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Does President Obama Deserve African American Support for Re-election?

September 11, 2012 in Articles, News, Politics

Now, nearing the end of his term in office, President Barack Obama is once again reaching out to the African American Community for support. This time for help in his bid for re-election. However, unlike circumstances when he first ran for office, he’s no longer an unknown commodity. To the contrary, he has produced a track record that is pretty much well known and being remarked about. In other words, he’s had time to show what he’s made of. He’s had an opportunity to produce on the promises he made to the African American Community and others – spoken and unspoken – which brings up the question as to whether or not he deserves their support for another 4 years in office.

For the most part, most African Americans seemed to be of the opinion that as president, President Obama would not be able to address and change the dismal plight of African Americans overnight. Nor did they expect him to try and do so. They recognized that though he was an African American like them, he was nonetheless the President of all the American People and was duty bound in heart, spirit, and law to behave as such and did not give much mention to the pressing needs of the African American Community. He took, what some argued, was a global approach to the difficulties facing all Americans as a whole, without preference one way or another.

In many a African American Community, African Americans argued that the president had to be given a chance to govern the nation in a fair and above board manner that vividly showed that he was the president of all the people and not one segment of the population. It was agreed by many that African Americans had to be wise not to place unfair demands upon this president by demanding of him things he could not give and would only wind up hurting the presidency of the first African American President. So most decided to wait and hold judgment as it regarded the sincerity of this president’s promises to address the concerns of the African American Community he is a part of  in the hope that better days would come. 

However, as time pasted and things like unemployment, homelessness, etc. continued to increase unabated in African American Communities, the view of President Obama as a caring leader who was unable to directly help the African American community due to unseen pressures, started to change. There were those in the community who argued that if he could advocate for crooks on Wall Street, he could certainly advocate for the beleaguered African American American Community that has been suffering in America for hundreds of years. Some began to say that he was merely using the African American Community to his political advantage and really didn’t care about it. They openly suggested that he was an Uncle Tom who secretly had no use or respect for black people.

This perception of the president worsened in recent months in regards to his actions in Libya and the subsequent killing  of Colonel Muamar Gaddafi.  While for some in American Society, Mr. Gaddafi was a sponsor of terrorist, for many in the African American and African Communities around the world, Gaddafi was an admired revolutionary leader who championed the causes of the downtrodden. Nelson Mandela on occasions openly stated that Gaddafi played a major role in the destruction of Apartheid in South Africa and spoke affectionately of him, both as a leader and a caring human being. Gadaffi spent billions of dollars providing financial aid and assistance to poor and struggling African Countries to help them fight hunger, poverty, and destabilization. In so doing, he gained a special place in the hearts and minds of Africans throughout the world as a fighter against poverty and western imperialism.

Thus, instead of bringing praise, the Presidents attack upon the Gaddafi Regime, brought immediate anger and outrage from many in the African American and African community world wide. Some went for far as to quickly denounce him as an Uncle Tom who was working in the interest of Western Powers to put a black face on efforts to recolonize Africa. This led to protests against him and his administration in this country and throughout Africa, notably Southern Africa. The image of him as being a tool of imperialism is unfortunately growing in African Communities worldwide.

Here in America, the president has started to experience increasing criticism from members of his own African American Community. Unhaulting increases in unempoyment, homelessness, and more have caused many an African American to look beyond their desire to have a black face in the White House to the cold hard facts of poverty and unemplyment. As some have argued, the color of the occupant of the White House does not put food on the table, nor does it give one back a life time of hard work and stuggle once it has been taken away or lost as a result of joblessness. Nor do inspiring speeches regarding future promises provide sustenance to the hungry. Today’s African American appears to be more concerned with substance than hopeful retoric promising future prosperity. How will they express this in their vote  this upcoming election is anyone’s guess. 

As it stands now, Black Unemployment is at a staggering 15.1, which fortunately is down from the 16.0 percent is was in September 2011 and 16.7 in August, 2011. While this slight drop can be viewed as encouraging, regrettably it comes nowhere near addressing the overall problems of unemployment and the immense suffering it causes. Continued hard times are still ahead for African Americans with little evidence of true relief in sight. 

It would be unfair to dump the total weight of this tragedy solely on the shoulders of this President. To do so would not only be unwise, but fool hearty. The making of this disaster didn’t start with this current occupant of the White House but was put into motion years ago by governmental mismanagement and the actions of those on Wall Street, to name a few. However, to advocate that this president bares no blame would be fool hearty as well. Like it or not, when he took on the job of president, he also took on the responsibility of all that goes with the office. In other words, it has been his presidency up until this point and his alone. Like his predecessors, he has to assume responsibility for it in all its dimensions. 

Whether or not this president deserves the support of African Americans is a matter for individual African Americans and them alone. They and they alone know the true answer as is the case with any community of people. However, whatever their verdict may turn out to be, it should be respected, whether you agree with it or not. The Democratic System is the one we’ve chosen to live by in this country. It should be respected. Leave a comment and let us know what you think about this matter.

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Tips on How to Choose a Web Hosting Plan

September 9, 2012 in Articles, Online Solutions

Choosing a place to locate your web site is a very important matter not to be taken lightly. It’s almost the same as choosing a place to live. Like your house or apartment, the web site server (web hosting company’s computers) you choose to put your website on, will act as that websites electronic address on the Internet. It is the place where it lives and conducts business.  The extent to which that server is able to provide you with those tools needed to run a successful online business, will be the extent to which it will prosper and achieve the goals it was set up to achieve. For instance, you can’t expect to be successful running an online store using a web hosting company that does not give you the ability to collect payments online. Such would be naive to expect, to say the least.

 

Therefore, when choosing a company to host your website with, it is vitally important that you check to see that it offers you the types of features that will give you the ability to run your site exactly the way you envisioned it. Only then will you have a real chance at achieving the online success you desire to achieve. If, for instance, you want to establish a site where people can come and buy products and chat with each other at the same time, then you have to make sure that the hosting company you intend to use is capable of giving you the ability to do just that. If it doesn’t, then a good part of the overall vision of your site goes straight out the window.

 

You should also keep in mind that running an online business by way of a website is often a time consuming and demanding task that calls upon you to make constant updates and revisions to your site. This is only natural, given the fact that in order for it to stay current and offer a variety of different products and services, it must be updated regularly. Because of this, it becomes vitally essential that your Web Site Hosting Company is able to give you round the clock, 24 hour, 7 days a week customer support. By this I don’t mean support in the form of “how to” help manuals or articles, but online live support by way of chat. Times will come when you’ll need more than just the help of an online written tutorial.  Live individual aid by an experienced technician, will be the only assistance appropriate enough to resolve the problem. Anything less than this will prove a waste of time and cost you dearly, through lost revenue, and otherwise.

 

Similarly, you would be wise to seek out a web hosting company that provides you with detailed statistics regarding the various types of traffic that comes to your site. This information should be presented to you in a format that is easily understandable and not like a crossword puzzle that take hours – if not days – to figure out. You should be able to get a good read on how many visitors came to your site, what keywords they used, the amount of time they spent there, and more. In other words, it should be comprehensive enough to give you a complete and concise picture regarding who’s interested in your services, where they came from, etc.

 

You should also try and gain some type of knowledge of just how fast the servers (computers) of the web hosting company you’re thinking of using are. Though this may prove difficult, it’s nonetheless important that you try and gain some knowledge of this. Like it or not, most of those who use the Internet are addicts for speed. The longer the pages of a web site takes to load in a browser, the more the likelihood that your potential customer will simply click on a different link and leave your site, thereby costing you a potential sale. Though there are other factors involved, the major thing that determines the rate at which web pages load is the web server or hosting company they are located on. If their computers are slow then the rate at which web pages will load may well be slow. This can prove fatal to both your business and brand name. It takes little or nothing for your site to become known as an electronic slowpoke, not to be taken seriously. Remember, there’s something called social media out there where word-of-mouth is king. It takes nothing for a tweet or Facebook comment to say that your site is slow and a pain to be bothered with.

 

Like any other business, your site will be called upon to compete for customers. That’s simply the way of the game. To the extent it is able to do so, will also be one of the major factors that will determine whether or not your site is a success or a dismal failure. Therefore the more features and add-ons your web site hosting company is able to afford you, the more you will be able to attract and convert potential customers into paying ones. Though it’s not the only factor that leads to success, it is indeed a highly important one, not to be dismissed.

 

Let’s take a closer look at this. Some hosting companies offer its customers features like bulletin boards, word press blogs, content mangers like joombla, forums, online stores, and more. These features seriously add to the web site owner’s ability to offer services and products to his customers and gain an advantage over his competitors. For instance, simply adding a forum improves the web site owner’s ability to keep people on his site longer than they would have otherwise remained. While they are there, he gets the added ability to increase his revenue by exposing them to adsense adds and others, strategically placed throughout the forum

 

In other words, the features offered by web site hosting companies work to increase the web site owners ability to market his products and services and most of all, be competitive. Once again, like it or not, you’re going to have to compete to make success when it comes to business. The extent to which your web hosting companies makes it possible for you to compete effectively will have a great deal to do with your ultimate success.

 

Also, keep in mind that while you may feel that the business idea you’ve chosen is new and unique, the chances are great that there are literally millions out there who have come up with the same or similar idea as yours. This is not to denigrate you in any way. Rather, it’s simply what may be an uncomfortable fact. It’s like the guy in country X who thought he was the only one to come up with the idea of the Wheel. One day he took a walk over to country y to find most of its citizens pushing shopping carts, suspended by the wheels he thought he was the first to invent. So again, you should try and find a company that is able to assist you in competing in your chosen market or field of endeavor.

There are many hosting companies out there that claim to be the ultimate in web hosting. This is more reason why you should be careful to take the time necessary to discover those companies that offer services that will be most beneficial to you. If, for instance, you will need an online shopping cart then it is only common sense you’ll need to seek out a web host that is able to afford you this service and bypass others. In short, it is your obligation to do what’s necessary to ensure that your business has the right tools needed to make it successful.

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Things You Should Know about When Trying to Make Money Online from Home! CONT.

September 4, 2012 in Articles

Like it or not, affiliate programs can be one of the most exploitative forms of making an income online you can possibly think of. The commissions are usually low and the amount of work, time, and money you’ll have to put into them can make them a highly unprofitable  endeavor. This is particularly true if you’re one of the small guys on the block with limited funds and limited means of getting web site traffic. There is also the added factor, that you have to rely on the advertiser or  the affiliate management program you both are a part of to tell you whether or not your efforts earned a commission. You have no  other way of discovering this information, which leaves you victim to being robbed by the same companies you’re  struggling to send sales to.

It’s been rumored that there are software programs out there that can tell  you when you’ve earned a commission and thereby keep advertisers honest. However it’s been stated that they cost  into the thousands of dollars. Also, there’s no guarantee whether the affiliate program  you belong to will ackowlege the validity of the results of such a program. Thus, you whine up where you began financially injured without anywhere to turn.

This type of reality is one of the reasons why the Affiliate Network  known as  Click Bank became very popular and remains so today. Unlike most other networks, the commissions levels offered by advertisers at Click Bank are usually high and well worth the effort you have to put in in order to make a sale. Where  commisions at other networks are usually around 4% to 15% on avarage, at click bank the commission rate is usually 4o% to 75% . When you promote these advertisers products you’re return is usually a significant one that you can more than live with emotionally and financially. However, Click Bank has its drawbacks as well, which is again reason why you should get to know the programs you sign up with before you start investing time and money in them.

In answer to the question is working online worth the effort? Suprisingly, I would have to say yes. Is there a lot of obstacles out their that will work strenously to defeat your efforts and make life difficult for you? You bet! But such is the case where ever you go. There’s always some jerk or dishonest company out there that will strip the shirt off your back and more,  if you are unaware or sit back and let them. Regrettably, such is the world we live in. It’s one full of sharks, crooks, and scam artist that make their living from ripping off the ligitimate efforts of others. They are robbers who hide in the dark who jump out and take your money and anything else you may have of value.

However, just as you’ve learned to protect yourself in the offline world by becoming aware of these villains and taking measures to protect yourself from them, so you must do the same in your online one. You should keep in mind that anything that sounds to good to be true, very often is to good to be true. To the contrary, they may be the efforts of someone trying scam you. You must also keep in mind that there’s no real substitute for hard work and that the inclination to seek the easy way out often leads you directly into the hands of those who would rob you and think nothing of it.

If you do decide to join an affiliate program, it would be wise policy on your part to learn everything there is to know about it,  before you start investing your time and money. The more you know about these programs before you join, the better you’ll be able to determine their overall worth to you. The old saying that knowledge is power, is indeed true in this instance. Also, Keep in mind that your time is just as valuable as money and should only be spent when you have a good chance of getting a good return on your efforts. There’s a right way and a wrong way of doing anything. Such is true when it comes to working online. Adequately learn about your online environment if you truly desire success from it.

In closing let me say, I hope this article didn’t prove disheartening to you as it regards to your interest in making money online. It is indeed doable, is done everyday, and you certainly can do it (i.e. make a substantial living online). Thus, this article was not written to discourage you from pursuing your online endeavors, but rather to alert you to some of the harsh realities involved, in the hope that it will help you better cope with and overcome them. With this said, allow me to wish you great success in all of  your endeavors, online and off.

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Making Money Online, The How To’s

September 3, 2012 in Articles, Online Solutions

There are many ways one can go about making an online income. Among them is article marketing. That is, you can write articles about anything that comes to mind and bring in some type of funds. Believe it or not, you can always find someone who will like your work no matter how bizarre it might  or might not be. There tends to be a place for it somewhere in this online economic playground we call the Internet.

One of the  best ways to pursue making money online is by writing about things you’re interested in that are popular. Doing so helps gives you the incentive to write often and will bring you readers that will be interested in the topic your writing about. It’s essential to your long term growth and financial success that you produce a regular stream of articles to keep your audience’s attention, so that they’ll will trust you enough to purchase a product you may recommend to them.

How does one make money writing articles? There are various ways people currently earn money by writing articles. The most popular  is through selling advertising space on your blog or website through programs like Google’s Adsense. For instance, Adsence  places advertisements in with your articles  that relate to their overall content. Therefore, if your article is about making money, Adsense places advertisement along side your articles that relate to making money. These advertisements are from advertisers who are charged a fee by Google every time one of your readers click on their adds. Goolge in turn shares those fees with you. Once the amount of your earnings reach $100.00 or more, Google sends you a check for the sums owed you.

Today, adsense is one of the most profitable ways of generating an online income through writing. This is mainly because people love good and informative content. The more you give them, the more they’ll visit your blog or website and click the adds they find there. There’s an old saying that says that goes: “content is king”.  In this regard, it is indeed true.

Affiliate marketing is another way one can make money online. How does it work? Lets say that company A sells hats and is willing to pay someone a fee for helping them make a sale. As an affiliate, your job will be to do just that, help company A sell its hats. Once your efforts lead to a sale, you’re paid a commission or a percantage of the profits for that particular purchase.

There are different types of affiliate programs. Some pay you every time you help them make a sale, some pay per click  and some pay you for sending them a lead. All have one thing uniquely in common, they make it possible for you to make money online and on occasions, offline as well. Like most things, the amount of money you’ll make is greatly determined by the amount of time and effort you put in. Therefore, it’s  in your interest to put as much time an effort as possible into thoroughly learning whatever method or program you choose to earn an online income.

How do I find and join affiliate programs? The are various ways you can do this. The simplest is to do a search for the term “affiliate programs” in a search engine, wait for the results and proceed from there. Such should generate you a wide range of results. This can be somewhat dangerous, however, since some might not be true affiliate programs but rather scam artist looking for easy prey. Therefore, you should thoroughly research programs you become interested in joining to make sure they’re legitimate.

You can also contact well known companies that you trust and ask them if they have an affiliate program and seek to join them if the answer is yes. You  can also seek to join an affiliate network. There are companies out there that were specifically designed to connect people interested in working as affiliates with companies throughout the Internet. Among some of the most well known are:

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Each of these have a good reputation of being effective and good at providing opportunities for people to  make money online. They afford you the ability of forming relationships with a variety of well known companies. You can check them out yourself, if you interested, by simply clicking their links above.
Here, we’ve just scratched the surface of the wide range of ways one can make money online. You can be safely assured that they’re far more. However, this will call for research on your part.

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