the two billion viewers will be thinking not just of the prince and new princess... but of themselves, of their marriages, their ceremonies... and their personal dreams and illusions. And of how not even princes emerge from fairy tales unscathed.
Their way will feature different problems than yours, but they will face problems all the same. What they are saying is that they want to be with each other as they face these problems. They deserve the same chance that you had and like all newly married couples the same generous good wishes from those of us who know better than they that even princes will need those good wishes in future since no one lives on this planet without costs of every kind and amount.
And as for the comments by designated commentators like Yvonne Abraham, angry that America, the first great republic of modern times, should waste its time watching people whose ancestors robbed, plundered and pillaged amongst us. Have we forgotten that, well have we?
Slow down, darling', most assuredly you have got your knickers in a twist... and every word beside the point.
Our interest in this marriage and attendant events has absolutely nothing to do with being seduced away from our republican constitution and government. Even the question is silly. First, many millions amongst us have a high regard for the old countries of the United Kingdom, England, Scotland, Ireland. They are part of our history and heritage. To abjure them is to abjure a part of ourselves. Why would we ever want to do that? Even the Founding Fathers didn't advocate such a course. The men who had toppled George III and his emblems in every colony worked hard after the Revolution to establish diplomatic relations with England. Then they worked long and hard to turn mere relations into an alliance of heart and mind, not just politics and commerce. The United Kingdom, whose monarchy we rebelled against and expelled from our land, is now our closest ally and friend.
Suppose for a moment that you had once quarrelled with your parents. Suppose terrible things, regrettable things were done and said by you and them. Would that end matters, in grief and recrimination? Certainly not, for are they not your parents still and have you no regard for them and the good things they did? And here's the point: if they invited you to an important event, say a wedding, would you refuse to be friends again? You'd go of course, for auld lang syne.
That is why billions of people will gather round their television sets this Friday, April 29. for us on this side of the Pond at very early hours indeed. We shall watch closely, commenting freely and, for nearly all, in good humor. And when these young now married people go onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace for The Kiss, our hearts will go out to them, not as gaudy royalty but as good people on whose slender shoulders a valued thousand year old institution will in due course be placed. Then they will surely need from us not just cheers, but support. They shall have it from me.
One last word for you, Mother Abraham. In 1999 the citizens of Australia voted in a national referendum about whether to abolish the monarchy and become the Republic of Australia, or not. Your fellow citizens voted  55-45 percent to keep the Windsors and the monarchy.

About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also a noted historian and author 18 best-selling books.  Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

GOP desperate for a winning 2012 presidential candidate. But is it desperate enough for Donald Trump?

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Donald Trump. The name conveys many things
-- open mouth, insert silver foot.
-- knows everything about everything and never hesitates to tell you.
-- braggart
-- billionaire
-- bankruptcies galore
-- women
-- more women
-- much younger women.
And now President of the United States?
He's signaling the nation he  wants it, but there is not a single reputable authority in the land who believes he'll actually throw his oversized hat (for that oversized head) into the ring. Or that he'll ever get into the Oval Office, unless he's got a visitor ticket.
Except, that is, my go-fer Aime Joseph. The other day Mr. Joseph (as we call him) let me know in no uncertain terms that Trump was his pick for president next year. Given the fact that he was rabid for Obama last time round, this is a monumental change of mind.
What caused it?
Mr.Joseph's reasons were these:
-- Trump's demonstrated business acumen.
-- His knowledge and exploitation of the media, giving him near universal name recognition.
-- His money.
-- His money...
Get the picture?
More GOP presidential candidates than ever... no clear-cut leader or even early favorite amongst them.
It has long been a given of American politics that Republicans select presidential candidates they know well and who have generally already run for president before, even if they've lost. This description fits Richard Nixon (defeated 1960, elected 1968); Ronald Reagan (defeated 1968, elected 1980); Robert Dole (defeated for vice president on the Gerald Ford ticket 1976, then defeated for president 1992); John McCain defeated 2000, then defeated again 2008).
The man who fits this mold for 2012 is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, defeated by McCain 2008. But while he's the likeliest at this hour to become the next GOP nominee, the Grand Old Party is not yet ready to crown him.. or Sarah Palin either, who unlike Romney, actually got on the McCain ticket, only to go down to defeat with the man who chose her.
Which leaves the Republicans with the largest field of presidential candidates since 1964.
Here Trump sees his advantage... and with billions at the ready, he'd certainly be a strong candidate, right?
Absolutely not. Take a look at these...
1) First, the little matter of presidential manner, seriousness, temperament and demeanor. We like our presidents to be.... well, presidential. And even a tyke in grammar school will give a reasonable definition of what that means. We want a president (man or woman) who without much stretch fits the truly gigantic shoes of George Washington and company.
For openers Trump's favorite subject is Trump. In fact, he hardly knows another. And when attention turns to that subject, Trump is always ready with yet another egregious, bumptious, tasteless battery of arrogance and self-congratulation. America may have near universal name recognition of the man... but we also know Trump stands for a brand of noisome self-aggrandizement that permanently closes the door to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
2) Complete lack of suitable experience for the presidency. Americans so liked the idea of our first black president that it swallowed Barrack Obama despite his thin resume with national affairs. Still, he was a sitting United States senator at the time of his nomination and election.
Republicans have traditionally been sticklers for offering the nation men who had blue-ribbon resumes with plenty of valid experience. Trump offers absolutely none of that; not a single example of foreign policy experience and (except for specialized tax information) absolutely no experience with any important subject of national affairs. In addition, he has not one scintilla of experience with members of congress. Not a cream puff amongst them, they will soon show a putative President Trump that he needs more than bombast and  one-liners to deal with them.
3) A lifetime of often silly, sophomoric, ill-considered  very much on-the-record remarks.
Trump is quotable alright... in spades. However, his remarks range from mean-spirited to vituperative; just plain stupid to wildly ludicrous. The media of the world love him. Voters won't.
They know the importance of the American presidency; it's the most important office in the world and the nation won't tolerate an ignoramus in the job, for all that he's rich.
4) And while we're on the subject of the Trump billions, I reckon one very good reason The Donald won't run for the roses is his tax returns. He'll have to publish them of course; folks would rightly wonder at their contents if he didn't.
But is Trump willing to bet that the nation and its tax-pressed citizens will overlook any even minor infraction that may surface? Being just the third billionaire to run for president (Nelson Rockefeller 1968 and Steve Forbes 2000),  you can bet your bottom dollar each and every line of every document he is forced to release will be examined under a microscope... forcing Trump to defend the taxes he paid, the deductions he took... thereby pushing his campaign off message for days, weeks... or even stopping it altogether.
5) The women.
Trump has gloried in his ability to pick up chicks, all but his first wife years younger than he is. He should open a museum called Trophy Wives inside one of his casinos. Inquiring minds want to know.
The thing about collecting and discarding chicks (married or otherwise) is that the discarded ones wait a lifetime for sweet vengeance. Trump is a sitting duck. And God only knows how much of the iceberg of domestic catastrophes is known... just the tip?
As for his platform, policies, beliefs, and recommendations for a Trump- lead renaissance? He's on an odyssey around America right now inciting kooks everywhere on the matter of President Obama's right to be president because of where or where he was not born. Yup, Trump's a "birther", despite the fact that the State of Hawaii long ago certified Obama's birth there.  It's typical Trump has lead with an item that has no benefit for America but that ensures buckets of free media attention from shock jocks suckled on conspiracy theories.
In short, it's petty, beside the point, trivial.
In other words, perfect for Trump in these heady days when he looks at his unkempt locks in the mirror and sees a President Trump none of us looking hard can ever see at all for all that he's rich as Croesus.

About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. , providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

'And the days dwindle down...' Thoughts for dear friend and colleague Wallace Johnson upon the occasion of his 86th birthday April 18, 2011.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WALLACE!!!!


Today is a special day, a festive day, a day of  celebration and hijinx... today Wallace Johnson, friend, turns 86 years young; legions of his friends and well wishers will gather via the Internet to toast, to laugh with and to note the day and the man.
Wallace, for all that he was a test pilot with the Apollo Project, (and so truly flew high)  is a man of sentiment, art, culture. So I looked for a suitable song to mark this event, and had no trouble selecting "The September Song" by Kurt Weil (music) and Maxwell Anderson (lyrics). It first appeared in the Broadway musical "Knickerbocher Holiday" (1938).
It is a grand tune with haunting music and a message that grows more apt and poignant day by day.
A host of top artists have recorded this song, and no wonder; Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante (in 1955 in a particularly touching manner). I select Lotte Lenya. She did, after all, know Weill best; she married him twice. Her rendition is mesmerizing. Go to any search engine and find it; let the music and its lyrics envelop you as you read an article straight from the heart on this his special day.
".And the days dwindle down To a precious few September, November And these few precious days I'll spend with you. These precious days I'll spend with you."
Thoughts from a whippersnapper of only 64.
Readers, if you're lucky in life you have a friend and colleague like Wallace. He is dedicated, conscientious to a fault, and he knows the fine art of handling a CEO, which (being the CEO in question) I appreciate more than he knows Today, greatly daring, with grave temerity, this self-same CEO offers a few limpid reflections and observations in the hope that they are welcome...and, more to the point, correct.
1) You've lived.
In 1955 best-selling author Patrick Dennis wrote a pip of an novel entitled "Auntie Mame". It offered this pithy admonition well loved by my mother, "Live! Live! Live! Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death."
Wallace, you are a lucky man; you have lived... you have loved... and most importantly you have been loved, and still are. You have known and lived by the truth of Sigmund Freud's famous observation that the best life is composed of love and work.  It is not given to all to know, much less to benefit from, this.
"Happiness is composed of love and work." (Glück ist Liebe und Arbeit zusammen.")
You have, of course, made errors; not one of us is immune from that. But I suspect, as well as one human can know another, that yours were the faults of generosity. You, I know, are quite capable of giving too much to those who may not have been worth the gift, being neither capable of understanding nor reciprocating. If this is a "fault", it is a good one to have. It is, after all, always better to have given, even if from time to time, to the unworthy. Let a man be evaluated by such errors...and he shall be found, assuredly, a good man, a kind man, a man of heart. That man is you.
2) You  served America proudly, regarding her as needing the support of all who love her, a bastion, not a milch cow for exploitation.
Wallace, you have been since your earliest days, a man who knew the secret of life was always to look up, to the place beyond the rainbows, for it is only by the exertions of untrammeled people that progress can come. You looked up and saw the cosmos as a subject of study, as a great adventure, as a never-ending source of wonder; a place to embrace and excite, never to shrink from. As a test pilot for the Apollo Project during the heady days of its inception and development, you saw first-hand what this great nation can do... no technical impediment too difficult... no vision too unlikely... no destination too remote.
You are one of the very elect who can say, and proudly, "I was there... and it mattered." And so it did. The salary was meager; the hours long; the effect profound and inspiring. And you were there, dedicated.
3) You have been a great teacher.
Ask a new member of our Worldprofit community to name a single member, a single monitor, and the odds are overwhelming they will name you. I know why. First because you saw in us the best of you and in joining did no lip service but made the most serious of commitments. You resolved not merely to take, but to enhance, improve, and through every season and year, to give.
You learned our innovative business... you excelled.  You understood, as so many have not, that the Internet is not a destination; it is a process, a process of  connecting the members of our species, wherever they are located, so that they may communicate the very best of which we are capable.
You embraced this mission as you embraced all your missions: with seriousness of intent, with full commitment, and with an unexampled talent for training other good people worldwide who understood the vital importance of our monitor program and wanted to add their talents to the corps epitomized by you. As such you have, first, touched the lives of these monitors, directly, personally, diplomatically, thoroughly. In turn these monitors, with their important tasks, have touched the lives of untold thousands, who may perhaps never know they have benefited from you and your gift of giving.  But they most assuredly have.
4) You have helped your CEO, a "lad" still on the sunny side of Social Security, just.
Wallace, many people today, and on many days to come, will extol  your virtues, and rightly so. But I am the only man in the universe who can extol you for this: that you have helped your CEO, not least by your empathy, diplomacy, and the art of knowing just when to offer home truths, the better to attend to them... and to listen. I appreciate your deftness... and your unflagging assistance.
Many people, 2 decades and more senior in age, would have found ways to roil the waters. You chose  with consummate loyalty, to smooth the road... without the slightest hint of servility or arriere pensee. You have been amidst so many loyal, the most loyal of all.
You have given me the benefit of wisdom, without condescension. You have listened... you have spoken candidly... you have reminded when necessary and "forgotten" when prudent. I am appreciative, in your debt, impressed and grateful.
"And these few precious days, I'll spend with you."
If we are known and greatly defined by the company we keep, then surely we are here at Worldprofit, all of us the beneficiaries of this: that from a multitude of other companies and opportunities, Wallace Johnson selected us.
Now my 86th birthday gift to you, Wallace, is this:
May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face...
(ancient Irish prayer).
Wherever you go, whenever you go there, you take a particle from us with you, just as we carry a bit of you on our own unique journey through time and space.
Readers: for more information on Wallace Johnson and the Apollo Project, visit any search engine.

About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

Admonition to myself: 11-hour workdays boost heart disease risk.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Actung! I am writing this article for myself... and for the legions of ultra-busy people who work 11 hours a day or more. We are the people who keep the world going... but to be able to do so, we need to stay healthy and alive.
On April 6, 2011 Bloomberg News reported that we're at risk and need to take immediate action to minimize the problem.
The facts.
Adults who worked 11 hours a day or more had a 67 percent higher risk of developing coronary heart disease than those who worked eight hours, a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine reported (April 5, 2011). The researchers also found that by adding working hours to a standard heart attack risk assessment model, they could increase the accuracy of heart disease predictions by 5 percent.
Heart disease, the nation's leading killer.
According to the National Institutes of Health, heart disease is the nation's leading killer. More and more people succumb to it because more and more people are working more and more hours, making ours the least leisured generation ever, the one with the greatest challenges and risks.
Remarks by Mike Kivimaki, project lead researcher.
Current evidence on coronary heart disease prevention emphasizes the importance of focusing on the total risk rather than single risk factors. "People who work long hours should be particularly careful in following healthy diets, exercising sufficiently, and keeping their blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood glucose within healthy limits," said project director Kivimaki.
Srihari Naidu, director of the Cardiac Catheteriization Laboratory at Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, New York, said these data show that how people live -- their stress levels, sleeping, eating, and exercise habits -- can affect their risks for heart disease. "The choices we make in our lifestyle may have consequences," Naidu said.
Study details.
The research followed 7,095 civil service workers in London who were ages 39 to 62 at the start of the trial. They were screened for heart disease every five years. The study found that 192 people developed heart disease over 12.3 years of follow up. Those who worked 10 hours a day had a 45 percent higher risk of heart disease than those who worked seven to eight hours.
Self-Talk for myself.
If you're one of those people who work 10 hours plus a day, listen up. I'm one of you.... and like you I need to take such warnings with more seriousness. So, for me, for you, I've created a list which I intend to keep right next to my computer. You should, too....
1) Don't ignore this warning, the way you've ignored previous warnings.
You're no spring chicken; you're getting older... and if you want to get older still, don't just read these survey results... LIVE THEM!
The plain fact is, researchers have known for a long while the risk factors causing heart disease. You've seen, what, a few dozen warnings... and managed to ignore most of them, not the least of which comes from your physician as he urges you for the umteenth time to stop smoking.
Personal note: I don't smoke cigarettes, never have. That's a must for all those who value life over nicotine.
2) Get up and boogie.
I spend my entire, extended work day at the computer. To force myself to get up, I keep a list of peppy, jump-up music readily at hand. Who doesn't want to get up and boogie when the song is Michael Jackson's "Don't stop 'til you get enough".... or any other lively number that gets more than your feet moving.
Music on... jump up... and move that body.
Okay, so you're not Fred Astaire. So what? Exercise and its benefits are for the do-er, not the watcher... and it's your heart we want to keep in tip-top shape.
3) Walk.
Make it a point to walk, briskly too, at least 40 minutes a day. 
Walk, too, every other chance you can... to the post office, the barber, to the local cinema. You know the advantages of walking; you've known them all your life. Now decide to do something. Leave the car at home... and walk.
4)  Eat small portions more often.
The obesity phenomenon which was once pretty much an American affair has gone universal with a vengeance.  Heart disease and excess pounds are, we know, related. But you can start solving this problem... today... by eating  more often throughout the day but eating less.
Here, too, I bet you already know what  to do.... you just aren't doing it. So, vow to make changes now, exchanging those high sugar, high salt, high fat foods for celery and company.
Get over the "giving up" mentality. Replace with the "here's what I'm getting" mentality.  What you get here is plain: more of the distinctly limited time which is the most important thing you can get. Getting more time is the absolutely essential thing, and you have it within your power to get more of it.
Now for strictly work-related observations.
There are many reasons for working 10 hours a day or more. You might have hefty bills to pay and need the extra bucks. You might like the finer things of life. You might think yourself, and actually be, indispensable to your business. You might even be one of those who works hard to avoid the turbulence of unceasing family problems. Whatever your reason... enough is enough.
1) Review what you do, everything you do. What is essential and what merely desirable? It's time to find and jettison what you can. Put your daily work life and activities under a microscope and scrutinize closely.
2) Got people who can help?  Learn to delegate. No, these people will NEVER be as good at what you do as you are... but they're there and good enough to assist. Besides, they can learn. Cutting back on one task or another may give them the chance to show what they can do to help you even more.
3) Ask yourself how much good you really do in your 10th or 11th  hour on the job, where the principle of diminishing returns applies.
Can you legitimately postpone a task until tomorrow? Is the physical price you pay, the extra fatigue, not to mention cumulative health risks worth overworking today... when it could easily be done, and freshly so, tomorrow?
You determine your fate.
The ancient Greeks believed that Clotho spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle; Lachesis measured the thread of life with her rod, and Athropos cut of the thread of life and chose the manner of a person's death.
Now you have replaced them all... how much of life, even the matter of your death, is at the very least influenced by you. I want more of it... and I now vow to do everything to lengthen my thread, not curtail it. Will you join me? Lach haim.

About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. , providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

The eagle has landed! Raptor Resource Project Decorah, Iowa Eagle Cam.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
You've heard of  "The Eagle Has Landed"  before. It was a best-selling novel by Jack Higgins in 1975; then, in 1976, a big budget film starring Michael Caine et al, with a soaring score by Lalo Schifrin. The plot centered on the Nazi attempt to capture Winston Churchill and bring him to Germany. It had swash and buckle and derring-do to beat the band.
But you know what? This article on a family of Bald Eagles in America's heartland is far more exciting, indeed mesmerizing -- and I say it who is not known for nature lore or for climbing every mountain.
See for  yourself.
Before you dig into this article, go to any search engine and search for the Raptor Resource Project Decorah (Iowa) Eagle Cam. Once you've found it (easy), you'll have trouble shutting it off (hard). I went to have a look; stayed for a couple of hours; went back later and was captivated watching an adult feed the chicks; then (in the middle of the night) back again to make sure all was well. The late afternoon winds had died down; the night was serene and the adult had the chicks under belly, snug and well fed.
My fascination is shared by hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children worldwide, many of whom get so involved in this fascinating story that they pack up the kids and head to Decorah to see the reality show live. So many people visited the Eagle Cam Saturday, April 2, 2011 (over 100,000 that day) that the Raptor Project's website crashed... it was the only thing that went down that day. Everything else about the eagles and their enthusiastic following was up, up, up.
First hatch 4/1/2011.
What the world and its brother has been paying attention to is this:
First egg laid 2/23/2011
First hatch 4/1/2011... Second hatch 4/3/2011... Third hatch 4/6/2011
This information is posted as it happens on the RRP blog, which under the guiding hand of Amy Ries, one of the dedicated band that runs this show, provides maximum access and information without jeopardizing what makes the project enthralling: ready, close-range access to the eagles... without spooking the raptors and making them anxious.
Amy's blog entry for Friday, April 1, 2011 was characteristic:" Eagles incubate for roughly 34-37 days, according to a number of online sources. Last year, the Decorah eagles laid three eggs: one on February 5, one on February 28, and one on March 5. The first eaglet hatched on April 3. This year, the eagles starting laying eggs a little earlier, but had the exact same spread: February 23, February 26, and March 2nd." Then follows a clear, well-written post on eagle incubation, including a detailed answer to the questions inquiring minds want to know: who takes care of the eggs better, male or female?
The answer: "The female eagle incubates more, but the male shares incubation duties as well."
Blog comments left by the faithful are numerous, enthusiastic, heartfelt, and revealing. Many queries are left about just what the eagles are eating for themselves and feeding the chicks... about how the chicks are faring... about whether the eagles and their eaglets are all doing well. The Raptor Project turns humans of any age into concerned friends, god parents and adopted relations. These parent eagles and their adorable (and they are) chicks touch us, each and every one. We want them to do well and our concern is palpable, sincere, highly credible to us and good to know, since we humans are the greatest menace to the eagles. After all, it was only the other day that eagles were almost gone.
Bob Anderson to the rescue, doing more than his bit for raptor preservation.
Though many have helped in the development of RRP, one person above all deserves the kudos. That person is Bob Anderson, the executive director, Founding Father, with a distinct resemblance to Bob Keeshan, Captain Kangaroo. He first provided his first public feed of bird cams in 1991. That was from a falcon's nest mounted halfway up an 800-foot-tall electric plant smokestack in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota.
He launched his first eagle camera in 2003 at another power plant in Colorado. He pointedly set up an osprey cam on Earth Day 1993, to remind folks that important as RRP and its work is, it is but a part of a global problem we ignore at our peril. He has never done so.
As for his beloved eagles, they have perched in a tree behind Anderson's "mission control" operation; (a garage lent by Willard and Mary Ellen Holthaus) for 5 years. He knows their fascinating habits well. The male eagle, for instance, is markedly smaller than the female; the gal he's with now is his second mate. They seem contented and are certainly prolific.
Too much of a good thing?
For years, many years, Bob Anderson and a few friends and supporters labored tirelessly, hardly known, the work hard, exhausting, and obscure. The Internet and streaming video changed all that forever. The raptors Anderson wanted to save and preserve now became, as they are now, the acknowledged stars of a production with mind-boggling visibility, popularity, and renown. At any given time, over 100,000 people are viewing the raptors at home. There have been, so far, more than 30 million views...
Founding Father Anderson is pleased of course. These majestic creatures, the very symbol of our great republic (since 1782) should be seen and appreciated by all. Above all birds the eagle must thrive and soar. But here there are dangers, too.
The website crashes too often; well-meaning visitors cut through the yards and lawns of the good, so-far uncomplaining citizens of Decorah and vicinity, turning Anderson into a diplomat. New equipment is needed... and new conservation projects need funds. And all this must be accomplished without disturbing, frightening, or threatening the eagles themselves. That above all.
A couple of bucks would help. Like so many of our essential non- profit organizations, crucial to our entire way of life, RRP has done wonders with very little. This can only work so long. Frankly, sending them a few bucks would cost you little and ensure the continuing success not only of Raptor Research Project but the eagles at its center.
As for me, today I shall check in at Raptor Cam. I was worried yesterday that the littlest chick, perhaps the newest born, was somewhat neglected during feeding time, and I want to see for myself that all is well.
Note: Send your tax-deductible contributions to
Raptor Research Project ATTN Bob Anderson, Executive Director 2325 Siewers Spring Road Decorah, Iowa 52101-7501
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.  Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

It's time for your bonfire of excuses. Reflections on getting out of your own way, seizing success today

Here is another helpful article by Dr. Lant.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
One way and another I have been in business for, what, over 40 years.
I have created and run businesses, right up to the present.
Taught  thousands of business students of every age.
Written 18 business books and thousands of business articles.
Had a nationally syndicated radio program on business.
But you get the point. Having now established, I trust, my bone fides, I am going to have my say about why so many people who say they want to be entrepreneurs will never, ever succeed in business.
Hint: it's something millions of entrepreneurs do daily that keeps them firmly amongst the also-rans.
It's the matter of excuses. The better you are at making them, the less good you are at making money and the less success overall.
Thus, today I want to propose a new and absolutely essential project for yourself...  retiring your characteristic excuses, one at a time, and then burning them in the most important fire of your life, the bonfire of excuses.
First, hear what you say and perceive how deeply ingrained excuses are in your conversation.
Language is made up of building blocks, starting from letters of the alphabet, through words, phrases, etc. By the  time we're adults most of us have long since stopped paying attention to the building blocks of communication; we talk, we hope others listen to what we say because we're not listening to it ourselves. Why should we? We know what we mean, right?
Your first task today is to put yourself and your daily attempts to communicate under a microscope. To root out excuses you must first know you make them. Are you aware, for instance, how often you blame lack of time to invest in your business for your failure get ahead?
This is a classic excuse, with innumerable variations.
Here excuse means to cite as a cause for failure or inaction an event, person, or thing which in point of fact has absolutely nothing to do with the matter; to excuse yourself from responsibility and provide a spurious reason for lack of progress, growth, success. In the process you deceive all and sundry; most importantly you deceive yourself.
Let's look at one crucial area where your facility with making excuses is killing your profits and growth: ad copy. When was the last time you reviewed each and every ad you're paying good money to run? I bet it's been a long, long time (if at all). Instead of reviewing  your ads, keeping track of all your responses and profits, knowing how much these ads cost, and then retiring the losers, you instead say "I would have done it, but I was too busy."
This is, of course, rubbish.
The long and short of the matter is that you
1) didn't budget time;
2) let lesser activities take precedence, in part because you were slothful and they were easier;
3) therefore let unresponsive, unremunerative ad copy continue without a plan for reviewing, removing, re-doing.
If you are to stop and permanently eradicate from your business life the crippling excuses which are so damaging to your success, you must be willing to see yourself as the clear problem... and do what it takes to radically change your ways.
As regards the above matter of reviewing ad copy, you need to scrutinize your current daily activities (how many hours did you say you took for "breaks"?) and ruthlessly drop the activities which aren't paying and rigorously substitute those that either save you money, make you money, or both.
"I don't have the money."
Think of the machines, the personnel, the training, the marketing and advertising, the research and development your business requires. It can be, and for many is, daunting.
Thus when asked why you have an outmoded computer or Internet services, etc. you offer without thinking that you "don't have the money". More rubbish.
The truth is you most likely have not reviewed each and every dollar you spend, to determine (with the most severe scrutiny) just where it all goes... and, taking the matter one step further, to where it ought to go.
Thus, your knee-jerk response, offered over and over again, is that you lack the funds.
"My computer is old, but I just don't have the money..."
"My delivery van needs to be traded  in for a new one and the correct, updated advertising information painted on it, but I just don't have the money..."
"I know I look like a homeless person, but I just don't have the money for suitable clothes..."
Each and every one of these commonly-used excuses spurns the truth in favor of this very popular excuse. And so, daily, you hobble  your business... by your own failure to review  your situation, see things as they are, and make the necessary decisions accordingly. You don't need an excuse... you need a psychiatrist.
Why do you do it? Whatever your reasons, excuses are anathema... the bane of business success... the root of diminished expectations and realities.
Fortunately, you can start the necessary changes.... today!
You now have a choice: to continue making excuses, passing them off as facts when they are anything but... or ruthlessly eradicating them, from this moment. Some of you, through inaction, will keep your current situation; making excuses, not money.
But if you're determined to grasp maximum success, you'll thank me for this necessary wake-up call and follow these steps to the letter:
1) As stated, review what you say and how you say it.
2) Don't create excuses which attempt to pass off as facts your faulty suppositions, unproven deductions, and general inaccuracies.
3) Put the harshest light on what you do and say; determine whether it makes you money, or not, and reform accordingly.
4) Beginning today, now, keep a pad with you at all times, and as you hear yourself making an excuse, any excuse, write it on  your pad as a configuration of  words due to be expunged.
5) Try to remove at least one excuse from your speech every day. As you do so, write the inhibiting phrase on a page. Then take it out to your barbecue and burn it.... burn it completely, thoroughly, until absolutely nothing is left. This marks your transition from excuse maker to problem solver. You are already on the heady road to... MORE of what you want, rather than excuses for what you didn't have and could never get under your old regime. Happily, you are about to be a better and a richer person. Let me be the first to congratulate you.

About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses.
 Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

Thoughts on storage: needed, frustrating, a treasure trove... but not for the kids.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Over the course of the last several months, I have been engaged in one of life's unappealing necessities, sorting through dozens and dozens of boxes packed (often years and years ago) with an array of things dubbed too valuable to be thrown away, or at the very least items which deserved another look, later.
Well, "later" has now arrived, and I am engaged in the business of well and truly sorting through each and every one of these stored items, deciding which can now be thrown away, which will be donated to places like Goodwill Industries and The Salvation  Army, which ones will be kept... and (here we go again)... which ones  will remain in storage,
Today I intend to share with you  all my thoughts on this inevitability of life... partly because no one I know will listen to what I have to say on the matter. My friends are tired of providing a willing ear. They are  polite but firm: say no more on this matter, or we shall bore you, too, with the ups and downs of our own storage problems... and the garage sales we've had to organize. This threat is sufficient. I shut up.
But you, I hope, will indulge me; at least this once. There is that about sorting things in storage  which craves a congenial ear. May I have yours for a bit?
What went into storage.
The plain fact of the matter is that we all, every last one of us, has far too many things. What's worse, since we all have elements of the pack rat about us, not only do we acquire things; we are loathe to sacrifice anything on the off chance that we will need it one day. That's the first problem; we're deluding ourselves. We should all be tougher with ourselves on the matter of what we save. But we cannot. You see, things are evidence that we have passed this way, and we want as many tell-tale markers as possible. Still, the sorting process should begin the day you first think that you require storage.
In my case, I had the usual "good" reasons for resorting to commercial storage facilities. There was, first of all, my mother's possessions. Some of these had a substantial value; others, the sentimental ones, were even more important. These things have been stored for years in California; three thousand miles away from me.
A good friend, probably a saint, helped me pack these items. I was depressed that day; my mother was failing and I just couldn't deal right then with the thought of losing her. Packing boxes was something necessary; it was also therapeutic. But it only postponed the inevitable problem of sorting the items and making irrevocable decisions.
My friend offered to keep these boxes, each one filled with memories, until I decided what to do with all the items. I told my brother and sister what I had and that we should early decide who gets what. But they have mountains of their own things. It wasn't that they didn't want maternal mementoes; they just didn't want them then and trusted me to share when they were ready. I mentioned the matter to my sister the other day and she said, "Not yet".
In the way of these things, the favor my dear friend gave me went from a few weeks.... to years. It was scandalous, I know, to take advantage of her that way; even the frequent  presents I sent were inadequate. But she said she didn't mind; she had them in her attic.
Finally I ran out of excuses and said the many boxes could be shipped to me. And so they were. My assistant Aime Joseph and I opened the boxes; he with care, I  with trepidation soon confirmed. There was so much... all "important"... every piece needing attention and clarity. The books were the most difficult of all. My mother was an avid reader as I am. Often we read the same book at the same time, a continent between us which meant nothing when we discussed our findings.
I found her volumes of Robert Browning the hardest to deal with. She loved him so... "That's my last duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive." I put this book and many others amongst my working library. I can see the cherished Browning from here.
Unpacked, too, was all her jewelry. I had given much of it, one Christmas, one birthday after another. These items are being kept for my niece Chelsea and nephew Kyle and his wife, when he has one. Chelsea asked if she could take one of the pieces, a jewelled dragonfly, to college. My official reason for declining was the number of light fingered folk in the dormitory and her tendency to be over trusting. But in truth, I wasn't ready to let even that go -- yet.
In fact, as each box was opened, Mr. Joseph would cluck and ask me just where I would put what was in it. Miraculously, we found a home for everything... until the others want some for themselves.
The other, bigger storage project.
The second storage project was arguably even more difficult, for it involved 4 large rooms packed to the ceiling with stuff which I had obviously found significant enough to pay thousands of dollars each year to keep. But enough was enough...
Mr. Joseph and I have been working on this project for months now. There are, after all, thousands of objects to be sorted, including items from every epoch of my life. Each week Mr. Joseph goes to the storage facility and, with his cell phone, he lets me know what's left in the first room, now nearly emptied. Then he brings me the boxes... each one filled with one conundrum after another.
What does one do with one's first suit, worn at age 3, well over half a century again? I can't get rid of it... I just can't. It's hanging in my closet, safe for now.
And the teddy bear that soothed me 6 decades ago? No one,  including me I am ashamed to admit, remembers his name; I call him now "The Old Gentleman" and he seems content. Some people no doubt think it odd to see him here, but he and I go back a lifetime, and such bonds must be respected and ensured.
I am more ruthless with my things than with my mother's. Mr. Joseph makes regular deliveries of my books; ten thousand books, perhaps more, given away without a pang.
In the middle of this unceasing project, it occurs to me that, even with great disposals, there is far too much remaining. And if the point of keeping them seems clear to me, it will surely perplex and baffle the folks getting all this. What can "The Old Gentleman" mean to them? I have advised them, in my will, to be ruthless, but I know my flesh and blood. They will be unable to do so, try though they might.
"I can't give away the chairs Uncle Jeffrey wrote his books in... or the typewriter... or the pewter mug his friends engraved for him on his 21 birthday, in Scotland. I just can't."
And so, in due course, I, with the best intentions, will become a puzzle for them... a puzzle which they will defer, postponing resolution, by storing. Thus one generation succeeds another, overwhelmed by things, too much stored, grand resolutions for dispersal, but guilty whatever we do. You know what I mean. 

About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.  Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

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Eating with history. The story of the newest acquisition to my collection, quondam property of the dukes of Devonshire.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
This is a story of unimaginable wealth, the highest social position in the land. It is a story of palaces and prime ministers and master craftsmen. It is the story of another Kennedy tragedy you don't know about and of monumental taxes and forced sales. It is the story of murder.
And it is the story of me, who now has en route from New York, two massive silver dishes, captivating, their "wow factor" apparent to even the most obtuse and least perceptive. Even such people can feel that these are something very special...and so they are.
First, the man who commissioned them.
In 1811, a young man named William George Spencer Cavendish succeeded to the title and fortune of the Dukes of Devonshire. Born in 1790, he thus became at  a stroke the richest peer in England. He was already a master in the art of burning through money quickly. His father's man of business, Mr. Heaton, warned the 5th duke, his father, thus:
"My Lord Duke, I am sorry to inform your Grace that your son appears disposed to spend a great deal of money."
The 5th duke's laconic reply was "So much the better, Mr. Heaton, he will have a great deal to spend." We could all wish for a father so sensible and so rich.
Now master of the largest fortune in England, the young man... spent it. On everything you could think of... and then on things, very expensive, eccentric things, which only the very, very rich can even imagine. One of those things was the grandest fountain in Europe, which shoots its spray up to 300 feet. It was built for the intended visit of Tsar Nicholas I to Chatsworth, the duke's country place. But the Tsar didn't come after all and never saw it.  It didn't matter... the money kept rolling in.... and out.
In the mid 1820s, this prince of purchasers got around to silver. And like everything this seasoned connoisseur touched, it had to be not merely grand but opulent, excessive, in your face, and of course "unique, Your Grace, quite unique."  So he went to the master silversmith Robert Garrard.
When Robert Garrard took over the firm in 1802 it already had a long history with sovereigns and princes. It had started in 1722 with George Wickes. Frederick, Prince of Wales, father of King George III was a major patron. Where princes buy, trendy lesser folk will buy, too.  And so it proved with the family Garrard. They knew the secret of entrancing fickle potentates. Such grandees wanted things unique, finely crafted, and excessive. Garrard was an expert in satisfying even the most difficult... and so he and his master craftsmen set to work on a silver service that was, quite simply, the finest in Europe, which meant the  finest in the world. Both the 6th duke and Robert Garrard knew what they were about... and of course cost was never, ever a factor.
The duke wanted one thing and  one thing only: perfection...
... and he got it!
In due course, pieces from this lavish service began to arrive at Chatsworth, the focus of the Cavendish empire. Each piece was  hallmarked. Each piece featured the splendid ducal coat of arms... and all the serving dishes featured the ducal coronet with the strawberry leaves meant for dukes and dukes only. The most discriminating aristocrat in Europe was satisfied... or as satisfied as a restless man with a connoisseur's eye and the means to gratify could ever be.
And so the story might have ended here, with a splendid silver service doing its bit to create an ambiance fit for a duke and his suitably impressed guests. But the story does not end here because humans do end. We die... and our possessions... migrate to others, all of whom have stories, too. Fast forward, then, to Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire.
Born in 1895, succeeded to the dukedom -- and of course the still complete silver service designed by Robert Garrard in 1825 -- in 1938.
Still rich, still powerful, still owning and living with an overabundance of things rich, famous, astonishing, Cavendish and every other aristocrat now had a very potent enemy: taxes, especially death duties. These could be circumvented but only by establishing trusts. These could pass properties largely intact to eager heirs... but only if the strict requirements were met. But things went wrong, disastrously wrong. The Cavendishes and their world were vulnerable.
First the heir, Lord Hartington along with his wife "Kick"" Kennedy, JFK's favorite sister, was killed in a plane crash (1944).  Both families, a la "Romeo and Juliet", had bitterly opposed the marriage; like "Romeo and Juliet" the lovers married anyway... and died together tragically.
Then the duke died, amidst a background of murder and scandal. The duke's sister, Lady Dorothy, wife of  Harold Macmillan (my distant cousin) and future British Prime Minister (1957-1963)  was having a notorious affair with another Tory politician Robert Boothby, enfant terrible and practised bi-sexual seducer.
Conspiracy theories abound about the 10th duke's death. Why was the death certificate fudged; why had the coroner not been contacted as by law he should have been? What had the freemasons to do with the matter... and, most of all, was he murdered... or die naturally?
Whatever the facts (and they are suggestive and controversial to this day), the duke was dead (1950), a few months before his asset-saving trust became operational. Mourning, devastated, the House of Cavendish now needed mountains of cash. The result was Christie's auction of "Highly Important Old English and French Silver from the Chatsworth Collection" (June 5, 1958) A large part (but not all)  of the 6thh duke's magnificent silver service went on the block, including two over-the-top meat dishes, 5,038 grams of silver, hallmarked by Robert Garrad, with the resplendent ducal coat of arms, the finial with ducal coronet and strawberry leaves.
These are now winding their way to me, and the next part of their destiny, the next part of the story, but only the next. For these glorious items have a life long beyond mine. The saddest thing of all is I will not be here to know it.
But for now, for now, they are mine all mine. I shall enjoy them immensely and tell all those who dine from them the story I have just shared with you, for now I am part of their story, gladly so, forever more.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also an avid art collector and author of 18 best-selling business books.
 Republished with author's permission by Ray Wisniewski <a href="http://cashgrowthunlimited.com/

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