iBlogO

An Urgent Message

2005-11-16T07:09:00.000-08:00

As some, most or all of you are aware, over this last Summer I spent the better part of July in New York during the heat wave filming a high budget indipendent film with a multitude of other aspiring actors mixed in with seasoned professionals and pop culture superstars, like Bryce Wilson, Chingy and Robert Miano. The experience was an unforgettable one and I learned a lot about the industry, made some fantastic friends and had a spiritual walk-about. But now it is time to pull back the curtains.

If you haven't been following the website closely, you'll be as surprised as I am to find out that they're now selling premiere tickets for the films first debut in Nashville Tenessee. TDS Productions has rented out three IMAX theaters and they've already sold out one, with another half-full. So now it's crunch time. I'm putting this out there so that all who are interested have a chance to buy a ticket before they're gone. It's giong to be loads of fun, all the stars will be there and the after-party I hear is going to be off the chizzain! But most importantly, it would mean so much to me to see any or all of you guys at my big premiere. This isn't a once in a life-time thing for me, but it most certainly is the kick-off. I've never known of any production of thie magnatude to be open to the public, so there's a lot of precidents broken by this project, which is one reason why I believe so strongly in it.

So if you're planning any vacations out that way or you've been wanting to take a break for a weekend and go somewhere, please seriously consider coming out to see all of us in the production and show your support for "the little people" who you always ask to remember you when they get big. This is their moment to shine, so show some love!

Here's the info as I have it:

The theater is the
Regal Opry Mills IMAX
570 Opry Mills Dr
Nashville, TN 37214

Ticket prices are from $40 - $300 depending on the package, and each one comes with several freebees ranging from soundtrack CDs to pictures with the stars to VIP passes to the after party. The Platinum and Diamond packages also include audition passes for the next production. That's right, you get the same opportunity as I did to impress the gurus and land a lead role in a major motion picture! You get to audition before the big boys get to audition and take it from me - an aspiring actor who did it - this is an absolute bargain deal that you won't find anywhere else.

Hotel accomidations - if booked now - are as low as $47 a room and airfare is as low as $150. So for about $250, you can take a vacation for a few days, see a killer sweet movie and party with the big stars! This is something you absolutely can not miss, and if you do, I'll never forgive you.

So, if this is something you're seriously interested in, let me know and I will get a booking agent to contact you or get you a number to reach them and you guys can close the deal.

But please remember: THESE TICKETS WILL SELL OUT!

I am now back from my ocean voyage and while I was gone, I missed the big push, but they are looking to sell the last ticket by November 30th and they are serious about this. You can't take them to task on it because they've already proven themselves. They said they'd make a multimillion dollar movie and they did. Now they say they're going to sell the tickets to see it and they damn sure will. So don't be left behind!

If you go to watch, bring a boob to get autographed.
If you go to audition, bring a monologue.
If you don't go at all, bring kleenax because you're going to be crying about this for a long time!

Peace out and (as Tariq says) See you in the movies!

THE SYSTEM WITHIN

Tony "Wise" Good, is an internationally famous model. He fought his way out of the inner city and rocketed straight to the top. He had it all... the career, the trophy wife, fame, fortune, and all the luxuries that come with success.

But his swift rise to the top did not take him high enough to protect him from the sudden fall he was about to experience. The corrupt corporate world, the government's support and participation in that corruption, and the jealousy and greed of people he thought he knew best, all lead to a rapid downward spiral into a living hell.

On the surface, "The System Within" will entice the audience with the sounds and style of the fast forward urban community. Beneath that surface we discover all is not what it seems when you are working in the system. Behind the facade and covert liaisons portrayed in the film, it becomes apparent that we all are captives in society and when we think we know the way out we can get trapped by the system within.

Wow.

2005-10-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

If you haven't had a chance, run on over to Quixtar Blog and take a look at the recent posts.

Holy crap. I've never seen a finer group of sniveling rotten tomatoes in my life, ever. I wonder what a get-together with them would be like. Bunch of bitter naysayers patting eachother on the back for being so bitter, maybe? I like my parties. They're fun. These people don't seem to be fun at all. They seem like negative fun. If I were stuck with one of them on an island, I'd probably want to shoot myself in the soul.

Crossing Over

2005-03-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

This month has been freakishly busy. I haven't had a single weekend where I had nothing to do or-for that matter-an ounce of free time. My birthday was on the 5th, the first weekend of the month. But for those of you know read my other blogs, you'll know that I spent that weekend driving to Atlanta for some silly wedding endeavor my cousin was participating in, wherein she married some guy she knew for all of two weeks. Wow. I'm glad that's over.

Last weekend I drove down to Winter Park to audition for some films at Full Sail. I have no freaking clue why I bother anymore, though. I'm about five times better than the actors I've seen them cast (I have one of their DVDs) and yet they never cast me. I drive frickin' four hours for a handfull of auditions, give it my all and they give me the shaft. I'm this close to saying "Screw 'em" and moving on to UCF. Might be less emo-angst projects over there anyway.

This weekend I finally get to celebrate my birthday. Planning a big party which has hogged my current week. And then next weekend is ProScout, a massive convention where a couple hundred actors and models gather in front of about fifty or so agiencies. It's a hectic few weeks but it's worth it. Unfortunately it means that my blogs (and my show, even) have been neglected.

That and I got this Xbox for my birthday. Man, I feel my soul is about seven pounds lighter.

I've also been caring for my ailing cat, who's getting really old. I mean, there's just a lot on my plate right now, so hopefully when March is all over I can get back into the full swing of things.

At our church, we were watching a Lisa Bevere video, Kised the Girls and Made Them Cry or something to that effect. It's a series of lessons on abstinence and the teachings are really solid. It clearly made an impact on my class (I teach the youth group on Wednesday nights) and so we've have many a fantastic discussion and I feel we're really reaching them, which is good because there are a lot of girls in my class-very young girls-who have gone down that road of sexual promiscuity and it's really sad.

But this isn't about that.

In the first lesson, Lisa spoke about how it's important to not emphasize on the dangers of sexual promiscuity so much as the beauty of the prize at the end if you wait. I'm oversimplifying to an enth degree to get to the crux point, so bear with me.

What she said was that children needed more than warnings. "They need a dream."

It kind of hit me really hard because I suddenly realized just how important dreams are to us, not just children. If you are a Christian, imagine your faith without the dream of heaven, or God or the glory of his coming. It'd be pretty glum and I can't think of why anyone would ever want to follow a belief structure like that. Christianity has a faith, a hope and a dream of the final coming of God in all of his majestic wonder on white horses and recreating the world in his image and we all live for eternity with him and there won't be a single tear shed afterwards.

To go down to a more Earthly level, imagine life without success. And in that, I mean any measure of success. Imagine going to school without the future of a diploma or the diploma ammounting to anything. Imagine a corporate ladder without any steps to climb. A date with a beautiful girl and you know nothing's going to come of it. Nothing has value.

It kind of pains me to even think about it.

The thing is, everybody needs a dream. Everybody needs it. People who have no dreams often find themselves in dark and lonely places or suicide. I'm not trying to exagerate an issue, I'm being serious. I think God created us this way, to dream, to need to dream so we would never be happy with just being.

So why am saying this? Because there seems to be this large opposition to the promotion of a dream in the business. People say it's overhyped. It's all about the dream. "Get real." "Wake up." "Life has no dreams, only degrees of labor."

I think Life is a dream. As a matter of fact, I know it is. It was a dream manifested by God and it is a perfect dream. We are God's dream. And just as we were created in the image of God, just as we are his dream, so do we need to dream.

Am I saying that we should dream of money? No.

But we should dream of success.

Benjamin Franklin had a dream. Our founding fathers had a dream. Martin Luther King had a dream. Neither of these were of holy stature, yet we don't attack them.

People are wanting to help people. These people in the business, are there to help others. And their dream is to become successful in this business. So what if you don't like it? It's their dream, and in order for them to continue their persuit-just like anyone else-they need that dream.

What are you dreaming?

It's Over

2005-02-28T20:45:00.000-08:00

I know it's cliche to say, but it's also customary to do: I've put a lot of thought into this post. Perhaps not enough to drag it out too much, but certainly to post it. I had meant to post this a long time ago, but then I had that dream.

Why I got off the phone with my upline, he had two things to make clear to me. First was that he had no ill-will toward Quixtar and didn't want me to stop working the business. The other thing he said though, and this was what stung me and has not gone away, was to "watch what you say." Advise to keep me from making Quixtar upset at me and deleting my account. I appreciated the warning.

But I don't like people telling me what to say, or what not to.

If you know anything about me, you should know that I speak what's on my mind. I believe that the Freedom of Speech is a humanitarian right and not something that should be exclusive to Americans. So when somebody tells me to watch what I say, I get a bit edgy. I don't like that.

I don't like being in the position where I'm verbally on the defense. If I have something on my mind, I want to say it. But sadly it's come to a point in my business venture where my word could spark some fuses. My upline said he knew about my blog, said "they" knew about my blog indicating AllianceNet. If they know about it, who knows who else is reading this and just waiting for me to say the wrong thing.

So how's this for the wrong thing: I don't care anymore.

As of right now, my IBO number means zero to me. Sure I'd rather keep it, but if they're going to try and use it as a threat to silence me, screw them. I will say what I want when I want and if that brings about my termination in the business, that's no sweat off my back. I can get accustomed to the mundane storefronts again. I'd rather not but it won't kill me.

So let this be declaration of open season on me. Quixtar, if I really piss you off that mucg, go ahead and cut the cord. See if I care. I'll be sure and let everyone here know when you do. It won't help your image, I'll tell you that much.

So What Does This Mean?

Well, really it doesn't mean a whole much of anything except for that I could care less what they do to me after I make the following few posts over the next couple of months.

I'm still buying products. I'm still selling products. I'm still an IBO, that hasn't changed and I'm not looking to change it. So I guess the title of this entry was a bit of an overstatement. I'm still in the game. This blog wouldn't be that usefull if I weren't.

Mom was pretty upset when she found out I was accepting my fate. "Where am I gonna get my detergent?" So this is for mom, really. Mom, this is for you.

In other news, you should all watch I ♥ Huckabees. Verry good film.

Midnight Prophecy

2005-02-18T18:35:00.000-08:00

I haven't been around and there's a reason for this. I was going to make a post about it because it's kind of important and very much relevant to this blog, more on it later, though. As I said, today I intended to make a post about it, but then last night I had this weird dream and I simply had to put it up first. Some of you intelligencias may have more luck at making sense of this than I do, though I have my conclusions.

Anyway...

So it takes place at my parents' church we have set up in our office building. We have a lot of facilities in our building, really: a school, a sleep clinic (recently installed) an accounting firm, a military technology center, a home health care center and our church.

Well the nice people from OASIS (again, more on this later) apparently rented out our church for one of their small meetings they hold on occasion. This one happened to take place on Wednesday. We have church that day and I guess whomever authorized the transaction didn't tell anybody because the people from church are there and the praise team is all getting ready.

Well, I'm sitting in the sound booth watching this ticking time-bomb, because I always run the sound booth. And I'm watching the host step up-nice guy-and introduce the speaker. And everyone's just listening intently. I can tell that the people from OASIS know who the speaker is and are eager to hear what he has to say because they're enthusiastic about the business. And then I can see the church members waiting intently because they think it's some new pastor and nobody has a clue. My dad, I can see his face, at first he's excited about the hype. He looks over to Jerry (our pastor) thinking this is something he put together. And then I can see Jerry on the other side of the church looking over at dad thinking it is something he put together. Our leadership communication is akin to cavemen drawing animals on rock walls. A lot of people make decisions and nobody knows what's going on until Showtime. It's not cool, but it's just how things go in small-time organizations.

So then the speaker finally steps up and starts ranting and raving and even preaching about the business. First he talks about how life is a miracle and how God is awesome and so the church goers are all immersed. But then he moves on to the product line and it's like a deer in headlights. Confusion all around and for a few moments, the audience is speechless, motionless. I can even see my dad trying to figure it out.

Finally, he does, but he doesn't. He doesn't know that OASIS paid money to rent the room. He just thinks they're barging in. So he stands up and begins heckling the speaker. The speaker tries to talk him down, but it's no good. Then the church goers start attacking, verbally and pretty soon the OASIS people lash back. In a matter of minutes, it's all chaos and I'm at the helm, looking through the glass window in the back of the church as civility slides out the air vent. I look to Scott (my dad's right hand guy) who's with me and he shrugs helpless.

Things begin to turn violent and I look down at the soundboard. The praise team is still on stage in the back, now standing confused. They're the only bunch that hasn't spoken up on either side of the argument. I know the decision is mine. Do I turn up the speaker's mic or do I start the music for the band to play to? There is this moment of considering and finally I make my choice, thumbing the play button on the CD player. Music blares through the monitors and that's the game.

The speaker, defeated, motions for his entourage and makes a final statement to my father, wishing him well and then he leaves. My dad nods and steps back.

And this is where it kind of got interesting.

I turned down the music, thinking it was over, but then some guy from the OASIS team, some younger adult that I have no idea who he was, turns back and runs up to the podium. He turns to the audience and says something like "You are all nothing but a bunch of crabs in a bucket, always trying to drag someone down when they want to succeed in life. I see you've made your choice, your personal hobbies are more important than success and freedom." I can see the anger and the passion in his eyes and I shake my head because I know that he's wrong. I know that these people are just good people who thought they were coming to church and then things went south. They don't want to keep anybody down, they just want to do their religious duty to God and the whole thing with the business hype and the plan and the products was like Pharisees with their market in the temple. I mean it made sense, at face value.

But then he leaves and someone from church who I didn't know immediately ran up to the podium and screamed back, "We made the right choice! They're nothing but a bunch of cultists who worship the god of mammon! Greed! Gluttony! The green of money!" And she went off calling them Satan's religion and a din of liars and scam artists. These things I also knew to be false because I knew the people who came for the OASIS meeting. I knew many of them personally and that did not fit their description. The woman then continued, "They have their organization and we have our organization!" And for some reason, I knew that she was meaning some sort of corporate entity yet she was referring to the church, like a lot of these big churches who have preachers on payrolls like they're some company. The audience got wild again. I could hear their hate, I could feel it fill the air and it made my skin crawl.

I abandoned my post and ran up to the front and waved my hands trying to calm them. I couldn't get to the podium because the woman was still there, so I just raised my voice over everyone and said "How is this any different than them? This is our body. This is God's body. And he didn't put us here to lash out and condemn other people. He put us here to love."

And then stoned went flying. The lady at the podium shouted me down. The people in the rows of chairs shouted me down. I looked and saw that even my parents were shouting me down and so I left, beaten and hurt.

I didn't meet up with OASIS. I knew they wouldn't take me after what I'd done to them. I just went away. I felt alone, abandoned and for what? I woke up with that question unanswered and the dream has been on my mind all day.

Despite the emotions of it, I can't find it in my heart to consider it a bad dream. On the contrary I rather liked it. Of all my dreams this one seemed relevant to my life and I think it taught me something. What it might teach someone else is however entirely up to them.

An Unanswerable Question

2005-02-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

Here's to you, David Robinson:

Jesus loves you more than you will know. Whoa whoa whoa!

Ok, enough of that.

My future plans for the business, for Quixtar, for my life and my persuits of happiness are still up in the air and I'm taking every step lightly but with confidence that I'm making the right decisions for me.

These past few days (weeks even) have been a blur and I am finding myself more and more exhausted as the sun keeps turning. It's a pendulum, really. In a couple of days I'll gradually get back into my groove and stay that way for a bit and then swing back. That's fine by me. I'm still young, I can handle it.

Let me just clarify a few things for the Quixtar lovers and haters that read this blog:

First of all I really appreciate it (even when I don't show it) that you waste your time with me and the rantings I have to say. It says a lot for somebody to give somebody else attention so don't think your contributions to this blog go unnoticed. I simply haven't thought up a plaque to send out to my active readers. :P

Secondly, there are some things you should know about me. I am an actor. I am a musician. I am a son of a successful businessman who has a corporation outside of Quixtar to follow up on every day because there will be a point in my life where I will take the reins and I do not want to do so blinded by ignorance through the years which could have been avoided. I'm paying as much attention now as I can so that I can be ready for when the time comes.

I have my own dreams and aspirations in life just like anybody else. Me being an IBO makes me no different from anybody else out there and so I have my strengths and my weaknesses, my wants and desires. I am a human being, blah blah blah.

My dream is to become an actor. That's it. A successful actor in the film industry. Funny how that has absolutely nothing to do with Quixtar or even my father's business. My parents are still overwhelmingly supportive of me and for that I am eternally greatful. So why stay in Quixtar? One reason - I enjoy it.

I enjoy being an active IBO. I enjoy promoting the products and establishing relationships and learning. I have grown so much through what I've got from this business called MLM and I have been able to apply it to my judgements of other things outside of Quixtar, such as my father's company. The friendships I have established may not be everlasting ones, but they are healthy ones and through this business I have also strengthened already existing relationships. I don't give all of the credit to Quixtar. A lot of it goes to AllianceNet and the simple Network Marketing system.

I enjoy doing what I do and so I keep on doing it until I stop enjoying it. Just like this blog. And, honestly, I'll probably keep this blog long after I quit Quixtar, assuming I do quit Quixtar, which hasn't happened and doesn't look like I will any time soon. Time will tell.

And that's the other thing. The primary lesson I learned in prospecting was Timing. It's all about Timing. Almost everything is about Timing. And you don't know where it is or when it will hit, but when the time comes along, the only thing you can do is go with it. If there comes a time for me to leave the business or this Blog, well I'm sorry. Won't be any hard feelings and I may even be back, but Time is Time and there's nothing I can do about it.

I'm not leaving now, though, so don't worry. Not going anywhere yet. Except maybe to bed. Because I'm really tired.

No Hard Feelings

2005-01-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

I don't hate Quixtar. I don't even dislike them. And I still shop on their website and sell their products. This post isn't about me.

I got a call recently from my upline, who works closely with Joe. No, I'm not going to name names and I'm not going to say how close - you're just going to have to trust me. And when have I ever lied on this blog? I don't lie. Not on this blog and not off of it. Lying is bad for business, any business. He works right up alongside Joe. He's been a keynote speaker an MC and made several speaches in several conventions. He is well known by all in AllianceNet and a good friend to Joe. And that's all I'm going to say about him personally.

He gave me a call the other day, asked how I was doing and what I was doing. He knows what I'm doing but it's only polite to start a conversation with small talk. I jumped straight to the point and brought up that I knew he and Joe and the others had been given the boot by Quixtar. Here's what he said:

Quixtar sent them a twelve-day notice. The next day, they terminated their business. No conversations. No other warnings. Just 24 hours and zip they were gone.

When I expressed how upset I was he calmed me down and said, "It's all right. Look, none of us are mad at Quixtar. Quixtar is like a big guerilla. And do you know what you do with a big guerilla?"

I said, "No."

He said, "You get out of the way."

He made me smile then and we talked a little more and here's the deal... A lot of people who don't know Joe Land and don't know AllianceNet and hate them on the sole basis that they are (or were, rather) part of Quixtar, have said a lot of things about them and this situation. And one of the things that has risen is the idea that somebody's going to suit. Well shut up. That's not what's going to happen.

Quixtar gave them the axe and by contract that's all they can do. And given the fact that many of us live in Right-To-Work states, it's questionable that they can't even do that. But guess what, nobody cares. Joe doesn't care. AllianceNet doesn't care. With integrity, they nodded and bowed out of the room.

AllianceNet wishes Quixtar well without any ill feelings. Even my upline warned me to watch what I say just so I can continue being an IBO in Quixtar. He's watching my back because he doesn't want me to fail at a business he still sees as ligitimate. There aren't any hard feelings at all. Disappointment - yes. But I think there's a fine line drawn between that and Distaste.

Everybody sigh, shake your head and move on. There's nothing to see here!

Oh, I beat Max Payne 2 a while back. Guess I should have said something. When my new memory chip comes in, I'm gonna pop in Mafia. So many old games I need to actually play! Grrrr

Fight The Man

2005-01-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the neglect. My world has been encompassed by the likes of Christmas, new computers, hopscotch between Dawn of War and Max Payne 2 (yes I know, I'm behind) and several auditions because that's what I do when I'm not working my J.O.B. (Just what the heck does that mean anyway?) or Quixtar. Yes I have a life outside of this blog and the businesses that go with it. Be amazed. Be very amazed. And let's not forget my show and my ever-contuing quest to find a woman. So many things, so little time.

So Quixtar, yeah I'm not too happy with them at the moment. And I'm not eager to jump on their defense, either, as many of you may have expected me to. Yes, I do believe there is a possibility that this whole Oasis fiasco is nothing more than the legal department having an excuse to collect a paycheck from a company that could otherwise care less. But that doesn't mean that I think Quixtar is completely in the clear.

Don't get me wrong. I love the company and I love their products. I always have and that's what this blog is really about. But right now, there's no telling if I'll be an IBO tomorrow or not. Joe made a gamble, expanding his business, diversifying his income as Kyosaki would put it. And now he's reaping a harvest of punishments and rewards for it. I just pray and hope for the best with him in what he does.

I don't like how Quixtar figures their stuff. I don't like how they mismatch terms and definitions. When I see "Independent Business Owner" I see a person who owns their own business, Independent of other people's iron hammer. Quixtar apparently doesn't see it that way. They see it as another way of saying "employee." So I guess I'm gonna have to treat this like the IRS and until they fix their faulty system, I'm going to try and find ways around it. And if they give me the boot, then so be it. But one thing is certain, I will always be my own IBO. And this blog will stick around until I get bored with it.

I don't like their use of the word "Competition" either. Their initial rule was fine and expected. After all, nobody wants their business associates screwing them over. However, they then went on to add a clause to that rule, an added rule: 6.5.1. For purposes of this Rule 6.5., "Compete" means to own, manage, operate, consult for, be employed by, or participate as an independent distributor in (a) any other direct sales program using a multilevel or "network" marketing structure...

So in other words they're saying "By compete, what we really mean is don't go out and try to start another business." Kyosaki would be proud. What a bunch of arrogant S.O.B.s and the sad part is that I don't think they saw it that way. I think they were trying to protect themselves from businesses like Passport, which sell pretty much everything or some variant of what Quixtar sells. The problem is that while Oasis is network marketing, Quixtar hasn't really developed any type of cell reproducing formula for ageing inside-out. There is no tangible competition between the two because while I might by Oasis' Ageless Xtra formula, I'm still going to need my toothpaste and laundry detergent. I think it's time for a new rule. Either that, or get rid of the archaic ones lingering within the vast halls of that prison we call "rules of conduct." Have any of you IBOs seen it lately? If printed, it'd be a freaking tome. I have to ask what kind of Business we're supposed to be running because at the moment, it's everything but independent.

So yeah, I'm not too happy with Quixtar. I'm not happy at all. Does that mean I want the founders burned at the stake? That we should all gather and take them to court or begin our conquest of the outter neighborhoods warning innocent vulnerables about the dangers lurking in the MLM cult of Satan? Well, I mean, if you want to then be my guest, but I'm certainly not in the mood for that.

I'm still stuck on the third chapter of Max Payne 2's third act.

Cut the Costco

2005-01-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

Saying that Alliance Net is only about Quixtar is like saying Campaign Creations is only about StarCraft.

And saying that Quixtar and Oasis are competitors is like saying Costco and Taco Bell are competitors. They're not. Just because both happen to sell tacos in some shape or fashion doesn't mean they're mortal enemies or that they even give a damn about eachother.

Now, look, I don't know what Joe Land's "ultimate intentions" are. I would like to think they include something along the lines of making money. I'll back him up all the way, though, because I believe in his ethic and I believe he is trying to do right. If he thinks that Oasis is the way to go, then I'll give it a shot. Why not? It's not like I'm leaving Quixtar.

I still sell the products, I still use the products. Oasis' herbal shot doesn't make SA8 any less better than Tide. Speaking of, I need to make an order, 'cause we're out. But that's besides the point.

You know what I was doing while taking a break from passing out gift bags full of Ageless Extra? Selling gift baskets of Artistry. Yes, it is possible.

If Joe decides to ditch Quixtar, I'll probably sign on to somebody else's group, if that's the way it works. But I'm not going to join this hysterical bandwagon that the world is ending because Joe Land expanded his horizons. People do it all the time.

Some better than others.

Christmas In The Net

2004-12-06T21:46:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year again and I find myself shuffling through store after store trying desperately to cross out names on my Christmas list. I think I almost got it down, now. But once again, I'm reminded of just exactly why I love Quixtar so much.

Look, this is a pro-Quixtar site, all right? Let's just get over that little factoid and move on away from all of the eye-rollers who shouldn't be here in the first place. I'm at the local Super Walmart today, grabbing groceries and I go ahead and stop by the electronics department to pick up a wireless Gamecube controller for my buddy. I see a power adapter for a car there, same wattage as we have on Quixtar, except it's 2 dollars more than ours. I know it's not big, but in an age where every little bit counts, $2 (and more if you consider I get money back from my purchases as well as IBO discount) is plenty for me to change my buying habits. Of course I can't really speak since I was at Walmart but they just don't ship frozen chicken fast enough, yet.

Besides, my upline, mentors and diamonds have even come out and said that there's no shame in buying elsewhere. If we don't have what you want, then it only makes sense to keep shopping onward until you find it. But this is beside the point. Once again, I've found another item that we beat in price and I'm pretty sure I could have found more (because I have in the past many times) had I looked longer. Doesn't matter, point stands.

So I'm waiting in line - key words here "waiting" and "line" and the woman ahead of me is bickering to the cashier lady how something that is marked $2.80 was advertised at $1.90 and so off they went, holding the rest of us up, and I got to thinking again (I know, the sky is parting, look! It's JESUS!) , this is also why I love shopping online.

When something is marked one price, I know that's the price I'm going to be paying at checkout. There is no arguement because it's already calculated from the front page to the web cart. I get to see the receipt before I check out, knowing exactly how much I'm spending and what I'm spending it on. And if I don't want to buy something when I'm checking out, there's no hassle or embarassment in leaving it behind. I simply replace the number with a 0 and "update cart" and viola! It's fixed! From far away I can understand how this sounds like a small ordeal, but it's not. It's a convenience. A huge one.

No lines! None! When I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go. I click "check out" and I'm done. The website (and most as of late) remembers my card so I don't have to go through all of that garbage. And in a couple of days it's at my doorstep. Do I have to wait for it? Sure, but that's why I practiced the least ammount of personal responsibility ever required of anything in life to make the order early enough and now I'm saved a couple of bucks in gas. Damn. I kind of wish I'd budget all of this stuff just to see how much I'm saving on this deal.

There's really no hassle and that's the greatest convenience of it. No bad attitudes from all-too-eager last-minute shoppers. No time wasted sifting through a dense lot for a parking space. No senseless traffic. And if something's out of stock, I know about it beforehand.

Give me a break. Too many people complain too much. Quixtar kicks ass Santa-style and that's all there is to it.

I'm still getting my tech gear from Newegg. ;)

Progress

2004-11-18T06:50:00.000-08:00

To All AllianceNet Teammates,

I want to report some exciting news for you regarding our AllianceNet business model!

Yesterday, our AllianceNet Board and all qualified Platinum’s and above met via teleconference and voted in a unanimous decision to accept a proposal to revamp our AllianceNet Business School “training system.” Here are some bullet points of the new proposal:

Beginning December 1, 2004, we reducing the cost of our Business School from $88.00 to $58.00 monthly or $29.00 every two weeks. This is a savings to all teammates of $30.00 per month. We will now have a Web fee only of $58.00 or $29.00 every two weeks.

We have eliminated any payout on our system. We want to be above reproach and with the negative about “systems” in this industry we felt the need to become a standard bearer with regard to this issue.

Each week our Personal Growth & Development cd’s will be posted on our Web Site in an MP3 format for you to listen to or download at your leisure. Instructions will be given for downloading if you do not have the proper Windows format. You will now have the capability to “burn” cd’s on your home computer! Everyone either has a computer or access to one so we are excited about this bold and aggressive decision. A two week time lag will be given for you to listen to or burn a copy of the cd’s of the week before they are taken down to post the next ones.

Also, if you wish, you will able to continue to place an order for hard copies of any cd through our Web Site. These items will be mailed to you including shipping and handling.

We are eliminating the Book of the Month! In the future, our Web Site will have a Book of the Month suggestion for you to purchase from one of our partner stores, Barnes & Noble.

We are also eliminating the present Web Site member fee participation of $20.00 beginning December 1, 2004. We are going to encourage those teammates to become full fledge members of our site and with the $30.00 cost reduction we feel that this is now possible. Make sure to encourage these teammates to sign up for the new $29.00 cost every two weeks for all the information!

We are proud of this great strategy as it shows the heart of our leadership, their commitment to do the right thing, and their desire to eliminate costs so as to make our “training system” affordable to everyone. As we pay for our Web Site and eliminate debt over the next two years we are hopeful that we can reduce our cost even further.

I hope you are excited about this as we all are. Stay focused, continue buying our great products and promote these products to all your teammates.

I look forward to seeing you in January at our four One Day Conventions if not before.

Best regards,

Joe Land

What a fantastic bit of news from the AlianceNet organization! This is the kind f progress that I like to see. No more piles of unmarketable CDs lining your garage. No more behind-schedule libraries of books you'll never read. An SOS realizes that people don't like this, so they fix it. And how? By utilizing the very web industry that made Quixtar great to begin with. Three cheers for ANS.

I can already see the list of complaints rolling in. "Well it should be free!" "60 bucks?! Highway robbery!" Systems are going to cost money, no matter how efficient you make them, folks. Get over it. I'd rather pay $30 less and not have to clutter my house with CDs and books than the previous plan of business. Quit complaining, you hozers.

The Underdogs

2004-10-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

Something's been on my mind for a while. Actually, it's always been on my mind, and here it is. There's a reason I and many others equate Anti-Quixtar types to the Liberal Left, and I'm talking about the religiously anti-Quixtarians here. I never thought to bring it out like this until I saw a post on a Quixtar relatd forum and read the readers' remarks and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Ever notice something about these anti-Quixtarians and their attitude towards IBOs? Now, I'm talking about normal smalltime IBOs. Not the big blue diamonds at the top. Not the "tyrants ripping everyone off with their tool scams." I'm talking about ordinary people, you and me. Ever notice the attitude toward us? Its aggressiveness? Its offensiveness? When you make money and share the story with them, not like you're bragging, you're just happy, they cringe and sneer and attack you or the business. And if you have shortcomings or if something goes wrong, they laugh and cackle and point victorious fingers of I-told-you-so's.

Ever wonder what their problem is? It's like they either have doubts of their personal situations or a superiority complex. As if you can't make any decisions without their approval. They chose not to enter this business and that's fine. The business isn't for everybody, just like college isn't for everybody, but then they're wondering whether or not they should have taken up on the offer and so rather than admit they might have made a mistake (one they could quickly correct, if so), they lambast you for taking the initiative, taking the chance and making something work. They attack you as being stupid, or playing the sheep or whatever. The can't support you because they're too afraid to. They're too afraid that you might come back and ask them "are you sure you don't want to give this a chance?" Stubbornness is what that is.

Or then there's the alpha-omegas who think the only way to skin a cat is their way, and the only way to reach any goal in life is their way. Nevermind the fact that only a small percentage of them have ever reached their goals and those goals are next to mediocre. I mean, don't get me wrong, goals are goals and I salute them for sticking with it, no matter how small or insignificant they may be. But if you go about accomplishing your goals in a way that doesn't coincide with their game plan, why, you're an idiot! And you're wrong! And you'll never make it! And as a matter of fact, I can't wait until you fail, so that I can laugh at you!

They're reading this and laughing their little faux humored giggles, the insincere chuckles that they do, but deep down, they know I'm right. They know they're bitter but they don't want to change. I'm not saying their opinion of the business is the problem. It's not. It's their harsh negative attitude towards the little people involved. I mean, give me a break. What kind of juveniles are we dealing with, here? Can I paint a simple picture here, for you?

These are people who say Quixtar is sooooooo stupid, yet, for whatever reason, they can't seem to draw themselves away from the subject. It's amazing.

What is Quixtar doing to them? Nothing. They're not involved in any way other than their mind. And that's their fault. Quixtar didn't ask for their brain power. Quixtar didn't ask for their thoughts. At the very most, it asked for their money and they said "no." Fine. But they can't leave it at that. They have to convince everyone that said "yes" to say "I mean no." And if they can't do that, they attack and ridicule - to no end - those people they're supposedly trying to help. That's not how you help. So maybe they are, in fact, not trying to help, which brings me to my next point...

If they're not out to help, just what in the heck are they out to do? Whatever it is, it's become incredibly clear to me that they aren't to see you succeed. As a matter of fact, they don't want you to succeed. If they did, they wouldn't get mad when you do and theywouldn't laugh at you when you don't. But they're laughing right now. And why?

Apparantly, Quixtar made a move that may or may not hurt IBOs. I'm not too educated on the situation at the moment, but if I understand it correctly, Quixtar has made it so that anybody can buy their products without going through an IBO. This, of course, would eliminate the use of an IBO. That hurts the IBO. That hurts you and me.

So what do the anti-Quixtarians do? Why, laugh and rejoice, of course! Why would they do differently?

"Reason #539 not to be an IBO."

"Quixtar is cutting out the middle man. Brilliant!!!"

"I think that's fantastic."

"This move may FURTHER REDUCE the already low percentage of retail sales which comprises IBO volume!"

"Ah. . . so close. But definitely a step in the right direction. Now if they would only allow members to go directly through Quixtar, that would be awesome."

"Buying without a refering IBO? Hard to believe....Personally, I think it;s great..."

"To quote the lines of a famous song by that one hit wonder group Steam:
Na Na Na Na.....Na Na Na Na, heeeeeeyyyyyy, GOODBYE"

Here's the bottom line: Anti-Quixtarians, just like Liberals, do not want to see you succeed. These people want you out of business. If I were any of you, I wouldn't listen to a word they say. And if you're not listening, already, then Kudos to you and fight the good fight. Get out there and sell that soap! ;)

Mild Disagreements

2004-09-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a crossroads of opinion between QBlog and I on the issue of Marx. He seems to think I'm insane while I seem to think he's a nitwit without a spine. Here's the basic flow of the arguement:

Marx
The story of several people and how their lives are affected by an MLM known as Shiek Chic (Quixtar). Those who are active members of the MLM utterly fail in one aspect of their lives or another, while those who raise a brow and take the more rightious path of a blue-collar worker find their soul mates and live happily ever after.

Teri, arguably the most prominant character of the film, is married to a Shiek Chic member, Tom. Their life together is at first uneventful yet joyous. But as the story progresses, Tom becomes more and more unrealistically obsessed, the business becomes more and more unrealistically impossible and Teri becomes more and more understandibly unhappy.

This all changes, however, when Teri gets in a horrible car accident with a man named Shi-er, Steve...I think. Anyway, Steve isn't involved in Shiek Chic and so the accident wasn't his fault, of course. It was the guy in front of him. (don't get me started on the laws of rear-end collision) Steve -knowing fullwell that Teri is married- continues to send her flowers and coo and woo her day by day by day by day. When he finally meets Tom, he doesn't like him just by looking at him. (It's the Shiek Chic look in Tom's eyes, of course. Certainly has nothing to do with jealousy)

Tom eventually sells a car through Shiek Chic which causes his emeralds or diamonds or megas or whatever to make him a spokesman and pay him enough money to retire. Teri, wanting out of this nightmare asks him if he'll leave the business for her. Tom tells her to grow up. Apparently that means "divorce me for someone else," and that's precisely what she does.

The End

Me
The detail is a bit lax in my explanation of the story but you get the gist of it. Janet (the author) takes careful attention to describing every attractive feature of Steve, going out of her way to writes sentences of justification for Teri's lust. In the end, everything ends on a happy note, or at least in the tone of the writing. Teri is happy with her decision and Janet is happy for Teri and Steve. At least, that's how she writes it out. The ending sounds happy and those outside of Mine and -apparantly- Janet's belief structure, might even think so. But I don't think so. Janet says that she's a bonified Christian. That's all well and good, but even the Bible says that if a lustful thought remains only that, it is still adultery in God's eyes.

Janet should know better than to glorify the act simply because she has an axe to grind with Quixtar. Not everybody in the business is bad. As a matter of fact, I'm willing to wage that vast, vast majority aren't. Janet stepped below the boundery of integrity by admiring sinful acts of adultery and deception in her book. For that, I wish the thing were never written. If you want to bash Quixtar in a fictionary book, do it. But don't exhault sin in the process. Janet should be ashamed.

QBlog
You're insane, IBlogO. Just because she wrote it, doesn't mean she endorses it. Why, by that logic, the producers of The Sopranos support gangsterism! Surely you don't believe such a thing. Get a clue!(tm)

Well, with such a profound approach, who on Earth could argue against that? Well, I could, and so I shall. But let me first say that his logic is sound and on the cover, it would fly. But I look deeper than the cover, much deeper. Nice try.

This logic can be looked at a couple of ways. Either way, however, I still win. Or at the very least Janet doesn't look too good.

First Item Up: The genre. The Sopranos, like The Godfather is a gangster movie about gangsters. Gangsters existed, no really, they did. And just like you can't have a car movie without cars, you can't have a gangster movie without gangsters. The problem herein is that in gangster movies, nobody is painted as the good guy. Everyone is drawn as humans, humans with emotions, feelings, dreams and desires, humans like you and me. It is because of this that we sympathize with one of them, generally the one that is screwed by the others and exacts his revenge. He might even be trying to go at the business "ligitimately." But despite that, he's still a bad guy. We like him because he's real. But he's still overall bad, and if he dies - he was asking for it.

So no, the producers of The Sopranos might not support gangsterism just as they may not support the ganster. This is why the picture of gansterism is never pretty. People die and a lot of times they die in horrible, horrible ways. The producers make sure this is evident and as we watch, though a tiny part of our fantasies may be enticed, we know it isn't the lifestyle for us common folk. Long and the short, they don't endorse gangsterism.

Likewise, Janet does not endorse MLMs like Quixtar. It is for this reason that she paints every aspect in negative light. The products suck. The dialogue is fake - all the time. Nothing is real. Nothing is affordable. Those who succeed at it are empty vessels without fulfillment. They are dishonest and stealing from their downline without any remorse. The business is fake, the people are fake, the dream is fake. That's what she writes because she does not endorse MLMs. She doesn't want you to endorse it either. Is any of what she wrote true? Maybe. Certainly not on a global level and certainly not as dominating as she made it out to be in the entirety of her enovel. The diference between Janet and the Producers of The Sopranos is that the Producers are not lieing. Janet is.

Second Item Up: Teri is the lead character of the book. We're supposed to feel for Teri, just like we're supposed to feel for Scarface. And what better a comparison? Here's a man who built up his empire on lies and deceits. Sure, people screwed him over, that's what people do, but he did the same and in the end, his imperfections were his downfall. Rather than looking into himself for the faults within him, he blamed everyone else and everything else until he had no friends left. Then the baddies came in and blew his chest open with a shotgun.

While Janet was lucky in the end, having found her soulmate, after reading this book, I strongly doubt the relationship will last. She'll find something to be ungrateful for, or Steve will show his true colors as a real man and not the perfect romance novel dream guy she thinks he is. He won't be obsessed with Shiek Chic, but by God does he like fantasy football. She'll ditch him for a young chef at a lowly French resteraunt and the cycle will continue. Yes, I'm pulling all of that out of my rear, but hey! It happens all the time, right? And with Teri's characteristics, with her lies and her uncontrollable desire for the immature schoolgirl fantasies, it's more than highly possible.

I got off track, but here's my point: While the Producers may not support Gangsterism, they certainly play off the hero and his actions as sympathetic. I'm not putting it past me that Janet is doing the same. She feels for Teri. She doesn't like Tom and Teri hates the man, both for the same reason: Shiek Chic (Quixtar). Need I go back and point out that everyone involved in the MLM loses? She likes Steve because Steve is handsom and Steve is sweet (although a bit disrespectful to the idea of marriage) and Steve is most deffinately not in Quixtar, I mean Shiek Chic. And she likes the idea of ditching the zero and going with the hero, and by 'She' I mean Janet.

Some Christian.

Qblog wants me to believe that Janet doesn't endorse Teri's actions or the message of the book. He wants me to believe that on no grounds, no evidense to the contrary, simply on the notion that "just because she wrote it, doesn't mean she endorses it." We're talking about cheating on your loser husband, here. It's not like we're hanging men from helicopters.

Look, let's call a spade a spade, please. Let's be adults about this, please. Let's not lie to ourselves, please. Teri did that for the rest of us already. Janet endorses adultery when it is convenient to her cause. When I shared this enovel with my girlfriend, the love of my life who is not an IBO in Quixtar, even she was disgusted with Teri, at the end, and we both discussed the thoughts of the author at length, what the thoughts would have to be to write what she wrote, how she wrote it.

There are more factors in this than I care to go into. Look, my problem was never that Janet mercilessly trashed Quixtar without merit or truth. People do that all the time. My problem is that she axhaults one of the worst sins in the Bible, and to top it off, she comes here and claims she's a Christian. Give me a break.

I don't like pushing my spiritual morals on anyone else, but in the case I don't have to. Janet has no excuse, if she is what she says she is. No excuse at all.

And that's all I have to say. That's all that needs to be said about this. I could say more, but why? I win. Qblog, you lose.

Janet, you're going to have to answer to God.

Who Wants To Be A Blogger?

2004-09-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

This isn't what I was really wanting to post on, but what can you do?

If you haven't read on Quixtar Blog, I've been quoted on a certain blog hosted by an author who calls himself "Qrush" to support his claims that Scott Larsen is gay. Now, I'm not going to go into it becuase it doesn't really matter. If you care that much, you can catch it on QBlog's website.

Here's what I'm going to say: I don't know Qrush and I don't know Scott Larson. I don't appreciate QRush using me in the context that he's used me. If he wanted to cite me and my context to support the point I was making, fine. But I don't appreciate this Michael Moore-esque "reporting," especially from someone who takes a dandy to the association with Rush Limbaugh. I don't read QRush much, but from what I have read, his tactics are entirely out of line from his apparent role model.

Rush doesn't attack gays for their homosexuality.
Rush doesn't use the homosexual card where it is irrelevant (ala: he hates Quixtar because he's gay)
Rush doesn't slam everyone who disagrees with him as being a Liberal bonehead or any other derogatory insult.
Rush is far more clever with his derogatory insults.

I don't know QRush and I don't care to. I don't like Larson but that doesn't mean I'm going to bash him for his sexuality, something I neither know anything about nor find relevant. I'm not going to stand by it, either.

There's absolutely nothing I can do in this situation. Freedom of information and all, I put what I said online and when you say something, the moment you say something it's open to scrutiny of any type. If QRush takes it upon himself to quote or misquote me, that's his perogative. But I would appreciate some since of propriety. If QRush is any sense an honorable man as Rush, he'll acknowledge his mistake and correct it, openly and publicly.

Should he decide not to, you have my case here and ultimately that's all that matters.

And while we're on the topic of clearing things up, things I said before about QuixtarBlog might have been taken in the wrong light. I don't have any ill feelings toward QBlog or his website or its content in any way. Though we don't see eye to eye on several things, I find Q to be one of the most respectable Bloggers I know. He is upfront, honest and professional and I appreciate everything he's done. I wouldn't have known about any of this had he not called me, in the first place.

We have discussed the issue of publishing Marks and while I believe his honesty in his explanation, it didn't explain what the book had anything to do with Quixtar. In all truthfulness, and he knows it, it doesn't matter. It's none of my business and he can put whatever he wants on his Blog. It's his Blog. But my case in point still stands. I still think the book is a dishonest and unfair look at IBO's in Quixtar (if that is what it is) and several items of interest the author had clearly taken liberty into translating to her own convenience despite the possible or downright obvious misleadings. That aside, it makes for good fiction, if the ending wasn't so deplorable. I may go into that later, or I may not. There's still that whole Broadway Show I gotta write.

Literary Idioso

2004-08-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

There's a hit eNovel, "Marx" by Janet Marie Mills, hosted by QuixtarBlog.com. Go check it out if you have a strange hankering for wasting your life. There are better pieces of trash that I still wouldn't recomend reading, but at least they're better. There are two key factors about this story that I really don't get. One of them is, I can't seem to figure out what MLM business Shiek Chic would closely resemble. It doesn't work like Quixtar. It doesn't work like Amway. Maybe it works lik Passport. I honestly can't tell. I do know that Janet wants it to represent Quixtar, her being a member of the prestiguous "Morons Against Quixtar." But her insatiable desire for it to be what it most certainly is not does not make it any less foolish.

The other thing I don't get is why QuixtarBlog published it. QuixtarBlog is a self-proclaimed Quixtar Blog. It bloggs Quixtar. Marx is not Quixtar nor does it have anything to do with Quixtar. So why would QuixtarBlog publish it? My guess is that QBlog figured it was the only literary piece close enough to resemble Quixtar, the most prominent MLM business in the USA. The story is still stupid, the writing is still vague and the eNovel is still a sermon under a crude mask of literary art. My advice to Janet is to stick with simply being an idiot, rather than blaspheming the name of literature just to push her silly ideology.

Now I did have a review set in mind, but seeing as how I'm thinking of turning this copious pile of crap into an award-winning broadway musical, I've instead decided to "publish" the work here so that you can see it first.

Boy-oh-boy is this going to be fun.

It's a SCAM!

2004-07-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hi.

My name is Ron.

Recently, a friend of mine approached me about an "opportunity" with a certain "business venture." Aooarently they were expanding and this led for a great deal on a way to "make some extra money." I curiously agreed to meet with him and discuss "the plan" but deep down, I knew something was up.

We met at the "business" head quarters where my friend's "manager" showed me "the plan." It was simple. I put in the effort and I get a lot of money. Eventually I'd get up high enough to make as much as he was making, or so he said. I figured, why not, and signed up. Boy was I in for a long haul.

Let's start with the basics, here. First of all, everybody's the same. I mean, they dress the same, they talk the same, heck they even smell the same! I feel like a robot whenever I don "the uniform."

Plus, I'm not a people person and this thing lives on people. It practically eats them alive! Here I am, trying to convince people to get in our our "great deal" and I know deep down that it's all a fraud, the whole thing. Why, it kills people! Ok, so it doesn't, really, but it damn well near could!

That's the other thing. All these people, flocking like a herd of sheep, paying billions of dollars to this "business" and for what? The "business" promises one thing and gives them something entirely different! Isn't that a scam? I think it is. I think reason thinks it is. It only makes sense. If you pay for a certain thing, or if you are promised a certain thingm then that is what you should get! Here we are, promising one thing and giving something that may resemble a watered down version, like if you took a hose and sprayed it down for an hour and a half and then dropped a big bucket of water on top of what was left and then swept the rest into a big bathtub and filled that with water and then stirred it around and pulled the plug and let everything get sucked down the drain and then you're left with molicules of god knows what, that kind of watered down reality of what is advertised, but people don't seem to care.

They keep spending their money, letting us take their precious currency and they just don't care. I think something should be done. I left. I couldn't handle it all. After a while, I began to lose sleep, so I left. But something more should really be done. I think somebody should run an investigation. Somebody like Dateline or some skinny guy with a hankering to destroy his body for money. Yeah, somebody, just anybody needs to do an investigation and illuminate this "business" for the scam that it really is.

That's it, I've been motivated. Tomorrow, I'm taking this story to PAX.

Tomorrow, justice will be served on a cold, hard plastic tray.

Tomorrow, Burger King is going down.

The Worthless Diamond

2004-06-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

"Quixtar doesn't work and I'm proof of that! Why, I was a DIAMOND for four years and I only pulled in a couple thousand dollars, unlike the millions that those scamanizations boast on their scam CDs and scam Books! It doesn't work!"

I've had the opportunity of hearing that rhetoric in more ways than one. It's amazing how many different arangements of words can be made out to mean the same thing. So you have these diamonds (or former diamonds, rather) and they're all peeved because they didn't make the money that their upline said they would. Of course, their upline was preaching out of a pamphlet that also talks about certain structures of business possible with the Quixtar system. These so-called "successful" IBOs did everything their upline told them to do and reached the almighty, ever-coveted rank or Diamond after years of trials, tribulations and turmoil and what did they reap in harvest? A couple grand and a garage full of "worthless" books and tapes, or CDs, or whatever(I like the books, frankly, but that's another story).

So what happened? What's the problem? Are they right?

Well, no. And even if they were, why would I acknowledge that? I'm a pro-Quixtar blog afterall! In truth, the answer isn't complicated but these Diamonds certainly aren't correct in their assertion that Quixtar "doesn't work" because they didn't get the money they thought they'd get. For starters, it's a math thing. It's not really anything else. There's no "theory" to the system of making money in this business. The money comes on a point scale with a percentage attached. That's numbers, people. Not faith. Not theory. Plain and simple numbers. You want to make money, you work the numbers, and the way to work the numbers is to understand the system.

Am I going around in circles? No. I'm not going to touch on any of what I just mentioned in this post because it's not really relevant to the subject. This post isn't an instruction manual and I'm never going to write one, sorry (actually I'm not. Teehee!).

Simplified: There's two core structures of the business and everything else just branches off from those. There's the Pipeline and the Pyramid and they're both real easy so I'll get right to the points.

The Pipeline: You sign up one person. They sign up one person. They sign up one person. And down the pipline goes. This builds stability. If one person or three or four quit, nobody else is really hurt. It's not hard to sign someone else under one person and keep going. The damage is easily fixed and you move on. The pay (not being much - I'll get to that later) isn't drastically affected so nobody's stung. Bottom line: people aren't distraught over the loss. The problem is that you don't get too much money because it's just a one-way stream and due to the way the "System" works, that bonus is going to take a heavy hit.

The Pyramid: No, not like "the pyramid scheme," at least not in the paranoid "BAD THING!" sort of way. You sign up three people. Those three sign up three people. Those three sign up three people and...hey! Are you listening! *slap* Settle down, you knee-jerkish baffoon. We're not making any money signing people up. We still have to SELL LEGITIMATE PRODUCTS TO LEGITIMATE CUSTOMERS! God...you people are impossible. Anyhow, this produces cash. Because there are multiple streams of income flowing rather than just one stream as in the pipeline, you see more money in your wallet. The problem is reminiscent of the Spinning Plates skit. You people who have been to meetings and heard the speaches are already aware, and those of you who have scene the age-old skit know what it is. You've got three poles and on top of the poles are plates that you must keep spinning to keep them from falling. You run from one to the other to the other and back until you wear yourself out and then all of the plates fall. That's exactly what you have here. If you can't keep your distributors motivated, then the plates fall. You have no plates. You have no income. You quit. And because you quit, so does the guy above you and so on and so on. The structure is rewarding but tiring and stressful, as well.

Both structures have strengths and weaknesses and, to harness them, you must have a strategy. You have to have a plan. You have to know how you're going to keep those plates spinning and/or you have to know how deep you want to drill that pipeline before you move on to another.

Now that's the structure side to the business. And here's the meat, because this is where it all counts. What I just presented was a way to distribute products. Find out what's best for you, BUT REMEMBER THIS: A rank: such as "Diamond" or "Emerald" or "Starfighter of DEATH" only recognizes how many points are pushed. Not how much money is made.

Your bonus, your money, is decided on the person below you. If you qualify for 9% bonus, you're going to get 9% of whatever you sold (on top of direct marketing profit) as well as 9% of the group volume (how much money that pipeline/pyramid has produced). However, if your immediate downline qualifies for any bonus, be it 3%, 6% or 9%, their bonus number is subtracted from your group bonus leaving you with the remainder (if their's was 6, yours is 3. If their's was 3 yours is 6, etc.) plus 9% of your personal achievments. Did that confuse you? It shouldn't. Go back and read it again.

I know it sounds like it sucks, but it doesn't. It's actually better than anything I could come up with, but the reasons for that are another story for another post. I'm just writing this as something of a rebuttal to what these Diamonds are whining about.

Bottom Line: Being a Diamond doesn't mean jack. I don't give a crap what rank I am, so long as I'm making money. If you're a Diamond and you're not making money, I strongly advise you to reconsider your business strategy.

- iBO out

Well, I'm back.

2004-06-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

Jetlag can kiss my patootee. I'm still tired as all getout, though.

I've got some updates for the blog. If you didn't notice, I pretty much ignored the whole lot of you and this blog (and all of my others, for that matter) while I was out of town, and why shouldn't I have?

And scrolling down a bit, it would seem like Lawdawg is playing with himself again. Either that, or we managed to rile someone else up. Whatever. I ain't goin' back there. I've said what needs to be said. People like Lawdawg can't be argued with because they don't listen. They never take your points to heart. Only they are worthy of their attention. Whatever. He likes to see himself talk, let him go start his own blog, or reply to something fresh.

And speaking of fresh, boy am I feeling fresh after showering it up with Quixtar's premium body wash stuff! *ding*

Whoa!

2004-06-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot this place existed! ;)

Actually, I'm in Seattle having the time of my life. I love vacations. Yum yum!

It's a shame all you punks can't be here. Sucks to be you.

8-player Lan tomorrow. ROCK!

Tah

Where the Heck?

2004-06-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

I suppose I "owe" you guys an entry.

Lemme say this, I don't owe you crap. OK? Crap. That's what I most certainly don't owe you.

All right, anyhoo, truth be told I actually do have posts planned for this blog. They're floating around in the back of my mind. So why haven't I posted anything? Well, a few reasons. Partially because timing and partially because willpower. I run a few journals and a show as well as commenting on several others. I've got screenwriting and Role Playing. I'm flying out to Seattle tomorrow and my computer blew up the day I was supposed to get my show recorded and well, I have a full life, OK? Back the heck off. Before I sign you up in my downline.

That's right. That's what I thought.

Fneh.

Anyway, big thing on QuixtarBlog.com. "Does Amway = Quixtar?"

Lots of people feel it necessary to go out of their way, pulling thesis papers out of their collective asses on how everything is the same, the two are the same and yes, Quixtar does, in fact equal Amway.

Well, seeing as how I'm presently in Quixtar and they presently are not, I think I have a far better say in what is what, so I'll finish this post off with the correct answer.

...

........ .. ..

No.

Sweet sweet candy

2004-06-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

I don't know what this has to do with candy.

Circuit City signed up with Quixtar as a partner store. I wish I would have known sooner because I was shopping for a hard drive and the one I got on NewEgg was on sale at Circuit City for twenty bucks cheaper. And while twenty bucks doesn't necessarily sound like a lot, it's an extra 400 watt power supply that I was also going to grab in the same order, but I couldn't because the money went to the hard drive. W00t to that. Regardless, I think it's pretty cool that CC signed on.

I'm working on a website to push the products I primarily sell. I'm drawing out a design at the moment, more on that when it comes.

And my Cleric died in Ravenloft. I'm really peeved about that.

Letter to Mom: #1

2004-06-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hey mom, thanks for your gift, I’m the talk of the dorm now! :D

Not a lot has been going on over here. Grades are steady; I’ve got a final next week and then a week off and then another week full of finals. Woohoo.

So my dorm buddy invited me to this meeting, right? He said it’s a way to make some extra money. I’m gonna go see what it’s all about. It just seems a little fishy. He’s all excited, mom. I’ve never seen someone so excited and yet so secretive about “making some extra money.”

I think it’s a get-rich-quick scam. Michael told me about those. Like Amway, you know? I’m gonna go investigate this “meeting” and see what I can find out.

Oh, and I did what you told me to, this weekend. Filled out an application to Blockbuster and the guy there said he was really impressed with my attitude! I think I may land the job and that’ll mean I can hold some of the rent weight here.

By the way, thanks. I really appreciate all you and dad have done for me. Your support has been what’s kept me going. I’ll write you soon.

Love
Your most precious son ;)

Hold Up

2004-05-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

I'm presently working on overdrive to finish my current screenplay project. Final draft is due tomorrow, so all updates to this blog are being pushed to Monday (since I don't update on the weekends). If this is an inconvenience to you, I don't care ;)

Jump Aboard!

2004-05-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

Hey kids! There's a new ride in town!

And it's coming to your house soon!

It's the Deny Axiom Carousel, complete with your favorite excuses, like That's not how you spell it, I'm going to completely ignore everything you just said, and the ever popular I may be a pot, but you're still black! Climb on board and watch your worries spin away as we take you on a fantasy ride to the world of utopia, where the fun only stops when it's time to go home!

That's right, kids! The Deny Axiom Carousel offers immeasurable ammounts of unrealistic fun! And because you're too busy spinning around and around in your own circular logic, nobody can ever challenge you! It's fun, it's easy and it's practically free! Just leave your common sense at the gate and simply pick it up on your way out! ... or don't.

And, for the parents: The Deny Axiom Carousel isn't just a ride. It's a lesson in action! Your children will learn how to combat logical arguements with just the twist of a wrist, from nit-picking irrelevant details such as spelling and grammar, to completely ignoring critical points in the name of reverting back to the initial arguement! Where will these invalueable lessons on every-day thinking take them? The possibilities are endless!

So what are you waiting for? Don't let the mean-spirited harsh Truth ruin your chance of a good time. Get on the Deny Axiom Carousel today!

Personal success is not a guarantee. Side effects usually include cancer of the brain and diarrhea of the mouth.

How To Make Money In Quixtar

2004-05-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

Really, I shouldn't even be talking about this. It's not really that difficult of a concept. But first, let's look at the issue.

People are complaining that you can't make money with Quixtar. I honestly fail to see the logic in this. First of all, it's easy. Quixtar is just a website with a bunch of products that you can buy. And when I say "a bunch" I mean a couple million.

Now there's a base price and a suggested retail price. Usually the difference is a couple of bucks, but sometimes it can be a couple of hundred. It's not a lot, but Wal-Mart doesn't make millions by selling one thing of tooth paste. People bash Amway with some stupid phrases like, "I'll never understand the excitement of selling soap." Hah hah hah. Really, now, if I had a nickel for every bar of soap sold in America...I'd be pretty excited. Maybe this guy wouldn't, but I certainly would.

In any case, sales. Mark-up. Whathaveyou. Quixtar's mode of operation is simple. I don't know how many times I have to say that, but it is. You get the items you want to sell, at base price, and sell them at suggested retail price, or whatever you decide to mark it up to. And that's it. Count your money and go home. Or better yet, don't even buy the items. Just let whomever buy it from the Quixtar site, or order it from Quixtar for them, and there you go.

It's easy, see? Make money with Quixtar. And they said it couldn't be done!

Actually, what they're really talking about is how people build up big pyramid schemes and keep profit as in-house buying, meaning you're not really selling anything. You're just getting people in your business to "buy from themselves." While I see no problem in that, others do. But I have to beg to question: Who told you to do that? Certainly wasn't Quixtar. So who told you? Your....your what? Your what? Your Diamond told you? That's what I thought.

Well I won't preach against it, but if you want to make money, sell the products.

Last year, I made a hundred and fifty dollars cash off making gift baskets for Christmas in the month of December. It wasn't anything to boast or live on, but it deffinately helped out a lot come time for me to do my own Christmas shopping. And every other month I sell eighty dollars worth of Carb blockers to my usual customers.

It can be done, people. It's not impossible. As a matter of fact, it's not even hard.

The Truth of The Tyranny: Part 2

2004-05-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we've talked about all of the angles one can beat around the bush of Quixtar. We've talked about the religion, we've talked the politics, we've talked the disdain for the disdain of a job. That's all out of the way. Sure, we lightly touched it, I suppose, but the core of those issues is gone. Let's move on.

The final topic is that of the Tools System. I don't know what to say about this that hasn't already been said. Tools are evil, vile, wicked, little devil things that jump at your wallet through the portal of your mind. By convincing you that you need them, they get you to purchase them, again and again and again and again. Some say the Tools System is unnecessary, others say it's downright illegal. But one thing is for certain amidst all of this choas and hooplah: There's a Tools System in every organization. Everybody has one. Everybody has a Tools CD with their organization's logo on it and a book from their organization's library. And you can't sell them back, and to place them on e-bay is laughable. So if you buy them, you're stuck with them like poop from the foo bird for the rest of your damnable and destitute life.

So what's the correlation between the Tools System and Quixtar? What is it that connects Quixtar to the Tools that has everybody all riled up? Where is the relationship? The interchange? Well, the answer is actually, pretty simple and it's right there in the paragraph above: There isn't one. That's right, there is no connection. None. Nada. Quixtar and an Organization's Tools System are exactly that, two seperate bodies with nothing in relationship.

So why, then, the issue? Because it's not that easy to see. When people see Team of Destiny, they see Quixtar. When they see Alliance Net Solutions, they see Quixtar. Qbiz - Quixtar. World Wide Group - Quixtar. People who make this correlation are absolutely unable or simply unwilling to see the plain-as-day line of seperation. It's easy, really. Quixtar is a portal page of stores. TOD is an organization of people with memberships to that portal page. TOD leaders sell their TOD Tools to TOD members who then use those for whatever and there you have it. That's it. There's really no more to be said about the subject. It's a dead subject.

But that's not good enough for some people. People like Bo Short, it isn't good enough for him. After all, if it's not damaging Quixtar, it's not doing his Passport business any good. So keep the smear on, keep it alive, hoo rah to you. What does Bo Short say? Well, Quixtar should step in and tighten the leash! Tighten the leash? What leash? Just exactly what is it that you expect Quixtar to do, Bo? And anybody else out there that thinks the same, the same to you. What on Earth could Quixtar possibly do? How do you enforce something like that? Tell them "no?" Say it's against policy? If you catch them, you'll kick them out?

OK, do that. Now what? What's to keep them from dishing them out under the table? Now you're the evil, diabolical coorporation that's hindering their chances of success! That's what they'll tell their members, and their members will believe it. So what do we do about that? Nothing. Quixtar will be Quixtar. You just be a good little lemming and buy my CDs under the table and don't say a word. That's it! Now what, genius? Now what, Bo Allmighty? What should Quixtar do now? Send out it's elite covert ops team of Ninja spies? Yes, that's it! Ninja spies! They'll sign up as Team of Destiny members and catch Orin Woodward in the act! It's a foolproof plan! A surefire hit! Only one problem, it won't work. I'll tell you why it won't work. Same reason people still speed. Same reason people still download Mp3s. Because the proffit is too great. The payoff simply outweighs the penalty. If you disband one organization for breaking the rules, twelve others will sprout from it like a Multi-Level Hydra. Congrats, you just spread the rash.

Way to go, Bo. Way to go, indeed.

It's really elementary, my dear boy. It isn't in Quixtar's best interests to nanny organizations for two key reasons.

1) The process would only spread the disease
and
2) It would cost more than they have.

Let's not forget that we're talking about adults here. And back we go to the outrageous idea of self responsibility. Oh no, can't have any of that. That doesn't earn freebeebucks. You can't play that card in a law suit and win! Dateline won't report on that! My dreams of wealth without effort would be ruined! By heavens, don't be absurd! No. Blame Quixtar. Even though it's not Quixtar's name on that CD or that Tape or that Book or that Tool, blame them anyway. By the end of the day, you'll feel a lot better. After all, it wouldn't be YOU'RE fault that you're a jackass.

So in closing, none of the mentioned topics were the real deal. You want the Truth of the Tyranny? Look in the mirror.

The Truth of The Tyranny: Part 1

2004-05-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

There's this ongoing hatred of the Quixtar business, seething lips, cynical posts, blogs and stories spring up daily. One day, it's a college student, the next day, it's a lonely housewife. I've noticed a pattern with all of them: None of them have an understanding of the real world. All of them have attitudes remeniscent of the common LJer, all magnets for attention, all looking for sympathy. I've noticed that nothing is ever their fault. They are the victims. They are the hapless heroes who can do no wrong. If it's not Quixtar screwing them over, it's their parents. If it's not their parents, it's their friends. If it's not their friends, it's the convenient religion of the day. If it's not the religion, it's the government. If it's not the government, it's the world. Every post is either dreamy, derisive or depressive. Every response is (and I was just talking about this with my girlfriend, last night) "*hug*" or "Dear, I'm so sorry :(" or "I'm here if you need me" or "I love you." And all of these responses are well and good, but the nature of them, the reason for them is the questionable thing. The writers, the columnists, all of them crave these responses. For whatever reason, they need them. They need to see people offering shoulders of sympathy and so they find every reason to play the victim or "the-guy-who's-pissed-off(tm)." And so, whenever I read these nasty anti-Quixtar rants, I have to read them through the eye of the filter. Just who is writing this essay? Who is this person and how do they see the world?

And so, withought anymore sidenote, I present the truth of the tyranny of that which is Quixtar.

When people bash Quixtar, they always write around one solid issue. That issue is either the religion of those within Quixtar, the political views of those within Quixtar, the opposition of a job by those within Quixtar, and/or The "Tools System" of an organization of people within Quixtar. Now, before I continue, when I say "within Quixtar," what I mean is that these people purchased a Quixtar number and sell Quixtar products. That's it.

Now, right now I'm even being lenient because only one of those topics mentioned above should be considered a prominant issue. All of the otheres merely support the fact. Not the fact that Quixtar is bad (actually none of the topics support that) but that these people, for whatever reason, hate it enough to write about why they hate it. There are plenty of these supporting topics that I won't get into because that's not the most mentioned tyranny of Quixtar so let's get the ones mentioned out of the way.

When one brings up the topic of religion, what they're refering to is the overwhelmingly Christian atmosphere. It's not an in-your-face atmosphere; nobody forces their Christianity on you. But often times a business meeting or seminar will open up in prayer and often times someone will refer to the blessings of God in their business. So when somebody writes about this being a problem they have, they are saying a few things about themselves.

1) They have a serious problem with Christianity, to the point that you can't mention God's name in front of them without them being offended.

2) They lack the attitude of respect, caring only about themselves and not those around them. This respect includes someone's religion, even when it is not causing harm to anyone else.

3) They have a perverbial stick up their ass. (This can be equated to number 1)

Now, these are simplified observations that envelope many others. I could list them all but all others would inherently fall into any of these three key observations, so I won't. What I will point out is that anyone in this category deserves neither your time, nor attention. They suffer from spoiled-brat syndrome and should be kept in a cold, dark cellar until they grow up.

When one brings up the topic of political views, they almost always note that everyone in the business is obviously a Republican, and they say it in such a way that this is somehow a bad thing. Ever done a poll on how many Democrats vs how many Republicans own businesses? The answer may shock you! Most businesses are owned by Republicans because Republicans tend to lean to the Conservative viewpoint that states "A worker is worthy of his wages" whereas most Democrats line with Liberal viewpoints that point to the government as the answer to all of your financial problems. (thus the extension of unemployment and welfare) So if you go to a business meeting full of business people, of course there's going to be a great majority of Republicans there. Unlike Democrats, Republicans don't sit on their hands waiting for "get out of work free" coupons.

I don't know what it is, but there seems to be an unnatural, unhealthy hatred of Republicans by Democrats. I'm not saying that Republicans love Democrats. I'm simply saying that if a Republican were to walk into a business meeting about a business opportunity, he wouldn't care what the political stratum of the meeting room was. If the business is sound, go for it. But with a Democrat, heaven forbid there be Republicans in a business meeting! All information is imediately void! Don't listen to that incredibly successful businessman on stage. He's a Republican! It's like a twisted sort of racism or politicism or something. I don't know. What I do know is that the arguement, or the idea of an arguement that Quixtar is essentially bad because it's downright full of Republicans is both silly and irrelevant. And anyone who argues this point not only loses all of their credibility, they should be thrown in the cellar with brat-boy.

The only topic I can sympathize with and understand is the Job arguement. A lot of meetings preach the abandonment or opposition of a "Job Lifestyle." I agree with this idea, but I also understand and support those who do not agree. Not everyone is a business-oriented person. Not everyone can run their own business. It's a mindset sort of thing. It's the same reason as why not everyone is a born leader. Some people follow. That's OK. That's why free-market Capitalism works, because there's always going to be more employees than there will be employers. The problem with using this arguement to slam Quixtar, however, is that there are still leaders and business-oriented people who do not want a job and are doing everything in their power to create their own business so they won't have to work for someone else, under the hours set by someone else ever again. That's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. That's progressivism in the works. That's our God-given confidence in action. Where would we be today if Bill Gates had stayed in College and gotten a job for someone else for the rest of his life? Where would we be today if nobody had the mindset to go out and start their own business for other people to work for and provide for their families? I tell you, it scares me to even imagine America as another Communist Welfare State. So when I hear someone preaching the enterprise of businessbuilding to aspiring employees, I salute them and those who have the heart to listen. The American Dream was never about a job. It was about a business and that's the way it should be.

So knocking those out, only one remains and it is truly the problem everyone has. Unfortunately, it'll have to wait for my next rant because this has gone long enough.

Consider Chaper 1 of The Truth of The Tyranny complete.

Hurray for Dateline!

2004-05-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

Because there's so much negativity out there, I need to bring this up.

Dateline NBC has done up a wonderful job of a mock "investigation" on the company Quixtar. Quixtar is an incredibly huge network-marketing business that has been doing very well since 99. In this "investigation" Dateline interviewed a few people who tried the business and didn't make money. These people, rather than putting money into their business, gave it to people who were not Quixtar officials in a blind and sheepish pursuit of riches. And when it bit them in the rear, rather than blame themselves, they blamed Quixtar. They blamed the independents who gladly took their money (and rightfully so) but they also blamed a very innocent company. So Dateline got a few people who had the time to moan and groan about how it "wasn't their fault," and then, to back those complaints up, they interviewed and/or sourced two upstanding individuals. Those individuals were Scott Larsen and Bo Short and both had horrible things to say about Quixtar. Of course, Dateline had nothing but GOOD to say about Short and Larsen. They're saints, after all. By the end of the article, one thing was clear: Quixtar bad. But then again, that was pretty much clear from the beginning, so was this really an investigation? Or was it a vile and biased piece of garbage written by a bitter activist in a position to write it? Bad news is good news, right? And if you settle a score, grind an axe, why, all the better!

There are a few things to cover here, and I'll touch up on each of them in the order that they first appeared.

First off, the "investigation" starts out at this incredibly outrageous meeting where people are insanely fervent and zealously against corporate America. DITCH YOUR JOB! BE A GOD! MAKE ALL THE MONEY YOU EVER WANTED AND ALL WITH THE RUB OF A MAGIC TOOTER! This, of course, is Quixtar's message. This is what was said, preached and indoctrinated at the meeting. 1500 People attended, but not before dishing out loads of cash to the Quixtar organization for books and CDs on how to get rich quick. Now, hundreds of dollars and countless hours wasted later, everyone's broke, sore and in desperate need of divine intervention in their financial life. Having not fulfilled its promise of unadulterated wealth, Quixtar has transformed many healthy families in to horrible, horrible slime houses of despair and torment. Why, those despicable tyrants! And so the story goes and that's pretty much the tune from start to finish.

That's their story. Here's the truth: That's not Quixtar. That's some schmuck who bought a number just like everyone else, and formulated a scam independent of the corporation in which people sign up under him BUT they also pay out oodles and oodles of money to the organization for "tools" which the victims claim they were "pressured" into buying in the first place. Now, here's the way I see it: If you want something, you pay for it. If you want financial freedom, you're going to have to pay for more than a couple of CDs and some books. Try real world experience in the corporate sector. Try hanging out with successful business people. Join Bill Gate's night club and talk to the sleeze balls inside. They'll get you there, I'm sure. But don't go out and buy a bunch of CDs and expect to be financially free in the next three years. It won't happen. And if you thought it did, well then the joke's on you, dumb ass. So, while what the independent schmuck did is downright wrong and he should be slapped, so should the idiot sheeple who followed up to the wolves. Cuff the guy and beat him with a stick, but leave Quixtar out of it.

And why leave Quixtar out of it? Because the dialogue that this guy preaches is not the dialogue that is on the Quixtar site, or anywhere in their literature. Sure, it is conceivable that you can become this super rich person through their business model and I'd like to try it out to that extent because, hey, why not? But that does not mean you WILL achieve that sort of level of income. Quixtar started out as a business to achieve two things: 1) Sell goods and 2) Help someone make a little money on the side. Now I have been an IBO for a little while. Not long enough to make anything substantial, but I have gotten two things from Quixtar: 1) Goods and 2) A little side money. More than once, that side money has saved me a LOT of trouble. But even if it didn't save me anything, even if it came when I didn't need it, Quixtar fulfilled its end of the bargain and has done so for the better part of 5 years with everyone else. It's a simple system. You get people to shop on their website and they'll give you a small percentage of what those people spend on their goods. It's a good system. The people get the stuff they want. The company gets the money from sales and I get some pocket change for referring the people to the site. Everybody wins. Where's the problem?

I won't get into the problem. That's a story for another day. But I will say that it includes, Quixtar's sister company, plenty of people to relinquish their personal responsibility and an eager Dateline-esque media to get out a big story.

Ok, so the first thing down, now to the second: Scott Larsen and Bo Short. These are the primary sources for Dateline's "investigation." When Bo Short wasn't talking, Scott Larsen was citing and when Scott Larsen wasn't citing, Bo Short was talking. These two guys DOMINATED the article with Larsen behind the scenes and Short in front and if I didn't know any better, I'd say this whole "investigation" was a PAID FOR smear campaign by the two of these schmucks.

And why do I say that? Because I know them. I know them and I've spoken to them and I know people who know them. Through the course of my activity in Quixtar, I have dug myself a comfy little social nest of people in the business and outside the business who are looking in. I've got a wonderful little network going and that network has allowed me to see the true nature of many of the people involved. And two of those people are Bo Short and Scott Larsen. Here's the truth: Bo Short is a business man. He's a clever fellow and I respect him for his accomplishments. But that, however, does not subtract from the fact that he is living a questionable lifestyle by slamming and ridiculing Quixtar WHILE founding and operating a Quixtar clone. Bo Short may be a nice guy, I might be able to have a cup of coffee with him on an off business day. But he is still a hypocrite and a self-righteous one at that. He has led many campaigns against Quixtar, spread many rumors and told many half truths with the intention of driving people away from Quixtar and to his own Shortstar. This whole Dateline business is nothing but great PR for him and I see it as free advertisement. I also see why Dateline was more prone to take his stance on Quixtar, rather than Quixtar's stance on Passport. Bo Short is "just one man." People can associate with that. They can not associate with a large company and with the latest thread of Liberal mumbojumbo that has always been against "big business" along with the fact that Dateline is an offspring of the Liberal Media NBC, it's perfectly understandable as to why they would take this angle. But taking a step back, let's see the forest for the trees. Pot, meet Kettle. Kettle, meet Pot. Both of you shut up.

Third up is Scott Larsen. I don't know what there is to say about the man that hasn't been said about Howard Dean. He's arrogant. He's loud. He's vicious and he's angry. Scott is a man who's got waaaaaaaay too much time on his hands. He's got his own website dedicated to smashing Amway and Quixtar. If you have a vendetta against either company, he's the guy to go to. I swear, the guy could form a church, a religion, and it wouldn't surprise me if he already has. With all the time and effort he's put into destroying both of these companies (failing to do so to either, by the way) he probably could have started up his own Network Marketing business, like Bo Short, and made tons of money by now. But alas, his life has been wasted away on his fruitless campaign of hate-Amstar. When he's not updating his website on why Quixtar is the anti-Christ's tool for world domination, he's spamming IBO inboxes with seething hate mail. He's harassed my friend's wife on more than one occasion and left grotesque voicemails on their phone. I honestly have no clue what has him so enraged, so hell-bent on making everyone's life as miserable as he's made his out to be, maybe Quixtar killed his cat or something, but it's no excuse for his behavior. In summary: Scott Larsen is a vile man.

So, when an article is released with a solid message from start to finish with the two most radical individuals as their primary sources, you know something's up. But what is it? I don't know. I haven't gotten that far, but I have concluded that Dateline has brought themselves to a new low. Rather than focus on personal responsibility, they have followed the sheeping masses and taken the fight to the wrong guy. Where Walmart and Costco don't give you anything for bringing your rich friends to their store, Quixtar gave you five bucks. And in return, they're being "investigated." If this isn't the preverbal biting the hand that feeds you, I don't know what it.

All I know is that there is something inherently wrong with corporations, personal growth and achievement outside of government assistance that the media apparently sees and is on the rampage to get across to everyone else. Next time somebody offers me a buck to refer their store to my friend, I'm going to hide them away and never tell a soul. I may not get a buck, but at least the poor guy will be saved from the incessant hounding of the media and fundamentalists like Scott Larsen.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Good job, Dateline. You've made a believer out of me.