Love and Understanding

            As a Christian I was taught to love my neighbor.  This also means respecting and understanding my neighbor, but my neighbor must also respect my rights.  The Golden Rule is “Treat others as you want to be treated.”

        In my book, Business Fits, I state that the basics for good customer service are prompt communication and the Golden Rule.  This is all most people want and will result in a satisfied customer.  There are rare exceptions when a customer is more of a problem than he is worth.  As a consumer, most businesses will treat your with respect, and an amicable solution is normally available for any problem, without resorting to legal options.

        The same is also true for your next door neighbor.  If your neighbor does not respect your rights after you have repeatedly explained a problem, there have to be legal options.  Nobody likes these alternatives, but we have the right to protect our rights and property. 

        Counties have the same rights.  We have the right and obligation to secure our borders for the safety of our citizens.  My ancestors immigrated to America from Norway.  Do you think if the Norwegian Vikings had been given more love, compassion, and understanding, they would not have raided, raped, and pillaged Europe?  I like to jokingly say the Vikings weren’t bad, they just were misunderstood. 

          We now are at war with radical Islam.  Some liberals say we just need to give them more love and understanding.  This is insane.  The bottom line is they want to convert or kill all infidels.  Some Muslim countries have been ruled by Warlords for centuries.  It is unlikely that talking to them will change that culture. 

        Some of our Native American tribes had been at war with neighboring tribes for generations.  War was an integral part of their culture.  When whites asked all the tribes to live in peace, it made no sense to them.  One comment was, “How will we choose our leaders with no war?”

           I recently saw a video of a young white woman who claimed to have been a CIA asset who had been undercover with Islam for ten years.  She made a very convincing, well written, and well rehearsed speech saying we needed to give Islamic terrorists more compassion and understanding.    What jumped out for me was how anyone could be naive enough to believe that this young white woman could have been an asset placed with radical Islam for ten years.  This was not a possibility in that Islamic culture.  The video was obviously scripted and produced with no basis in fact. 

          I agree with treating all people with understanding and respect, but if that does not work, we must take other actions to protect our rights and property.  Many brave men and women have fought for God, family, and country in the past, and we will have to again in the future because love and understanding does not always work. 

                        http://BusinessFits.com

Political Correctness is Costing American Lives

       Political correctness is costing lives of American civilians, law enforcement, and Military.  It has to stop now.  Islamic terrorist acts are becoming more frequent and deadly.  It is time to wake up and talk openly about out country's problems without feat of offending someone.  We must all take the personal responsibility of reporting these domestic terrorist threats and forget political correctness. 

      Let’s look at the facts.  Some of the worst domestic terrorist attacks have been Fort Hood, Boston, San Bernardino, and Orlando.  In all cases the terrorist(s) were Islamic.  In all these tragedies people knew the shooters were radicalized Muslims who were dangerous and did not report them for fear of not being politically correct.  They feared repercussions personally or to their career.  A few did report the danger to superiors, but the superiors did not pass on the threat for fear not being politically correct.  People died as a result. 

       Obviously the people who know the most about Muslims that have been radicalized are the Muslims in the Mosque they attend.  Any Muslim showing any signs of radicalization should be reported by other Muslims.  This is not happening. 

       Another fact is that the terrorist attacks involving firearms all occurred in Gun Free Zones.  Terrorists may be mentally unstable religious fanatics, but they are not stupid.  They and the people supporting them plan attacks where they are less likely to be stopped by the intended victims.

        Proposed gun control that comes up after every one of these shootings is totally political and would do nothing to prevent future domestic terrorist attacks. President Obama may be intentionally diverting attention from his failed policies to protect this country from radical Islam.  Talking about gun control is dangerous because it deflects attention from the real issues. 

       We are at war with Islam, and we are losing.  This is also costing the lives of our great military men and women around the world.  Did you know President Obama is the longest wartime President in the history of this country?  What happened to all the anti-war protestors before Obama was elected?  Obama ran with the agenda of world peace.  He even received the Nobel Peace Prize.  Now he can’t even say the words Islamic terrorist and is the longest wartime President in this country’s history. 

       Political correctness has to stop.  It has gotten to the point of stupidity.  I saw actor Ben Affleck defend both radical Islam and gays in the same interview.  Radical Islam wants to put homosexuals to death.  Doesn’t Affleck know anything about the Muslim religion?  He reminds me of the following quote.

        I have to stop saying, “How stupid can you be?” 

        Too many people are taking it as a challenge.

                        http://BusinessFits.com

Five Levels of Franchising

     There is no question that franchising is an important part of our economy.  The concept of franchising dates back to 2000 BC, but in the last hundred years it has expanded and become more sophisticated, and regulated.  

       The first major franchises in this country were what I call Product Franchises.  They included franchises for automobiles, tires, and gasoline.  Franchising then expanded into Business System franchises. 

     Franchising success is phenomenal.  Franchises are involved with hundreds of industries and thousands of brands.  The International Franchise Association (IFA) says franchising had a great year in 2015, and 2016 looks even better.  The IFA also says franchise employment rose 2.9% in 2015 compared to 2.4% growth for the total non-farm private sector.  The IFA estimates that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the franchise sector is forecast to increase 5.2% to $521 billion as compared the U.S. GDP of 3.3%.  Franchising is big business, but is a marketing system that allows an individual entrepreneur to be the owner.

    The first level of franchising is the Franchisor.  This is the person(s) who has a successful business model and chooses to franchise the concept.  Normally, two or three current operations must be showing strong success to prove the concept is franchisable. 

      Franchising a concept requires an investment of several hundred thousand dollars.  Manuals and training programs have to be developed, as well as completing and filing the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular, which is required by the Federal government and all Registration States.  The Franchisor then collects an initial franchise fee and a royalty fee from the franchisee.     

     The second level of franchising is the single-point franchise.  Some franchisors want the owner personally involved in the business and will not award more one franchise initially to an individual franchisee.  

       The third level of franchising is the franchisee that owns multiply locations.  This is becoming very common.  A successful franchisee may be awarded a second franchise.  Some franchisors require a prospect to commit to 2, 3, or even 6 locations initially.  The International Franchise association says 40,000 franchisees operate 200,000 franchises. 

       The fourth level of franchising is the Regional Franchisor.  This is an investor who buys the rights to sell and supervise franchises in a specific area.  The Regional Franchisor then shares the initial franchise fee and royalty fee with the Franchisor.  The Franchisor may require the Regional Franchisor to own and operate one location as a sales and training tool. 

      The fifth level of franchising is the Area Developer.  This is where one deep-pocket individual or cash-rich corporation buys the rights to an area and agrees to build-out all locations without selling any franchises. 

    Selling regions or areas for development might achieve faster growth for the Franchisor, but gives up some control and income. 

     The term Master Franchisor is sometimes used to refer to the Franchisor and sometimes it refers to a Regional Franchisor.  Clarify how the term is used.

     To learn more about franchising, read Business Fits by Terry Oliver Lee.  The book is available as an e-Book or a paperback on Amazon.  

        I also give talks on The Five Levels of Franchising.

                        http://BusinessFits.com

Rewrite History

       One of the primary premises in George Orwell’s book, 1984,  was that the government had to rewrite history in order to promote their political agenda.  We see more and more of this happening today.  I think it has always happened, but it is being exposed more today.

    The State Department intentionally deletes portions of press interview tapes in order to cover up lies.  When exposed, they try to keep it hidden by saying it was a technical glitch.  Even when they admit it was intentional, they refuse to say who gave to order to alter the tape.  Deleting tapes caused one President to leave office, but this cover-up will probably just blow over. 

       Editing tapes drastically changes history.  Katie Couric produced a so-called documentary on guns.  This anti-gun film gave a totally misleading conclusion of an interview by inserting a long pause where none existed.  Ms Couric has apologized for the action.  Is she sorry for her actions, or is she just sorry she got caught?  She may have been caught, but the film is still unaltered and will become a fraudulent part of history.

      Many so-called documentaries play loosely with the facts to reach conclusions supporting a political agenda.  Some other “documentaries” that have employed such tricks are Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.  These films are obviously scripted and rehearsed to reach a foregone conclusion.  The only thing resembling a  documentary is the poor quality production. 

      Government and politicians often lie and we are too ready to accept it.  I am concerned that it is becoming more frequent and flagrant.  The media should do a better job of exposing political lies, but they seem more interested in promoting lies if the lies can create a headline.  At the same time, the media does not do the necessary work to expose actual crimes committed by politicians.  This requires time and investigative reporting. 

        The holocaust was one of the darkest times in the history or the world.  Nazi Germany killed six million Jews.  General Eisenhower ordered extensive photos and documentation because he knew someone would eventually try to rewrite this page in history.  We have already seen Islamic leaders claim the holocaust never happened. 

       Many people do try to rewrite history for political reasons.  Some of these lies actually become part of the curriculum in our education system.  Because the lies are taught in our schools, they are accepted as true. 

     Our schools teach that white hunters almost exterminated the American Bison when that is a statistical impossibility, but it fits the environmental agenda.  We teach that President Jefferson had a child with a black slave when that allegation has been totally disproven with DNA testing.  But, the lie fits a popular agenda of criticizing our Founding Fathers, and that fits the agenda of discrediting them in order to rewrite the constitution. 

     I see the same thing in business.  New ideas try to change history.  Technology changes, but sound business principals do not change.  Smart entrepreneurs do not try to reinvent the wheel.  All new and aspiring entrepreneurs should take a quick review of the basics.  That is one of the reasons I wrote Business Fits.

         

http://BusinessFits.com

Hope & Change

       President  Obama’s  campaign   slogan   was “Hope & Change.”  This was a great slogan.  It said nothing, but everyone could interpret it to mean whatever they wanted it to mean.    The Change portion of the  slogan  was  significant  because people  were  fed up  with  the Washington establishment. 

      Obama could have been considered a political outsider because, as a first term Senator he had never been part of the establishment.  He had never done anything except campaign for office.  The closest thing he ever had to a job was as a community organizer, if you can call that a job. 

    Obama was very charismatic and delivered a great speech, as long as he had a teleprompter.  People could imagine him to be whatever they wanted.  This hope for change, and the fact that he dominated the black, Muslim, and black sympathizer voters was enough to elect him twice. 

   The American working class is even more fed up with the Washington establishment and is still looking for change.  Donald Trump could bring real change.  He brings out voters and supporters that have never been involved in politics before. 

       Trump’s slogan is “Make America Great Again.”  He is promising change just as Obama did.  The big difference is that Trump actually has the necessary experience and skills to get it done.  He is a leader, negotiator, and a deal maker.  I hope that means he can make bipartisan deals for the good of the country and it’s people. 

     The republican establishment is concerned that Trump is not a True Conservative.”  I feel Trump is conservative, but he will not blindly follow the Republican agenda.  This is good because I have had enough partisan politics. 

    The argument that Trump is a dangerous unknown is a joke because he says what he thinks and is seldom “Politically Correct.”  Trump is an open book, and I love it.  I recently heard a political commentator say Trump should have called someone “lawless” instead of “criminal”.  This is ridiculous.  The two words are synonyms.  I am sick of reading political connotations and implications into every word.  Progressives and the media need to grow up.  Political correctness has gone too far.

       Some people do not like Trump because he is arrogant, which is true.  That trait probably comes with being smart, knowledgeable, and successful.  If you were hiring someone to work for you, isn’t that what you would want?  We are hiring someone for the greatest job in the country. 

      Trump will not let anyone push him around.  If someone pushes him, he will push back.  There is nothing wrong with that.  That is what we want in a President. 

      We don’t want someone like Mitt Romney who let a nobody like Candy Crowley make a fool of him.  In one of the Presidential debates between Obama and Romney, Crowley deviated from her role as a moderator and took on the role of Judge to support Obama in a lie.  Romney stood there like a muted moron and let her do it.  Can you imagine someone trying that B.S. with Donald Trump?  I would love to see it, but most people are smarter than that. 

 

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An Inconvenient Truth

        An Inconvenient Truth is Al Gore’s 2006 “documentary” film about global warning.  I just watched it again.  If you have not watched it recently, it is worth a couple hours.  I questioned much of the movie in 2006, but with what I know as facts today, it is pure propaganda.

        I watched this time with a pen and paper.  I took two pages of notes.  One time, I made the notation that I might have to “Pause to go puke.”

        I do not question that we have climate change.  The area where I live in Wisconsin was once covered by a glacier and it melted.  We have always had climate change and that will continue until our Sun burns out and we have a real ice age.  My problem is thinking mere mortals can control it, and are blaming it on carbon emissions. 

        The movie is very well done and plays on people’s emotions.  It played an important role in persuading people that the world was in danger due to carbon dioxide emissions. 

        Gore showed a polar bear swimming in the ocean and stated they were drowning due to melting ice.  Polar bears like to swim in the ocean and some probably do drown on occasion just as humans drown on occasion, but the facts show that the polar bear population has increased dramatically since 2006.

        The film states that melting ice will raise the oceans by twenty feet and flood Florida, San Francisco, and Manhattan.  Gore is not specific about when this will happen, but implies it will happen within the decade.  We are already past that time line with little or no change in ocean levels. 

        Gore blames all severe weather on climate change.  It does not matter if it is drought, floods, heat, cold, tornadoes, or hurricanes; he claims they all happen because of our carbon emissions.  Sometimes the convoluted logic is amazing.

        Most of the facts and data used in the film were either totally manufactured or taken from the climate change studies funded by the United Nations.  After Climatgate, these studies are considered questionable or at the very least were manipulated after the Climategate scandal.

        Gore advocates joining the United Nation’s Kyoto Protocol to control global warming.  In my opinion, Kyoto is just a scam for world-wide wealth redistribution. 

        Gore considers his conclusions to be absolute and unquestioned.  He uses cartoons to ridicule any rational thought that might disagree with his opinion.  He even misquotes people like Winston Churchill to make his point.

        I totally agree that we should all be good stewards of the natural resources God has given us, but the proposed carbon emission legislation and the recent actions of the Environmental Protection Agency will do nothing to control climate change. 

        It is impossible to calculate how many millions of dollars Al Gore has made with his anti-carbon campaign.  The good news is that he has not been able to establish the Carbon Exchange which would have put him, and others, in a position of world power and world-wide income redistribution.  I am ashamed to admit that I voted for this man, but we all make mistakes. 

 

http://BusinessFits.com

Privacy vs. Security & Apple

        Privacy vs. security is a political debate that will probably never be resolved as long as the United States remains a democratic republic, and that is good.   

        Theoretically, I would have no problem with a responsible Federal Government invading my privacy if I am not doing anything wrong and that information was kept confidential, but that is a totally naive idea because the government is made up of people, and people are not always honest.  As the saying does; “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

        History shows that some people in government will use this information for political, personal, dishonest, and illegal purposes.  Recent events with the Internal Revenue Service and the National Security Agency have shown that people in government cannot be trusted with all this information. 

        The solution is quit simple.  The Constitution and the Bill of Rights clearly spell out how to deal with this controversy.  The Founding Fathers were very aware of personal privacy rights and the obligation of the Federal Government to provide security for the country.  We just need a common sense interpretation of the Constitution and not try to rewrite it for political purposes.

        In the private sector of our great country the question of security vs. privacy can be handled much easier with a little common sense.  After the San Bernardino terrorist attack, one of dead terrorist’s cell phone was recovered.    There was a very real possibility that this phone could contain information critical to protect us from future terrorist attacks. 

        One of the clear responsibilities of our federal government is to protect us from terrorist attacks.  The government needed this information, but Apple refused.  The government clearly worked within the Constitution and obtained the necessary search warrants.  Apple still refused. 

        Apple’s decision to not work with the government was based on projecting an image of absolute security for their users.  This was a stupid lose-lose decision.  By refusing to work with the government, Apple alienated customers concerned about a terrorist threat. 

        Apple forced the government to crack their security by other means proving the security was not as good as Apple claimed.  This alienated customers concerned about security. 

        Apple’s decision cost them with both customer groups.  It’s no wonder their stock is down.  If Apple would have quietly coopered with government they could have maintained the perception of absolute security for their customers and shown that they had an important role in fighting terror.  Sometimes I am amazed how top management of major corporations can be so short-sighted.  Unfortunately, this problem is not confined to the private sector.  Federal Government bureaucrats are even worse.

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