Sustainability: The most abused term in the English language.

Guest Blogger Barry Fitzgerald, Ireland.


In 2010 it seems everyone has a "sustainable" product and a lot of businesses use the term to describe their operations. Government and institutional officials throw the term around like confetti. Everyone seems to think that just using the term makes them fit in with the new zeitgeist and new world order. After all the people want everything to be sustainable, right?

Unfortunately nearly every single use of this term in our world means one of two things;
a.) either we have to consume more to enable this so called sustainability or,
b.) we will have to work more and more in our lives to pay for this term.

If we are constantly buying products, this doesn't make the operation sustainable, even if there is no damage to the environment. And this is really the only criteria we use to measure the term sustainability, i.e. the impact on our environment. But sustainability should be so much more than that.

It should include us as human beings in the equation. Is it sustainable for us to continue to work so hard, so we can just purchase more and more goods, even if those self same goods earn their stripes as "clean" products. I contend that this is not sustainable. Similarly it is not sustainable for us to work longer and longer in our lives to pay for legislation and carbon taxes etc.. that are meant to bring us into line with environmental standards.

In all this we are missing a key component. It is only with increasing population levels that we can operate our current economic models, i.e. markets always getting bigger as population levels continue to rise. This has been the case for so long, but soon (within 6 decades) we will have a population peak. Thereafter what will we do? I mean how can we market, produce and sell "sustainable" products in an unsustainable market over the longer term. How can we tax and legislate the average Joe and Jane to excess, when again we live in an unsustainable market economy.

This is why our abuse of the term "sustainability" has to stop. We need to re-define this term so it can only be used when we ALL achieve equal access to the resources of the world, to allow us to have security in our lives from cradle to grave. Only then are we free of an unsustainable market economy. Only then can we work to a more humane schedule, e.g. an average of 4 hours per day. Only then will we truly come into line and only consume that which we truly need. Only then will we be able to realise that we can achieve self sufficiency in our localities. Only then can we lay claim to using the term sustainability.

Why?, because we have regained our individual power, aligned into strong local communities and "own up to owning" our path in life. We trust our ability to meet our needs in our lives and now we are sustainable. We don't need carbon taxes or low energy consuming products to fool us into thinking we are sustainable. You are sustainable when you trust your needs in life will be met, both today and tomorrow and all the days after tomorrow. Of course minimum damage to our environment should be (and can be) a minimum requirement.

That leaves the lingering question. How do we ALL get equal access to the resources of the world. Simple, it is time we demanded it from those who fool us into thinking we cannot have it!

Barry Fitzgerald’s book entitled “building cities of Gold” will be published late August 2010 by ATTM press. It is a book dedicated to showcasing how the building of local sustainable communities can bring major positive changes to our societies. From more information and to contact Barry visit his website, www.buildingcitiesofgold.com

HOW TO SUE A TELEMARKETER??

SOMETIMES WE JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE

Telemarketers have been a pain in the general public’s behind for decades. Thanks to their interrupting us day and night, the telephone has been transformed from a convenience, into a source of annoyance and frustration.

How To Sue A Telemarketer: A Manual For Restoring Peace On Earth One Phone Call At A Time is a tongue-in-cheek manual that shows the average citizen how they can fight back against a telemarketer by taking them to small-claims court. Half humorous and half How to, How to Sue a Telemarketer combines comedy with savvy information about the legal system and step-by-step instructions on how consumers can sue telemarketers.

“I wrote How To Sue A Telemarketer for all the good, kind and ordinary people of the world who simply want to have a quiet dinner, or a beer and watch a basketball game, without getting interrupted by someone who doesn’t give a damn about them,” says Steve Ostrow, the books author and an attorney for over 30 years.

In addition to his work as an attorney, Steve has been seen on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel and The Ellen DeGeneres Show as a celebrity impersonator for the television character Kramer, of the famed Seinfeld television show. Just visualize Cosmo Kramer going to law school. How would he defend the public’s right to have some peace and quiet in their homes? This book is it. How To Sue A Telemarketer will comically take the reader through the process of:

• What to do when a telemarketer first calls
• Gathering information to file a civil complaint
• Filing and serving of the complaint
• What to do in court all the way through collection on the judgment
• Everything you need to know about suing telemarketers



How you can sue telemarketers:

How would you like to pick up an extra $1,000 in cash the next time an annoying telemarketer disrupts your dinner? Steve Ostrow, business attorney, celebrity impersonator and author of the new book How To Sue A Telemarketer: A Manual For Restoring Peace On Earth One Phone Call At A Time, can show you a step-by-step process for suing telemarketers and turning telemarketing harassment into cold, hard cash.

Using his knowledge of the small-claims court system and drawing on over 30 years of legal practice, including serving as a small claims judge in Los Angeles and San Diego counties, Steve has successfully sued, or settled, and won judgments against 10 telemarketers to the tune of $3,500. “I wrote this book to show the ordinary person how to sue telemarketers who are interrupting their quiet dinner at home,” says Ostrow.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Born in New York City, Steve Ostrow did his undergraduate studies at The State University of New York, Buffalo. After backpacking throughout Europe for a year, he landed in Southern California where he graduated with honors from The Pepperdine University School of Law.

Since then, the courtroom has proven a natural setting for Steve’s East Coast wise-guy style. For the past 30 years, he has worked as a business and real estate attorney, combining his comic wit with a non-traditional law practice that helps clients assess both the emotional costs of legal matters and the financial and business implications.

A former trial lawyer, Ostrow has served as a small claims judge in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties, received his license as a real estate broker, worked as a real estate investor and facilitated over 200 clients (both lenders and borrowers) through the foreclosure process, advising them on all aspects of the procedure.

“My job is to help clients understand their choices,” says Ostrow. “What I do that other lawyers don’t is point out the bigger picture, which involves certain emotions. People often have such a sense of failure around foreclosure, but I assist clients in seeing that the outcome matters less than how they go through the process. Ultimately they need to do what will serve their life the best, while avoiding a war with lenders and unforeseen legal battles.”

In addition to his work as an attorney, Steve has served on the board of the Solana Beach Chamber of Commerce, Toastmasters, Canine Companions for Independence, and Eveoke Dance Theater. He has even worked as a celebrity impersonator based on the television character Kramer, played by actor Michael Richards on the famed Seinfeld television show.

A graduate from the Rick Stevens School of Improvisation in San Diego, and an award- winning Toastmaster, Steve has achieved success in the celebrity look-alike and improvisational worlds. In his first year of improvisational comedy, International Celebrity Images presented him with the prestigious Reel Award for Big Mouth Comedy for his Kramer impersonations. He has performed at conventions across the globe and made appearances on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In his capacity as both a lawyer and a celebrity impersonator, Steve has been interviewed by The San Diego Union, The San Diego Weekly Reader, Duke Magazine in Australia, the Long Beach Telegram, and Las Vegas Magazine.

Never one to quit while he was ahead, Steve’s latest adventure is as the author of the new book How To Sue A Telemarketer: A Manual For Restoring Peace On Earth One Phone Call At A Time.

“I wrote this book for all the good, kind and ordinary people of the world who simply want to have a quiet dinner, or a beer and watch a basketball game, without getting interrupted by someone who doesn’t give a damn about them,” says Ostrow. “My book shows the reader how to sue telemarketers step by step.”

To date, Steve has successfully sued, or settled, won and collected, over 10 judgments against telemarketers.
Today, Steve works out of his law office in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, where he manages to blend a lifestyle of being both a



http://howtosueatelemarketer.com/

BLOG AWARD

During the month of July, the International Blogging Recognition Council (IBRC) had the pleasure of reviewing your blog ALL THINGS THAT MATTER.  Your blog was referred to IBRC through our Refer-A-Blog program.  "BIG WAL-MART IS WATCHING YOU!" was the topic that the Council reviewed. Based on the review, the Council has recommended that your blog receive IBRC’s designation of “Recognized Blog”.  IBRC reserves this honor to those blogs that effectively connects with the audience and promotes the sharing of ideas and experiences.