OCTOBER Article

By Jim Hague

Itis long believed in western culture that concept behind Soul Mates pertain tolovers only. But the dictionary defines soul mates as two persons compatible with each other indisposition, point of view, or sensitivity. This does notnecessarily imply lovers.

Usspiritual people define soul mates are twosouls, created to support each other as they journey different worldsthroughout the many incarnations (or lifetimes). Soul mates accountfor one another, making sure that one grows in the dimensions of health,psychological, material, and most important, spiritual.

Butare soul mates limited to just two people? The answer is no. Soul mates caninvolve numerous groups of people. Soul mates are people, usually friends,teachers, mentors, or other people who support each other to achieve life'sgoal or helped in case of a crisis. Anyone group of individuals, two or more,connected with a purpose of growth and gratitude, can be regarded as soulmates.

Thetwin flame, however, is thesignificant other half…the one! Two twin flames are likened to a physicalduality that is needed for completion. After all, you cannot have north withoutsouth, left without right, or ying without yang. Your twin flame is your otherhalf that makes you complete. There is unconditional love between the two.

Whilethe personalities maybe different, a matrix of energy meshes. You just know itand feel it. The relationship grows very fast and deep, to the point where youwill almost always know what the other person is thinking and feeling. Call ittelepathy, but indirect psychic communication occurs almost daily betweenflames.

Howwill you know if someone you run into is 'the one?'

Thereis no answer to this. You will just know. Read the following:

• You will feel a Love like no other you have ever experienced.
• There is a familiarity and a knowingness that is absolutely undeniable.
• You feel complete. Your heart is certain that this is your other half.
• When you are together, you experience that "in Love" feeling all the time, and waves of ecstasy and bliss pour through you.
• Your heart pours Love to your Twin, and giving to your Twin becomes the most important thing in your life.

There can be many soul mates. There can only be one divine counterpartin the physical or soul, that is the twin flame.

• Soul mates know each other form another life.
  Twin flames know each other from the beginning of time.
• Soul mates are there for your personal growth.
  Twin flames are to complete you.
• With soul mates, you feel that you have met the person before.
  With twin flames, you feel you know each other inside out and the discovery can go on forever.
• With soul mates, you have lessons together.
  With twin flames, you feel complete yet have some lessons together.
• With souls mates, you will sometimes feel you have met other soul mates.
  With twin flames, you have never felt this deep before from a soul mate.
• With soul mates, some lessons are challenging and you may need to resolve something.
  With twin flames, you both go beyond the challenges together ... the connection is unfathomable.

Howdoes one find his/her twin flame?

Toattract a twin flame is best done through prayer, meditation, and openness.Open all channels. Do not discriminate! Don't limit yourself to being with justblondes, athletic, a particular race or religion. Being equally yoked is aconcept you and your twin flame grow into, not born into.

Whenyou meditate, feel your twin flame by your side. Be as if your twin flame iswith you all the time, which he/she is! Your twin flame may not be in physicalform, but rather, exist as an energy field. Once that energy field connectswith you, your energies mesh. It is then you ask for your twin flame to enterinto your life. Before long, the twin flame will appear in physical human form.

SriYogananda of the Self Realization Fellowship offered a prayer. "God, blessso that I may find my life partner according to your laws of perfect soulunion." Keep saying that prayer with complete faith and watch whathappens.

Mayyour flame find you. May you find your flame. May both of you become one.

Jim Hague

JimHague

Date: 10/7/09

We are all scratching our heads to why President Obama was awarded The Nobel Peace Prize. Even the President himself was surprised. What is the justification ofthe Nobel committee for awarding a President barely nine months into office and presiding over two wars?

He's not George W. Bush.

GW Bush was a President of war. His mission was twofold (1) Rescue the world from weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (2). Avenge the events of 9/11 by going after the Osama Bin Laden.  As we can see, no weapons of mass destruction were found and neither was Osama Bin Laden.  The world has become very skeptical of our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and remains a dangerous place.

To the world, Obama is a refreshing replacement of the Bush administration that would not hesitate to attack a 3rd or 4th nation if necessary. His intentions are to end both wars, somehow someway. Weather that is accomplished or not is a different story. For now, President Obama offers hope.  To the Nobel Committee, that's good enough.

Howeverthe Noble peace prize reputation may be at risk especially since the US may haveto keep its military on high alert against several uncooperative nations such as:

1. Iran' - Who continue to not cooperate with international appeal to halt it's nuclear program most believe is to develop a bomb.
2. Afghanistan - Those Taliban people just won't go away.
3. North Korea - The cooperate, then un-cooperate, the cooperate once against, only to show their un-cooperation..again.
4. Any nation against Israel - That pretty much includes the entire mid-east.
5. The moon – Oh yes, he bombed the moon this week. God forbid if the moon is the death star in hiding.

To give this award to Obama in light ofa world with fuse ready to be lit may be pre-mature.
Only time will tell if this selection will prove genius or embarrassment.

NO OLYMPICS FOR BRAZIL
That's right, I cannot support Brazil to be awarded the 2016 Olympic games. Why? Two words. Street Kids. Brazil is notorious for it's treatment of the homeless children living the streets like a bunch of packed animals.

In a nation where abortion is illegal, Brazil has failed miserably to accommodate on the consequences. I'm okay with abortion being illegal, but when kids are forced into prostitution to support themselves and when little girls as young as 13 are having babies, eventually abandoning them, there is a problem.

While they a proud of their strong Catholic faith, this nation is mostly known for it's two major sins: (1) Rio De Janeiro is known for it's nude beaches and temptations promoted by its profiting adult entertainment industry (2). The poor street children, one of the worlds’ greatest crimes that does not seem to gain attention from their local media. These kids are bullied, harassed, and often killed at by private citizens and police.

Let’s not forget the story of David Goldman, whose still fights to bring his son, Sean home after being abducted by his mother to Brazil. The mother while still married to David, married a prominent Brazilian lawyer who refuses to hand over Sean to his biological father. Click on David’s website for more info.

 

While no nation on earth is completely innocent of crimes against humanity, Brazil’s ignorance on it’s crimes against children makes them well unqualified to host the Olympic Games.

By Jim Hague, CEO, CrystalDI Web Design (www.crystaldiwebdesign.com)

My client Yanai is a hair stylist in Beverly Hills specializing in curly hairstyles. Yanai is talented, hard working, and has curly hair! We managed to rank his website (yanaivan.com) to the top of the Google search results. Yet many days he waits for customers in his salon. Frustrated for the lack of business, he calls me asking, ‘what do I do? My site is number one on Google. Why is no one calling me?” 

 

I tell him, “Just because your site is number one on Google doesn’t mean it generates traffic!”
It only means you are #1 on Google. Being on top of the searches is one thing, people entering your website is a different matter.

We researched the volume of traffic entering Yanai’s website and found that only 50 visitors a month enter his website. Weak!

 

Businesses should take responsibility for their web site’s performance on search engines. Three important things to do: (1) submit your site; (2) Monitor your site’s traffic; (3) and generate traffic from different sources.

SUBMIT YOUR WEBSITE:

1.      Start an account on Google.com.
They have great tools to help you monitor your site performance.

2.      Select the most popular keywords to embed into your website.
Note, I mentioned popular keywords! Log onto https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal’ and select words that pertain to your website and searched by high volume of people. Then have your Webmaster add those terms into the ‘title tag’ and ‘content’ on your website’s homepage.

3.      Submit your site to Google, Yahoo, and DMOZ
These are the big three. We all know about Google and Yahoo, but what is DMOZ?
DMOZ is the ‘Open Directory Project’. Why so important? Because Google gets much of it’s information from this site.

a.      Google: ‘http://www.google.com/addurl/’

b.      Yahoo: ‘http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit’

c.      DMOZ: ‘http://www.dmoz.com’
 

4.      Add to Google’s Local Search Engine
So we now operate in a global economy. However, Yanai is a hairstylist in Beverly Hills. What good does it do if his site appears in a Tokyo search results?  Unless he’s committed to traveling across the ocean to give a haircut for some serious cash and authentic sushi, it’s unlikely to help him.

Within your Google account, click on “Local Business Center” icon and follow the instructions. Google will list your company name within their directory, so if someone type’s in Beverly Hills curly hair stylist, Google will supply Yanai with a map to his business location, contact number, and he can upload videos and reviews.

5.      Add an XML site map to your website
Why? Because Google likes to know about the different pages on your website and whatever Google likes, you must comply. A site map is a file that identifies the files within your website faster and more efficiently. To generate a site map go to ‘http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/’. Follow the instructions and download your site map.
The file should have an extention, ‘.xml’ like sitemap.xml.

Upload the site map to your website directory. Then log into your Google account, click on ‘webmaster tools’ and follow the instructions to submit your sitemap.

MONITOR THE WEBSITE TRAFFIC, YOURSELF!
That’s right monitor the traffic yourself. Do not rely on Webmasters.

1.      Google Analytics:
Analytics is the only online tool you need to analyze your website traffic. Log in to your Google account and click on Google Analytics link. Follow the instructions there to generate the code for you or your Webmaster to install into as many web pages you want to monitor.

2.      Use Webmaster Tools
Not just for webmasters, these tools will monitor the efficiency of your website. Most people are not aware that Google looks for sites that are clean and free of errors such as missing pages and bad links.

Pages that irk Google are:

§         Links on websites that links to non-existent pages

§         Time Out – If page appears there, seconds later not there!

§         Unreachable – Page exist, but server problems

§         Sites maps with unusable or non-existent web addresses

GENERATE TRAFFIC FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES

Don’t just rely on Google or Yahoo for web traffic. You need to do whatever it takes to generate traffic to generate business. Here is a list of possible ways to increase traffic to your website.

1. Link Exchange: Ask friends, colleagues, and especially owners of high volume websites that generate high volume traffic. You can add a like to their website, but make sure they add your link to theirs. Both parties will benefit from each other’s traffic
   
   
2. Social Networking Sites: Go on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace to network, network, network! These are great places to communicate news and information regarding your company.
   
   
3. Mass Email: Build an email list of names and emails. Then, when possible, send out emails and be sure to include a link back to your website.
   
   
4. Pay for an ad on a large email list. While most companies will not share list, ask that company if, for a fee, you can add a banner or some verbiage that links back to your site.
   
   
5. Radio / TV / Newspaper: Publicize your website. If you have the money, use these.

 

 

I hope this article helps. If I can be of service or if you need any more information feel free to email me at jimh@crystaldi.com.

Tom Casey

Guest Editorial

We all know that the United States remains the only industrialized country in the world that doesn’t guarantee health care to all its citizens and that 46 million Americans remain uninsured and millions more underinsured, yet health care spending represents almost 20% of our GDP. Even those who’ve managed to maintain their insurance have seen their rates go up and their deductibles rise. 60 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were due to medical debts.  

I have no ideological preference for government programs, commercial plans or even hybrid forms of coverage.   What is crystal clear, however, is that no citizen -- rich or poor, young or old -- should be denied access to affordable health care - period. And no business should be forced to subcontract off-shore or be pushed to the brink of insolvency simply because it has employees.

Everyone knows our health care system is broken and there’s no mystery why. Health care costs are rising at twice the rate of inflation. There are many reasons for these dramatic cost escalations, including a reimbursement system that rewards inefficiencies and a legal system that punishes our providers.  Yes, it is complicated and yes, it is in the hands of our Congress and President to correct it, which is exactly where we can start a simple method to successfully address this health care conundrum:

Although no one remembers a ballot measure where we were asked to vote for a special healthcare program for our elected officials, Representatives and Senators alike receive some of the best health care benefits in the country.  Taxpayer dollars pay up to 75 percent of the premiums for their comprehensive coverage and unlike many Americans who must struggle against precondition clauses or are even denied coverage because of those preconditions; Senators and Representatives are covered no matter what - effective immediately.   

Why not make their plan the starting point for developing a strategy to provide affordable coverage for all Americans?  But of course, we all know that their insurance is far too expensive for our nation as a whole, so let’s back it down until all of us, including Congress, gets covered by a universal plan that our country can afford.  The formation of a single insurance risk pool to leverage down insurance prices for all citizens and the implementation of unitary pricing, where everyone gets the same discount and pays the same price for the same product or service will work wonders to dramatically lower the cost to administer health care. Make coverage available through multiple sources and set deductibles at something manageable, like three percent of a household’s taxable federal income and we will find ourselves well on our way to successfully resolving this shameful situation. 

This approach forms the foundation of universal coverage and it in no way restricts anyone from electing to pay more for premium care.  But realize this - only when Congress and our President share the same health coverage with the rest of America will they have the commitment and urgency to implement a workable plan.  And only by giving them a vested stake in our health care will they remain incentivized to continue to make improvements by taking on those wrenching systemic changes that need to be made, including weaning themselves from the political patrons that so strongly influence today’s debate - be they trial lawyers, pharmaceutical manufacturers or anyone else whose profits stand in the way of our national interests. 

It’s hard to fathom how the party created by Abraham Lincoln and solidified by Ronald Regan has diminished to such chaos and uncertainty. If you look back at the events and policies of the Bush Administration, it’s pretty easy to see why many US citizens has turned blue instead of red. 

 

1. The 2000 Presidential Election
   There are many who claimed this election was rigged. Others claim the Bush lost not because of Florida, but because Gore lost his own home state of Tennessee and Clinton’s home state of Arkansas. Whatever side you choose, this was the beginning of a rift that would divide the country farther to the left or to the right.
   
   
2. The Wars of Iraq and Afghanistan
   No matter the reason, there is no such thing as ‘just war.’ Yes Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Ladin were enemies of the US, but unfortunately to the eyes of the world this war made GW Bush equal, if not worse. 
   
   It was the way the war was started. Bush did not care what the public thought. He cared not what even the US citizens thought. He was going to war, like it or not. Unfortunately, it’s 2009 and wars are still being fought.  Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead and thousands more in Afghanistan. While the war destroyed the infrastructure of these two nations, it only strengthened those who can really hurt us.
   
   The United State in the meantime grew further divided.
   
   
3. The Patriot Act
   So now that the brown man is coming after us, the government decides to take some of our civil liberties away.  Our founding fathers would squeal at this Patriot Act. It’s a complete reversal of the US Constitution.
   
   The Republicans somehow managed to convince their supporters to declare, “I have nothing to hide so let them search me.” I’m sorry, what are troops overseas fighting for? Freedom? Did you say our Freedom? You sure?  The biggest threat to our freedom is in not Baghdad or Kabul, it’s in Washington DC
   
   
4. Hurricane Katrina
   The turning point of the Bush Administration. It’s during the aftermath of this hurricane when the people finally begin to realize that the Republican led government of Bush and Cheney are incapable of handling crises.
   
   
5. Valerie Plame
   The Republican led government, who only a few months enacted the Patriot Act that promotes spying against private US citizens, revealed the identity of a CIA operative. Yes, it led to the downfall of Scooter Libby, but we all know he took the bullet for his boss Dick Cheney.
   
   
6. Financial debacle
   While the Republicans cannot be solely blamed for this, it was the work of former Republican Senator ‘Foreclosure’ Phil Gramm who pushed to deregulate the financial industry by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act that led to the current debacle.
   
   
7. Dick Cheney
   The torturer-in-chief, angler, Dr. Evil, or what ever you want to call him, Dick Cheney is undoubtedly one of the most ruthless politicians in US history.
   
   
8. 2008 Presidential election
   McCain lost in an electoral vote landslide mainly because he ran what the worst presidential candidacy ever. He introduced the nation to a highly unpopular figure like Sarah Palin. Then to top it off, he hired Foreclosure Phil Gramm as his campaign manager. Combine that with voting 90% on Bush’s issues, it’s little wonder he took the fall, as did many republicans that evening.
   
   
9. Current leadership. Please?
   Rush Limbaugh – A man who can be considered a cult leader and mocks a man suffering from Parkinson’ disease. If this is their idea of a leader, the dems are smiling wide.
   
   Sarah Palin – Good governor or not, it’s unprofessional for any elected official to leave office and the people who elected her. Alas, the dems are smiling wide.
   
   Mitt Romney – I like him. Now if only the Republicans like him too.
   
   Is this what you call leadership?
    
    

Now are Democrats a solution to this mess?  No. They are merely the ‘other’ choice.

 

When the Democrats won majority of the seats in Congress after the 2006 mid-term elections they, like McCain, supported gave a blank check to just about everything Bush needed, including further funding of the wars.

·         Where were they when Guantanamo Bay needed attention? To this day, it’s still open and functioning and torturing.

·         How can you support an exit clause to bring US soldiers out of Iraq by approving the very funds needed to keep them there?

·         It was Bill Clinton who signed ‘Foreclosure Phil Gramm’s” Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act that lead to this economic disaster we are facing today.

 

 

It’s not Republicans or Democrats are solely to blame. It’s more about right-wing vs left wing.
We need more moderate ‘meeting in the middle’ thinking.

 

by Jim Hague

 

On Saturday, July 18, 2009 my wife and I attended the memorial service to celebrate the life of comedic great, Fred Travalena.

 

While I had the honor of being Fred’s Webmaster since 2005, I never realized the star quality this man held until the service at the “Church of the Way” in Van Nuys, Ca.  One by one I watched several reputable entertainers up on stage reflecting on Fred’s life, names such as Wink Martindale (American Disc Jockey and Talk Show Host), Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing on the hit show ‘The Love Boat’) and Oscar Winning Actress Shirley MaClaine.

 

It was clear to me that I had worked with someone bigger than I had thought.

 

How could I have missed that? How could I not feel nervous when going to Fred’s home and talking business? I have other clients who work in show business who have yet to accomplish a spec of what Fred accomplished, yet they all expect a red carpet treatment wherever they go.

 

Well I guess the short answer would be that Fred was a true man, a gentleman, and a humble man. Never once did I get the sense that I was dealing with a celebrity. 

 

Instead, I was dealing with a man in a mission to save the lives of innocent babies.  He seemed more passionate about this website, ‘babiesareimportant.com’ then ‘fredtravalena.com’.

 

Fred was the last of the breed of the ‘Rat Pack’ era entertainers. He was a young man when he associated himself with established legends like Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. In his four decades in the entertainment industry the appeared on The Tonight Show, Letterman, Mike Douglas Show, Merv Griffin Show. He appeared on various television and movie roles, though he prided himself the most for entertaining US troops overseas.

 

Whenever we held meetings at Fred’s home in Encino I would walk in and would immediately be greeted by his four dogs. I was nervous about his pit bull, but Fred jokingly would tell me that the pit bull ‘does not know he’s a pit bull.’

 

His beloved wife Lois would come in, give me a hug and offer some tea. We then would go into the kitchen and discuss his website.

Whenever Fred called by telephone, he would start by saying, ‘Heeeeyyy Jim.’ It would bring a smile not only to my face, but to my spirit as well.

 

My most memorable moment with Fred was when he and I agreed to work together on ‘babiesareimportant.com’ Being a good Christian we both held hands as he recited a short prayer, then we both held hands and cried together.

 

Fred will always be known as ‘The Man with 1000 Faces.” To me, he will be known a hero.  I hope one day, with his son Corey, now running ‘babiesareimportant.com’, Fred will be know as “The Man who saved 1000 babies.’

 

Now, he can really do this work.

 

 

 

As the world celebrates the life of Michael Jackson (MJ), we have a Congressman who posted a video on You Tube, demeaning the life and legacy of “The King of Pop” Michael Jackson (MJ).

While I respect Congressman King’s right to free speech, I find it unfortunate that he is amongst a number of right-wingers who take this opportunity to spread hatred. Let’s break down the speech. King said,

 

"Let’s knock out the psychobabble. He was a pervert, a child
molester; he was a pedophile.”

Rep. King, MJ was found ‘not guilty’ of child molestation. He was acquitted in one case and settled out of court in another. In America, there is a trail by jury before declaring a man guilty.

 

One of the so-called victims, Gavin Arvizo, was 13 years old in 2005 when the alleged crimes occurred. If one paid attention to how the prosecution presented its case, it was almost seemed as if the acquisitions were fabricated. The jury felt that way too and found MJ innocent.

 

King, during the O’Reily show said,

 

“An adult male who sleeps with young boys is a child molester,

if nothing else, is abusing their psyche…”.

 

Rep. King, sleeping in the same bed does not constitute molesting a child.

If you think that that way, why not present a bill that would declare sharing a bed with a minor as child molester. I guess in your view, foster parents, nannies, older brothers, and caretakers can now be officially declared as child molesters.

 

You should know that Gavin Arvizo, his sister Daveline, brother Star and mother Janet were "upfront" and asserted that inappropriate behavior had "absolutely not occurred". Janet in fact, asked her boys to call MJ a father figure. The Arvizo’s had insisted that while they slept in MJ’s bed, MJ himself slept on the floor. To further the rebuttal Janet Arvizo issued the following statement:

 

"The relationship that Michael has with my children is beautiful,
loving, father-son and daughter one. To my children and me Michael
is part of the family."

 

Janet Arvizo is the same woman who made a fool of herself on the witness stand which included snapping her fingers and staring at the jurors.

 

Wade Robson and Brett Barnes are two other boys who shared a bed with MJ, and who also denied any inappropriate behavior had occurred. The same holds true for actors Macaulay Culkin, his younger brother Kieran.

 

Then there was young, Jordan Chandler, the benefactor of a reported $20 million dollar settlement. MJ, under advisement from his friend, which included Lisa Marie Presley, decided to settle out of court. Smart move. A long drawn out court case would have cost MJ many more millions of dollars in legal fees and undue stress for him and Chandler. Sources now believe that Chandler never told the truth. Congressman King, a settlement is not an admission of guilt!

 

Here is another thing King said.

 

" He may have been a good singer, he did some dancing. Bottom line is, would you let your child or grandchild be in the same room with Michael Jackson?

"What are we glorifying him for?"

Mr. King, are you with the times? This is the same man honored by the Republican demigod, Ronald Regan, at a visit to the Whitehouse. MJ’s life is glorified not because he was a ‘good’ singer, dancer, and entertainer. No, he was a phenomenon.

 

He was a humanitarian. While you politicians aid the rich and stand by while children starve all over the world, MJ gave millions to charities to help such less fortunate children.

 

As an entertainer, he has the number 1 best selling album of all time, the greatest dance videos of all time, and he would sell out a 100,000 plus seating concert venue in a matter of minutes!

 

Rep. King, you are all the way in New York. The events of MJ’s passing are here in California. So why should it bother you? Do us a favor and focus on events that matter to the people who unfortunately elected you. Let the media do it’s thing and you do your thing, like trying to rebuild the Republican Party.

 

50 years from now, MJ’s legacy will be as strong as it is today.

 

However your legacy, Mr. King will be known not for your service to New York, but as the man who criticized ‘The King of Pop’ during the days of his memorial service. You have added a tremendous weight on your shoulders for your next election.

 

 

June 27, 2009 by Jim Hague

Back in the 1980’s there was no one in the world that influenced the budding Generation ‘X’ like that of Michael Jackson. Yes, there was President Ronald Regan, Bo Jackson, MTV, Boy George, Madonna and those funky heavy metal hair bands. But no one topped the power of Michael Jackson.

He was not just a star; he was phenomenon.  He commanded your attention, weather you were a music fan or not. Where he went, legions of fans followed, screaming for a glimpse. The world had not seen that since the Beatles and Elvis.

Now deceased, Michael Jackson is more powerful than ever before. This story has made frontline news in all the world’s paper for 3 days straight now. No other news is seemingly is so captivating; not Jon and Kate, not US economic woes, not even the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Michaels’ death has suddenly revived his career. Yes, revived. In all likelihood, he may generate more money then he ever did alive. Already record stores, iTunes, and Amazon have experience enormous demands.   Elvis, John Lennon, Jim Morrison all experienced the same.

Michael’s legacy will most likely focus on the days he produced Off the Wall and Thriller. Those two albums alone produced more hits then most musicians have in their entire careers. His music videos ‘Beat It’, ‘Billie Jean’, and ‘Thriller’ transformed music videos from a mere promotional tool to an art. It helped ignite MTV. His career in a nutshell: 2 time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a solo artist and member of the Jackson 5), 13 Grammy Awards, 13 Number one singles, over 750 million albums sold worldwide, and billions of dollars generated.

The Lost Childhood
As the world learned, however, was that Michael Jackson had a dark side that involved child abuse, neglect, and accusations of child molestation. You find can an entire populace of people with similar history in prison.

It wasn’t enough that Michael suffered a lost childhood. He was never allowed to be own person. His spirit was never free. Instead, his life became a tool for others to make profit of his enormous talent. His father, Joe Jackson, was not a successful man on his own by any means. He was a steel worker during the day, hardly carrying enough change in his pockets for lunch.

To his credit, however, Joe Jackson was a driven man. He played in a band and was a talented guitarist. Perhaps he had dreams playing for record label, but fell victim to the circumstances in his day: poverty, racism, and missed opportunities.

To some, growing old and not fulfilling your lifelong dream is intolerable. Joe Jackson may not have wanted any of that. So, his kids became the pawns for his success. According the Michael and his sister LaToya, Joe Jackson was a tyrant with an iron fist. He ran the household with fear, intimidation, and complete lack of concern about his children’s feelings. 

In addition, Michael had to endure the challenge of being in a one-income household with ten kids.  Normally with large families siblings would play and fight with each other. In the Jackson household, it seemed that band practice took precedence to growing up and living a normal childhood. 

Despite the hardship, Michael was born to be an entertainer. For years the Jackson 5 played in local venues and won numerous competitions. It was not till Michael joined the band did MoTown Records take notice.

The Baton is Passed
Smokey Robinson said, “Michael had the talent of someone years his age.” Which Michael at the realm, the Jackson 5 attracted television and record deals. Like many child stars, however, Michael was forced into world that God never meant for children.  Michael never experienced a childhood. He was busy making money for his family and for the record labels. He was a moneymaker. Despite the claims from those who say they loved him and showed genuine concern, he was a music moneymaking machine. The self-worth was solely based on that. If he stopped producing, they stopped caring.

In 1979, the record ‘Off the Wall’ was a solo act without Michael’s tyrant father or his brothers. Quincy Jones was the man behind the project. Together, Jones and the 20 year old Jackson produced the first ever album to generate US top 10 hits including blockbuster songs like "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You".

The man was only 20!

At 20 years old most people are in college, partying, studying for college exams, or thinking of their careers. Michael remained what he was since he was 10, a money making machine. Not a man with feelings, not a man with a spirit, and a human being. He was money making machine, the darling of the media, a man with billions of dollars, yet no life.

At 24, Thriller was released.  It’s the greatest album I have ever purchased. For Michael, the arrow had reached its peak and is now failing.


Energy Released – His deal with Children
It’s little wonder why Michael had that special relationship with children. He wanted to be around them, especially young male boys. Why? Because he was never allowed to experience having a ‘best friend’, or play outside with friends after school, like normal kids do. 

It’s just human nature to make up for lost experience. It not unusual for teenage moms, as soon as their children are grown, to dress up in sexy garbs, hang out at bars, and date younger men.

Michael’s inner demons were not demons. They were yearnings. Yearnings to have the God given right to a normal childhood.

Did he molest young boys? I’m not sure, but then I wonder why an innocent man would pay the family of one of his so-called victims $20 million to keep their mouth shut. I don’t know the details, nor will I speculate.

 
His Career Revived in Death
In years to come there will be speculations if Michael did actually die?  The same theories floated around about Elvis and Jim Morrison. Elvis and Jim Morrison made more money in death then they did alive.

Will that happen to Michael? Most likely yes.

The greatest gifts Michael left us his music. He is the ‘King of Pop’ and the greatest entertainer since Elvis and the Beatles. More important, for those who wish to live their successful through their children, look at Michael’s life and where it went.

He became a lost soul with billions of dollars. As it was mentioned in the Bible,

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? – Matthew 16:26

Rest in Peace Michael and thanks for the music and the lessons learned.