Happy New Year : Listen to Ku-K Jodelling by Melanie Oesch die Dritten

Ku-Ku Jodel by Oesch's die Dritten:A sensational yodelling performance broadcast on German ARD TV September 2007. One of the best yodelling performances ever.

Merry Christmas - Felice Navidad

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear





Felice Navidad by Jose Feliciano





Audrey Landers German Christmas Tour 2007





Que Sera





White Christmas by Shania Twain










Celtic Woman live from the Helix Center in Dublin, Ireland performing A Christmas Celebration.






The Chipmunks Christmas




Check out my favorites on YouTube Willprospector and my Free Music Downloads page on my website.

50 Most Powerful and Influential Men in Social Media

by Ron Hudson

Posted on | October 21, 2008 |

Last week, as you probably know, I published a list of the 50 Most Powerful & Influential Women in Social Media. It caused quite a stir on the internet. In fact, this blog was visited by over 2,000 unique visitors the day the list was published. I truly appreciate each of you who visited that day and the following days.

One of the amazing but unforeseen results was the nearly 200 or more visitors who left comments. Most of the comments were about one or more people that they felt should’ve been included on that list. That was fantastic.

However, all the comments were not approved for various reasons. e.g., not nice, not constructive or spam. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but please be polite, courteous, and professional to ensure that your comment will be approved. Thank you!

With that in mind, here’s the list of the 50 Most Powerful & Influential Men in Social Media:

1. Michael Arrington | www.techcrunch.com

Rank: 4076 | Linking in: 26,705

2. Pete Cashmore | www.mashable.com

Rank: 6,977 | Linking in: 15,105

3. Darren Rowse | www.problogger.net

Rank: 45,859 | Linking in: 8,734

4. John Dvorak | dvorak.org/blog

Rank: 46,169 | Linking in: 2,009

5. Frank Kern | www.masscontrolsite.com

Rank: 69,096 | Linking in: 180

6. Aaron Brazell | technosailor.com


Rank: 78,019 | Linking in: 1,123

7. Jason Calacanis | calacanis.com

Rank: 87,831 | Linking in: 2,813

8. Steve Rubel | www.micropersuasion.com

Rank: 87,428 | Linking in: 4,232

9. Willie Crawford | williecrawford.com/blog2/

Rank: 90,848 | Linking in: 387

10. Jeremy Schoemaker | www.shoemoney.com

Rank: 101,291 | Linking in: 3,153

11. Leo Laporte | leoville.com/

Rank: 103,445 | Linking in: 824

12. Brian Solis | www.briansolis.com

Rank: 103,873 | Linking in: 941

13. Dr. Mani | ezinemarketingcenter.com/


Rank: 111,254 | Linking in: 178

14. Joel Comm | joelcomm.com

Rank: 116,064 | Linking in: 455

15. Kevin Rose | kevinrose.com

Rank: 117,490 | Linking in: 372

16. Peter Shankman | www.shankman.com

Rank: 118,363 | Linking in: 147

17. Fred Wilson | avc.com

Rank: 119,697 | Linking in: 212

18. Alejandro Reyes | www.successfool.com

Rank: 123,815 | Linking in: 138

19. Gary Vaynerchuk | garyvaynerchuk.com

Rank: 126,983 | Linking in: 408

20. Loren Feldman | www.1938media.com


Rank: 130,510 | Linking in: 587

21. John-Paul Micek | tribalseduction.com/blog/

Rank: 131,223 | Linking in: 109

22. Bob Jenkins | askbobtheteacher.com/blog/

Rank: 133,414 | Linking in: 46

23. Charles Heflin | charlesheflin.com

Rank: 137,361 | Linking in: 51

24. Jeremiah Owyang | web-strategist.com/blog/

Rank: 140,943 | Linking in: 2,544

25. Guy Kawasaki | alltop.com

Rank: 141,299 | Linking in: 1,745

26. Brian Campbell | www.socialmediamarketingsystem.com

Rank: 145,783 | Linking in: 26

27. Brian Clark | www.copyblogger.com


Rank: 160,034 | Linking in: 5,541

28. Robert Scoble | scobleizer.com

Rank: 172,114 | Linking in: 6,446

29. David Bullock | www.davidbullock.com

Rank: 177,325 | Linking in: 98

30. Evan Williams | evhead.com

Rank: 179,093 | Linking in: 1,292

31. Alex Albrecht | www.totallyradshow.com

Rank: 207,687 | Linking in: 104

32. Doug Firebaugh | www.passionfire.com

Rank: 209,503 | Linking in: 299

33. John Reese | income.com

Rank: 223,014 | Linking in: 481

34. Ron Capps | www.nicheprof.com


Rank: 249,536 | Linking in: 53

35. Timothy Carter | theresidualincomelifestyle.com

Rank: 281,062 | Linking in: 42

36. Chris Brogan | www.chrisbrogan.com

Rank: 282,439 | Linking in: 1932

37. Jack Humphrey | www.jackhumphrey.com

Rank: 289,758 | Linking in: 668

38. Mark Davidson | twitterstars.com

Rank: 316,034 | Linking in: 8

39. Vincent Wright | mylinkingpowerforum.ning.com

Rank: 324,857 | Linking in: 38

40. Jim Turner | jimturnersmm.ning.com

Rank: 393,091 | Linking in: 0

41. Blair Warren | www.blairwarren.com


Rank: 384,204 | Linking in: 66

42. Mike O’Neil | www.integratedalliances.com

Rank: 465,698 | Linking in: 36

43. Wayne Sutton | wayne-sutton.com

Rank: 497,921 | Linking in: 131

44. Dave Lahkani | www.subliminalpersuasionbook.com/blog/

Rank: 581,749 | Linking in: 22

45. Ross Goldberg | www.mastersseminar.com

Rank: 642,790 | Linking in: 43

46. Alex Mandossian | www.alexmandossiantoday.com

Rank: 712,815 | Linking in: 25

47. Doug Haslam | doughaslam.com

Rank: 963,976 | Linking in: 198

48. Ben Mack | benmack.com


Rank: 1,271, 846 | Linking in: 7

49. Warren Whitlock | www.zerocostpromotions.com

Rank: 1,313,652 | Linking in: 27

50. G. Wayne Clayton | socialmarketingexpert.org/

Rank: 1,671,769 | Linking in: 2

Congratulations, gentleman! I’m grateful to have discovered you on twitter. I wish you greater success in both your personal and professional lives.

Warmly,


Ron

Share and Enjoy:

The Bailout of The UAW by Steve McDonald

The UAW holds the key to the success of the U.S. auto
industry.



The recent Senate hearing with the CEOs of the big
three car manufacturers was better than most sitcoms.
The CEOs were unable to answer questions about how
they plan to pay back the loans, or just avoided the
question, or how long the loans would keep them afloat,
or how they would change their business models to avoid
asking the taxpayers to bail them out again. It went on
and on.



The CEO of GM was asked how long GM had to pay the
employees of a plant that had been closed. His answer,
“I don’t know.” How long do you think you would be
working for him with answers like that? The senator
who asked the question shook his head in disbelief
and muttered, “Unbelievable!”



The whole time the panel questioned the CEOs about how
they were cutting costs, how they plan to make their
operations profitable and how they were reducing their
pension liabilities, the answer was sitting at the end
of the table; the President of the UAW.



Autoworkers of the big three are paid significantly
more money and benefits than employees of Honda and
Toyota in plants in this country. Not in Asia, but
here. Honda and Toyota are profitable, the big three
are back for more free money from you and me.



It is so simple. GM, Ford and Chrysler cannot be
profitable with the labor agreements they have in
place. It is impossible. No one bothered to ask
the UAW president about this. He and his members
are the answer.



The real issue isn’t will we bail them out, of
course we will. A Democratic congress and a Democrat
in the White House will not jeopardize a half a
million blue-collar jobs, not if everyone knows
they are doing it. If they could sneak it through,
maybe, but not if everyone is watching.



The real question is how will congress explain to
the unions, who were a big part of Obama winning
the elections in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania,
that they have to take pay cuts for there to be
any chance their companies and jobs will survive,
even with the bailout.



What we have is a bottomless money pit or guaranteed
failure for GM and Chrysler. Ford still has a chance.



Congress and the President-elect have a huge problem.
Go the bail out route and have to do it again in eight
months if the credit markets don’t loosen up. Or, don’t
bail them out and have a bankruptcy that will shake this
country at its very roots. Or, face the music and force
the UAW to make the needed changes.



The political ramifications are so huge for any of the
options, the most likely scenario is they will blame
Bush and come up with some half-baked solution that
just pushes the problem down the road for someone
else to deal with.



Some would argue that the big three have been
making cars no one wants, and that’s why they’re
in this mess. Partially true, but no matter what
cars they make and sell, they can’t be competitive
if they don’t see some change in their labor and
pension costs.



Even if the big three have an epiphany about the
type of vehicles people want, and are willing to
buy, if they magically shift gears and come out as
the world leader in new alternative technology cars,
put the huge technological advantage this country
enjoys to work to make significant improvements to
cars and then sell it to the rest of the world,
they still won’t be competitive.



What this bailout amounts to is subsidizing the
difference between the cost of the union contracts
the big three have compared to the union contracts
Honda and Toyota have.



The big three and the UAW signed these agreements
in very different times than what we have now.
Globalization, Japanese auto makers in Ohio and
Indiana, a worldwide labor market that is putting
pressure on wages everywhere and products being
manufactured in other parts of the world at a
fraction of our costs.



The issue is quite simple. Adapt or die. We cannot
afford to continue to subsidize 1950s style
management and union thinking. This is a fight
we need to win and it will require sacrifice
from more than just the taxpayers.



Steve



P.S. To let me know what you thought of today's
article, send an e-mail to:
feedback@investorsdailyedge.com.



Market Watch

After the Bailout, The Detroit 3 Still
Have Work To Do

By Christian Hill



Perhaps I am being too optimistic, but I think
the government bailout of the Detroit 3 is a
foregone conclusion. In the interest of the
entire country and the national economy, the
government simply can’t let the automakers fail.
There is no denying the business model is broken,
but hopefully steps will be taken to change that.



So what does the future of the American automobile
industry look like? Will all three survive, or will
GM absorb Chrysler? No one knows for sure. But one
thing is evident: drastic changes must be made.
Continuing as is, and keeping the status quo,
will surely result in each of the automakers
being on the brink again in a few years. And if that
occurs, there is no way the government can save them
again. Chrysler lining up for a handout twice in 30
years is bad, but GM and Ford holding out their hands
twice in a few years is unacceptable (at their current
monthly burn rate, even the bailout money won’t last long).



So what changes can be made, and made quickly to save
the companies? Here are a few that would make
significant impacts.



1. Trim the fat. There is no need for GM to
have eight divisions and 76 different models.
By comparison, Toyota has three divisions and
32 different models.



2. Close plants and eliminate jobs through
consolidation. This would take serious concessions
from the UAW since it violates agreements, but
paying the costs to get it done now will save
the rest of the jobs. After all, if GM goes out
of business, all plants would close and all those
jobs would be gone.



3. Eliminate the job bank. Talks are underway
to get rid of this dinosaur. It basically guarantees
laid off workers full compensation and benefits for
not working.



4. Eliminate dealerships. Again, there are costs
involved with this, but it is necessary. There are
over 15,000 domestic car dealers, outnumbering import
dealers 3 to 1. Some of this may be handled through
attrition this year, but buyouts are needed.



Will this cure what ails the Detroit 3? Not entirely.
There are many other battles to be fought, such as
with the UAW. But to continue to operate as they
are now only guarantees failure again.



There’s no reason that the companies can’t rebound
after the bailout and become leaders once again.
When Chrysler was bailed out by the government in
1979, they made great initial strides. The K car
saved the company, and they also created the
minivan segment.



Innovation brought Chrysler back from the brink, and
the Detroit 3 need to innovate to survive this.
Electric cars or alternative fuel vehicles could lead
them into the future, and establish them as real
players again. GM has their “Flex Fuel” vehicles which
can run on E85 (still a debatable solution), the Volt
is an electric hybrid, and Dodge (Chrysler) has shown
electric vehicle concepts (Dodge EV). More innovation
is needed, but at least they are moving in that
direction. I would hope that with their backs against
the wall, they break archaic processes and really
stretch their creative minds. Bland econo-boxes
just aren’t going to bring buyers back.



I also find it interesting that Chrysler created the
minivan, which saved the company after the bailout.
The minivan morphed into the SUV, which the Detroit
3 relied on so heavily for profits, and has proven
to be what may kill them. So what once saved them
has almost become what kills them.

Ready Yourself for a GM Bankruptcy

by Charles Delvalle



It was pretty amazing.



Last Saturday I wrote about GM. Not only did I write about GM, but I also talked about how I felt they should get government assistance.



I only received one bit of reader feedback – someone debating as to exactly how many jobs would be lost if GM went bankrupt. The reader sent a screenshot of Yahoo finance where it said how many employees GM has. Then he wondered how that number could possibly turn into 2.5 million.



The answer is simple.



That employee count in Yahoo doesn’t include those employed by dealerships, suppliers, ad agencies, and mechanic shops that all rely on GM to a heavy degree. If GM goes broke, the flow of money to these companies stops. And then they layoff their workers. After about a year, we’d lose about 2.5 million workers thanks to a GM bankruptcy.



Here’s what gets me furious about all of this, though. If the government was just going to let GM go bankrupt, why did they save the financials? Wasn’t it to prevent a depression? But if GM goes bankrupt, that’s most likely what we’ll encounter – a depression.



Because if GM goes bankrupt, Chrysler will follow suit and Ford will have a hard time building cars when the entire automotive distribution network in the US nearly bankrupts completely.



Together, the big three are responsible for one out of every 10 jobs. So, if they go bankrupt, we’ll have unemployment of 16 – 17 percent within two years. That’s depression territory.



So I don’t understand why the government wouldn’t act on this immediately.



In Congress, the Republicans are holding up the bill. I knew that would happen, after all most Republicans believe in “free markets”. They feel that GM put themselves in this situation, so they deserve to go down. But didn’t the banks do the same damn thing? In fact, I’d venture to say that what the banks did was even worse. They knowingly sold crap to the American public.



The Democrats, on the other hand, want to pass a bailout bill without putting any significant restrictions on it. This I don’t agree with. If GM is going to get bailout money, they need a new plan moving forward to become and stay profitable.



Most importantly, a GM bankruptcy might be ok if the economy weren’t already circling the toilet. My fear is that if GM goes bankrupt, we’ll have another credit squeeze similar to what happened when Lehman went under. But this time, the Fed doesn’t have much ammunition left to try and make things “less bad”.



If GM goes under, banks may wonder who’s holding automotive assets and refuse to lend to each other in the suspicion that someone’s balance sheet is much smaller than it used to be. This would cause the LIBOR rate to spike higher. I also fear that more money will move into treasuries and out of every other asset. The DOW could hit 6,500 in a GM bankruptcy. And if Ford followed suit, a huge part of American manufacturing would go down the drain.



I say this to warn you that a GM bankruptcy is huge. Job losses would go through the roof and more retailers would go broke. Hell, the state of Michigan may enter default, which would be a huge mess. After all, it’s not like they could merge with the state of Illinois to reduce overhead, like banks are doing.



The times ahead are getting darker and even scarier then we could have imagined.



When will it all end? Nobody knows. But we must stay prepared and try to take advantage of any big opportunities we see.
Charles



P.S. To let me know what you thought of today's article, send an e-mail to: feedback@investorsdailyedge.com.

Video Game Guides & Art-Music Posters

I just finished creating 3 separate directories on my
website: 1. How To Make Money With Video Games

2. Every Video Game Guide for every video Game (eventually)


Now you CAN HAVE entertainment 4 less and GET PAID BIG TIME at the SAME TIME! Imagine being paid to be Entertained!


Age of Conan Guides


Everquest Final Fantasy GuildWars & Hellgate Video Game Guides


Lineage2 and Lord of the Rings Video Game Guides


Star-Wars-Galaxies Second-Life-Linden Tabula-Rasa
Vanguard Gold Warhammer Video Games Guides



World of Warcraft Guides


Pirates of Burning Sea, Eve Online,Matrix Online Video Game Guides


Get 49 Newbie Friendly Internet Business "How To" VIDEOS FREE So You Can WATCH, LISTEN & LEARN Your Way To Internet Marketing Success

Art and Posters

Birch Silhouette I James Wiens 28x28 Fine Art Print Buy From Art.com

CLICK Here:Mister Linker

Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.

In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

Alaska law does not specifically address expenses for a governor's children. The law allows for payment of expenses for anyone conducting official state business.

As governor, Palin justified having the state pay for the travel of her daughters — Bristol, 17; Willow, 14; and Piper, 7 — by noting on travel forms that the girls had been invited to attend or participate in events on the governor's schedule.

But some organizers of these events said they were surprised when the Palin children showed up uninvited, or said they agreed to a request by the governor to allow the children to attend.

Several other organizers said the children merely accompanied their mother and did not participate. The trips enabled Palin, whose main state office is in the capital of Juneau, to spend more time with her children.

"She said any event she can take her kids to is an event she tries to attend," said Jennifer McCarthy, who helped organize the June 2007 Family Day Celebration picnic in Ketchikan that Piper attended with her parents.

State Finance Director Kim Garnero told The Associated Press she has not reviewed the Palins' travel expense forms, so she could not say whether the daughters' travel with their mother would meet the definition of official business.

On Aug. 6, three weeks before Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain chose Palin his running mate, and after Alaska reporters asked for the records, Palin ordered changes to previously filed expense reports for her daughters' travel.

In the amended reports, Palin added phrases such as "First Family attending" and "First Family invited" to explain the girls' attendance.

"The governor said, 'I want the purpose and the reason for this travel to be clear,'" said Linda Perez, state director of administrative services.

When Palin released her family's tax records as part of her vice presidential campaign, some tax experts questioned why she did not report the children's state travel reimbursements as income.

The Palins released a review by a Washington attorney who said state law allows the children's travel expenses to be reimbursed and not taxed when they conduct official state business.

Taylor Griffin, a McCain-Palin campaign spokesman, said Palin followed state policy allowing governors to charge for their children's travel. He said the governor's office has invitations requesting the family to attend some events, but he said he did not have them to provide.

In October 2007, Palin brought daughter Bristol along on a trip to New York for a women's leadership conference. Plane tickets from Anchorage to La Guardia Airport for $1,385.11 were billed to the state, records show, and mother and daughter shared a room for four nights at the $707.29-per-night Essex House hotel, which overlooks Central Park.

The event's organizers said Palin asked if she could bring her daughter.

Alexis Gelber, who organized Newsweek's Third Annual Women & Leadership Conference, said she does not know how Bristol ended up attending. Gelber said invitees usually attend alone, but some ask if they can bring a relative or friend.

Griffin, the campaign spokesman, said he believes someone with the event personally sent an e-mail to Bristol inviting her, but he did not have it to provide. Records show Palin also met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs representatives and visited the New York Stock Exchange.

In January, the governor, Willow and Piper showed up at the Alaska Symphony of Seafood Buffet, an Anchorage gala to announce winners of an earlier seafood competition.

"She was just there," said James Browning, executive director of Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, which runs the event. Griffin said the governor's office received an invitation that was not specifically addressed to anyone.

When Palin amended her children's expense reports, she listed a role for the two girls at the function — "to draw two separate raffle tickets."

In the original travel form, Palin listed a number of events that her children attended and said they were there "in official capacity helping." She did not identify any specific roles for the girls.

In July, the governor charged the state $2,741.26 to take Bristol and Piper to Philadelphia for a meeting of the National Governors Association. The girls had their own room for five nights at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel for $215.46 a night, expense records show.

Expense forms describe the girls' official purpose as "NGA Governor's Youth Programs and family activities." But those programs were activities designed to keep children busy, a service provided by the NGA to accommodate governors and their families, NGA spokeswoman Jodi Omear said.

In addition to the commercial flights, the children have traveled dozens of times with Palin on a state plane. For these flights, the total cost of operating the plane, at $971 an hour, was about $55,000, according to state flight logs. The cost of operating the state plane does not increase when the children join their mother.

The organizer of an American Heart Association luncheon on Feb. 15 in Fairbanks said Palin asked to bring daughter Piper to the event, and the organizer said she was surprised when Palin showed up with daughters Willow and Bristol as well.

The three Palin daughters shared a room separate from their mother at the Princess Lodge in Fairbanks for two nights, at a cost to the state of $129 per night.

The luncheon took place before Palin's husband, Todd, finished fourth in the 2,000-mile Iron Dog snowmobile race, also in Fairbanks. The family greeted him at the finish line.

When Palin showed up at the luncheon with not just Piper but also Willow and Bristol, organizers had to scramble to make room at the main table, said Janet Bartels, who set up the event.

"When it's the governor, you just make it happen," she said.

The state is already reviewing nearly $17,000 in per diem payments to Palin for more than 300 nights she slept at her own home, 40 miles from her satellite office in Anchorage.

Tony Knowles, a Democratic former governor of Alaska who lost to Palin in a 2006 bid to reclaim the job, said he never charged the state for his three children's commercial flights or claimed their travel as official state business.

Knowles, who was governor from 1994 to 2002, is the only other recent Alaska governor who had school-age children while in office.

"There was no valid reason for the children to be along on state business," said Knowles, a supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. "I cannot recall any instance during my eight years as governor where it would have been appropriate to claim they performed state business."

Knowles said he brought his children to one NGA event while in office but didn't charge the state for their trip.

In February 2007, the three girls flew from Juneau to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines. Palin charged the state for the $519.30 round-trip ticket for each girl, and noted on the expense form that the daughters accompanied her to "open the start of the Iron Dog race."

The children and their mother then watched as Todd Palin and other racers started the competition, which Todd won that year. Palin later had the relevant expense forms changed to describe the girls' business as "First Family official starter for the start of the Iron Dog race."

The Palins began charging the state for commercial flights after the governor kept a 2006 campaign promise to sell a jet bought by her predecessor.

Palin put the jet up for sale on eBay, a move she later trumpeted in her star-making speech at the Republican National Convention, and it was ultimately sold by the state at a loss.

That left only one high-performance aircraft deemed safe enough for her to use — a 1980 twin-engine King Air assigned to the public safety agency but, according to flight logs, out of service for maintenance and repairs about a third of the time Palin has been governor.