Tag Archives: Barack Obama

Ancestry and Genealogy  – The Internet is Amazing

In the past few months, I took up genealogy as a hobby.  Compared to 10 years ago, sites like Ancestry.com are full of amazing in-depth information. There are even Apps for your phone that suggest relatives based on  what you have input.

If you have relatives that were in the USA in the Colonial Periods before the American Revolution, you are most probably related to untold numbers of people in the USA including many celebrities and politicians.

I have found that I am probably related to 15 USA presidents including:  Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Bush, Obama and others.  Also, it seems that I am related to many writers, musicians, and entertainers.  To be transparent, many of these relatives are 7th, 8th, and 9th cousins, but still it makes for good conversation.

Next, when using Ancestry, you can go up the line to suggested ancestors and find countless names and families.  The results of these searches show that I am related  to various lords, barons, viscounts, Kings and Queens.  I guess you need only be the descendant of one of the documented children of some baron or lord who had 15 children, to be connected to a royal family.

What is more fun is that Ancestry is very deep now with information. Once you connect to a princess or prince, you jump to a King or Queen.  Before you know it, you are related to half of Europe through the royally arranged marriages over the last 2000 years.

Very possibly, I am directly descended from the Kings and Queens of:  Scotland, England, Wales, Mercia, Bavaria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Naples, Prussia/Brandenburg, including great names such as the Holy Roman Emperors, the Sinclair’s of Scotland, The Stewarts, Tudors, Hohenzollerns, Habsburgs, Plantagenet’s, and more.  I even found that I am the direct descendant to an obscure Baron called the Barony of Innerpeffray – Thus, I must now assume the title of  Baron of Innerpeffray or when travelling?

Furthermore, the Were Related App says I may be related to people such as: Ben Franklin, Brad Pitt, and Jimi Hendrix.  Thus, my abilities with music and writing have greatly improved lately …

And if you can t find anything on Ancestry, then get a DNA test.  Everybody I know who did not know much about their ancestry is coming back with results from all over the world, various minorities, major blends of tribes and diversities, and so forth.  I did my DNA to be sure, and I found that I was a mix  of: Native American, Scandinavian, Sicilian, Hispanic, German, French, English, Scottish, Balkan – Greek Turkish Italian and much more.

So, have fun with the searching.

5 Reasons Energy Stocks and Oil Prices May Go Down or Up? by: George Mentz, JD MBA

5 Reasons Energy Stocks and Oil Prices May Go Down or Up? by: George Mentz, JD MBA

5 Reasons Oil and Energy Stocks will go Down.

  1. If the Economy gets worse in the USA, Oil will get cheaper due to lack of demand.
  2. Technology in Drilling – Ability to pinpoint and hit the target.
  3. Telecommuters to work & telecommuters for College/ School
  4. Fuel Efficiency Improvements Since the Nixon Era
  5. Saudi Arabia and other producers including IRAN may flood the market

5 Reasons Oil and Energy Stocks will go up.

  1. Expanding Technology and gadgets require electricity
  2. Demographics and size of population require more oil. India, Africa and Asia have several billion people under 40 years old.
  3. More people are buying cars and cycles in China, India, Africa and Indonesia/Malaysia
  4. The unpredictability of the natural climate and the pollution flux will force more people to use filtered cooling and heat for homes.
  5. If Oil Wells are capped and people are laid off, supply will be reduced in the near term causing prices to go up.

Energy ETF Related Stock Symbols for Your Review

  • Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) (NYSEARCA:XLE)
  • Vanguard Energy ETF (NYSEARCA:VDE)
  • iShares S&P Global Energy Sector (ETF) (NYSEARCA:IXC)
  • iShares Dow Jones US Oil Equip. (ETF) (NYSEARCA:IEZ)
  • 3X Bull Energy, Direxion Shares Exchange Traded Fund Trust (NYSEARCA:ERX)
  • 3X Bear Energy Fund, Direxion Shares Exchange Traded Fund Trust (NYSEARCA:ERY)

* Prof. Dr.Jur. George S. Mentz is the first person in the United States to be multi credentialed as a Lawyer, MBA, Qualified Financial Planner, Chartered Management Consultant, Certified Financial Consultant.  Mentz is an award winning speaker/professor and has been a published author for top literary houses including: National Underwriter ALM, O-Books, John Hunt Publishing United Kingdom, Dice.com, ThinkAdvisor.com, eFinancialCareers.com, and has served a Brain Trust member. Mentz is available to speak at conference on inspiration, productivity and wealth management sales techniques. www.GMentz.com

Mentz is the author the new success book released this January, Quantum Bliss.

Quantum Bliss: The Quantum Mechanics of Happiness, Abundance, and Health by George S. Mentz Link: http://amzn.com/1785352032

Capitalism & Free Markets for Thought Leaders – What They Don’t Teach in Business or Law School

Capitalism &  Free Markets for Thought Leaders  – What They Don’t Teach in  Business or Law School

The Michael Jordan Theory of Laissez -Faire Economics by Counselor George Mentz, JD, MBA

Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to discuss the power and challenges of global capitalism and laissez-faire philosophy to the average student.  Here is a quick sports analysis of international business and some bullet points to help you think about team performance, team players, capitalism and fair trade.

  1. In economic theory, the team or stakeholders are composed of: your company, your customers, your community, your employees, your suppliers, and your investing risk takers.
  2. If you have one top player who is excellent at what they do, and you have that person on your team, it changes the entire ability of your organization to excel, create or compete. Example: The Basketball Legend – Mr. Michael Jordan
  3. Major objectives and challenges to leaders are how to reward your top players, how to incentivize the rest of the team to support each other.  One might ask,  “Is it fair for Michael Jordan to get the ball more than others or shoot too much”. It is right and fair for other players to learn how to best feed the ball to the top player to score.
  4. If you can strategically recruit team members from diverse regions of the country and the world, you could secure the best talent based on skill and competency?
  5. Even when you have a superstar player who is an incredible at scoring against the other teams, you cannot succeed unless you have smart coaches, smart players, smart schedule, a great offensive line, smart defense, smart play calling strategy, and healthy players.  If the other team players do not maintain their health, skills, or continue to contribute, it will hurt the entire team and the community at large.
  6. If the team is effective, it puts food on the table for the: community, staff, coaches, players, families, and so forth in the form of: revenues, jobs, tourism, rights, ticket and merchandise sales and more.
  7. If your team is competing against 180 other teams, would it be smart to allow your team to complete without excessive regulation, toxic fees, debilitating taxes or penalties. If you don’t reward and compensate your producers, will they underperform?  Will they leave to go to another team? or take their technology offshore to another team? How much does the economic environment tax the team corporation, how do you tax the players, taxes tickets etc.  If taxes or regulations are too high, will players or owners go to another team, city, or country to play?
  8. Shouldn’t we applaud all those who contribute to the government in “FOR PROFIT” activities? Remember that big earners are the big contributors?  The average superstar only makes big money for just a few years and pays HUGE taxes when he or she earns big to both states and the federal governments. Without profits, no company survives. If every business was not-for profit, the government could not feed orphan and widows, encourage economic freedom,  or pay it’s employees. Without profits, the community fails, the company employees lose their jobs, the suppliers fail, the public schools fail, teachers lose their jobs, hospitals go broke, and the shareholders take their money elsewhere.
  9. If there are no investors or shall I say “contributing earners”, then the money all flows to the other 180 teams who have better business environments with names like:  Mexico, Japan, China, UAE, Kenya, India, or the Philippines.  There is nothing wrong with the other teams, but rather, your local team needs to build its own schools, fix it’s roads, build its hospitals, and feed local widows and orphans as a priority so that the team can produce and work in a sustainable environment . As a note, some innovators and inventors are creating services and products that DO NOT Compete but rather solve problems such as disease, suffering, disasters, or just mitigate regular problems. Thus, thus economic pie continues to expand with the internet, communications, medicine, technology, science, globalization and more.

These are just a few questions you must ask.  Yes we need BOTH team players and superstars to innovate and compete in this global economic environment, but we need to realize that a team must have a sustainable business environment conducive to success to compete on a global level. With 95% of the world’s population outside of the USA and 40% of the S&P revenues coming from offshore, the USA in particular must SELL to other nations to grow the economic pie for everyone around the world and increase global productivity, global health, and global prosperity. Moreover, US companies are routinely taking advantage of economic climates and jurisdictions offshore which are more business and employee friendly.

Technology and globalization has crushed the old ideas regarding taxation and free markets.  Given enough bureaucratic intervention, people and business will partially leave the USA and establish companies offshore to sell stuff to the rest of the world’s 95% of the global population.  Recently, even UBER set up offshore tax schemes just like Google and other big players to retain earnings offshore which limit payments of US Federal and State taxes.  This is the direction that global business is headed, and we must enhance laws and regulations to make sure that local workers have opportunities for the American Dream so that our local team players may create and innovate in an entrepreneurial friendly environment.

Here are some publicly traded Consulting Companies of Interest:

  • Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE:BAH)
  • Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN)
  • Cap Gemini SA (EPA:CAP)
  • Others include: McKinsey, Bain and Co., Price Waterhouse, Deloitte and many more.

Counselor George Mentz (Doctor of Jurisprudence/ JD and MBA)  is a world recognized author and self-help and wealth management commentator who has several professional development education companies which have trained over 10,000 professionals in over 40 countries. Mentz’s new book, Quantum Bliss,  is being released in January in the United Kingdom. www.quantumbliss.org Prof. Mentz, an international attorney, founder of the GAFM Global Academy of Finance and Management ® www.gafm.com , has been a keynote speaker globally in the USA, China, Asia, Arabia, USA, Mexico, Switzerland, and in the West Indies. Mentz has consulted with governments, world leaders and Fortune 500 companies. Mentz has published bestsellers in the following categories: Money and Monetary Policy,  Economics Money and Investing, Leadership , Education Training, Management Science, Mysticism, Psychology, and in Spirituality. Dr. Mentz can be contacted for speaking engagements at www.gmentz.com or http://www.linkedin.com/in/georgementz *No tax investment or legal advice provided herein. Please consult with a licensed professional in your jurisdiction before making any important financial or legal decision. Mentz is a licensed counselor of law LA USA.  http://gafm.com