I remember when people wrote long, heartfelt letters in longhand.  Then came the typewriter, which helped us lose the beauty of the handwritten word with lovely penmanship.  Then the telephone came along, where early "party lines" enabled snoopy neighbors to overhear your spoken sentiments.  After that, we had the fax machine which cut out the middleman in quick delivery.  Then emails quickly took control - you could write and write and get an almost instant response.  No waiting in anticipation at your mailbox for weeks hoping for that personal connection you started and which you hoped would be closed with a return missive. More >>

I know there are some people listening right now who are tuning into my show for the first time because maybe you've heard some things about me in the past couple of weeks.  I'd like to correct some myths you might have heard.  First of all, I am not now... nor have I ever been... related to the vampires of Transylvania.  I only bite when asked. More >>

Over the last several years blogging has become the foundation for social media campaigns of businesses big and small. Where Facebook and Twitter help keep companies in the limelight, spreading the word about special events, discounts and newsworthy items, blogs are the place where companies build their reputation and make sales. More >>

How Not To Protect Your Personal Assests From Lawsuits By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com "I am just beginning to recover from very near destitution after my wife's serious health problems and her death. I will finally be getting some money soon and I'm planning to buy a Wyoming shelf corporation under which I will run a Web-based retail business. During the past few years I have read books, listened to CD's and watched DVD's about corporations and revocable living trusts. I was unaware of the possibility of being personally liable while working for my corporation. It is my understanding that if my corporation owns my house that all the expenses are tax deductible, such as lights, telephone, heating and cooling. And the same is true of my automobile. If my trust (not formed yet) owns my car and I use it exclusively for business and I have an accident in which I am charged with negligence, can my trust be sued?" E-mail messages like this always make me wonder what kinds of books are out there that people are reading.  While this reader was obviously distracted by personal tragedy, he has picked up a lot of misinformation that will need to be straightened out, so here goes. A "revocable living trust" does not protect your assets from lawsuits.  It is merely a device to avoid probate.  When you die, any assets put in the trust bypass your will and go directly to the trust beneficiaries (your children or other relatives) without going through the long and stressful probate process. Since you are usually the "trustee" of the living trust as long as you live, and have considerable control over the trust assets, the trust will not be considered a separate entity for purposes of lawsuits.  Anyone suing you will be able to reach the trust assets.  The only way to avoid that is to have someone else - someone totally independent from you and your family, such as the trust department of a local bank - act as the trustee of the trust.  While that will protect the trust assets from legal liability, it also means that the trustee, not you, decides what to do with the assets as long as you're living.  Now let's talk about that Wyoming corporation.  Unless you are a resident of Wyoming and will be conducting your business there, a Wyoming corporation does you absolutely no good.  You will have to register the Wyoming corporation as a "foreign" corporation in your home state, and will have to register for state and local taxes there.  You do not avoid those by incorporating in Wyoming or anywhere else.  Your corporation or LLC should be formed in the state where you reside and do business.  Period. Putting assets into a corporation which you control will not protect them from lawsuits.  While the assets belong to the corporation, your shares in the corporation are still a personal asset and can be seized by your creditors.  Attaching shares of stock in a lawsuit is usually a lot easier than putting a lien on real estate, so by doing this you are actually making it easier for your creditors to get hold of those assets. Also, putting real estate in a corporation, especially a regular or "C" corporation, is a very bad idea tax-wise.  Talk to your accountant or tax advisor about that. Having your corporation lease a car to you gives you some tax benefits, but it does not protect you from liability if you are involved in a traffic accident.  The injured person is legally entitled to sue not only your corporation, as the owner of the vehicle, but you personally, because you were the driver whose negligence caused the accident.  Even with a corporation, you will need auto insurance on you personally, although the corporation may be able to pay the premiums and take a deduction if you are a W-2 employee of the corporation.  Ask your accountant or tax advisor about that. So what can you do to protect your personal assets from legal liability?  Here are some suggestions to discuss with your attorney and/or accountant: form a corporation or LLC in your home state (not Wyoming), and make sure you use it when conducting business online - that should protect your personal assets against lawsuits without your having to set up a separate trust; consider transferring title to your house and other key assets to a friendly relative (such as your mother), but be sure that person changes his or her will so that you get those assets back if he or she dies prematurely - also be sure to have a written lease with that person allowing you to live in the house rent-free (or One Dollar a year) until you die; and if you are working out of your home, consider taking the "home office deduction" on your tax return - you may find that will give you better tax benefits than forming a corporation and "living through the company". Cliff Ennico ( crennico@gmail.com ) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series "Money Hunt." This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2010 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO.  DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM.  Permission Granted for use on Dr.Laura.com. More >>

Social Media is quickly growing into one of the most-used marketing tools for work-at-home moms. One of the largest social media websites, Twitter.com, can be an effective way to spread the word about your business and learn from other top representatives in your business niche. However, it can take a lot of time to determine the best ways to use Twitter effectively for business.  More >>

I am very happy to tell you about my hero, Anthony Orsini, the principal at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, New Jersey.' He recently sent the following email to all parents of children attending his school: Dear BF Community:When I arrived in Ridgewood, Facebook did not exist, YouTube did not exist, and MySpace was barely in existence.' Formspring (one of the newest Internet scourges, a site meant simply to post cruel things about people anonymously) wasn't even in someone's mind. In 2010, social networking sites have now become commonplace, and technology use by students is beyond prevalent. It is time for every single member of the BF community to take a stand! There is absolutely no reason for any middle school student to be a part of a social networking site! Let me repeat that - there is absolutely, positively no reason for any middle school student to be a part of a social networking site!' None. 5 of the last 8 parents who we have informed that their child was posting inappropriate things on Facebook said their child did not have an account.' Every single one of the students had an account. 3 students yesterday told a guidance counselor that their parents told them to close their accounts when the parents learned they had an account.' All three students told their parents it was closed.' All three students still had an account after telling their parents it was closed. Most students are part of more than one social networking site. Please do the following:' sit down with your child (and they are just children still) and tell them that they are not allowed to be a member of any social networking site.' Today! Let them know that you will at some point every week be checking their text messages online!'' You have the ability to do this through your cell phone provider. Let them know that you will be installing Parental Control software so you can tell every place they have visited online, and everything they have instant messaged or written to a friend.' Don't install it behind their back, but install it! Over 90% of homework does not require the Internet, or even a computer.' Do not allow them to have a computer in their room.' There is no need. Know that they can text others even if their phone doesn't have texting capability, either through the computer or through their iPod Touch. Have a central "docking system," preferably in your bedroom, where all electronics in the home get charged each night, especially anything with a cell or with wi-fi capability (remember when you were in high school and you would sneak the phone into your bedroom at Midnight to talk to your girlfriend or boyfriend all night - now imagine what they can do with the technology in their rooms). If your son or daughter is attacked through one of these sites or through texting, immediately go to the police!' Insist that they investigate every situation.' Also, contact the site and report the attack to the site - they have an obligation to suspend accounts, or they are liable for what is written. We as a school can offer guidance and try to build up any student who has been injured by the social networking scourge, but please insist the authorities get involved. For online gaming, do not allow them to have the interactive communication devices.' If they want to play Call of Duty online with someone from Seattle, fine.' They don't need to talk to the person. The threat to your son or daughter from online adult predators is insignificant compared to the damage that children at this age constantly and repeatedly do to one another through social networking sites or through text and picture messaging. It is not hyperbole for me to write that the pain caused by social networking sites is beyond significant.' It is psychologically detrimental and we will find out it will have significant long-term effects, as well as all the horrible social effects it already creates. I will be more than happy to take the blame off you as a parent if it is too difficult to have the students close their accounts, but it is time they all get closed and the texts always get checked. I want to be clear - this email is not anti-technology, and we will continue to teach responsible technology practices to students.' They are simply not psychologically ready for the damage that one mean person online can cause, and I don't want any of our students to go through the unnecessary pain that too many of them have already experienced. Some people advocate that the parents and the school should teach responsible social networking to students because these sites are part of the world in which we live. I disagree.' It is not worth the risk to your child to allow them the independence at this age to manage these sites on their own, not because they are not good kids or responsible, but because you cannot control the poor actions of anonymous others. Learn as a family about cyber safety together at www.wiredsafety.org for your own knowledge.' It is a great site.' But then do everything I asked in this email - because there really is no reason a child needs to have one of these accounts. Please take action in your own home today. Sincerely, Anthony OrsiniPrincipal, BFMS Now Principal Orsini is MY kind of principal, and my kind of leader in the community.' This should go nationwide.'The sites have become a tool for children to do psychological harm to each other; it has become a menace to children.' Much of what guidance counselors have to deal with these days regards social networking issues.' It is time for you parents to ACT. More >>

Cruising through the news sites, I recently came across a list of the Top 25 Most Romantic Movies.' I was amazed at a number of the choices:' adult male dancer in cheap resort "doing" a teenage girl (like they have a future together!); a woman having sex with her fianc''s younger brother; people who meet while on a European excursion and immediately become intimate, and on and on.'When I was younger, I used to just "watch" movies and get caught up in the mushy emotions.' As an adult (and definitely as "Dr. Laura"), I watch movies on a much deeper level, and I'm not happy with the notion that as long as two people are swept up in fantasy and immediacy, it's just b e a u t i f u l .'Maybe it's because I spend hours each day on my radio program helping people extricate their hearts, minds, and collateral damage from their decisions to just go with the flow of erotic and romantic feelings.' I'm left trying to help them remedy the hurts done to others as well as themselves and the "accidental" children who do not typically benefit from "conception-on-the-run."'The film The African Queen was, for me, one of the most romantic movies of all time.' Humphrey Bogart gives up being a surly, drunk, self-designated outcast for Katharine Hepburn, who gives up being an up-tight, prissy, self-avowed spinster, for a cause , using his little beat-up boat to sink a German war boat.' Having that joint goal (well, she had to work hard to get him out of his shell to be brave enough to re-join the world), and having to deal with deadly elements on a six-foot power skiff together, they built something really romantic.'Those of you who are married and struggling with illness or the economic "elements" should watch that movie together...twice!' I believe it will make you snuggle.' What brings people really close together is not just itinerant sex.' It is a joint goal, the attainment of which requires you both to become MORE.' Sometimes that goal is survival, and at other times, it may be the birth of a child, or a commitment to some effort in the world.' Great sex is the prize...it is not the substance of true love. More >>

A few months ago, I saw the movie "The Bucket List." It's about these two older guys who, presumably, are terminally ill, and one of them mentions a "kick the bucket list," meaning that you make a list of all the things you want to do before you die (and then, hopefully, go do them).' The movie is interesting and well done, and well worth seeing.' It stars Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.Since then, I've had some thoughts on and off about the concept, and decided that I don't want to have a bucket list when my time comes close.' I want to do and see and say and experience the things that matter to me waaaaay before they become an almost-Last Supper moment.' So I've been going over in my mind what it is that I would put on that list.' And I'm happy to say......nothing.I wanted an adventure on the high seas, so with a crew of experienced sailors, I'm going to be doing just that in mid-March, when we race from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.' It will take about four days or so, and we have to work, sleep, and eat in shifts 24 hours per day of sailing.' It will be grueling, cold, and sometimes scary at night if the winds are up.' The food will be "ucky," and there won't be hot showers or heated blankets.' And yet, I can't wait, because it's an ADVENTURE!' It pushes my limits and challenges me in new ways.' It's good to have adventures, as long as you don't ignore your responsibilities, and enjoy the challenges that are there.Day-to-day experiences and routines can get monotonous - that's just life.' So don't wait.' Come up with your own adventure (camping with the family, training for some physical event or whatever you want) and just do it!! More >>

I am so proud of the CBS Television Network.' There's been a ridiculous furor over a planned Super Bowl ad featuring college football star Tim Tebow, funded by Focus on the Family.' It recounts the story of Pam Tebow's pregnancy in 1987.' After getting sick, she ignored doctors' recommendations to abort her fifth child, and gave birth to Tim Tebow, who went on to win the 2007 Heisman Trophy and guide the Florida Gators to two BCS championships.'This should be an inspirational story for women.' Not according to NOW (the National Organization of "I don't know what kind of" Women), NARAL, and other organizations which support women killing the babies in their bodies if they wanna.' These "feminista" types generally call themselves "pro-choice."' Well, it looks like they're not too happy about the promotion of women who don't make the choice to kill their baby.'When a woman's inspirational story of making the choice to avoid an abortion to take the risk of giving birth to her child becomes controversial in a culture, that culture has degraded to a horrible point.' It is frightening to me that NOT killing the baby in your body is controversial, but killing the baby in your body is not controversial.'Here's my idea:' let's make an ad for the "pro-killing baby" feminista types.' Show a brief clip of the baby being macerated and then shift focus to a happy woman who's celebrating that death and her resulting freedom.'Then let's make an ad for a woman who doesn't want her baby who goes to term and gives the baby to a stable family - a married mom and dad -- for adoption, and shift focus to a happy woman who's celebrating that life and her freedom.'Then, let's vote. More >>

Why don't I like so-called "reality" or "actuality" TV shows?'' Because they're mean.'They are intended to be mean, because "mean" is entertaining to some segments of the audience, and that scares me.''Throwing Christians to the lions and watching gladiators fight to the death used to be considered wonderful entertainment in ancient times.' And while I'm not comparing actually killing someone with humiliating and demeaning them, there is a continuum here.''Christians and slaves didn't volunteer to become fodder for death to those eating popcorn in the stands.' The people on TV do volunteer to put themselves in situations which contribute to the demise of public taste, humane behavior, compassion and sensitivity.' They humiliate themselves for attention and profit.' That they volunteer for it doesn't make doing it to them right.' It just makes them terribly pathetic.'When people go on an " American Idol "-like program in the hopes of being discovered for their talents, a simple "winning" or "losing" seems sufficient to me.' However, having judges who become popular by hurling horrendously insulting comments seems to be the real motivation for these programs.' Hurting people in front of others is an egregious act.' Televising it, or making money off of sponsors who support it, so that people at home can feel superior and powerful (because they're not the ones being attacked) is purely disgusting.'These shows bring out the worst in people.' Martians watching our entertainment media would probably choose not to come to our planet, or else just wipe us off the face of the galaxy, because of how humanity displays itself on television (much less the Internet and the United Nations).''No one is ashamed anymore.' They pass it off as giving the audience what it wants.' "It's only TV," or "it's only a way to make a living," they say.''Sad. More >>