<![CDATA[Allan Marston - Home]]>Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:59:58 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[The Seed Event]]>Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:04:30 -0800http://allanmarston.weebly.com/1/post/2012/02/the-seed-event.html Our world is changing, no doubt about it. How can you meet these changes with grace, preparedness and with awareness?
www.SeedEvent.org
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]]><![CDATA[What is W.I.S.E.craks?]]>Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:54:23 -0800http://allanmarston.weebly.com/1/post/2012/02/what-is-wisecraks.html_ I wouldn’t call myself a workaholic as such but I sure spend a lot of time trying to hit a home run in business.  I don’t consider that ‘work’ since I love being an entrepreneur.  However, one of the things I have learned over the years is to take some time and play and that has not been easy for me to do.

My idea of play is to surf the Internet looking for stuff that is weird or inspiring or entertaining.  I would find them, enjoy them and bookmark them so I could view them again, later.  Then when I would go back a few months later the page or website was no longer there. 

I started thinking of creating a repository for me to go back to, for posterity sake and for others that might find this stuff interesting.

That is why I decided to put together www.wisecraks.com which is a revival of sorts of an eZine I used to have in the early days of the Internet that was called W.I.S.E.craks.  Back then the W.I.S.E. stood for Wisdom, Inspiration, Satire and Enlightenment. 

The modern version of W.I.S.E.craks stands for Weird, Inspired, Serious and Entertainment.  I hope you will visit and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  If you do enjoy it please consider subscribing on the site and sharing with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, etc as well as email.  You will find those links below each post.  Enjoy!

]]><![CDATA[Why You Should be Interested]]>Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:40:45 -0800http://allanmarston.weebly.com/1/post/2011/09/why-you-should-be-interested.html In today’s Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid says “A tiny group of Albertans - probably no more than 50,000 party members - will vote on a premier for 3.7 million souls.  It's a moment of huge public significance. But in Calgary, there's probably more interest in the Flames roster.”

I am certainly hoping that my friends will take a more active part and it’s not too late.  If you choose to vote you can buy a membership (Only $5) at the polls. If you want to know where those polls are you can check the PC Party site or http://www.HornerForAlberta.ca as that is the site I helped put up.  I know many of my Liberal and NDP friends are voting today and will be Two-Minute Tories just because they want to have a say in who becomes premier.

And if you want some help deciding, maybe my process of evaluating how I arrived at my choice might help.  The main point is that during these tough worldwide economic times we need experienced leadership.  This is not a time to tinker with someone who is a great speaker or to vote for someone based on emotional popularity.  That is what the Americans did with the beloved but highly experienced Barack Obama who I liked too.  Now they are struggling with massive unemployment and predictions of huge riots to come.  We don’t need to go there!

Both Doug Griffiths and Alison Redford are emotional favourites of mine but lack experience managing anything really.  Both are young though and in another 5 to 10 years these 2 would make awesome candidates if they made it into cabinet during that time and they should.

On the other end of the spectrum Rick Orman is just too old school.  Ted Morton is just too American. He even taught American policy as a professor at U of C and was born in the USA and moved here when he was 32.

Gary Mar in my opinion is the worst of all of the candidates but has a ton of experience.  Why is he the worst?  He has never apologized or expressed remorse for giving his old buddy and executive assistant Kelley Charlebois what amounted to a taxpayer gift of $400,000.  Don’t take my word for it, research it on Google or read this: Premier Klein's Health Minister Gary Mar has paid Tory insider Kelley Charlebois over $400,000 for oral "advice." Although Gary Mar has 1,287 employees in his health ministry doing administrative and communications work, he paid Mr. Charlebois $143,000 in 2001, then $119,000 in 2002, then $111,000 in 2003 for giving oral "advice." After paying Mr. Charlebois $373,000, Gary Mar hired him again in 2004. Then, last week, with the public expressing outrage and with a provincial election getting closer, Gary Mar finally terminated this fourth lucrative "consulting" contract.

A Freedom of Information request by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed that no reports are available to show whether Mr. Charlebois produced anything of value to taxpayers. Nor were these "consulting" contracts put to public tender; Mr. Charlebois got them without any competition.

And he continues to surround himself with unscrupulous people – Kelley Charlebois is back working on his campaign – and then this Give-Away of Free Memberships that cost $5 scandal: http://thealbertaardvark.blogspot.com/2011/09/team-mar-volunteer-donor-is-paying-for.html

Now Gary Mar is calling for more transparency!
Really?

MY CHOICE:

There is one candidate who has 10 years in government, served as minister of advanced technology and education and helped make Mount Royal College into a University amongst other major accomplishments and was deputy premier.  He has been involved in business around the world, with his family established province's first oat and barley milling operation and served in our armed forces reserves.  His father was with Peter Lougheed through that historic win.

His name is Doug Horner and I truly believe that with him as premier we will have an honest, innovative and highly intelligent premier who has a history of listening to the people and consulting with all stakeholders before decisions are made. 

By far The Best Choice for Alberta and I hope you will join me today in voting for him.

]]><![CDATA[Calgary Herald Validates Argument]]>Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:37:18 -0800http://allanmarston.weebly.com/1/post/2011/09/calgary-herald-validates-argument.htmlThe Calgary Herald in its editorial piece validated the argument I made yesterday on my blog about Media Manipulation.  For you to fully understand my argument you first need to review the timeline and sequence of events.

Last week Environics published the results of a poll commissioned by Postmedia, parent company of the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal.  Environics said they polled PC Party members. Where they got a list of PC Party members is suspicious and a review is being called for.

The Poll said Gary Mar had 31% in first place and Alison Redford had 20% in second place.  Others weren’t close.

Guess who the Calgary Herald endorses today?

Gary Mar!

And in their words “easily our second choice, Alison Redford”!

Okay now go back to the poll they commissioned and see the results:

Gary Mar first & Alison Redford 2nd.

If you can’t smell that media manipulation stink you are probably are living in Utopia!

]]><![CDATA[Scandalous Manipulation ]]>Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:04:26 -0800http://allanmarston.weebly.com/1/post/2011/09/scandalous-manipulation.htmlHave you ever thought about how much we get manipulated by our media?  I mean these are the people that we turn to for our news that we expect is impartial. 

I am heavily involved in the current election campaign to elect a leader for the PC Party who will ultimately become the premier of the province.  And I am seeing all kinds of dirty tricks and inconsistencies that are so cunningly played out that the general public would never suspect that they are being heavily manipulated.

Take the example of the whole email fiasco with Ted Morton where he is being accused of having a duplicate email under a false name.  He was trashed by the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal for 3 straight days before it was revealed that others do it to, including current Premier Ed Stelmach.  http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2011/09/09/18663721.html

Then there is Gary Mar who when he was health minister handed over a bunch of major cash to his executive assistant Kelley Charlebois. Not only was it an un-tendered contract but also there was no deliverables for Mr. Charlebois. Check this out: http://members.shaw.ca/srollans/democracy/beyond/hansard/hansard_05.html

Or this:

http://www.albertaparty.ca/blog/2011/09/11/pc%E2%80%99s-lack-mindset-transparency/

Now Mr Mar is calling for transparency in government – really? 

And the media is not saying a word about any of this.

If Gary Mar is your next premier who will he surround himself with?  Look at what his people are up to now: http://thealbertaardvark.blogspot.com/2011/09/team-gary-mar-gets-caught-giving-away.html Free Memberships is what they were giving away except these are not really free.  So is Gary trying to buy this election?  No media coverage!

And get this Kelley Charlebois is now working on Gary Mar’s election campaign.

]]><![CDATA[Outwitting The Devil - I am so excited!]]>Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:11:47 -0800http://allanmarston.weebly.com/1/post/2011/06/outwitting-the-devil-i-am-so-excited.htmlFinally  more that 70 years after the release of  Think and Grow Rich  and some 40 years after the death of Napoleon Hill the sequel , the real deal is now available.  Outwitting the Devil shows you how to actually implement what was shared in the Think and Grow Rich book. And that is why I am so excited! Think And Grow Rich was written in 1938 and is probably one of the most read books on success.  Napoleon Hill was motivated to write this book so many years ago which is a conversation between an “earthlander” and “The Devil”.  Of course the title “Outwitting the Devil” is not religious book but more of  a metaphorical description of what goes on in the mind and how that keeps us from really obtaining what we set out to accomplish with our financial goals.
The original manuscript was never released due to the fact that his wife was extremely nervous about the repercussions of it’s release possibly because of the title and the subject matter of the book.  The controversy remained even 40 years after his death but his family decided that it was too important of a book not to be shared with the masses. The correlation to the time in which this book was originally written , the times of the Great Depression, and what we are seeing in the World Economies now run a very similar scenario. 
In the book Outwitting The Devil, Napoleon Hill covers the greatest obstacles that keep us from reaching our goals. Obstacles like fear, anger, procrastination  and jealousy saying that these obstacle,. which exist in our minds, are a tool of the devil.  He also shows you how to Principles of Good  help you triumph to success. He goes further into such principles as:
  • Definition of Purpose – How to not lose focus and stay on course
  • Mastery of Self – Knowing what you want and going after it.
  • Learning from Adversity- Not allowing failure to define you but instead learn from adversity and keep moving forward
  • Controlling Your Environments- This would include all environments including your time and the people you associate with.
  • Creating Harmony – Creating the right habits in your life to create harmony and flow.
  • Execute With Caution – Not to be impulsive but to think through things before moving forward
So if you ever wondered why even after reading Think and Grow Rich  you still have not obtained the financial success you set out to achieve then this book.  

]]><![CDATA[Humanity's Generosity]]>Mon, 23 May 2011 22:55:29 -0800http://allanmarston.weebly.com/1/post/2011/05/humanitys-generosity.htmlI am always amazed at humanity's ability and willingness to step up and help their fellow humans.  The recent disasters in Japan and more close to home in Slave Lake, Alberta are a testament to how incredibly amazing people are.

And then I wonder how come there are still so many children dying every year, especially in Africa.  The United Nations pegs the number of children dying form water-borne diseases alone at 25,000 per day.  Do 'their' governments care?  Do their people care?  Or do they expect that we will figure out the problem so they don't have to? 

I am not making judgements here - I truly do not know the answer but the problem still keeps me up some nights. 
]]><![CDATA[The Cash Flow Game]]>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:11:09 -0800http://allanmarston.weebly.com/1/post/2011/01/the-cash-flow-game.html I just love the game CashFlow even though my kids always seem to beat me at it.  The game was created by the folks at Rich Dad, Poor Dad which in itself is an excellent series of books produced by Robert Kiyosaki and company.

The game CashFlow is meant to imitate life somewhat in that you start the game in the Rat Race.  You must go through all kinds of challenges while at the same time trying to create Passive Income mostly from Real Estate.  When your Passive Income exceeds your Expenses you are out of the Rat Race and on to the Fast Track.  Pretty cool huh!

So as we were playing the game I got to thinking how many of the people around me have ANY Passive Income at all and the answer is extremely few.  Most of my friends know nothing about Real Estate investing and to be honest with the high RE prices one has to be quite an expert to get any Cash Flow out of a property in Alberta or at least Calgary.

Most of my friends have tried to create passive Income through Network Marketing but that has been a pain for many of them because they need to chase family and friends.  Even I am tired of that.  That’s why I like what I do now. 

I create passive income WITHOUT talking to family and friends and without calling leads and without the huge investment usually required for Real Estate Investments.  Since I don’t need to talk to my friends or family about it, if you want to know more, ask me for a special invite but only if you are really serious and really looking for extra income.    I don’t have to recruit anyone so I enjoy that.  However, anyone who knows me knows that I like to look after my friends.  Only problem is that I often want for them what they are not willing to do for themselves.

]]><![CDATA[More on Change!]]>Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:20:51 -0800http://allanmarston.weebly.com/1/post/2011/01/more-on-change.htmlHere is another post from a blog I kept in 2001 and it too is about Change.  I must have been going through somethings back then but they act as a nice reminder now.  Check it out...

I can't remember how many times I have read or been told, when things are going wrong in your life look in the mirror.

Recently there were several sequences of events that had me totally frustrated. Why were people being such jerks with me? Why were they screwing up when it came to my stuff? Maybe I am just in a bad cycle, I thought. I would just have to put up with it until it passed.

Then I remembered the proverbial mirror. Was it me? Could it possibly be me? Hey, everybody else was being mean, they were the ones messing up, so how could it be me?

I decided to run a little test over a couple of days. I was going to do everything in my power to forget about all the customer service nightmares I had just been through. I was going to expunge them from my thoughts. Every time these thoughts would enter my mind, I would flush them.

Moreover, I was going to be happy and nice. Not just on the outside. I knew that everyone deserved to be treated with real love and respect without any expectations on my part.

The results were phenomenal.

What I learned was what I already knew. When things are going wrong in your life, look within. Look at yourself. You may not like what you see. You may not even want to admit it. Unless you do however, you can't move forward because, Change begins with YOU!

That is the first level of change that must take place if you want to change your world. The next inevitable level of Change begins at HOME!

Then and only then can the third level of change begin. That is in the people around you. ]]><![CDATA[Choices]]>Sat, 22 Jan 2011 20:07:58 -0800http://allanmarston.weebly.com/1/post/2011/01/choices.htmlI love the concept that if I want to change what is happening to me and even around me then that Change begins with Me! I like it because it puts me in control of my own destiny.  Everyday we have people pulling our strings, pushing our buttons and we, not them get to choose how we react. Get mad, even if you don't show it, and they win.

Remember this. He who gets mad first loses.

If I am driving too slowly and the person behind me honks his horn, I can get mad and salute him in unfriendly ways or I can just let it slide. The choice is mine and mine alone. If the other person chooses to get mad, that is his choice. I didn't make him angry. How can I, when he is in control of his own destiny and emotions just as I am.

Ultimately Change is all about Choices! Choose to be in control of your own emotions.
Choose to be Happy!
Choose to be Nice!
Choose to associate yourself with positive people!
Choose to be a Giving person!

Choose to monitor and control your thoughts for your thoughts become words. Words can cut or they can heal; choose to use them wisely.  Your words become Actions. Understand your actions for they become Habits.  Study your habits for they will become your Character. Develop your Character, for it becomes the beacon of change for all, in the corner where you are.

(Taken from a Blog post I wrote in 2001)
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