Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Drug War Impacts My Wife's Family In Mexico
My wife's family mostly resides in or near the Mexican Gulf Coast port town of Tampico, the site of the original oil discovery in Mexico in the 1920's and where conservative icon William F. Buckley's father made his fortune in the oil business prior to nationalization in the 1930's.
Over the succeeding years it's position as a major oil center and port of entry for shipments from Europe has been offset by first being held hostage by the national oil worker's union headquartered in the adjacent city of Ciudad Madero until it's leader, Joaquin Hernandez Galicia (commonly known as "La Quina") was arrested and jailed in 1989. Tampico is also famous as the hometown of Zapatista revolutionary Subcommandante Marcos, who came from a middle-class background and attended the local Jesuit high school before going off to start revolutions.
In the last couple of years the drug wars have hit Tampico in a big way, and has directly impacted my wife's family. One of my brother-in-law's relatives reported being caught in a crossfire in a major intersection in Ciudad Madero; another feared (nothing happened, thank God) that her 10-year old son may have rode his bicycle right into the middle of a drug shootout in broad daylight and as a result her husband took a job transfer to Houston (he works in the oil business); and another yet reported that they received phone calls demanding money for their safety and as a result his Canadian-based company agreed to move him and his family to Calgary and sponsor them for permanent residency in Canada. As a result of the drug wars, colonies of professional-class, dual-citizen or legal resident Mexican expatriates have popped up in nice suburbs such as The Woodlands outside of Houston and Eastlake just north of the California border.
It's so bad that if you drive your car after 5PM without your interior lights on you are assumed to be involved in the drug wars and risk being shot, killed and decapitated!
When you hear stories like these it makes it even more galling that our Dear Leader has not been willing to do what is necessary to protect American citizens from this type of activity taking place in our country-in particular in Arixona, which is now the kidnapping capital of the USA due to drug cartel activities. In fact, he has gone out of his way to prohibit the state of Arizona from enforcing laws on the books. Our unwillingness to enforce our laws and to build the fence puts all of us in jeopardy, and his failure on this issue is one of many issue where our president has proven himself to be a small, petty and ideologically-driven man.
Over the succeeding years it's position as a major oil center and port of entry for shipments from Europe has been offset by first being held hostage by the national oil worker's union headquartered in the adjacent city of Ciudad Madero until it's leader, Joaquin Hernandez Galicia (commonly known as "La Quina") was arrested and jailed in 1989. Tampico is also famous as the hometown of Zapatista revolutionary Subcommandante Marcos, who came from a middle-class background and attended the local Jesuit high school before going off to start revolutions.
In the last couple of years the drug wars have hit Tampico in a big way, and has directly impacted my wife's family. One of my brother-in-law's relatives reported being caught in a crossfire in a major intersection in Ciudad Madero; another feared (nothing happened, thank God) that her 10-year old son may have rode his bicycle right into the middle of a drug shootout in broad daylight and as a result her husband took a job transfer to Houston (he works in the oil business); and another yet reported that they received phone calls demanding money for their safety and as a result his Canadian-based company agreed to move him and his family to Calgary and sponsor them for permanent residency in Canada. As a result of the drug wars, colonies of professional-class, dual-citizen or legal resident Mexican expatriates have popped up in nice suburbs such as The Woodlands outside of Houston and Eastlake just north of the California border.
It's so bad that if you drive your car after 5PM without your interior lights on you are assumed to be involved in the drug wars and risk being shot, killed and decapitated!
When you hear stories like these it makes it even more galling that our Dear Leader has not been willing to do what is necessary to protect American citizens from this type of activity taking place in our country-in particular in Arixona, which is now the kidnapping capital of the USA due to drug cartel activities. In fact, he has gone out of his way to prohibit the state of Arizona from enforcing laws on the books. Our unwillingness to enforce our laws and to build the fence puts all of us in jeopardy, and his failure on this issue is one of many issue where our president has proven himself to be a small, petty and ideologically-driven man.
The kind of sales entertainment I wish I could do :)
This is the kind of sales entertainment I wish I could do....combine golf at Sherwood Country Club, one of the great courses in the United States, with a charitable donation to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation
A salescall!
With all the issues I have dealt with lately with the loss of a major title, it still felt good to do what I've spent my entire doing and what I still love most about my job...make a sales call!
Meeting went well-an introductory call to a new ad agency on an old account of oursthe that looks like it has additional money to spend, and as a result may be able to pick off another couple of pages towards the end of the year...
And to pile on the good news-we finally got the RFP for a key Rx drug advertiser....about time-it may happen as soon as November.
What does this mean for me-the two of these if they come to pass will offset losses from the title I just lost-and if and when the big Kahuna kicks in mid next year will mean that we are recovering...now to replace the one I just lost with a better title....
The big picture-the now-government owned Rx drug companies feel comfortable that they can go to market...now for some increased activity in private-sector businesses such as construction, please!
Meeting went well-an introductory call to a new ad agency on an old account of oursthe that looks like it has additional money to spend, and as a result may be able to pick off another couple of pages towards the end of the year...
And to pile on the good news-we finally got the RFP for a key Rx drug advertiser....about time-it may happen as soon as November.
What does this mean for me-the two of these if they come to pass will offset losses from the title I just lost-and if and when the big Kahuna kicks in mid next year will mean that we are recovering...now to replace the one I just lost with a better title....
The big picture-the now-government owned Rx drug companies feel comfortable that they can go to market...now for some increased activity in private-sector businesses such as construction, please!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Rulers Vs. Ruled
The best explanation for what is going on in the country right now is Angelo M. Codevilla's article in the July issue of The American Spectator entitled America's Ruling Class -- And the Perils of Revolution. It explains current events not in terms of Republican vs. Democrat, or conservative vs. liberal, but (accurately in my opinion) as a clash between the "ruling class" vs the "country class" (for lack of a better term).
This article offers the best explanation why elites (foremost of all, our current president) insist on forcing unpopular measures such as TARP, the stimulus bill, Obamacare, gay marriage (as evidenced by the Proposition 8 debacle in California) and now the Ground Zero Mosque down the throats of a public that is skeptical at best amd violently opposed at worst. It warns that top-down government by a minority will never stand, and as a result a revolution is coming-and the biggest challenge will be to enable it to happen without it being imposed violently or unilaterally using the same methods that got the Ruling Class (mostly, but not always, composed of our liberal elites) in trouble in the first place.
Another piece along these lines is Tony Blankley's The Ruling Class vs. the Public in which he accurately states that the fundamental cause of the public's discontent is:
A foul and dangerous brew is heating up that is composed of: (1) The economic collapse that started in 2008; (2) the radical, "fundamentally transforming" left-wing agenda of the government; and, (3) the thwarting of the public will -- with glee -- by the entrenched, non-elected powers (in the courts, media, colleges and government bureaucracies) as they get into the face and under the skin of the cultural and political majority.
Tony also warns that if the Republicans do not immediately act to check and reverse the direction the country is going, that things could get very ugly:
If the upcoming election results fail for any reason (including GOP campaign incompetence) to empower the public's overwhelming desire to stop and reverse the "fundamental transformation" of the United States -- I suspect the country will be rocked to its core within the following months and few years
This is the manifestation of what Pat Buchanan warned of in 2008 in The Coming Backlash right before Obama's election in which he said that Obama would be at war with left in his own party that got him where he is, or with the majority of the people of the country. It's clear after almost 2 years which side he has chosen. It's also clear that the public will begin taking corrective action in November.
This article offers the best explanation why elites (foremost of all, our current president) insist on forcing unpopular measures such as TARP, the stimulus bill, Obamacare, gay marriage (as evidenced by the Proposition 8 debacle in California) and now the Ground Zero Mosque down the throats of a public that is skeptical at best amd violently opposed at worst. It warns that top-down government by a minority will never stand, and as a result a revolution is coming-and the biggest challenge will be to enable it to happen without it being imposed violently or unilaterally using the same methods that got the Ruling Class (mostly, but not always, composed of our liberal elites) in trouble in the first place.
Another piece along these lines is Tony Blankley's The Ruling Class vs. the Public in which he accurately states that the fundamental cause of the public's discontent is:
A foul and dangerous brew is heating up that is composed of: (1) The economic collapse that started in 2008; (2) the radical, "fundamentally transforming" left-wing agenda of the government; and, (3) the thwarting of the public will -- with glee -- by the entrenched, non-elected powers (in the courts, media, colleges and government bureaucracies) as they get into the face and under the skin of the cultural and political majority.
Tony also warns that if the Republicans do not immediately act to check and reverse the direction the country is going, that things could get very ugly:
If the upcoming election results fail for any reason (including GOP campaign incompetence) to empower the public's overwhelming desire to stop and reverse the "fundamental transformation" of the United States -- I suspect the country will be rocked to its core within the following months and few years
This is the manifestation of what Pat Buchanan warned of in 2008 in The Coming Backlash right before Obama's election in which he said that Obama would be at war with left in his own party that got him where he is, or with the majority of the people of the country. It's clear after almost 2 years which side he has chosen. It's also clear that the public will begin taking corrective action in November.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Welcome To Salestrip Blog!
Welcome!
To those who don't know me-I am a 52 year old owner of an independent advertising sales representative firm for print/electronic advertising in both consumer and B2B channels. I'm in an industry that has been ravaged by the current economic downturn and is also going through rapid change as the digital revolution is in the process of making formerly standard marketing practices obsolete.
As a result of these changes and the tough business climate I am beginning the process of making major changes in my business and my family's lifestyle. I've been married to my wife Flor for 11 years and and the proud parent of my 10-year old daughter Natalie. My wife is a rock-a native of Mexico that I met in Mexico City airport on the way to Cancun who has done a wonderful job of raising my daughter while I've been able to make a comfortable living that is now threatened-a fact that has become more evident with the recent loss of a key title after 10 years due to a sales downturn and the publsiher's need to offer human sacrifice when the owners of this major B2B publisher called for someone's head on a stick.
As a result of three years of rapidly declining income and now the loss of this title we are facing the possibility of selling our house and either renting a house locally or starting over out of state, with the Phoenix/Scottsdale area possibly being the best area where I can reduce our family's overhead and give us the financial breather we need to restructure and save for both our daughter's college education and our pending retirement (if it ever comes at all)-provided I can get insurance coverage. My wife, a Fulbright scholar with degrees in both chemical and industrial engineering, is now looking at a more practical career as a certified English/Spanish translator, and will be taking the California state written test in September, and the oral test in January. The federal test comes next June=not a minute too soon as we really need the income.
This blog will chronicle my observations in this process, the observations I make as I try to maintain my income selling ads in the titles I have left, and comments on the events of the day from a practical, conservative perspective. In this process I will visit many places on the west coast, both in big cities where I will feel like I am in enemy territory, affluent suburbs like the one I presently live in, and rural areas I visit on sales trips up and down the West Coast-and try to present how ordinary people are seeing the events of the day and dealing with the attempted transformation of the United States into something few of us recognize-a government where things are dictated from elites from the top down rather than one that is governed from the bottom up. The passage of the heath-care bill despite 60% plus opposition is the first time in my lifetime that I have seen a major domestic initiative pass without popular support-and as such is the first time I have felt what it is to be "ruled" rather that "governed".
I'll also occasionally comment about my interests outside of my work, restructuring our family finances, and family life, such as soccer (a big fan of the LA Galaxy and the US Mens National Team, and whatever teams in Europe hire Americans), golf (I wish I could play more), college and high-school football (a big fan with no real rooting interest but one who has a low toleration for USC alums who generally think they are something special)
Welcome aboard!
To those who don't know me-I am a 52 year old owner of an independent advertising sales representative firm for print/electronic advertising in both consumer and B2B channels. I'm in an industry that has been ravaged by the current economic downturn and is also going through rapid change as the digital revolution is in the process of making formerly standard marketing practices obsolete.
As a result of these changes and the tough business climate I am beginning the process of making major changes in my business and my family's lifestyle. I've been married to my wife Flor for 11 years and and the proud parent of my 10-year old daughter Natalie. My wife is a rock-a native of Mexico that I met in Mexico City airport on the way to Cancun who has done a wonderful job of raising my daughter while I've been able to make a comfortable living that is now threatened-a fact that has become more evident with the recent loss of a key title after 10 years due to a sales downturn and the publsiher's need to offer human sacrifice when the owners of this major B2B publisher called for someone's head on a stick.
As a result of three years of rapidly declining income and now the loss of this title we are facing the possibility of selling our house and either renting a house locally or starting over out of state, with the Phoenix/Scottsdale area possibly being the best area where I can reduce our family's overhead and give us the financial breather we need to restructure and save for both our daughter's college education and our pending retirement (if it ever comes at all)-provided I can get insurance coverage. My wife, a Fulbright scholar with degrees in both chemical and industrial engineering, is now looking at a more practical career as a certified English/Spanish translator, and will be taking the California state written test in September, and the oral test in January. The federal test comes next June=not a minute too soon as we really need the income.
This blog will chronicle my observations in this process, the observations I make as I try to maintain my income selling ads in the titles I have left, and comments on the events of the day from a practical, conservative perspective. In this process I will visit many places on the west coast, both in big cities where I will feel like I am in enemy territory, affluent suburbs like the one I presently live in, and rural areas I visit on sales trips up and down the West Coast-and try to present how ordinary people are seeing the events of the day and dealing with the attempted transformation of the United States into something few of us recognize-a government where things are dictated from elites from the top down rather than one that is governed from the bottom up. The passage of the heath-care bill despite 60% plus opposition is the first time in my lifetime that I have seen a major domestic initiative pass without popular support-and as such is the first time I have felt what it is to be "ruled" rather that "governed".
I'll also occasionally comment about my interests outside of my work, restructuring our family finances, and family life, such as soccer (a big fan of the LA Galaxy and the US Mens National Team, and whatever teams in Europe hire Americans), golf (I wish I could play more), college and high-school football (a big fan with no real rooting interest but one who has a low toleration for USC alums who generally think they are something special)
Welcome aboard!
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