The SoapBoxers

We’ve all heard the age-old axiom that “Actions speak louder than words,” right?  What would you think of the following actions based on that?  In a country where corporations are already paying the lowest amount (by percentage) of taxes in that nation’s history, a group politicians is trying to lower the corporate income tax.  In that same country where lower and middle class incomes have been virtually stagnant the past 10 years and the top .5% of people own over 40% of the wealth that same group of politicians is trying to reduce taxes for the wealthiest and reduce medical benefits for the poorest.  What do those actions tell you?

Yes, that country is the United States and that group of politicians is the Republicans.  They’re trying to do those things while saying they understand what the common person is going through.  In a recent discussion with a very conservative friend he told me people need to stop complaining and “just buckle down and work harder.”  I’m no stranger to hard work, I worked at a Burger King in high school to help get money for college.  I worked 20+ hours a week in college for the same reason as well, while attending classes full-time.  While lucky enough to be working in an IT department on Wall Street I would do 60-70 hours a week and think nothing of it, mostly so I could pay off my student loans early.  I’m sure there are plenty of lazy people out there and I have no sympathy for them, but there are also plenty of hard-working people who are out of work because some banks decided to use some not so scrupulous methods back in the run-up to 2008’s crash and recession.  We all know what happened after that … the banks got bailed out and the average joe didn’t.  Now the banks are back to making their usual record profits and many people are still struggling … and a certain group of politicians once again wants to tell us that “Trickle-Down” will work.  We give breaks to the rich, and they’re supposed to pass some of that on.

It has been proven time and time again that “Trickle Down Economics” (or as the modern conservatives call it “Supply Side Economics”) doesn’t work – The CBO has stated when you have to give away money, money given to lower and middle class people has an almost 3-fold effect on economic returns because these people tend to spend money on necessities.  Money given to corporations or the wealthiest (generally through tax breaks/loopholes/reductions) tends to stay with just a few people and thus has little return.  If there is hard math on why it doesn’t work, why would any politician champion refusing to repeal ill-advised Bush tax cuts to the wealthy while at the same time proposing cuts to services for the poor?  With the income gap getting wider every year since the 80’s wouldn’t this just do the same thing?

One of the things that should happen is a revision to the tax code, cut the loopholes, garbage, tax shelters, etc.  When companies like GE are not paying any taxes at all despite billions in profit, millions in tax credits, and who knows how much in no-bid contracts, how can you argue against a revision?  That’s right, GE spent millions of dollars on lobbying for laws and loopholes so they wouldn’t have to pay any US taxes despite making 5.1 billion dollars in the US.  If corporations are now people, thanks to Citizens United, why can’t I do the same?  Oh, that’s right, because politicians are no longer politicians in this country, they’re simply wage slaves to the highest bidder.

Tax codes change every 25-30 years (1926, 1954, 1985), the reason is because in these occasional years there are complete overhauls, getting rid of the loopholes, tax breaks, ways for rich people to pay less money and the government to make it up by sucking more money out of the middle and lower class.  They need to be fixed on these occasional years because as soon as it’s finished, the corporate lobbyists move in and start to throw money at politicians to re-add loopholes and tax breaks.  Maybe the 2012 tax code revision needs to include a law that prohibits politicians from becoming lobbyists for a minimum of 5 years after leaving any political office?

Writing is a terrible thing to neglect. Without practice, writing becomes just a tool of communication rather than a gateway to expression. If you allow the everyday pressure of life interfere with your literary efforts and only write in response to ideas or events that push your basic beliefs too far, you become a whiner with a pen (or keyboard).

Many of my most recent posts have been about politics and natural disasters. My motivation came from the immediacy of the events. They were easy topics, and ones in which I had a great deal of interest. I have reviewed these posts and feel that I too fell into the whiner format, especially when addressing political issues. I will not apologize for the opinions stated, as I still maintain them. I will, however try to be more of a writer and advocate for writing than a commentator.

Realize that I am not criticizing the use of current events or controversial topics to inspire your writing effort. Rather, I am questioning the effort put into creating a worthwhile transcript based on eloquence and style. The structure of the piece at times establishes the major feeling of the article. The word choice prepares the reader to accept or deny the premise based to the perceived intelligence of the author.

When reading the classics, remember that the masters were not so much more educated, as exercising a wider vocabulary. The modern has provided ease in every area of life. We have food in abundance so that even the poorest people in the United States suffer from obesity. We have entertainment at our fingertips, in many cases for no cost. We are healthiest of any recorded generation, even with our self-destructive habits; from sexual promiscuity, to gluttony, to drug and alcohol abuse. We have even been provided with a reduced instruction set for communications; from tweeting, to instant message acronyms, to the use of a single word as noun, verb, adjective, advert and injunctive.

I am not complaining about the ease with which we live. It is an opportunity for every one of us to make incredible strides in all of our endeavors. Our error is taking these benefits of modern life to relax or even become dormant. In past postings, I have complained about global warming alarmist, who seem to think that they can save the world by redistributing wealth. I may disagree with them, but at least they are doing something. They are attempting to use the scientific advancements of the last few hundred years to explain and prepare for a concern that they feel deeply in their inner selves.

It is exactly these types of people I want to address when encouraging the practice of writing. Passion is a powerful driving force. With practice, that passion can be used to develop writing skills that do not simple express a view point, but take that expression away from bludgeoning to persuasion and continuous productive discourse.

I asked what inspires you (to write) as the title of this post. I was inspired to re-evaluate my writing from several sources over the last few weeks. I have been heavily loaded with my actual paying job, and this has restricted my time for creative composition. I found that my writing at work was also suffering; I was not conveying instructions, progress, problems or accomplishments clearly and concisely as is required when working with a large team of people with varying talents. I then saw a report on the difficulty in fighting obesity. The struggles that I have with my weight (as the topic of some of my posts) are not as extreme as those featured in the report, but I had empathy for those people and could see myself in their place. Finally, I watched the most recent version of Pride and Prejudice. I was struck by the vocabulary and ease with which all of the characters conversed. I reflected on all of these stimuli to evaluate what I felt was lacking, not just in communication in general, but in my writing specifically and why I felt the lack existed. The result of this introspection is presented to you here. As with anything you want to do well, you must practice. Therefore, I offer to you the same advice I have prepared for myself; keep writing.

Suggested viewing: Pride and Prejudice:



The biggest and in my opinion the best sports memorabilia auction is just around the corner. Robert Edward Auctions does one auction a year and it is always a biggie. I believe Kosmo has written articles about it in the past (Editor’s note – Yep), but this year is also sure to not disappoint.

A few lots of early interest are a 1910 Old Mill cigarette’s Shoeless Joe Jackson rookie card. I am more of a Yankee fan you say? How about a Lou Gehrig game used jersey? Is there anything much cooler than an original signed 1902 Christy Mathewson players contract? There is even a Honus Wagner card in the auction that has been professionally restored. Not sure how that will affect its value, but my guess is that card will still sell for a quarter of a million at the very least.

Cards, bats, hats, balls, photos, autographs, historical documents, jerseys, cleats, sheet music, basically anything sports or historical related and all of it cool. There is even non-sports cards such as Mars Attacks, the Three Stooges, Duke Famous Americans (one of my personal favorites cigarette card sets made in the late 1800’s) as well as a veritable cornucopia of other items.

The best part of the auction is while you can view it all online, you can also follow the link below and request a free catalog. This catalog is a piece of art work in and of itself. You have to remember – this is an auction house so the write ups on the items will be flowery as they are trying to maximizing bids, but it is a full color catalog with lots and lots of photos. (last year the book was basically 725 pages) The Catalog ships this week and REA will Fed Ex it to you so if you sign up today – you will likely have it by no later than early next week.

Here is the link to get yourself a free catalog

http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/contact/index.html

Last year 181 lots sold in excess of $10,000 and the total of all lots suprassed 10 million. I believe they get a 20% cut of both buyers and sellers commission which is partly why they can produce such an outstanding catalog. I have had great customer service with REA. Last year my son in a overzealous attempt at recycling, pitched a couple of my old catalogs into the recycle bin. I sent an email to REA and I received a note back from Robert Lifson himself, and he promptly overnight Fed Ex delivered the last 5 years of catalogs to me – at no cost with his compliments!

It is good customer service such as this, as well as great auction items, and the best catalog in the business that keeps buyers and sellers coming back to this auction each and every year. I personally will be keeping my eye on some of the golf card items as I am a serious collector of vintage golf cards and this auction is chock full of them.

Until next time, stay classy and may your Old Judges be worth thousands!

You’ve all seen ads in The Soap Boxers in the past.  Some of you might ask why we run ads.  Well, much like television, radio, and print media, we do have costs associated with the site.  The costs are relatively low, but like any business, Hyrax Publications strives to turn a profit.  Kosmo is the guy behind Hyrax Publications, and I do cultivate other revenue streams.  The online store, consulting business, and sales of my Kindle books all produce revenue streams.  Unfortunately, those streams are slow and meandering at this point, rather than a gushing torrent.

It’s not just Kosmo, of course.  Our other writers are independent contractors whose contract promises them a share of profits.  A key point to consider is  that profits must materialize, or they don’t get paid.  At this point, profits have not yet materialized, so they haven’t been paid.  Yep, the writers have been churning out articles every month (or in the case of Johnny and Martin, every week) without receiving a penny.  I think we should be at a point where profit sharing will kick in for 2012, but that’s not certain.

So we run ads in an attempt to turn this labor of love into something that pays at least a few pennies per hour.  How much combined effort do the writers spend on The Soap Boxers every year?  Between writing, coding, guest articles on other sites, and administrative tasks, my effort is probably around 250 hours – and I’d guess the entire group of writers puts in 500 hours or more.

Until this point, Google’s Adsense has been our primary source of ad revenue.  It’s an interesting program, but results have been a bit underwhelming.  There are several reasons for this.  Most advertisers prefer sites that focus on a niche.  By design, we are nicheless.  Second, we actively block advertisers if we feel they are not a good fit for the site.  This reduces competition for ad slots, and thus drives down the price we get – but I sleep easier at night knowing that these ads don’t appear on the site.  (Note: the nature of Adsense forces us to be reactive, rather than proactive, in blocking ads.  If you see an ad that you feel is inappropriate, send an email to kosmo@observingcasually.com.)

Finally, in the past we have attempted to minimize the number of ads we show to our regular visitors (you!).  When we don’t show ads, we definitely won’t make any money from you!

Moving forward, we are making sweeping changes to our advertising.  People who stumble across our articles through search engines will still see Adsense ads from any number of different advertisers.  The rest of you will not.  You will see only ads from independent sites who directly contract with us (such as It’s All Good) – and Amazon.com.

Our support of Amazon is not a shallow attempt to separate you from you hard earned money.  I have discussed Amazon with many of the writers, and the consensus seems to be that Amazon is a great place to buy stuff.  Personally, I’ve been buying from Amazon since it was a relatively small site that sold nothing but books.  My long history with Amazon makes me hope that may of you will see these ads as a service, rather than an annoyance.

You’re going to see a few different types of ads.  The most noticeable will be at the top left of every articles.  There are going to be a couple of different versions of this ads.  Newer articles will feature products of a topical nature (today, you’ll see items related to the Civil War, as 150 years have now passed since the conflict between the North and South).  At times, this will reflect Kosmo’s personal interests (thus the recent search for Stieg Larsson), but at other times will focus on topics that seem to be of interest to the public, regardless of whether I personally have an interest.  Older articles will show items related to a new book, music, or movie release  At this moment, the featured items are version of the book Water For Elephants – the basis for the upcoming Reese Witherspoon film.

It’s important to note that you could buy ANYTHING through Amazon, you don’t need to stick to the displayed items.  There’s a handy search bar to the left of the “Go” button.  Plug in the name of that book you’ve been looking to buy and hit “Go”.  The widget will then populate with the items you are looking for, without taking you away from The Soap Boxers.

You will also see an ad in the sidebar that will show computer-related merchandise.  Blog readers are, on average, more computer-savvy than the average citizen, so I’m hoping that many of these products will be relevant to you.

Finally, readers of articles that get a decent amount of search engine traffic will see customized Amazon ads displaying related items.  Are Athletes Overpaid features some of my favorite sports-related books and movies.

This campaign is still in the early stages, so bear with us a bit.  At times, you may very well see some strange things as we do a bit of experimentation.

It’s important to note that although we do receive a small commission on the Amazon sales, this does not affect the price you pay.  If you buy through Amazon, we humbly ask you to consider letting us help you find those items.

Note: This story is a sequel to Bull, one of my favorite stories.

Ty Morris spat into the dust and cursed his luck.  He hand gently massaged his left shoulder.  After all this time, he could still feel pain – dull most of the time, with occasional flare-ups.  Ty was ready to get back to work and was hoping for an easy bull in his first go round.  He didn’t need to get the highest score and notch a win – he just wanted to hang on for eight seconds and build up some confidence.

Ty dug a divot into the dirt with the heel of his boot and pushed his hat back.  By plain old dumb luck, he had drawn Crash Course.  Crash was a legend – already a three time bucking bull of the year, and the bull seemed to just be entering his prime.  He was much by feared many who dared hop upon his back.  Ty Morris wasn’t scared of the beast, but he certainly had a health respect for Crash.  When Ty was at his best, a matchup with Crash Course was a fair fight.  With Ty still feeling the effects of his injury, he’d need a miracle to avoid getting bucked off and stomped to death by the beast.

Ty looked up to the clouds.  “Quick and painless, God.  That’s all I’m asking.”

Ty could feel the heart of a warrior beating within the bull as he attempted to get comfortable atop the beast.  When the chute gate opened, the bull rocketed into the arena to face his fans.  In a moment, he noticed something out of place.  The rider had barely managed to hang on.  He had experience with this guy, and he was good.  Something was wrong.

Crash gave a small buck, and felt Ty nearly slide off.  This wasn’t right – he couldn’t let a bona fide champion be embarrassed by getting bucked off so easily.  Crash bucked much more violently the second time, but subtly shifted his body to make it easier for the rider to stay in place.

Ty Morris was confused.  It was almost as if the bull was trying to work with him – bucking high and then moving in a way that decreased the likelihood of Ty being bucked off.  That wasn’t possible.  Crash was a champion, but was still just a dumb bovine like all the others … right?  He chased the thought out of his mind and tried to avoid thinking for the duration of the ride.

Just past the eight second mark, Crash Course bucked Ty high into the air.  A moment after he landed, Crash turned and charged straight for him – missing him by inches.  The crowd went wild.  Ty could swear he saw a twinkle in the bull’s eye.  He shook his head and resolved to lay off the caffeine for a while.

Crash Course played around with the clowns for a bit, pretending to be violently fighting them off.  When he finally left the ring, he bellowed a farewell to Ty Morris.  Next time, you’re mine, cowboy.

Can you believe it’s almost that time again? You can’t escape it. Your TV will be buzzing with commercials ending with, I’m candidate x and I approved this message. Yard signs will soon be going up. There will be debate, drama, news articles and loads of political commentary.

In just 10 months, the candidates will descend on the state of Iowa hoping to win their party’s caucus. I can see it now, corndogs, funnel cakes, corn on the cob and anything else that the media can catch the candidates shoving down their throats. Don’t forget Ma and Pa Kettle giving their two cents as to why they like one candidate and not another.

So, I’ve seen some tweets and some news stories detailing who may or may not run. This will be phase 1 of the media bombardment. We’ve already heard that Nobama is going to run again. We have been presented with the likelihood that Newt Gingrich, Sara Palin, Michelle Bachmann and now Donald Trump may run. What I don’t understand though, who the hell is Becky Rusher? She’s 36 and she’s tired so she’s going to run for president. She is all over the board on issues but appears to be fairly Libertarian. Then there is Timothy Gay, the 43 year old disabled truck driver from Ohio. He and Rusher seem to be close on some issues and both are running as Independents. Be sure to send Gay a birthday wish, his DOB is April 8^th.

Two people I hope run for the GOP nomination are Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann. Neither one will likely win the nomination but both will drive the liberals absolutely crazy! It will be fun to listen to the Angry Squirrel go off another one of his rants as we all imagine him duct taping his head back together following the frustration.

So, does Obama stand a chance of winning in 2012? Yes and no. I don’t believe anyone can beat him from the Democratic side, so I believe he WILL win the democratic seat for the election. I have some serious doubts about whether he can win the election though. It will certainly depend on who wins the Republican seat. Then again, if you put an organized, motivating and melodic Independent candidate like Becky Rusher on the ballot, I don’t think the D’s or the R’s stand a chance. I’m telling you, RINGER!

Looking at the Republican candidates, I don’t see anyone that is going to really motivate the masses though. Most all of the candidates are very polarizing. Think of the names and see what your reaction is. Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul and the list goes on. Every one of those candidates will have big issues that will push some voters away from them. Romney is very likable to me, but he has some very liberal views and I have trouble with that as a conservative voter. Ron Paul is nuts, Mike Huckabee is hard to believe, Newt is very outspoken and he rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Palin and Bachmann, both are strong women and very attractive. I believe a lot of people are scared by those qualities. I for one would love to spend a weekend with them and talk politics. I’d love to be able to get in their heads and really see how they think, then write a blog about them. Hopefully, my opinion would not be what we see portrayed in today’s media.

I believe the front runner for the Republicans will likely be Newt. He has a lot of experience, he’s strong on the major areas of concern for conservatives and his resume is loaded. We won’t see any botched interviews with Katie Couric with him because he’s done this for years and is ready for questions.

The ultimate question that I see now is…If we see an Obama vs. Gingrich election, what will happen? I don’t think Obama can win. In 2008, there were far too many people that just couldn’t vote for John McCain. Many of my friends and relatives abstained just because they couldn’t stand McCain. I couldn’t stand McCain either, but my vote was one against Obama, not for McCain. Had everyone that normally votes for a conservative candidate voted, I believe the results would have been different. If the Republicans have an electable candidate this time, I believe the empty suit from Kenya will be packing his bags and taking on a trip to Pahk-ee-stahn (Pakistan).

So tell me, are you ready to caucus?

Squeaky…

It is my favorite weekend of the year. The un-official yet very official start of the PGA Golf Season. The Masters Tournament from Augusta, Georgia.

Situated on the former home of a nursery and indigo plantation, the various types of trees and plants were preserved from the earliest days of golf course construction and design to give us the fabulous shots in High Definition television that we now get to see on CBS and the Golf Channel.

There are a number of little known facts about the Masters. So to see if anyone ever actually reads my articles, I am holding a couple of contests this year. All this information is readily available if you just do a little bit of searching on line or even better from Masters.org

Contest #1

The first person to correctly respond with all correct questions will received a professionally graded Tiger Woods Rookie card from 2001 Upper Deck golf. (a $10-$20 value)

1. Who were the owners of the land prior to it being sold and being utilized as a golf course (hint – it was a Nursery…I just need the family name)
2. Who was Bobby Jones’s main financial partner who helped him get Augusta National up and Running.
3.  The Masters is celebrating what significant Anniversay this year
4.  We call it the Masters today…wWhat was the name of the tournament when it was first held?
5. Who has the most runner up finishes at the Masters?
6. How many times in the last 10 years has Tiger Woods finished in the top 10 at Augusta?

Contest #2.

Lets see if we can have some fun with this one as well. Same Prize is awarded to the winner as in Contest #1 above.

Simply pick 3 golfers that are playing this week. The person who has the three golfers that win the most cumulative amount of money will be the winner of contest. Simply post your picks under “comments” to my article to enter either the first or second contents or both.

Good luck and Stay Classy Clifford Roberts!

NCAAs

Last year, Butler came tantalizingly close to winning the national title when Gordon Hayward’s three point shot at the buzzer missed.  The Bulldogs lost 61-59, star Gordon Hayward left early for the NBA draft, and everyone thought that the chance for a mid-major to win a title had evaporated.

Butler came into this year’s tournament as a #8 seed.  In spite of the absence of Hayward, they have made their way through the jungle and into the NCAA Finals once again.  Is this the year that we can finally say the Butler did it?  I certainly hope so.

Butler coach Brad Stevens is a year younger than me … and is sure to be wooed by some bigger programs with fat pocketbooks.  Will Stevens be tempted by the money?  It’s worth noting that Stevens got his start in coaching when he quit his good paying job in the “real world” for an unpaid gig at Butler.  Bulldog for life?  Maybe.

The UConn men are the forgotten team in the final – the dynastic program led by an iconic coach.  How ironic would it be for Jim Calhoun to win another title the day after the dominant UConn women’s program tasted defeat for the second time this year?

Cricket

On Saturday, India won their second ever World Cricket Cup and the first since 1983.  India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets, scoring 277 runs to Sri Lanka’s 274. I have a lot of friends of Indian descent, and really need to learn more about the sport, which has a slight resemblance to baseball.

Baseball

Speaking of baseball … my Rockies faced some bad news on three consecutive days.  On Friday, Ubaldo Jimenez got roughed up and the Rockies lost in extra innings.  The culprit was a split cuticle which force Ubaldo to alter his grip on the ball.  On Saturday, Jorge de la Rose shut down the Diamondbacks, but developed a blister on his finger.  Both pitcher received an extra day to recover when Sunday’s game was snowed out, pushing their next start back by a day.

One of my favorite players is former Rockies star Matt Holliday, now with the Cardinals.  Happy, as I refer to him, wasn’t so happy on Friday.  Holliday was experiencing discomfort and went to the hospital – and came out missing an appendix.  The Cardinals are hoping to avoid placing Holliday on the disabled list.  It hasn’t been good few months for projected NL division leaders, with the Cardinals losing Adam Wainwright for the season and now Holliday for an unknown number of games and the Phillies starting the season without second baseball Chase Utley.  To make things even worse, Holliday is on my fantasy team.

A Giants fan is in critical condition after being savagely beaten by two men outside Dodger stadium following Thursday’s opening day game between the two teams.  Seriously … it’s a game.  Any time you’re thinking about slugging someone, take a step back and think about what you enjoyed about the game as a kid.

First of all, if you got caught by yesterday’s April Fool’s joke, sorry about that.  For those who missed it, you’ll need to use this link to catch it in its full glory.  The “fake” ads (which did take you to the featured site, but were not tied into Adsense) were my favorite part.  I take this holiday quite seriously, and spent a fair amount of effort finding a fitting theme, making code changes, tracking down good images for ads, and then actually writing “Candy’s” article.  A big “thank you” goes out to Candy for playing along.

Lots happening around the sports world.  At long last, baseball season has begun!  I always think that the Rockies are one of the teams to watch, and this year is no different.  Pitcher Jhoulys Chacin had a really good rookie campaign in the shadow of Ubaldo Jimenez, and I expect Dexter Fowler to take a big stride foward this year.  Expect the Rockies to be in contention for the division title, especially if they can avoid digging themselves into a hole early in the season.

Expect a strong year from David Ortiz of the Red Sox, too, if he can likewise avoid his slow starts.  He has been a great player from June onward during the past couple of years, but the Aprils and Mays have people very concerned.

A big shout out to India for defeating Pakistan en route the World Cricket Cup final against Sri Lanka today.  I have a lot of friends who hail from India, and it was great to see the buzz of excitement surround the semifinal game.  (Alas, I also have friends of Pakistani heritage … sorry for your loss).

The Final Four kicks off today.  I gotta say I’m pulling for underdog VCU.  VCU didn’t even get their own line on most brackets, being listed as VCU/USC (or USC/VCU) on the 11 seed line, as they had to play their way into the main bracket of 64 teams.  I love seeingf VCU make a deep run into the tournament, but I hate seeing the tournament expand from 64 teams to 68 teams and beyond … I say make the tournament 64 teams, and if that leaves out some quality teams, so be it.  Life isn’t always fair.

If VCU wins the tournament, they will become the first team to win seven NCAA tournament games in the same year.

I’m not a huge golf fan, but I’ll be pulling for Ryo Ishikawa to do well this year.  The 19 year old Japanese golfer announced that he will donate off of his winnings this year to aid the victims of the Japanese earthquake.  Ishikawa made $1.6 million last year, so we’re not talking about peanuts.  I think a lot of athletes – and people in general – could learn a lot from this young man, who appears to be wise beyond his years.

Closing on a non-sports note … I had the opportunity to see The King’s Speech.  Good flick, especially if you have an interest in history.

For the full effect, click this link to read the article.

Hello, everyone! It is with mixed emotions that I announce that Kosmo is stepping down from his post as Editor-in-Chief of The Soap Boxers to focus on other projects. I will be stepping into that role, effective immediately.

Honestly, I value this site mostly for the domain name. I will be deleting all of the current content within the next few days, and replacing the existing writers with a completely new staff. (Seriously, four people yammer on about politics every month?) The Soap Boxers will now become a forum for discussions centered around the modern woman.

Here is the posting schedule:

• Monday – Women in the Workplace. Women have made great strides since in the past few decades, but much still needs to be done to achieve equality with men. Lindsey will take a hard look at topics centering around the workplace, such as the problem of income disparity and the evils of sexual harassment.
• Tuesday – Relationships. Whether you’re a single women diving into the dating pool and attempting to avoid sharks or married with kids, there is always a need to improve the relationships in our lives. Join Liz for a lively discussion of relationships each week.
• Wednesday – Fashion. Looking for a lipstick that actually keeps its promise to look great all day or mascara that won’t run? In search of that little black dress to turn heads at the next gala event? Or maybe you need to find good deals on clothes for the kids. I’ll help guide you through the fashion jungle.
• Thursday – Home. Women end up as the de facto CEO of the home, mostly because men are too lazy to do it. How can you involve the kids (and maybe that lazy bum husband) with the cleaning? Which laundry detergents do the best job of cleaning those filthy clothes? Perhaps you’re looking for some new recipes to add some spice to meal time? Sharon will show you how to truly become Queen of the castle – making the serfs do the work.
• Friday – Party Time!  Let’s have some FUN!  Whether it’s a girls night out or a girls night in, Jessica will give you tips on how to make the event a rousing success.

I hope you enjoy the changes! All new content starting Monday.