Roger's World...

Why Demonize?

It seems like there are so many opinions of how to do things, but more and more, it's being capped off with some hate.  Do people really need to use the term Nazi while describing Obama?  I understand you may have a differing opinion, and that we've got free speech and all, but I wonder how its going to affect us in the future.

I'm a big believer in the power of words - I'll use the word 'challenge' instead of 'problem'.  Or, as opposed to phrasing a question in negative light such as "I don't want to lose my keys", I phrase it as "I want to make sure I keep my keys".  (This is staying away from a 'negative goal'.) 

Some people don't understand the power of words, and it's going to be interesting to see how it will affect our culture in the next decade.  I wonder if, because people are using the terms socialist, Nazi, Communist, etc., that we're really setting ourselves up for those scenarios to reemerge. 

I can safely say that Obama's plan is nothing like Nazi Germany and the 3rd Reich. So do we need to use those words to describe policy that we may not agree with? The demonetization of both the left and right is only going to fuel the fire of hate.  And our country suffers for it.

The questions that each of should be asking are 'How To..." questions: "How can we get this health-care (or economic, or immigration, or whatever) challenged fixed for the greater good of everyone in this country?"  Maybe "How can I help to solve these challenges?" as opposed to "That guy's a scumbag!!!"

We all have an opportunity to make things better, every moment, and every word we utter.  How can we each do more to help the issue at hand, versus cutting down others?  There are millions of brilliant people in the USA.  How can we get them to help us figure these challenges out.  America is the Land of Opportunity - but we must begin to use our resources to accomplish things, not to invent clever ways of spewing hate and vitriol.

I appreciate all the feedback...

One of THOSE days...

Yesterday was one of those days.  One of those days that you remember where you were, what you were doing, oh so long ago. The day and place when you found out ‘The News’.  Kennedy (I wasn’t here yet). The space shuttle (each one). 911.


August 5th marks the sad anniversary of Jeff Porcaro’s passing. You may not know the name, but you’ve heard the drumming. You’ve felt the groove, You’ve heard it since you were young, and not for anything new for 17 years.


I feel the need to elaborate on who this guy was… and still is.

Jeff was one of the finest drummers of the modern age.  Respected by absolutely everyone for his abilities, and they were numerous, he is known as a musician’s musician of the highest caliber. Sony & Cher at 17, Boz Scaggs at 22, Toto, Don Henley, the Bee Gees, Steely Dan… Google him and find out for whom else he played.  You’ll get a small idea of this genius.
 I say a small idea, because if you’re not a musician, or more so, a drummer, some of what makes Jeff’s playing so special might be lost on you.  A young drummer once said that “It was easy to play those songs.  It’s nothing special.”  He hadn’t yet figured out that it has nothing to do with the amount of notes you play, but how you play each note.  And then I started to understand it.  I started to hear what it was all about.  Just about that time, Jeff passed on. He was 38. Just 3 years younger than I am today.  While I was at Berklee, I had the rarest of rare opportunities: to actually play one of His drum sets!  A red Gretsch kit with a 20’ bass drum.  My friend Abe Laboriel Jr. was close to him - Jeff was a teacher/mentor and allowed Abe the use of his kit while at Berklee.  I got to help set it up many times.  It truly was an honor.  I really wish I would’ve been a better player!  Maybe I’ll get another chance someday.


So I’ve been watching him on youtube quite a bit.  Have a listen:


None of us will ever be that good. OK - maybe if you’re Steve Gadd and you’re reading this - but nobody else.  Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE on the planet will agree with that, unless they’re on some drug that alters perception/reality. But they’ll sober up and I hope and pray that they’ll get it.  Just as I did 17 years ago.

Dirt Rich, Paper Poor

In this economy, it’s more and more clear that you can't buy a piece of paper to make you rich. Everyone I’ve spoken to over the last 10 months has lost money in the market. That’s obvious.  What interests me is how other people have been making money given these challenging times.

The people I’ve been encountering, the ones still doing well, are investing in real estate.  As you may know, I’ve been espousing this for quite sometime.  My philosophy has always been to buy something with inherent value, such as land, property, or something with an attached asset - like a deed of trust.  Even gold and silver are a much wiser investment than a stock.  Some won’t agree with me on this.  I don’t care. It’s proven itself over and over again. Those of you that disagree - have fun waiting 5 years to get back to where you were a year ago.  Those of you that agree with me, you already know why.

OK - now that we’ve got those people out of here, let me explain a few things.  First  - we need to learn our lessons - sometimes the easy way, sometimes the hard way. And we need to remember that no investment is ever 100% safe. Even T-bills? Not even T-bills, and I can tell you why.

As of today, the long term T-bills rate is somewhere between 2% - 2.17%.  And according to some accounts, the rate of inflation in 2008 was 3.85%.  So if you had $1000 invested in a T-bill last year hoping to earn $20 -$21.70, then you’re a bit sad, because after trying to be safe, your $1000 is now only worth $983.36. (I used the 2.17% to compute)  So those people ‘investing’ in T-bills have lost about $17 for every thousand.  So do you think it's safe?  No, it's Paper Poor...

Where does that leave us?  You need to buy tangible assets. Gold, silver for the smaller investors. Coins - not bullion.  For the larger investor - ones known as accredited investors - you should have diversified your portfolio into several sectors, and real estate should make up the most.  And I’m not speaking of REITs.  Actual property that is making money - positive cashflow - not negative (not a vacant lot that you may want to build a house on someday.  Remember: Cash-flow is KING!)  THIS is how you get yourself out of this economic mess the world is in.  Become Dirt Rich...

There are many avenues to do this.  You can go educate yourself about buying properties with strong cash-flow. You can learn how to find these properties. You can then learn how to make an offer, do the due diligence and study the financials of a property. You can learn which markets in the USA are still doing well.  If you’re lucky enough to find a building and buy it, you can learn to manage it.  Then learn to manage it well.  Hopefully, your money is still yours, and your learning curve hasn’t depleted what you had.

If all of this sounds a little overwhelming, not to worry.  Partner with someone doing it.  I started doing real estate deals in 1996, and have some hard-fought experience under my belt. I’ve been doing all of those things I just listed for quite some time, and have learned many lessons and pitfalls to watch out for in the process. Take your time and read, listen and learn. You'll succeed if you're smart about it.

The last few years have been a challenge for all of us.  But the future can be and should be one of great change - Change that can turn loss into gain!

Re-Boot...

Well, it's been an interesting 6 months.

Sometimes, we all just need to re-boot.  You know, things get a little too crazy.  All the systems that are 'on' are NOT working together for the common good.  It's really as if the system is so inundated with conflicted messages and incompatible programs.  The only thing you can do is a re-boot.

That's what I just did.

As you may or may not know, it's been 6 months since I left a company that I was with for several years.  I'd invested a lot of time, energy, emotion, and hope into it.  Things started to go well.  Then it stopped.  Things changed.  I was changing.  The company was changing.  We weren't aligned any longer, and it became more and more clear.

Without knowing it, I needed to re-boot.  Get some time with the power off. Disconnect.  And it helped so much that, now, I sit here typing my first blog, getting re-invigorated for anther chapter of this life. 

I'm very excited to share a multitude of thoughts and feelings about many things that are important.  I hope you find it entertaining, educational and empowering.  Please - give any and all feedback. (While this is not focused on any political or religious agenda, please keep in mind that these are topics debated on thousands of other blogs, media outlets and kitchen tables across the globe.  Not really what the goal of this forum is.  Start you own blog if you need to complain! :-) )

So let's jump in...