ShaunCarter.com

Conan O’Brien just finished his last episode of The Tonight Show. I have not been a long-time fan or follower of O’Brien, but the recent controversy surrounding NBC’s decision to shake up the late night line up had me tuning into his show regularly for the past couple of weeks.  I grew to enjoy his show and comedic delivery and felt the final episode tonight was the best one since I started watching.

The title of this post “If you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.” is one of the final things Conan O’Brien said at the end of his final Tonight Show episode and really struck a chord with me. During the episode, O’Brien had Tom Hanks on the show and they reminisced about the old days when he was a young red head kid trying to impress an accomplished actor with his raw comedic talent. O’Brien expressed his hatred of cynicism and encouraged the young viewers to be kind and work hard to get what they want in life.

I’m feeling extremely motivated and inspired by his words tonight and will be keenly following his career and working really hard on my own future, and being kind along the way.

Economic indicators are pointing to a recovery, but I’m not so sure many working-class Americans would agree. With official unemployment in my home state of Michigan at 15% and the realistic number in the 20’s, I don’t see an economic recovery anytime soon, especially in Michigan.

Home sales are up, economic growth is up, jobs are still being lost (albeit at a slower pace) and more Americans saving rather than spending is what will keep the downturn/recession stretching into 2010. Much of the increase in home sales could be attributed to the government stimulus expiring and buyers rushing to make their purchase to claim the $8,000 tax credit. Employers continue to belt tighten in anticipation of further economic difficulty and in turn are essentially compounding the problem by supressing payroll numbers to save costs.

In 2009 I earned most of my income working in another state because of the lack of jobs in my own. At the same time I have seen my college tuition rise at unprecendented rates making it increasingly difficult to gain the degree needed to work in my desired profession. At what point does it not make economic sense for me to invest in a college degree? That point is fast approaching.

I received a renewal notice from GoDaddy today and decided I should get it taken care of and also discovered a 25% off coupon code for purchases over $100. I decided to go ahead and renew ShaunCarter.com for 9 years using that coupon code and was able to bring the per year cost of the domain down to around $6 by renewing a couple other domains to bring the order total to $100 – not a bad deal.

BTPS255 – 25% OFF $100 purchase at GoDaddy.com

I don’t really care about Tiger Woods’ personal life and think what he does is his own business. But apparently the hoopla surrounding the unfolding “transgressions” has proven extremely lucrative for news agencies, specifically Yahoo and The Wall Street Journal according to The Huffington Post. They claim that web traffic is exceeding what was experienced after Michael Jackson’s death.

While Yahoo and WSJ were the only ones to publicly say that the web traffic generated by Tiger will substantially increase ad revenue for the quarter, it will undoubtedly help out many other online news agencies as well such as, MSN.com, CNN.com, Google.com and others. Could this create a “Tiger Effect” that could boost results for these companies in the fourth quarter of 2009? I think it just might and if so this could be a good time to enter into long positions in these companies as the market has taken a bit of a beating the last few sessions and pricing is a bit more attractive.

On a side note, Tiger lost his first endorsement – although Gatorade claims it was already planning to phase out the product, their timing is quite a coincidence.

I think it’s appalling that the Obama administration is trying to find a way around provisions in the TARP legislation to use the extra funds for job creation stimulus instead of for paying down the deficit as was originally agreed  and laid out in the law.

The government recently announced that the losses incurred by TARP will be $200 Billion less than was originally projected. Any monies left over from TARP are to be used to pay down the spiraling federal deficit. I am in 100% agreement that this “extra” $200 Billion be put toward retiring some of the debts incurred by TARP, but now Obama is trying to find a loophole to use it for more stimulus spending.

I have long been a proponent of paying down the national deficit because, quite frankly, it makes good financial sense. In the long run, reducing and eliminating the federal deficit would allow LOWER tax rates AND increased government spending because of the savings on interest payments. In 2008, 18% of all incoming taxes to the federal government went toward interest payments on the national debt. This percentage is artificially low because of historically low interest rates and will climb significantly higher in the future as rates increase.

That 18% is $454 Billion… imagine what we could do with all that extra money lying around. Lower taxes, better schools, and much, much more.

I’m getting a little tired of the back and forth jousting and taunts between Verizon Wireless and AT&T over their respective cell phone coverage. For the sake of full-disclosure I am a Verizon customer via the Alltel merger.

The problem I have with these attack ads is not their frequency, it’s the claims and comparisons that are being made and disputed by the companies. AT&T set off a furor and sued Verizon when the first of the 3G coverage ads were launched. The claim was that consumers would interpret AT&T’s lack of 3G coverage as meaning there was no cell coverage in those zones. Unless the consumer is stupid (a likely possibility), then those assertions are ridiculous.

AT&T’s response to this Verizon ad compares the two services and is even more misleading than the original Verizon ads! AT&T claims to have the fastest 3G coverage – ok that’s possible but the coverage is severely limited to major urban areas as accurately conveyed in Verizon’s ad. Another claim is access to over 100,000 apps – yeah that’s great but only if you have the iPhone! The two Samsung models they peddle in the ad can’t run most of those apps! The ad also claims the ability to talk and use apps at the same time, again that is only possible with the iPhone.

The injunction sought by AT&T was denied, so they keep churning out more ads peddling the capabilities and features possible with an iPhone (without specifying that face) and then trying to sell a different type of smart phone in the end. A smart phone that doesn’t have the crippling revenue share agreement that AT&T is locked into with Apple for every iPhone activated.

This is causing me to really hate AT&T for making the assumption that I’m stupid and will buy into their marketing bullshit. While I may have been looking to find a new carrier at the end of my contract term that is approaching, I don’t think AT&T will be one of my choices.

I have an iPod Touch and love the interface, but can’t seem to get used to texting via a touch screen so I use a Blackberry Pearl. I have a love/hate relationship with my Blackberry, but that’s another story. The Droid, by Motorola, is definitely on my radar screen for my next smart phone purchase because of the combination of a touch screen and the world’s slimmest slide out QWERTY keyboard.

I think it’s indicative of the state of the nation’s intelligence when the general consensus among the public is that the government should be determining pay rates for executives of publicly traded companies. I wrote about this topic before with regards to the AIG bonuses and am further outraged by the current Administration’s intent to slash bank executive pay just to please shareholders.

Bush’s previous administration is just as guilty, if not more-so, than the banks themselves. Bush would speak ad naseum about how home ownership is a right for every U.S. citizen and he made it his mission to put everyone in a home, pressuring banks to loosen lending standards amidst skyrocketing home prices – which were caused by increased demand. For an MBA from Harvard, the former President had a lackluster knowledge of the damaging effects his policies would have on the economy.

This financial mess we find ourselves in today was created by government policy and is trying to be blamed on the banks themselves. Now, government policy is again causing problems by determining executive pay simply to please the public. Executive pay is high, but it is high for a reason. The job is tough, there is a lot of competition for talent and quite frankly those that lead multi-billion dollar companies should be paid as such. The thing more people need to do is put themselves in other people’s shoes before judging them.

What if the government decided that a fair wage for the work you do is half what you are getting paid now? You’d be outraged right? Mad that the government is taking away your money? Exactly.

I am happy to see the US House of Representatives passed a bill that will increase Pell Grant funding and lower stafford loan borrowing costs for those of us that are continuing our education at the college level.

The bill will eliminate government subsidies to banks issuing Stafford Loans and will now make those loans funded directly by the government. While I don’t ordinarily like the government getting involved in private enterprise, I feel this move is needed. These banks have tremendous leverage and power over students by making Billions in profits on loans that are guaranteed to be repaid, and are even protected from bankruptcy discharge. These are the same banks that have received Billions in government bailout money because even with their massive student loan profits, they lost money on highly leveraged, risky investments. Companies like Citibank and Sallie Mae.

The cost of higher education is quickly reaching a point where many people are questioning whether the accumulation of debt is even worth the increased earning power a college degree may provide. I am in too deep to look back now and will have to finish my program in order to have something to show for my massive student loan debts.

I look forward to receiving a higher Pell Award next year and even greater savings on my Stafford Loans. I would love to see the government offer more incentives for student loan consolidation which I will be looking to take advantage of in a couple of years to make repayment easier and more cost effective.

So I’ve decided that it is pure laziness that causes my lack of success online. While it works in college, the way I don’t study and yet still maintain my place on the Dean’s List, in the world of online income, laziness kills. I have achieved moderate success with my proxy server Unblock YouTube and credit card comparison website, but I have yet to take my efforts in Affiliate Marketing seriously.

I read story after story of people generating five to six figure incomes per month sending traffic to affiliate landing pages and getting them to convert. The concept seems simple enough, but the execution is much more difficult to get a handle on. I’m beginning to think jumping in head first is the way to go and trial and error the secret to success.

Another bonus track from Eminem’s latest record, Relapse, is “Careful What You Wish For.” This song is an ode to overnight success and a common theme through many celebrity’s lives as they wished for success but once they have it, no longer want it.

“Careful What You Wish For” – Eminem

So this is it…
This is what I wished for
Just isn’t how I envisioned it
Fame to the point of imprisonment
I just thought the shit’d be different
But something changed
The minute that I got a whiff of it
I started to inhale it
Smell it
Started sniffin’ it
And it became my cocaine
I just couldn’t quit
I just wanted a little bit
Then it turned me (in)to a monster
I became a hypocrite
Concert after concert

I was raking in the dough
Rolling in green
Had the game hemmed up
Like a sewing machine
But I was losing my freedom
There was no where for me
To not go and be seen
And just go and be me
And there was no in-between
You either loved it or hate it

Every CD critics gave it a 3, then 3
Years later, they’d go back and re-rate it
And call the Slim Shady LP the greatest
The Marshall Mathers was a classic
The Eminem Show was fantastic
But Encore just didn’t have the caliber to match it
I guess enough time just ain’t passed, yet
A couple more years, that shit’ll be ill-matic
And eight years later, I’m still at it
Divorce, re-married
A felon
A father
Sleeping pill addict
And this is real talk
I feel like the Incredible Hulk
My back has been broke, and I can still walk

[Chorus]

So be careful what you wish for
‘Cause you just might get it
And if you get it then you just might not know
What to do wit’ it, ’cause it might just
Come back on you ten-fold

I said

Be careful what you wish for
‘Cause you just might get it
And if you get it then you just might not know
What to do wit’ it, ’cause it might just
Come back on you ten-fold

[Verse 2]

I got a letter from a fan, that said
He’s been praying for me
Every day and for some reason
It’s been weighing on my mind heavy
‘Cause I don’t read every
Letter I get, but something told me to go ahead and open it, but
Why would someone pray for you when they don’t know you?
You didn’t pray for me when I was local
And as I lay these vocals
I think of all the shit I had to go through
Just to get to where I’m at
I’ve already told you at least

A thousand times in these rhymes
I appreciate the prayer, but I’ve already got
God on my side
And it’s been one hell of a ride, hasn’t it?
Just watchin’ it from an opposite standpoint
Man, boy’s got to look
Nuts
And that’s the only word I can think of right now
On how
To describe the shit
This is like a vibe you get
Go ahead and bob to it
Just watch what you wish for, ’cause I got the shit

[Chorus]

So be careful what you wish for
‘Cause you just might get it
And if you get it then you just might not know
What to do wit’ it, ’cause it might just
Come back on you ten-fold

I said

Be careful what you wish for
‘Cause you just might get it
And if you get it then you just might not know
What to do wit’ it, ’cause it might just
Come back on you ten-fold