Controversy

Speaker Wire is a Confusing Product!

Recently I decided to buy some new speaker wire for my A/V Receiver. According to reports and brochures, the top-rated speaker wire you should use with an A/V Receiver is 12-gauge wire. The 12-gauge wire is useful for long wire runs and also useful on shorter wire runs because the larger amount of copper provides less resistance for electricity (a very good thing). But while doing research and examining products, I became very disappointed by the fact that key pieces of information are usually left out of speaker wire products.

I would like to clarify a few things about speaker wire. Ironically, as the "gauge" of the wire becomes smaller, the speaker wire actually increases in size. This improves the quality of the wire because it decreases the electrical resistance. Taking advantage of high-quality speaker wire can actually help give added life to your A/V Receiver or Amplifier.

One of the primary qualities often advertised by manufacturers of speaker wire is something called "Oxygen-Free" wire. The reason this feature is important is because oxygen can "oxidize" the copper in the wire. When speaker wire becomes oxidized (similar to rusted), it will increase the electrical resistance in the wire. Consequently, the sound quality will decrease and electrical problems in an amplifier may be generated.

I recently learned that one of the biggest problems with speaker wire is the way products are falsely advertised. I'm referring to the fact that a countless number of manufacturers advertise "Copper" speaker wire. But in reality the copper speaker wire has an aluminum core that is only "coated" with copper. If you buy 12-gauge aluminum wire that is coated with copper, it may only offer the benefits of 16-gauge "pure copper" wire.

Believe it or not, speaker wire gets even more confusing! The 12-gauge speaker wire that is recommended by home theater magazines is usually referring to the AWG (American Wire Gauge) standard of measurement. There are other forms of standards that are not universal in their measurements. For example, a manufacturer of speaker wire may advertise a 10-gauge speaker wire, but in reality it may only offer measurements seen by an AWG 12-gauge or AWG 14-gauge wire.

There are also dirty tactics that can be used in the world of speaker wire. Obviously the copper is the most expensive material used in speaker wire. Aluminum is the second most expensive material used in speaker wire, while plastic is the least expensive material used in speaker wire. Some manufacturer's of speaker wire use very thin copper wire or copper-coated wire, but they still advertise their product as 12-gauge.

The reason these manufacturers do this is because they use incredibly thick plastic wire to coat the metal in a cheap way. These manufacturers don't make their final standard of measurement until after the plastic has been placed over the wire. This is a very immoral thing to do because speaker wire is being sold for a higher price as if it were offering the quality of a higher product. In reality, the speaker wire is not offering high quality performance at all.

I still have not been able to find the following product that I truly do have a desire to purchase: AWG 12-Gauge Oxygen-Free 100% Copper Wire

I can tell you two things from personal experience, though. First, the speaker wire company called Monster Cable charges way too much money for their speaker wire product. Monster Cable doesn't even bother to list the gauge on their product! People who have measured the Monster Cable speaker wire have found it to be somewhere between 15-gauge and 16-gauge. I highly recommend that you purchase a different brand, simply because the only thing you are paying for is the advertisements of this company.

RCA actually makes the best speaker wire. This speaker wire is an AWG 14-Gauge Oxygen-Free 100% Copper Speaker Wire. This product is rated incredibly high by all users on websites such as Amazon.com. The speaker wire sold online costs far less than the prices seen in most retail stores. If you do need to buy this product at a retail store, I recommend ABC Warehouse because they are willing to negotiate with you if you buy several rolls. If only RCA were to release this product in AWG 12-Gauge, I would be the happiest camper in the world!

Does anyone know who makes an AWG 12-Gauge Oxygen-Free 100% Copper Speaker Wire?

Sony Targets May 31st for Full Restoration of PSN

On April 20, 2011 the Sony PSN online service went down with over 74 Million users affected in a negative way by online hackers taking advantage of Sony's weak security system. A short time after, the service went down again with another batch of over 20 Million users affected in a way that involved a breach of credit security and financial records that would allow identity theft to occur. Sony recently announced that May 31st is the date currently being targeted for the return of full functionality to the PSN. The Playstation Blog says that Sony has a goal of restoring online game play prior to May 31st.

No other problem in the history of the videogame industry has ever produced such an impact on so many millions of people – approximately 100 million people. As an industry analyst, I believe next months NPD sales figures will confirm just how angry consumers are with Sony. Senators, congressman, and other politicians in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and all across Europe have criticized Sony for their lack of responsibility and selfishness. Consumers do not appreciate it that Sony was not willing to inform users within a reasonable time period in an effort to avoid negative publicity.

Osama Bin Laden is DEAD! - President Barack Obama Reunites America - Justice Has Been Done!

President Barack Obama has just addressed the nation, confirming that Osama Bin Laden is dead! Justice has been done! Not since September 11, 2001 has America been united in the way that we are united as a country right now. May 1, 2011 will forever be remembered as the day President Barack Obama reunited America with a triumphant victory over terrorism.

This announcement will probably go down in history as the most remembered speech President Obama ever makes. Just as everyone remembers where they were when the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, everyone will remember where they were when they heard President Barack Obama officially confirm that Osama Bin Laden is dead!

Osama Bin Laden has been the face of terrorism for the last decade. President Obama has gone to very great lengths to work with foreign nations such as Pakistan to make sure that Osama Bin Laden was hunted down. Reasons like that are why President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Price honor. All of these excellent efforts of President Obama have paid off!

The United States has conducted a military counterterrorist operation that has killed Osama Bin Laden! President Obama authorized this military operation last week after he learned where Osama Bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad, Pakistan – about 80 miles north of Islamabad. This has been officially confirmed by President Barack Obama. President Obama also made it clear that no Americans were harmed in this counterterrorism operation that killed Osama Bin Laden.

When he took office, President Obama made it 100% clear that his #1 military priority as leader of America was to kill Osama Bin Laden. President Obama has achieved this goal because of his strong desire to do so – doing everything possible to obtain justice for the thousands of innocent people killed by Bin Laden’s Al-Qaida organization all over the world.

President Obama also made it 100% clear that the United States of America is not at war with Islam, because Osama Bin Laden was never recognized as an Islamic leader. President Obama explained that Osama Bin Ladan was a murderer of Islamic people, too. It didn’t matter to Osama Bin Laden if you were a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jewish person; the ruthless terrorist attacks of Osama Bin Laden always resulted in murder! Innocent people were always the victims of the coward named Osama Bin Laden.

Older people have already stated that not since Adolf Hitler has America hated an individual as much as Osama Bin Laden. The death of Osama Bin Laden has motivated family and friends to call each other in the middle of the night to tell them the good news! All over the United States of America people are gathering and celebrating!

The United States government currently has possession of the body of Osama Bin Laden. It has been fully confirmed that this body is Osama Bin Laden. The CIA and President Obama deserve a lot of credit for making this happen.

Over the years the Pakistani government has claimed that Osama Bin Laden was not in Pakistan. Government officials of Pakistan often tried saying that Bin Laden was hiding in Afghanistan. Over the last several months, our relations with Pakistan have been very strained. But it was President Obama’s ability to negotiate with the Pakistani government that helped make this operation possible.

Normally, the Pakistani government says they don’t want American men on their soil. But President Obama did everything possible to make sure America was able to enter Pakistan and perfectly execute this military counterterrorism operation that killed Osama Bin Laden. President Obama was personally involved in five security meetings regarding this matter, which took months to gather the information and carry out the military operation.

I want to thank President Obama for being involved in such a personal way. It was President Obama’s strong desire to eliminate Osama Bin Laden that made this military operation possible. Millions of people across the country shouted words of encouragement to President Barack Obama as he delivered this speech to the world. One of the most memorable moments of the 21st century will be President Barack Obama—winner of the Nobel Peace Prize honor—officially announcing that he authorized the counterterrorism operation that killed the most hated man in the world!

The “War Against Terror” is now officially over! Osama Bin Laden is a man that cannot be replaced. Young men from across the world would come to the Middle East just to be a part of Al-Qaida because of a sadistic form of respect they had for “the face of terror.” Osama Bin Laden cannot be replaced, which means the war against terrorism has changed forever. President Barack Obama will forever be remembered as the man who ended the war on terrorism.

On May 1, 2011 America became united once again. We are united in a way that we have not seen since September 11, 2001. America is united under the leadership of Barack Obama. Justice has been done!

Here is the video of President Barack Obama:

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/politics/2011/05/01/sot.obama.bin.laden.dead.cnn

 

Senator Blumenthal Criticizes Sony’s Playstation Management

For more than a week, Sony’s PSN online network that works with the PS3 game console has been down because it was hacked into by pirates. Yet Sony’s management has refused to even admit that it was hackers that caused the problem. Connecticut Senator, Richard Blumenthal, carefully listened to the situation regarding millions of people that have been influenced in a negative way by Sony’s poor management. Thankfully, Senator Blumenthal recently took the time to responsibly act on behalf of millions of people across the country.

Senator Blumenthal took the time to write to the president of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Jack Tretton. In this message to Tretton, Senator Blumenthal criticizes Sony’s lack of effort to inform users of the PSN service that their personal financial information has been compromised. Problems such as identity theft, illegal purchases, and many other troubles with credit cards and debit cards can easily occur in this type of situation when people are not informed within a reasonable time period. Yet Sony’s management seems unwilling to accept accountability for all of these problems due to the fact that it would generate even more negative publicity for the PS3 – a console that has been criticized for disappointing sales ever since it launched in 2006.

On his official website, Senator Blumenthal makes the following key statements:

“A breach of such a widely used service immediately raises concerns of data privacy, identity theft, and other misuse of sensitive personal and financial data, such as names, email addresses, and credit and debit card information. When a data breach occurs, it is essential that customers be immediately notified about whether and to what extent their personal and financial information has been compromised. I am concerned that PlayStation Network users’ personal and financial information may have been inappropriately accessed by a third party. Compounding this concern is the troubling lack of notification from Sony about the nature of the data breach.”

You can read the entire letter that the very responsible Senator Richard Blumenthal writes to SCEA president Jack Tretton, here.

UPDATE: PSN is Down and Hacked - Tips for Credit Card Security

Update: As of 6pm reliable sources are reporting credit card information probably has been compromised on the PSN. This means that if you use the PSN, hackers probably have your credit card information. You should probably read this article, and then look to the bottom of the page for some advice on what to do.

The PSN (Playstation Network) is still experiencing technical problems this week. This is a very unfortunate problem for PS3 owners, especially when you consider that the PSN service stopped working last week. Last Friday, we saw that Sony said these technical problems affecting both the PSN and the Qriocity musical service were being caused by “An external intrusion,” which many people initially interpreted as a form of piracy caused by hackers. This was particularly true considering that from Sony’s legal point of view the PS3 recently experienced many forms of high-publicity online piracy associated with the PS3. 

The really stressful dilemma with these PSN troubles is that Sony claims there may be personal data that may have been “compromised” on the PSN. Compromised is a word that has a very large scope, which is a bit disturbing to some people. Does this mean that personal data such as screen names has been compromised by gaming thieves? Or does this mean that personal data such as credit card information has been compromised by financial thieves? 

Based on the way this situation was recently described on Sony’s Playstation Blog, it appears that Sony did recognize what was happening fairly quickly – motivating them to shut down the PSN service right away. Let’s just hope no form of problems end up haunting the users of the PSN. When personal information is stolen and abused, it really is annoying to people in the 21st century. 

Regrettably, as of April 26, 2011, Sony is still saying they do not have an update or time frame when the PSN or Qriocity services will be functioning correctly online again. Thankfully, Patrick Seybold, speaking on behalf of Sony, has said that he is aware of the fact that PS3 owners are waiting for additional information regarding when the PSN and Qriocity services will be online again. Although the PSN online gaming environment is still down, at least Sony is aware of the fact that consumers aren’t happy. Sony’s public statements suggest they are doing their best to fix the problem. 

Originally, many people thought these online problems were being caused by another group of high-publicity hackers that had breached the PSN again. However, most industry analysts now believe Sony is having some technical problems internally with their online servers. This seems like a reasonable theory considering there are quite a few PS3 games scheduled for release soon. Perhaps one of these external disc-based games has caused some internal compatibility issues with the online servers.

Many gamers point out this could not have happened at a worse time for Sony. There was a recent banking holiday in Europe, which meant gamers had plenty of time to play online. Plus, Microsoft recently gave all Xbox 360 owners in Europe a free weekend of Xbox Live service in order to try and set a world record in online gaming. This really took a lot of attention away from the PS3 and shifted it towards the Xbox 360 in parts of the world that do not speak the English language. 

Let’s hope Sony can get these problems with the PSN online service solved quickly. A lot of PS3 owners are very disappointed right now, since they can’t play online with their friends anymore. Kids at school and adults at work that enjoy talking about videogames aren’t talking about playing games online on their PS3. This certainly helps the competition, especially when you consider Microsoft is currently running a beta test online with this year’s most-anticipated game of all – Gears of War 3. 

Controversy is a website that will keep you updated on the status of the PSN online service. We will let you know when the PSN service starts working properly again.

UPDATE (6:30pm 4/26/2011)

Many websites have confirmed that the PSN has in fact been compromised in ways that put credit card data of PS3 owners at risk. My best advice right now is for you to take a look at the great article on IGN that talks about "How to Protect Yourself." You can take a look at this great article here.

For now, I can briefly give you some tips on how to monitor your credit information. First, monitor your credit cards that have been used with the PSN service. You can easily do this online in the same way you pay credit cards online. If you see that something was purchased that you didn't buy, make sure and report it to the phone number on the back of your credit card. As long as you do this within the appropriate time period (usually 60 days), you will not be required to pay for this illegal purchase. Also, by reporting the illegal purchase, you will be helping to track down the hackers.

Second, make sure that you try to keep track of when your credit card statements normally arrive in the mail. If you suddenly realize "Hey, my credit card statement should have arrived in the mail by now," it means your statement was either lost in the mail or sent to a different address by a hacker. This needs to be brought to the attention of the credit card company right away so they can find out what is going on in a way that makes it so you are not charged for things you didn't buy.

Finally, if you start receiving credit card bills from cards you didn't previously have, if you start receiving calls from debt collectors, or if you are declined approval for credit cards, car loans, or mortgages that you should have been approved of, it may indicate your identity has been stolen. I strongly suggest you visit that article on IGN in order to learn more. Whenever a company like Sony allows software piracy and hacking to occur on this level, it really is an unfortunate scenario that costs consumers a lot of time and money. 

Donald Trump is Officially Trumped by Michael Zoran

Recently, Donald Trump has been criticizing President Barack Obama in very personal ways. In particular, Mr. Trump has selfishly questioned whether our president is actually a citizen of the United States and whether our president is actually a Christian or a Muslim. Mr. Trump went so far as to arrogantly ask President Obama to personally show him his birth certificate.

Thankfully, President Obama does not believe Donald Trump deserves any form of special treatment. President Obama is not the type of man that believes a wealthy person such as Donald Trump is any different from any other American citizen. This is the concept that America is based on – the one that specifically states “All men are created equal.”

Donald Trump has foolishly claimed that President Obama “Almost certainly will go down in history as the worst president ever.” Fortunately, President Obama has responsibly proven that he is not going to waste valuable time replying to foolish comments made by an arrogant millionaire like Donald Trump any more than he would waste time replying to anyone else making a foolish statement. In all likelihood, President Barack Obama will be remembered for the fact that he is the first African American President of the United States and the fact that he is one of only four American presidents to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize honor.

Unfortunately, in the controversial world we live in, this still leaves some people wondering if there is any merit to the subjects Donald Trump mentioned regarding the birth certificate of President Obama and his birth origin. Thankfully, anyone that invests even the smallest amount of time researching this subject can easily find the answer. There is no doubt that the original birth certificate with a raised seal and an official signature stamp exists at Hawaii’s State Health Department. This birth certificate document confirms that Barack Obama meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship.

I want to confirm this fact and reinforce this subject. Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at Kapi'olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital (now called Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children) in Honolulu, Hawaii. Barack Obama’s original birth certificate is also on file at this hospital. In addition, several local newspapers in Hawaii have documented his birth at that time with public announcements of birth. This means that in August of 1961, local newspapers in Hawaii showed Barack Obama listed as a Newborn Baby.

Here is a quote from The Associated Press:

“State officials say there’s no doubt Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. Health Department Director Dr. Chyome Fukino said Friday she and the registrar of statistics, Alvin Onaka, have personally verified that the health department holds Obama’s original birth certificate.” Dr. Fukino went on to say that no state official, including republican Gov. Linda Lingle, ever instructed that Obama’s birth certificate be handled differently. State law bars the release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest.

Obviously, Donald Trump does not have a tangible interest in the life of Barack Obama. This is the reason why President Obama has not taken time away from focusing on important areas of war, gasoline prices, taxes, and national debt in order to concentrate on childlike nonsense with a man like Donald Trump – a man that enjoys portraying himself as a bully but always runs away when confronted by even the weakest people.

For example, Donald Trump loved aggressively bragging that he was rated ahead of President Obama in a hypothetical political poll conducted last week. But after that subject drew a lot of publicity, it obviously affected the results conducted the next week. This week’s poll showed President Obama with 49% of support from voters, while Donald Trump had only 34%.

When Megan Alexander of Inside Edition asked Donald Trump about his declining support from poll voters, he incorrectly told her that the results of that poll were from a long time ago. When Megan tried to tell Mr. Trump that the poll was just released, he quickly pulled his microphone off and said he needed to leave. This is the clear act of a self-proclaimed bully running away when someone stands up to him.

Donald Trump continues to say “Why doesn’t Barack Obama give his birth certificate?” The answer to that question is because President Obama doesn’t need to! Doctors, registrars, and newspapers have already confirmed the birth of Barack Obama in Hawaii! Any critic that invests a small amount of time can visit websites such as FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com to see high-resolution 3D scanned images of the original version of President Obama’s birth certificate. This proves the birth certificate has a raised seal and it confirms Barack Obama is a citizen of the United States.

Now that I have proven it would have been effortless for Donald Trump and his staff of employees to obtain the answers he was asking about President Obama’s birth certificate, it raises a very important issue that needs to be answered. Did Donald Trump really care about President Obama’s birth certificate and his status as an American citizen? Or did Donald Trump have some other motive, such as politics, for continuously talking about this subject?

Donald Trump’s inability to find the answer to his question about the birth certificate of Barack Obama has confirmed two very important issues. First, we have learned that Donald Trump lacks the enthusiasm and intelligence needed to be Present of the United Sates of America. Donald Trump’s actions, or lack thereof, reveal he is incredibly lazy and/or incredibly stupid – to the point that he doesn’t even know how to personally use the Internet or read official statements confirming Barack Obama is an American citizen.

Second, we have learned that Donald Trump lacks human resource management skills, since the staff currently working for him is incredibly lazy and/or incredibly stupid – to the point that the staff of employees representing him doesn’t even know how to use the Internet or basic search engines. If Donald Trump, his children, or the delegated employees that represent his management skills would have taken just five minutes to enter several keywords into an Internet search engine like Google, they would have easily found all the answers to their questions from official sources representing the state of Hawaii!

With that in mind, it is possible to make two logical conclusions about Donald Trump. Both of these conclusions prove Donald Trump does not possess the qualifications needed to be President of the United States. These two conclusions are listed below:

1. Donald Trump is a man that lacks management skill. The employees Donald Trump feels confident enough to delegate responsibility to do not possess the level of skill needed to answer the easily-answered questions he publicly asks. If Donald Trump’s staff of employees lacks the skill needed to find and analyze the answers to easily-answered questions, such as President Obama’s birth certificate, it is logical to conclude Donald Trump does not possess the skill or human resources needed to solve complex problems as President of the United States.

2. Donald Trump’s primary motive for continuously asking to see the birth certificate of Barack Obama is inspired by one word: Greed. Each time Donald Trump immorally questions the citizenship status of Barack Obama, Trump believes it helps his political career. Donald Trump currently has a desire to be the 2012 republican nominee for president. But even if Donald Trump decides to change his mind, he still places financial value on all the promotional publicity the media is currently giving to him. Donald Trump sees this publicity as a free form of marketing promotion, even though it actually comes at the expense of another man – Barack Obama.

Once again, I’d like to reinforce that these two logical conclusions confirm Donald Trump lacks the qualifications and skills needed to be President of the United States. It is logical to conclude that even if Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States, he would lack the skills needed to hire a qualified staff capable of responsibly assisting him in ways that would provide answers to questions he considers crucial.

I’d also like to discuss something very disheartening and very discouraging. Donald Trump’s recent public comments reveal that he analyzes information based on selfish points of view. These selfish points of view allow Donald Trump’s mind to perceive himself as a superior individual. In addition, when Donald Trump is presented with facts he doesn’t want to believe, he aggressively accuses the person presenting the evidence as a conspirator against him!

For example, the New York Post specifically said "$ize Matters," because Donald Trump claimed that he's much more wealthy than potential GOP rival Mitt Romney.

"My net worth is many, many, many times Mitt Romney," Trump said on CNN. Obviously, this exaggeration-filled statement reveals that Donald Trump lacks the management negotiation skills needed to be President of the United States.

Afterwards, at a news conference, Megan Alexander of Inside Edition asked the specific question, “Should a presidential candidate be decided on their wallet size?” Donald Trump replied by saying, "No not exclusively. All it is is an indicator. I have had tremendous success and have done a great job with business and as a company. Frankly, if I run, I will have to disclose financials and when I disclose my financials I can tell you people are going to be very, very impressed. I have done a good job.”

However, during an interview on Good Morning American, host George Stephanopoulos questioned whether the American public would believe Donald Trump did a good job with finances after those financial records and taxes were released. Donald Trump foolishly responded by claiming that he may not be willing to release these financial records unless Barack Obama is willing to release his birth certificate to the public! This certainly proves Donald Trump does not have the ability to handle tough questions under fire – confirming the logical analysis that Donald Trump does not possess the negotiation skills needed to be President of the United States.

But this was not the only absurd statement Donald Trump made in this interview with George Stephanopoulos. Donald Trump’s other statements confirmed the logical analysis that Donald Trump lacks the management skills needed to be President of the United States. This is especially true in the area of human resource management, as we saw when George Stephanopoulus questioned Donald’s Trump about the lack of evidence his private investigators have found regarding President Obama’s birth certificate.

During this interview, Donald Trump questioned whether Barack Obama is an American citizen. Stephanopoulus immediately stood up to Trump by saying “There is no question” regarding the status of Barack Obama as a natural-born citizen of the United States. Trump relied by saying “I know exactly what you’re getting at,” but Stephanopoulus fired back by assertively saying “The Facts!” At this point Stephanopoulus started citing official sources that provided those facts – facts that Donald Trump obviously was not interested in learning about.

If Donald Trump was an unselfish American with a true “Hope” to learn Barack Obama is an American citizen, Trump obviously would have listened to the mountain of fact-based evidence presented by George Stephanopoulus. Instead, Donald Trump made the ludicrous statement saying, “George, they’ve co-opted you.” When Stephanopoulus asked “Who’s they?” Trump replied by saying “Well, obviously, Obama and his minions.” This statement clearly shows that Donald Trump is not willing to believe facts that he does not want to believe.

George Stephanopoulos then asked Donald Trump if the investigators he hired to visit Hawaii were finding anything about the citizenship status of President Obama. Previously, Donald Trump had told the media that his investigators “Could not believe what they were finding.” Donald Trump replied to Stephanopoulus by saying, “That’s none of your business right now.”

George Stephanopoulus calmly asked “Have they found anything?” Trump replied by saying “We are going to see what happens.” Stephanopoulus asked “What have they found?” Like a broken record, Trump replied “We are going to see what happens.” Stephanopoulus asked “When?” At this point a shaken Donald Trump continuously answered “We are going to see what happens,” and then like a bully that had been called out on a bluff insisted that George move on to the next question.

All of the statements of Donald Trump focus exclusively on the good things that he has done in his life. But Donald Trump apparently doesn’t realize that in order to make it into the White House you need to be able to withstand the hot white spot light or else you are going to get burned by the media. One of the rules of this world is that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

With that in mind, why doesn’t Donald Trump talk about the times he declared bankruptcy? From that particular point of view, I – Michael Zoran – am a far more qualified candidate for president than Donald Trump is. After all, I’ve never been forced to declare financial bankruptcy the way Donald Trump has.

Scoreboard Points
Michael Zoran: 1
Donald Trump: 0

Well, I’ve written a long article since I type far faster than most people in the world – over 100 words per minute. This is many, many, many, many times faster than Donald Trump. While we are only looking at things from this one point of view, let’s conduct the election right now so I win. In case you hadn’t noticed, I was being very sarcastic in a way that mocks the exaggerating statements made by Donald Trump (although, I really do type over 100 words per minute on a keyboard).

I believe life is like a game of cards – you need to play the hand you’re dealt. Donald Trump really has done a nice job of using the last name he has been blessed with for marketing purposes that helped make him a millionaire. On the other hand, I’m just a regular guy that graduated at the top of his class in business administration – but I have an epileptic disability that has severely hurt my career since I can’t drive.

This time I am the one that has been blessed by the name of Trump. This time I am the one that gets to use the name of Trump for marketing purposes associated with standing up to a bully. I’m not co-opting with any man or his minions; I’m merely co-opting against a bully. This time the hand I have been dealt is a hand that allows me to publicly declare:

Donald Trump is Officially Trumped by Michael Zoran!

Hopefully, this headline and this article will get some media attention and allow me to pull some of that unearned spotlight away from a bully like Donald Trump. I’d love to be able to tell a story someday about how I moved from the bottom of the ladder to the top, even though I have epilepsy. But will this career-changing and life-impacting event occur with the media? We will see what happens!

Here is some useful information for you to see:

Birth Certificate Photo 1: Fold and Seal:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_1.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 2: Full Certificate:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_2.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 3: Full Certificate:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_3.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 4: Top Third:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_4.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 5: Middle Third:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_5.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 6: Bottom Third:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_6.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 7: Stamp and Seal:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_7.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 8: Seal:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_8.jpg

Birth Certificate Photo 9: Stamp:
http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_9.jpg

Time for Us to Fight Back Against Pirates - SOS Style! (Save Our Seafarers)

Over the last year I’ve heard quite a bit about how Somali pirates on the Indian Ocean have been hijacking boats of all sizes in order to steal things and take money from people on board. Gradually I heard more about the crimes being committed by pirates, which meant the crimes were being committed at a faster rate. Over the course of time, it seemed like the pirates were targeting larger boats to hijack. This clearly shows the confidence of the pirates was growing at a fast rate. 

The question is, “Why would these pirates suddenly feel such a high level of confidence?” The answer is that there are very few government laws or penalties to prevent pirates from committing those types of crimes. Laws of various countries have different rules and regulations for dealing with criminals such as pirates. 

I’ve learned that some of the various countries don’t even approve of law enforcement officials doing anything at all to take a hijacked boat back from the pirates. What’s worse is that there are laws in place that make it so pirates don’t face any form of legal resistance or any form of legal penalty once they attempt to hijack a vehicle. Once a pirate has been captured, the governments of foreign countries release 80% of the criminals so they can go back out on the water and commit the same crimes again! 

Earlier this year I saw that pirates had hijacked a multimillion dollar oil supertanker! This ship, called the MV Irene SL, has a crew of 25 and carried two-million barrels of oil valued at over $200 million. This huge amount of oil represented 20% of the daily crude oil import of the United States, and about 5% of daily world oil imports. 

Only during the last several days did the pirates decide to release this huge oil tanker and its passengers after 58 days of holding them hostage! Piracy in the open waters has truly become a well-planned and well-managed industry. This was proven when we learned that the pirates were using this huge oil tanker as a “mother ship” for their smaller pirate vessels! 

I thought to myself, “How in the world were low-budget pirates able to conquer this huge oil vessel so easily?” I thought it must be more difficult to hijack a huge oil vessel than a smaller boat. But that is actually not the case at all. 

The reason pirates had such an easy time hijacking the oil tanker is because the pirates were armed with weapons while the crew was not. Those huge oil tankers do not allow the crew to carry weapons on board, even when they know they are travelling through pirate-infested waters! Hopefully this policy is going to officially change now that the problem of piracy in the 21st century has become more of a real threat to vessels of any size and any value. 

Thankfully, we’ve learned that the hostages from the oil tanker were recently released in good health by the Somali pirates. Often, people are systematically tortured and even killed by pirates. And just in case you care, the oil tanker was being returned to a port, now that the pirates are finished with it. These facts were confirmed in a public statement released by the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO). You can read this statement on their website: www.intertanko.com.  

INTERTANKO makes it 100% clear in their public statement that piracy is not going to disappear any time soon. Governments are encouraged to work together to find the root cause of piracy and stop it. Unfortunately, this statement realistically points out something most all us knew all along. The fact is, it is generally accepted that the different beliefs and different laws of various countries will prevent that from happening. For now, INTERTANKO wants everyone to know that every vessel is at threat in the open waters of the Indian Ocean – an area where 40% of the world’s oil supply passes through. 

I really do recommend that you visit the website at www.intertanko.com. INTERTANKO wants people to realize governments in that part of the world do virtually nothing to stop Somali pirates, and even when the pirates are caught they are released most of the time. Only recently did India decide to crack down slightly harder by retaking a large mother ship from the pirates. The 62 pirates on board were not released; they were taken to India and await trial for their crimes. 

Let’s Fight Back! – SOS Style (Save Our Seafarers) 

Two clicks of a mouse can play the roll of two swords fighting back against pirates. With just two clicks of your mouse you can write a letter to a government official. Save Our Seafarers (SOS) is a campaign formed to help people like us grab the attention of foreign government officials overseas that would never hear us any other way. The website of http://saveourseafarers.com/ is where you visit to use your mouse as a tool of force that helps fight piracy. 

The lack of government law enforcement against piracy on the Indian Ocean proves government officials are not aware of the severe problem that exists in that part of the world. We need to bring this problem to their attention so the shipping industry and logistics of the world do not experience problems. History has already proven that piracy problems can be so severe that it causes interferences with economies and disrupts world trade. Supplies will be affected and shipping costs will rise – expenses that ultimately will be felt by consumers, since those expenses will be passed on to us at stores and oil pumps. 

Remember the famous saying: Those who are not aware of history are destined to repeat its mistakes. 

Friends, we are aware of the problems piracy has caused in the history of this world. It makes absolutely no sense for us to repeat those mistakes. We need to invest a little bit of time by becoming a part of the campaign against piracy by visiting http://saveourseafarers.com/. 

Of the 8,500 letters that have been sent to government officials, India has received the most letters so far – about 1,460. With that in mind, it probably isn’t a coincidence that India is the one government that finally decided to crack down on piracy a little bit harder. But the way India only seems to care about huge mother ships is not enough. India and the other countries need to crack down a lot more against piracy and the pirates committing the crimes. 

I encourage you to visit http://saveourseafarers.com/ so that you can use your voice to help send some chills down the spines of government officials working for foreign countries allowing innocent people to be held hostage, tortured, and killed by pirates. This website is a great tool that will help us twist the arms of those lazy nations that claim they aren’t aware a problem exists! 

I hope you enjoyed reading this article about piracy. If you did, please click on Tip Jar to make a donation to this website. I have epilepsy and try to work from home. This website is not free to run, which means donations help keep it going. Don’t worry about it if you can’t afford a donation; I will not hold you hostage or kidnap you the way a pirate with a motive would (at least not yet!). ;) 

Here is a YouTube video that talks about how piracy has affected world logistics. It shows an oil supertanker that was hijacked. The pirates demanded $25 million for this huge oil ship.