An Open Letter to President Obama: You Scare Me!

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA


The follow was reportedly written by Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.

The letter was supposedly sent to the editor of the New York Times in response to an editorial. But the times didn't print it.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me. You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support. You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others. You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America ' crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector. You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.


Lou Pritchett

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When Reconnecting is a Sticky Situation.

I suppose it's inevitable in life, especially as one grows older, to ask yourself the question: "What ever happened to ?"

Someone you knew in school, work, or perhaps an old girl/boyfriend.

It is to the latter this article addresses.

Particularly if the other person broke up with you it's probably normal to eventually wonder what became of them. I think it has as much to do with general curiosity as it does with wondering if their choice to leave you work out better or worse for their life.

There no doubt is an element of ego involved. No one wants to find out their ex-girl or boyfriend met someone soooo much better looking, richer, more exciting etc. and has lived a fabulous life without you! As impolite as it may seem, I think at some level you hope they ended up in much worse situation without you!

So with that in mind, I had set out to see if I could find a couple of old ex-girlfriends.

One girlfriend from college I did find. She looked like an older version of how I remembered her from school. If you liked her then you would like her now. And if not, the same. There's more I can say about her but I'll save that for another article. Suffice to say, I'm doing much better without her than would have with!

Another was a more difficult to find.

I ended up finding her on Facebook.

When I first contacted her she said she didn't remember me. Not sure if I should be insulted or not! Then I reminded her of some of the things we did, places we went while dating. Now she remembered.

Here's where it gets sticky.

For one thing, we had a great sex life. We only dated couple of months but almost from the beginning (second date I think it was) the hormones were flowing and we weren't going to stop them. (Yes, my wife knows about her so if she reads this article it will be no surprise. Besides, she knows she married a stud!) I would like to think we had much more than just a sexual relationship (no booty calls) but since she isn't here with me now I guess it wasn't enough.

So it gets a bit sticky (no pun intended) talking to an ex-girlfriend when the main things you remember about her were the places you went and the great sexual exploits you had there. We messaged back and forth for a bit with small talk about what we did after breaking up, getting married, kids, travel, etc.

I don't at all regret having lost her. Otherwise I wouldn't have met and married Mrs. MasterPo, wouldn't have 2 crazy cats and an insane dog, and definitely wouldn't have had my beautiful daughter. I have nothing to regret about, especially since I do believe (and I'm not saying this as sour grapes) she was probably cheating on me while we were dating.

I found out that a little less than a year after we broke up she had gotten married. Not unusual per se just the speed at which it happened was surprising. I know people can meet, engage and marry very quickly but as the line from Alanis Morissette goes "It was a slap in the face how quickly I was replaced". And I think she knows it too. The tone of her message seemed a bit nervous and apprehensive.

Based on further information she had a child almost immediately after marriage. For all I know she may have met this guy, had sex with him too and got pregnant all while still seeing me. I can't prove any of it but the timing is odd.

Nevertheless, what does it really matter? The past is water under the bridge and knowing details now won't change the out come of life. Some mysteries are probably better left unknown and just taken as they happened. At least I got to see a recent picture of her. Not bad looking. But definitely lost much of the youthful features I remember. Yea it's superficial but what the heck.

When you reach out to reconnect you gotta expect some residue to stick.

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MasterPo Reviews "The Dirty Bomb Diaries"

MasterPo will again break his rule about reviewing entertainment (it's my rule and I can break it if I want to!). Although made for entertainment I believe it does have some very important and timely consideration for the world we live in now.

As before, this article contains spoilers so if you don't want to know the plot don't read it!

You've been warned.

"The Dirty Bomb Diaries" is a 16 part series of short videos by creater/write/producer Sean Hinchey that portray the events of a terrorist dirty bomb being exploded in a major city in the U.S. The videos are available on Youtube or download via Tivo.

The main character is a young woman in her mid-20's. She has just moved into an apartment by herself after having lived with several roommates for some time. Apparently her family is in another part of the country as she is using her laptop PC and webcam to create these diary entries, although some of the camera angles are clearly not possible with a webcam but I don't hold that against the series. It isn't mentioned exactly which city she is in put judging from the style of apartment she is in, the local TV images shown (palm trees are clearly seen), her day trip to the beach, and her mentioning the bomb was detonated at "the seaport" and later it is said the wind is supposedly carrying most of the fallout out to sea I'm going to presume someplace in California, Probably L.A..

The story is rather typical of this type of plot as seen in other dirty bomb terrorist movies like "At Your Back Door" and the BBC production "Dirty War" (which I highly recommend watching!!). In her first diary entry at the end there is a flash and out her window in the distance a large dark cloud is seen rising up over the city. In later diary entries she discusses briefly how the news says it's a dirty bomb, how people at work are talking about what does it mean, what to do, etc. Then in later installments she describes how the electric power and water supply has been on and off more frequently and for longer periods of time, how the supermarket shelves are being emptied and not restocked, how her telephone and cell phone aren't working, how the roads are congested and she can't get a flight out even though lots of planes (presumably military or disaster relief) keep coming in, and how even her boss has told her not to come in to work for the foreseeable future. Later episodes deal with her having to scavenge for food and supplies, working with a black marketer for supplies and even buying a gun, and fending off an attack from an unknown man presumable intent on at least rape. Throughout the whole series she laments over the lack of official information as to what happened, what is being done to help, the shortage of supplies and the apparent blockade of the city even though military forces are seen coming in out our routinely (jets flying over head, military troop transports, even rumor of an aircraft carrier off the coast).

There's much more but I can't give it all way. Watch it yourself.

At first my reaction to this series, besides being a typical plot, was: this girl is an idiot! (not the actress, the character)

So much of the first couple of installments deal with her (and her friends/co-workers) not knowing what a dirty bomb is, what it means, even going out to work and about in a contaminated zone like nothing happened! She even waits to go to the supermarket, to try to stockpile water, can't seem to understand why her phone won't work, and even expects to be able to get a commercial flight out of the city several days after the explosion! She has no thought about stockpiling supplies, even the warning signs of radiation poisoning.

But then I re-thought: Maybe that is the point of the series?

Perhaps the producers are trying to show how even in this day and age in a post-9/11 world so much of the American population is uninformed and frankly uncaring and unconcerned about the very real threat of nuclear terrorism or nuclear attack. Even at a time when Iran is going full speed at developing nukes and North Korea is lobbing missiles towards the West Coast like bottle rockets on the 4th of July a great many people think it's no big deal.

Can't really blame them. Even our esteemed President Obama sees nothing to get very excited about with North Korea and is on record saying Iran as the right to develop nuclear capability. So if the President isn't troubled about it why should Joe and Jane Citizen worry?

Of course, that was the kind of think that helped make 9/11 possible. But after all, that was 8 years ago. Let the past be the past. These things will happen in life. And we deserved it anyway for meddling in the affairs of others.

Right?

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Boaters World Is Going Out of Business – Why You SHOULD Care!

(Update: Subsequent to writing this article Boaters World has in fact closed its doors for good.)


Boaters World is a national chain of retail stores that sells items and accessories for, yup you guessed it, boaters! Not just boaters but also kayakers, water skiers, fishermen etc. They carry all kinds of equipment, riggings, electronics, parts and accessories as well as clothing.

And they are going out of business.

If you don't have a boat (and maybe even if you do) very likely your initial reaction is to say "big deal!" After all, many businesses especially these days are closing for good. And if you're really anti-establishment you're probably saying this only affects "the rich" because only "the rich" own boats. Who needs a boat anyway?

Well, not so fast.

Besides the obvious loss of jobs at the retail store, and the not so obvious loss of jobs in the back office company headquarters, there is a much greater implication to this closing. I don't know the specific details as to why Boaters World is closing. Clearly the company is either no longer profitable to operate, or, even if still profitable it may not be profitable enough to be worth the trouble to keep the doors open (running a business of any size is a headache!).

In my home, living on Long Island, for the past several years more and more I see boats remaining on their winter stands well into spring and even summer instead of being put in the water. Some boats I doubt have even been in the water at all last season! And some boats have had "for sale" signs on them for months, even years.

Before you quickly dismiss the loss of this business and the shrinking of the boating community take a moment to consider the further reaching implications of what this means on the American economy and society.

First, there are thousands of hard working middle class people who own boats. You don't have to be one of "the rich" to own an 18 or 20 foot fishing boat. Many fathers have spent years teaching their children to fish and enjoy fishing and boating just as their own father taught them. In coastal (and many inland) states boating is as much a family tradition as skiing or snowmobiling or horseback riding or the summer trip to Disney.

Second, boats don't grow on trees. Someone has to make them. That means skilled fabricators (doesn't matter if the boat is wood or fiberglass). There are mechanics to build, install and maintain the engines (even on sail boats). Marine electricians to wire the boats and install the devices like radios, GPS and fish finders. Then all this has to be maintained so even after the initial sale the mechanics and technicians still have business (even on small family boats).

Third, boats have to be registered so the state gets its fee (not to mention sales tax when a boat is sold and accessories/supplies are purchased). Plus, if you trailer the boat the trailer needs to be registered too.

And last but certainly not least is the quality of life issue. Boating in all aspects is an activity enjoyed by millions of middle class (not only "the rich") people. Those who dream of someday owning a boat for pleasure cruising, fishing, or whatever. If a business like Boaters World can't make a go of it any more that says volumes for health of this part of an American dream.

So yes, you should care that Boaters World is going out of business.

It's not your father's America any more.

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Show Me The Responsibility!

Personal responsibility.

Taking charge of your own life's course.

Being accountable to yourself for what you have and don't have, achieve or not achieve.

This isn't just flowery commentary. This is life!

Yet it seems with each passing day fewer and fewer people are willing to do it for themselves and their families.

For example, it only takes a few minutes to fill out the form to enroll in your employer's 401k retirement savings program. Yet few people do it. So few that in 2008 a law took affect allow employers to automatically enroll employees in the 401k and the employee now has to specifically opt-out. How lazy is that?! In this day and age there is no excuse for not being aware of the need for retirement savings of some kind. If you don't know you need to put something away for eventual retirement that's your own damn fault!

The argument often used is they can't afford to put anything away.

Really? Not even a mere 1% of pay?

Yet I guarantee these people have the latest cell phones with the latest ring tones, internet and unlimited text messaging!

Healthcare. That's another one very hot now.

I'm not going to delve into the whole fiasco. Just going to say that a large number of people have no insurance by choice! They simply choose not to pay for it. If health insurance is sooooooo important to them then find a way! Give up the Xbox Live, the Starbucks Lattes, the beer and concerts etc. And don't put yourself into a position where you are more likely to need health insurance. Don't have babies, don't do extreme/risky sports, don't ride a motorcycle etc. until you have insurance.
One of the arguments there is they don't like the plan(s) their employer offers.

Tough!

If you have no insurance whatever they offer must be better than nothing!

Another argument is why pay for a coverage like cancer or Alzheimer's when you're young and don't need that protection?

Again, Tough!

You may be able to pick and choose aspects of your car insurance but can you really guarantee you won't get cancer in your 20's? Or have a brain disorder? I don't think so.

You don't want to pay for insurance, fine with me. But don't come crying to me when you have a life issue and can't afford the bill!

That's not being cruel!

I and millions of Americans do pay for our health insurance, our retirement savings and many other things. It's called 'planning ahead'. You don't want to plan ahead? I won't force you but don't force me to pay for your lack of preparation!

You're supposed to be an adult – act like it!

You can't hide behind the shield of youth any more!

Part of being an adult means recognizing that often you can't get exactly what you want when you want it at the price you want. But you do need something so a little is better than none at all. Then, after you get your little, work harder and strive to someday be in a better position in life to be more likely to have what you want.

If that means going back to school or getting some technical/vocational training to get a better job then do it!
If that means switching jobs for one that has better bennies then do it!
If that means moving someplace with better jobs prospects (even in this economy) then do it!

Sitting around waiting for 'someone' to do 'something' for you will never work!

And expecting me and those like me to pay for your lack of effort is unethical at best, criminal at most!

Grow up!!!

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Diner with President Obama

The following was sent to me by an associate. I usually don't post anecdotes but this story seems to ring oh so true these days!

I don't know who the author of this is but I acknowledge his or her work.


Once upon a time, I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President.

I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory chips for computers and portable electronics. There was some talk that my industry was being scrutinized by the administration, but I paid it no mind. I live in a free country. There's nothing that the government can do to me if I've broken no laws. My wealth was earned honestly, and an invitation to dinner with an American President is an honor.

I checked my coat, was greeted by the Chief of Staff, and joined the President in a yellow dining room. We sat across from each other at a table draped in white linen. The Great Seal was embossed on the china. Uniformed staff served our dinner. The meal was served, and I was startled when my waiter suddenly reached out, plucked a dinner roll off my plate, and began nibbling it as he walked back to the kitchen.

"Sorry about that," said the President. "Andrew is very hungry."

"I don't appreciate..." I began, but as I looked into the calm brown eyes across from me, I felt immediately guilty and petty.. It was just a dinner roll. "Of course," I concluded, and reached for my glass. Before I could, however, another waiter reached forward, took the glass away and swallowed the wine in a single gulp.

"And his brother Eric is very thirsty." said the President.

I didn't say anything. The President is testing my compassion, I thought. I will play along. I don't want to seem unkind. My plate was whisked away before I had tasted a bite. "Eric's children are also quite hungry."

With a lurch, I crashed to the floor. My chair had been pulled out from under me. I stood, brushing myself off angrily, and watched as it was carried from the room. "And their grandmother can't stand for long."

I excused myself, smiling outwardly, but inside feeling like a fool. Obviously I had been invited to the White House to be sport for some game. I reached for my coat, to find that it had been taken. I turned back to the President.

" Their grandfather doesn't like the cold."

I wanted to shout - that was my coat! But again, I looked at the placid smiling face of my host and decided I was being a poor sport. I spread my hands helplessly and chuckled. Then I felt my hip pocket and realized my wallet was gone. I excused myself and walked to a phone on an elegant side table. I learned shortly that my credit cards had been maxed out, my bank accounts emptied, my retirement and equity portfolios had vanished, and my wife had been thrown out of our home.

Apparently, the waiters and their families were moving in. The President hadn't moved or spoken as I learned all this, but finally I lowered the phone into its cradle and turned to face him.

"Andrew's whole family has made bad financial decisions. They haven't planned for retirement, and they need a house. They recently defaulted on a subprime mortgage. I told them they could have your home. They need it more than you do."

My hands were shaking. I felt faint. I stumbled back to the table and knelt on the floor. The President cheerfully cut his meat, ate his steak and drank his wine.

I lowered my eyes and stared at the small grey circles on the tablecloth that were water drops.
"By the way," He added, "I have just signed an Executive Order nationalizing your factories. I'm firing you as head of your business. I'll be operating the firm now for the benefit of all mankind. There's a whole bunch of Erics and Andrews out there and they can't come to you for jobs groveling like beggars."

I looked up. The President dropped his spoon into the empty ramekin which had been his crème brulee. He drained the last drops of his wine.

As the table was cleared, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair. He stared at me. I clung to the edge of the table as if were a ledge and I were a man hanging over an abyss. I thought of the years behind me, of the life I had lived. The life I had earned with a lifetime of work, risk and struggle.

Why was I punished?
How had I allowed it to be taken?
What game had I played and lost?

I looked across the table and noticed with some surprise that there was no game board between us.

What had I done wrong?

As if answering the unspoken thought, the President suddenly cocked his head, locked his empty eyes to mine, and bared a million teeth, chuckling wryly as he folded his hands.

"You should have stopped me at the dinner roll," he said.

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Healthcare Prevention Does NOT Make Financial Sense!

The shining star of the Obama national healthcare plan is the claim of H-U-G-E savings that will come from constant testing and thereby early detection of diseases when treatment will be (maybe) simpler and cheaper than if the disease is allowed to progress further before being found and treated. President Obama insists that early detection and treatment will save billions and pay for the national healthcare plan plus more.

I say: Impossible!

It simply does not make sense.

When you look at the process of what it means to really have medical tests performed and the costs involved all long the way I just don't see how it can possibly save a penny. In fact, it will end up costing a lot more than no testing!

Here's why:

Preventive tests cost money!

What ever that test maybe it costs to administer the test, have the results reviewed by an expert, and presented back to the patient. Even if the test is completely negative these costs must be paid each and every time the test is performed. And since the point of testing is to catch a problem early on that means years and years of testing before anything is found – if anything at all ever is found!

For example –

The American Cancer Society recommends breast cancer screening in women start at age 40. That means mammograms. And I happen to know (from family experience) the cost of a mammogram test is approximately $2,000 (rounded).

According to U.S. government figures the average life expectancy for a woman in the U.S. is 76 years. That means a minimum of 26 years of mammogram testing. Give these two facts, at $2,000 per test that means starting from age 40 to age 76 the total cost of mammogram testing would be $52,000. And that amount is probably on the low side because costs always go up and it presumes 76 is the mortality. If costs go up as they always do and/or if the woman lives past that age the total cost goes even higher!

Now consider what it means if for those 26 years the woman never test positive for cancer (thankfully!). That means $52,000 was, for all intents and purposes, wasted on testing since it never returned a positive result. There is no recovery of that cost! I agree it is good peace of mind to know she doesn't have breast cancer, peace of mind doesn't off set the cost much less result in a cost savings.

But let's consider if she does unfortunately get diagnosed with cancer. Let's say 10 years (and $20,000 later in costs) into testing a mammogram reveals a lump. Further tests are need to determine if it's cancer or benign (there are non-cancerous grows too that don't cause illness). That's additional cost as well. Let's continue and assume it is cancer. Treatment is started. Doesn't matter what kind – surgery, chemo, radiation, whatever. That has a cost too. Now let's say the treatment is successful and the cancer is totally eradicated. Very good news! But the costs don't stop there. Now future testing resumes (especially after a prior cancer diagnosis) for the rest of her life. More on going costs.

So to sum it up you first have the costs of the initial testing to maybe find cancer, the costs of the treatment if and when cancer is in fact found, and the costs of the future testing after treatment to see if it has relapsed.

Where is the H-U-G-E savings???

Further, very often it may take several tests to determine if there is or is not a medical problem. We have all had the experience (and if you haven't yet you will, I guarantee it) of your doctor performing some routine test then telling you this or that result is slightly higher/lower than it should be. As such he wants to run an additional test. Or the doctor wants to send you to a specialist. Either way there could 5, 6, 7 or more tests performed. Each with its own costs (and usually growing in expense as the detail of the tests rise). Even at the end of all the testing very often there is no conclusive result positive or negative! The final answer very often can simply be "Come back in 6 months for another test".

Even more cost.

I agree that sometimes the cost to treat an illness is less the sooner the illness is found. But that definitely isn't in stone either. In many cases there is only a single or a limited number of treatments no matter at what stage the disease is and it costs the same.
But even if it is cheaper to treat sooner rather than later, the initial and follow up costs of testing are still the same as well as spending money to treat the disease itself when found. Maybe not a much spent on treatment but still a cost.

So I just don't see how there is going to be H-U-G-E savings from early testing.

I would also remind my readers that when the HMO system first came on the scene it too was touted as being a great cost controller. The concept of the Health Maintenance Organization would but early testing and preventive activities ahead of reactionary treatment and therefore reduce healthcare costs while making people healthier.

Anyone think HMO's have significantly reduced healthcare costs and/or made people more healthier?

As the saying goes: "Show me the money!"

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I Was Right! (But Wish I Wasn't) – An Open Letter to The Adoption Nazis on Craigslist

You know who you are.


You know what you did to me when I explained the tragedy of how my wife and I tried to adopt a little girl from a misguided young girl and her drunkard, abusive, felonious multi-convicted (including having served 3 years in state prison for child abuse!) and still on probation boyfriend 20 years her senior.

You know how you ripped me and my wife:

• That it somehow as our fault they backed out 48 hours after the birth.


• That somehow it was our fault we wanted to give this innocent child an chance and opportunities in life she would never get with an immature mother and drunk abusive father.


• That it was somehow our fault we (as well as lawyers, social workers, doctors and nurses) warned the girl that if the father was abusive now having a baby around wasn't going to make things better and that it is a very short step from verbal and emotional abuse to physical violence!


• That it was all our fault for going in with honest good intensions and good faith, paid all legal expenses for the family up to and including birth expenses.
  That somehow it was we who were awful, manipulative and uncaring people for wanting to do good for an innocent new life.


• That we just didn't understand the mother/child bond even if it is with a loose, drinking, drug using young mother and her 20+ year older drunk, abusive, near-do-well multi-convicted boyfriend.


• That we were too nose in the air thinking our home and lives could provide a safer, cleaning, more loving environment full of hope and opportunities for the child than these two people ever could hope for.

And I won't even touch your preaching of agency, agency, agency! (as opposed to private adoption - do you work on commission for agencies??)


Well all you do-gooders and holier-than-thou pompous adoption Nazi's, get your heads out of your asses and listen up!


Recently we found out that we (as well as the lawyers, social workers, doctors, nurses etc) were right – most unfortunately.


The birth mother had the birth father arrested for domestic violence and child abuse!


As of writing this his butt is sitting in jail awaiting a hearing for a restraining order (among other things).


We don't know the condition of the mother or child and can only hope both (especially the child) are OK and safe.


We can only hope she follows through on the arrest and prosecution, and doesn't take the all too common abused woman/mother stance of forgiving him "just one more time". The next time she may not be able to call for help.


I wanted all you adoption Nazi's asses on Craigslist to know this because in your total-control/narrow-minded view of what an adoption is and how birth parents behave this is all impossible and never happens. I must be making it up (that's what you told me and my wife countless times when we recited this adoption experience as well as other failed attempts over the last 2 years).


There is an 18 month old little girl who needs help. Unfortunately she is beyond our power to help now due to the poor decisions of these trash people. My wife and I now have our own beautiful little girl we love so dearly but I still hold a small corner of my heart for the one that got away.


If you have any measure of human compassion left in your close minds and little hearts you will say a prayer for this baby. She is the true victim on all this human tragedy for she is innocent of any choice in the matter.


And maybe, just maybe, after you read this and before you click the Post Comments button to rip me yet again you can look in the mirror and ask yourself "Maybe I was wrong?"

G-d bless and watch over the child.

On Giving Advise to Michael Jackson

(MastePo comes out of summer break momentarily to post this article for your benefit of his wisdom.)

This is not another article about how screwed up Michael Jackson's life may have been and why didn't anyone help him. There are plenty of those out there already. MasterPo doesn't rehash the same things. Beside, how does anyone really know for sure what Liz Taylor or Brooke Shields et al may or may not have said to him or tried to help him in some way? That's not the point of this article.

MasterPo doesn't know what was or wasn't said nor do most of the people who are now Monday-morning quarterbacking Michael Jackson's life.

But MasterPo does know the reality of human nature. And one reality is that people very often just don't want to hear advice no matter how important it is, nor do people want others butting into their lives.

To the latter first…

When it is asked "Why didn't anyone stop him?" or "Why didn't anyone take over?" stop and really think about it. Help or take over what? His life?! Like it or not Michael Jackson was an adult (at least from the legal stand point) for most of his career. He could make his own decisions. Whether that be good ones or bad ones, it's still up to him. As an American he – and you – has just as much freedom to fail as to succeed. In Michael Jackson's case he seems to have really gone down in flames but I suspect the media fanned those flames a lot more than necessary. People far less notable than Michael Jackson crash and burn their lives everyday with even so much a mention in the news. More on that in another article.

The ruination of your life is very much a matter of opinion. What I consider a bad choice for you may seem to be a reasonable risk to you. Who's to say. I certainly don't want someone to have the power to come into my life and second guess what they think is best for me!

Obviously there are some limits and at some point in our lives others do make critical decisions for us that often go contrary to what we ourselves want (like when we are very young or very old). But most of the time freedom means the right to make bad choices and to have to suffer the consequences.

To the former…

It has been said the Michael Jackson only wanted "Yes!" people around him; That anyone who told him he was wrong was dismissed. Maybe, maybe not.

But that isn't uncommon. MasterPo has known quite a few people – bother professionally and socially – that just don't want to be told they are doing something wrong or something that won't work out.

After all, it is human nature. Who really likes being told they are wrong? Who likes having their ideas, hopes, dreams squashed? What great achiever ever did well surrounding themselves with nay sayers?

In another article MasterPo will be posting soon it will be discussed who several people MasterPo knows didn't listen to his advise and have had a lot of heartache and failure in their lives because they undertook courses of action that MasterPo felt was wrong. But the world isn't black and white so who knows – maybe things would have worked out too?! It isn't a crime or a sin not to take advice. Only time can tell if someone else's opinion was better than your own. And even then most decisions are half chance anyway.

It's always easy to say "Someone should have done something!" after the fact. But ask yourself how many times people have given you advise that, if you had in fact followed, you would have been even worse off! And likewise, do you really want others sticking their nose into your business?
We love to see how the mighty fall. But don't get so upset over the tragedy of his life. Other than the human loss, he made his own bed. If you really respect the man then respect his decisions regardless of what you think he should have done.

No one likes an "I told you so!"

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Summer Break!

MasterPo is going on summer break until Labor Day (at least).

Few people of substance reads blogs during the summer anyway. I'm saving my good stuff for the fall.


If something interesting or noteworthy happens I'll post but otherwise have a great summer!


And wear sunscreen!