Monday Apr 23rd, 2007: Issue #793
Today is St. George’s Day - the national day for England.
Unlike most countries, who celebrate their national days, we English have allowed ourselves to be persuaded by the PC brigade that even mentioning English national pride is an affront.
Well you know what? I am not offended by the Scots celebrating St. Andrew’s Day. I’m happy that the Irish make merry for St. Patrick. The Welsh are very welcome to wave leeks around in glee. Aussies, Americans, Canadians and even the French have a day on the calendar set aside to respect their own national identities and nobody dares tells them that doing so would be offensive to others.
Can you imagine the response if the PC bigots even tried?
So what is it about the English that makes us a soft target? Why can’t we enjoy St George’s Day without being made to feel like far-right thugs?
St. George is an odd sort of patron saint, I will admit. We share him with several other countries - all of whom he has far greater cultural links with. The historical St. George was a 3rd century Roman soldier, probably of Turkish origin, who was martyred for his beliefs. He never visited England and had nothing to do with slaying dragons. His flag was adopted by Richard the Lionheart in the 12th century and his status as England’s patron saint just kind of stuck.
But none of that really matters. There is a principle involved. I don’t care about the myth, fable or fact. What I do care about is that for far too long England, and the English have been forced to accept that it is fine for other countries to celebrate their identities, but somehow wrong for us.
The fact that I am proud to be English doesn’t imply that I am against you celebrating your heritage. Far from it.
It is high time that the politically correct fools who use nonsensical double-talk to spread their own poisonous agendas were told categorically to get on their bikes.
April 23rd is a day when we English (and those who have become English by adoption) have every right to celebrate all the good things about our country. It’ll make a change from moaning about all the bad!
Happy St. George’s Day.
#~#~#
My list of the 6 best $7 ebooks and reports that I’ve found - http://www.kickstartdaily.com/blog/index.php?/archives/373-Six-of-the-very-best..html - just grew by one more!
Back in December of last year I wrote about a series of videos that Mark Vurnum had produced, teaching his system of using the Internet to generate leads which can then be sold on at a great profit.
I said at the time, and still say, that Mark describes a very real business model that should at least be seriously considered by all online marketers. Lead generation is an excellent business that can either be your total online marketing focus, or can easily be run as a separate income stream. It is also something that is not subject to the current fashions and fads as it breaks no rules and is something that has been around offline for years.
A lot of Kickstart readers bought Mark’s videos and the feedback I received was very positive indeed.
In the last week, Mark has released a $7 report that describes the nuts and bolts of his lead generation system and how easy it is to set it into action online. The report doesn’t go into the same level of detail as the videos, but it does cover all the important bases.
Armed with the information the Mark reveals in his report you can get started right away.
As you know, there are hundreds of $7 ebooks and reports out there and I only recommend the best of those that I see. I’m delighted to add Mark’s ‘Lead Generation Uncovered’ to my very short list.
http://www.urlnex.us/leadgenuncovered/
#~#~#
It was great to see so many old friends - and make new ones - at Robert Puddy’s Saturday Workshop in Crawley.
Robert put on a very useful and interesting day, which was well worth attending. He plans a whole series of these events all round the country, so if there is one that you can get to, I highly recommend it. And for an admission fee of just a tenner, it is superb value!
I’ll let you know when future dates are announced.
#~#~#
I downloaded the latest version of Adobe Reader (version 
over the weekend. I hate it!
If you can, stay with the perfectly good version 7. At least that one worked fine and didn’t slow everything down.
Why do they need to keep on bringing out so many ‘latest editions’ when they have clearly already come up with all the good ideas that they are likely to.
Now, how can I roll back to version 7?
#~#~#
I wrote a big article last week in response to a challenge from Rebecca Hagel.
It is called ‘Ten Tips for Success’. The subject matter is self-explanatory.
You can read it on my blog at http://www.kickstartdaily.com/blog/
… if you do read it, please leave a comment. I’d love to know what you think - and what tips of your own you’d add to my list!
Incidentally, this article is a great example of the power of blogging. Without any promotion on my part - I just posted it to the blog last Wednesday - it reached #25 on Google for the broad search ‘ten tips for success’ (with no quotes) out of over 68 million competing sites. And it achieved that listing within 24 hours!
Google loves blogs that have meaty content. They also like backlinks, so if you’d like to link to my article, you’d make me very happy! 
______________________________________________________
An Inspirational Thought
_______________________________________________________
A short poem today, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
Solitude.
Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.
Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.
Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.
###############################################
Who do you know who would love Kickstart Today?
Don’t keep it to yourself - send them to
http://www.kickstartdaily.com today!
###############################################
_______________________________________________________
The Quote of the Day
_______________________________________________________
Tryon Edwards said:
“Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character decides our destiny.”
_______________________________________________________
Today’s Power Thought
_______________________________________________________
Do you know that you own a magic wand?
Somewhere, close to where you are now, is very likely to be a magic wand that has incredible powers. Of course, it might be a bit rusty or dusty, but after you’ve read this, you might just want to polish it up again.
Your magic wand has the power to create whole worlds.
It has the ability to influence the way people think.
When you wave it just right it is almost guaranteed to make people think better of you.
It has incredible electrical power but it doesn’t plug into the mains or take batteries.
Your magic wand can literally move people and yet most of us have put our wands away and find that using them is an increasingly difficult and even painful experience.
I’m talking, of course, about your pen.
Any pen will do at a pinch, but the real magical power is invested in a fountain pen that writes with real ink.
In this age of computerized this and word-processed that and pre-printed the other, how many people take the time or effort to write hand-written thank-you notes anymore?
How many of us write letters by hand?
How many of us write poetry, stories or thoughts and ideas out longhand - or even feel comfortable doing so?
There is power in the pen and the fewer people who use theirs, the more power YOUR pen absorbs.
If you want to stand out from the crowd and move people’s minds and emotions, re-learn to write. Invest in the best real ink fountain pen you can afford and a pack of quality cards and envelopes and rediscover just how powerful the personal touch can be.
And that’s no hocus-pocus.
_______________________________________________________
Fascinating Facts
_______________________________________________________
Q. Can you name the ten body parts that have three letters?
A. Arm, ear, eye, gum, hip, jaw, leg, lip, rib, toe.