Of course the first and main reason the gratuitous slap in the face to all the life coaches, social media experts, “wisdom experts” (who either lift quotes and/or articles and take credit) or edit them just enough to insult our intelligence with their name as the credit.  I love such “writers” who do not understand that we’ve been to college, because they certainly haven’t.  Most of those are what are known as “life coaches” who are nothing more than a “gang of literary thieves”.  What they do is often attractively package and sale mundane and sometimes exciting philosophy that we learned in college and is, of course, now free on the web. They charge a fortune for books, tapes and the like, leaving their victims (clients) bleeding in the streets, but with the opportunity to become such a “literary-thief-in-training” as well. So it has a “Donald Trump/Amway MLM feel to it”.

My wife Lee and I decided a long time ago that was not for us. Don’t get us wrong. Nearly every major life coach on and off Twitter has tried to recruit us…let me rephrase that..recruit our wallets, but we decided it might be safer to put what extra we have in savings and invest in our our clean businesses which involve designing and selling gifts and collectibles. Our business is very simple, very clean, and offers products of tangible value, no regurgitated philosophy or wisdom, simply usable and/or collectible gifts, clothes, etc.

Lee is an amazing nature photographer who writes a nature blog, Hike Our Planet, and I’m sometimes told I can turn a phrase and create a cartoon that goes on all our products.  Though we often deal with POD’s (Print On Delivery) manufacturing companies, our main factory for six years now is in Rhode Island and the majority of our products sell at Amazon.  Recently the Sears Marketplace picked up a good many of my cartoon gifts. Lee has taught herself not only photography, but how to take that photography and her own unique graphics and create products such as shoes, tees and gifts at her  Lee Hiller Designs Shop. Her items are also available at associate shops all over Amazon.com. She has no snake oil for sale. It’s the real thing.

Why do I make this “comparison story” between “life coach” and legitimate businessperson?  Early on, especially in social networking, it could have so easily gone the other way. The life coaches are artists. Con artists. They are friendly. They know all the right things to say. They can win one’s hearts and minds the way no politician or army even dreamed of doing.   And they have built in radar that heads straight for the pocketbook.

Life coaches often “build a name for themselves”, then start the process of writing books, making cds and tapes, having seminars, and talking nonsense that sounds somewhat like wise philosophy, and it should, as it is more often than not lifted from major names like Emerson, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and so many others, edited and/or watered down, and their own (the life coach’s name) placed on it. I’ve even seen them lift Biblical quotes, change them a bit, and wala, guess who the new author is?

If you’ve just started Twitter, you probably have many of them on your friends list who are following you. They seem to be predatory (the most) to newcomers who haven’t a clue.  Many of the wiser ones change their moniker to “spiritual coach”, “spiritual advisor” “life author” “coach/author”, and the list goes on and on.  In any case, watch for subtleties; the devil is in the detail and as I mentioned earlier, they are con-artists of the highest degree.

My wife Lee once quoted, “You are your own best life coach”, and she is so right.  The alleged purpose of the life coach of whom you pay thousands of dollars is to motivate.

I prefer the freebie by Walt Whitman who would laugh at any life coach. His great quote is, “To Begin, begin”.   Really, what more does one need to know?

Oh, look in the yellow-pages under “pest control” to rid ones home of rodents. I almost forgot that part of the story; but should note it since rodents and life coaches seem to be in the same category (sorry rodents, I know you’re better than that).

When I read an article, I don’t just want information, I want a remedy. A solution.

The solution is, when you find yourself being called and/or emailed by these “Oh, so nice life coaches”, and you will, cut off all ties.  Yes you will hear cries like a baby. They will “badmouth you” on Twitter, facebook and wherever.  Trust me, in the long-run, these are the types you DO want to bad-mouth you; for persons of goodwill know, that if these crooks think you are “no-good”,  you must be a person of substance.

And you really are if you were able to out-maneuver these cyber-whacky sharks by cutting them off and blocking them from your Twitter stream. It is as simple as that.  Oh and screen your calls. You may receive a few curse-word filled calls for your sinful betrayal.  That means “You Done Good”.  Congrats.  Now it’s time to play REAL Twitter. The riff-raff has suddenly disappeared and the drama and chaos has magically dissolved.  Oh, and you still have your money. Now, wasn’t that fun and easy?

On the side of the blog I’ve posted some recent products I’ve made from my various shops (the cartoon store, ShoesThatAmuse, and ABoyNameSushi) shops for your entertainment enjoyment. Oh, and please don’t be shy to purchase. If you don’t, I may have to have a life coach call you for an appointment.

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Rick London is a writer, cartoonist, and designer.  He created Google and MSN’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoons, Londons Times in 1997. Less than a decade later he launched online shops which now feature over a quarter million licensed products which are featured at such shopping channels as Amazon, Sears, Shop.com, Shopping.com and many others.  He also has his own shops such as Rick London Collection where he sells his favorite cartoons on tshirts, mugs, greeting cards and other funny gifts.  London founded the world’s only famous love quote shoes in 2007, ShoesThatAmuse.com which have received the thumbs up from APWire and USA Today.  This year he launched ABoyNamedSushi, a division of his ShoeShies which are sushi artwork shoes and gifts.  London has published over 500 articles and his cartoons have appeared in the Jerusalem Post. His main Londons Times Cartoon site boasts 5000+ color offbeat cartoons which have lured 8.7 million visits.  Several of his originals are a permanent part of the Roy Orbison Collection and Mayo Clinic Medical Library.

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Today The Obama Administration decided was the right time to release his real birth certificate.  The immediate predictable announcement by Donald Trump was more or less, “I solved a big problem…Obama should have done earlier…America couldn’t have done it without me”. Blah blah yadda yadda.

To be clear, I’m no Barack Obama fan. I don’t feel he has the experience to be a President, much less a President with all that is going on in the world today. I happen not to think he has what it takes to be re-elected.

But I will give him this.  Back when the “birther issue” was gaining momentum, did you notice who was bringing it up the most?  You guessed it. Not Sarah Palin. Not Glenn Beck. Not Michelle Bachman, no not even Trump…It was  Barack Obama always “claiming innocence”.  Did that not give anyone a clue as to what he/Obama was doing?  He was luring bigots dressed as carnival barkers into starting a “He wasn’t even born here” campaign… and guess what. It worked.  Does that hurt? If so, you might want to check your soul within. Don’t hate Obama due to his color (or his perceived religion). It’s  not a reason of which God would approve.  Hate the mediocre job he is doing in the White House.  I hated that about GW Bush too; but I didn’t hate him. Obama kept the issue alive (like a good attorney) as he knew “he had the answer” in a vault.  He only had to await the right moment.  That came today.  If only Obama could use all that “legal smartness” to be a good President.  It appears he cannot.

Of course Obama knew he had the certificate from the start (obviously) and he knew he could have shown it quite promptly but didn’t.  Why didn’t he?

If you are a “Birther Tea Party-er or Republican or even a leftist” this might not sit well with you, but some lessons are the most painful.

My prediction was, for a long while, that Obama was going to pull it out when Trump called him on it in the 2012 debate (or whatever “Birther” he was at the debate podium. That would have been the ideal time and it would have been “a sure fire win” for Obama. He knew it, and of course everyone else knows it now.

Yes, as incompetent as Obama is at governing, he’s much, much, smarter than Trump (and every other Birther for that matter at “Playing Politics).  He proved today; NONE of the others were even in his league.  Does that hurt? Again, time to look within.

Obama had to pull the certificate today. Trump was overshadowing real news…Japan, Arab uprisings, War In Libya and so much other important news stories and the “birther issue” was becoming priority news, keeping us, the general public from hearing real news.

The important stories were becoming almost non-stories while Donald’s bad hair blew across our TV monitor and his headache-producing voice through our psyche.

Obama could have ignored all that and waited until his golden moment, the 2012 debates.  It would have been a no-brainer who would have won the debate no matter how good the “Birther Opponent” performed on every other issue.

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It should have been apparent to most “Birthers” when even the “former birthers” like Palin and Bachmann & Gov. Brewer of Az began removing themselves from the Birthers and the issue.  They finally figured out that Obama had them over a barrel,  and he was just waiting for the right time.  But leave it to Trump and his ego to keep it going.   His “I put this issue to an end thanks to me” is so reminiscent of Charlie Sheen’s, “Winning…winning”, that it was almost funny, if not so sad. Trump would never have imagined in a zillion years that Obama had him over a barrel. But we know now he did.

Rarely, very rarely, you will find a candidate who understands the job of a U.S. President.  Do you know what that job is? I didn’t think so.  There actually are two major jobs A. Balance The Budget…AND  B. Keep the U.S. citizens safe.

Trump has been bankrupt 3 times but told one national news reporter, “We buy these companies and go bankrupt.  Then we can make a deal that is FANTASTIC!” He doesn’t mention that the creditor gets pennies on the dollar.  America has loans owed to many countries and vice versa. We’ve been known to pay our bills as a nation. But given Trumps philosophy; if we borrow several billion, go bankrupt, and you (the other country) gets a “FANTASTIC” deal, you should be happy”.  But in reality, if that country owns an atom bomb, he’s not done much to keep the citizenry of our country safe.

Here’s something that is not going to make lefties nor right-wingers feel so great.  I worked long enough in Washington to continue to chant my mantra, “Do not vote for the party. Research each candidate, then do another research and then another. Have a friend review those research results and another friend  research his/hers.  Whichever party you have chosen, you are going to find things you don’t like; let me rephrase that, if you are honest, despise.  There will be things that click and you love, but the majority you’ll probably find is “the same old self-interest B.S.). If you really make this your voting formula, and you have at least a high-school education, you will never even think about voting “party” again.

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If you can tell me with a straight face that there’s one in office now, or one that you’ve seen running who understands that, and could perform it, never mind being “Our Moral Mommy & Daddy”, that does not even appear on the job description (though it is the reason so many vote); which makes me a shame of our education system.  It is probably why we’ve had so few decent presidents.  How many have done the real job in my lifetime?  Only Clinton. Can you name another.

The news heads tonight are going to be brutal…well beyond brutal to Trump; as well they should. He doesn’t understand it now, but of course, he is history, last years news.  Do you think anyone with any type of sanity would ever take him seriously again?

We know much of it is about race. That is a given. I am a white man who grew up in Ms. I am sensitively aware of politicians who teach me the differences between the races, rather than the similarities. I know what racism, or perceived racism) did to my beloved beautiful state of Ms. Most of us were not racist, did not wear sheets, were absolutely fine when integration occurred yet financially will and will for many years to come. Mississippi continues to come in #50 in almost every important issue from education to tourism (we’re a bit better on tourism now due to casinos but the good jobs and most monies travels out of state).  I am very surprised when I see my fellow-Mississippians go along with Trump, especially given what such racists did to us nationwide (if not worldwide). It will take Ms many years to pull out of that alligator pit.  And it won’t be in our lifetime and if they keep marching to Trump’s racist drum it won’t be in our grand children’s lifetimes.

I can look at a person and predict future meltdowns.  3 months ago I predicted to my wife Lee that I could see Glenn Beck beginning to melt down.  I gave him exactly 2.5 months left on Fox (I knew how Fox worked as I used to work there years ago when it was still Metromedia).  I was off about five days.

I think Trump will last about a month longer. After 4-5 months of the media virtually ignoring him, giving him a few crazy sound bites, he will be doing the “Glenn Beck cry” and fade away. His ego is a little stronger hence he’ll last a bit longer than Beck. But all its going to take is one news veteran to ask the right question and Trump will be back hawking his MLM pyramid scheme telling everyone he’s a billionaire (oh, many times over)

Donald, I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a bottle of Amway environmentally-friendly dish washing detergent today.  There is more shares of complaints regarding Trump’s MLM “Get Rich Quick” company on Scam.com than I care to read.  He’s done nothing to respond and/or remedy these complaints.  Too busy with his hired detective help in Hawaii, finding out things that “don’t look good at all”  (Admit it, like Obama or not, he got a BIG SMILE today).

There is only one person on the horizon who understands what a President does. Governor Gary Johnson (Republican) of New Mexico was interviewed on the news several weeks ago.  He emitted so much sanity, knew exactly what a President does and doesn’t do, I felt sad.  He’s just too sane to run. And yes, he knew the two main job descriptions of a U.S. President and had very little to say, even when quizzed over and over by the reporter on anything but those two issues.  Do you think we’ll ever get a President who knows his/her job?

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Rick London is a cartoonist, designer, and funny gift manufacturer.  He founded the net’s #1 offbeat cartoons, Londons Times and its licensed shops featuring funny tees gifts etc. He also founded and designs ShoesThatAmuse.com the world’s only famous love quotes shoes, and writes music. He and his wife Lee are nature lovers and spend a lot of time hiking in the Ouichata Mountains of Arkansas.

With important news saturating our airwaves such as the Japan tragedy, uprisings in the Arab world,  and so many more meaningful issues, Donald Trump’s timing could not be worse with the non-news issue of investigating if Obama was born in Hawaii much less America. Most educated Republicans are distancing themselves from him.

In response, a group of cartoonists led by Rick London, founder of Londons Times Cartoons is beginning an investigation on, not Donald Trump, but that creature that  lives on his head. London says, “Given all the money that Mr. Trump makes selling books and multi-level life coach junk,” you know he’s one of the few who could not only pay but persuade aliens to steal the hair off their best friend, and send it to Trump Towers. Of course it could be an alien animal, not hair at all.  A strand of it is still in a lab being evaluated.

We were able to swipe the strand of hair when we discovered he was sleeping with other fringe Republicans who needed the money and didn’t fall for his life-coach make-a-million MLM deal.

London says, “We know, for certain, it was not made in America much less this planet. We’ve seen creatures such as these in old horror films, but they were synthetically made in Hollywood. We’ve quizzed all the Hollywood studios who have assured us it had to come from another planet.  We’ve contacted Clive Barker and Steven King who are not returning our calls. I feel its because one of them have a book or film planned titled ‘Night Of The Donald’s Hair’.”

London adds, “In so many ways, Mr. Trump has our pity. Some men whose testosterone has long gone, but still have a deep intimidating voice feel the need to cover their balding heads. This could mean grabbing a small space alien, which we are almost certain Mr. Trump has done. If so, it is likely a living organism and he need not answer to us but to P.E.T.A. or even an inner-galaxy animal rights or hair follicle rights group.

Let’s just hope he is exercising it on a regular basis and feeding it food that is indigenous to it’s original habitat.

For more updates with the investigation tune into www.LondonsTimes.us blog.

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Rick London is a writer, cartoonist and designer. He founded Londons Times Cartoons in 1997 which have been Google and MSN’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoons since 2005. He also founded numerous shops featuring his funny gifts such as the Rick London Collection. He also founded and designs the world’s only famous love quotes shoes, Shoes That Amuse.