We all know who you meant when you blamed "bloggers," Sarah

Sarah Palin, bless her heart, has resigned as governor of Alaska. Praise be to Jeebus! America has officially shed one of its most embarrassingly corrupt, clueless politicians. (She is hot, though, I'll give her that.) Read it all

Check this...

If you like the freebies I tossed you in the blog and the free music podcast, you're gonna looove the good shit, available exclusively in the CharlieHipHop Shop. Be the first one on your block to shop CharlieHipHop, and check back often for fresh superfly product.

(Never mind the ugly pictures in the header for now -- that's being worked on.) Read it all

A tarnished brand can kill your business!

Your good name is one of your most powerful assets

When you think about it, branding really hasn't changed much since its genesis hundreds (and probably thousands) of years ago. Why are we constantly deluged with brand images at great cost to advertisers? Brands are valuable because they build loyalty. Whether or not it's true, an effective brand essentially projects two messages about your product or service: 1) Quality and 2) Authenticity.

It takes a long time to build up your brand, but once your brand is tarnished, it's darn hard to re-establish it. That's why protecting your brand is so important. It has always been important, even a matter of life and death. Read it all

Holy Cripes! This $4!+ really works!

Blogger hits jackpot!

(not really)

Are you tired of working for a living? I figured there were probably enough miserable suckers out there to keep me rolling in green for decades... and I was right!!! My new career as a writer of self-help sure is lucrative!

But, hey, don't take my word for it. Write your own self-help book and see how easy it can be to make more money than you ever dreamed possible even as you sleep!

Here it is in three simple steps: Read it all

People ask me all the time, "Charlie,

do good investments exist in this time of economic collapse?"

The most honest answer might be, "Guns and ammo," but that's not usually what they want to hear. There are actually a few decent equities out there -- and equities are the only investment vehicle that makes any sense whatsoever right now since real assets (equipment, real estate, patents, logistical systems) underlie them. When you buy stock, you're buying a stake in the company. If the company survives -- it doesn't even have to thrive in this environment -- it it outlasts the bad times, you'll do OK. That's the basic premise.

As I have been so incredibly prescient in my financial and economic predictions, it would be ethically repugnant for me to withhold advice on the long-term opportunities that will soon be available in our glorious free markets. Bear in mind that I am not a certified expert of any kind, just a dude who is more often than not (by no means always) right. If you take this advice and lose money, it's on you; do your own research. The following is just one opinion. Read it all

The fact is, America faces national bankruptcy

Handle the reality of insolvency, or suffer the consequences.

[Update 1-31-2009: It's funny. When I first posted this, it was on top of all the search engines for a whole bunch of terms like "Is the United States Bankrupt?" and "American Bankruptcy" and those sorts of things. Now it's not even on the front page. The reason? Lots more competition for those search terms. I suspect that by the end of 2009, permutations of the phrase "U.S.A. Bankrupt" will be commonly heard.] Read it all

[Barack Obama didn't need any help from me in writing his résumé, but I'd like to think that my version of it swayed a few votes his way. I'm really proud of this piece. It made me feel like I had done my part. With any luck, Obama won't let us down and we'll be able to add a considerable number of accomplishments before the 2012 campaign. Here's hopin'! ;)]

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Barack Obama

I never had any intention of reviewing The Secret. In fact, I didn't even intend to read it. My wife made me do it. She makes me do all kinds of stupid things. You want to know a secret? I'll tell you a secret, the secret to a happy marriage: Do all the stupid things your wife tells you to do.

Anyway, back to the book review... Read it all

[Check out the date this was posted -- boy, can I call 'em or what!]

Curious that Bear Stearns chose a Sunday afternoon to announce the firing of president and co-COO Warren Spector. What do they know that we don't? Considering Spector's amazing performance in making a couple billion dollars (that we know about) vanish, the safe answer would be, "A hell of a lot." Yeah, they prolly know sumpthin' we don't. Read it all

Watermelon nowadays just sucks. I used to love it. There was nothing I liked better than sitting on the porch spitting seeds into the lawn, my chin and shirt drenched in watermelon juice. Watermelon back in the day when you could get real watermelon was something else. Just another simple pleasure denied the poor deprived kiddies of today. I would trade all the Playstations in the world for one goddamn halfway decent watermelon. Read it all