Prosper Update

A couple of years ago (or so), I became a lender on Prosper.com, and here's how my four loans I helped to fund are performing.

Two are paid in full, and the other two are current, as you can see.

The government, which shut it down to any participation outside of the state of California due to concerns about "risk," is full of ninnies. Viva freedom and self-determination.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/1/2009 1:08:31 AM
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When the Government Owns the Industry...

The latest Fannie Mae delinquency chart:

Each column is a year, and that last column is 2009.

Notice how stable it was for years. Mid-2007, it started to move upward in a serious way as all of those homes went under water for the super-risky products being offered.

When I worked at Wells Fargo, I asked the verbotten question: "What happens if Fannie goes out of business?" I was laughed at. (Still laughing, Joe?)

The problem with Fannie (and Freddie): there are no free-market alternatives. That's what happens when you kill the free-market. There is no mechanism for corrective action. And this failed government enterprise posing as a "business" just keeps expanding its book of business.

So back when I worked as a strategy consultant to Wells Fargo, I urged them to begin to develop a private alternative to Fannie. I told them that they were no different than a one-crop farmer. No one took this seriously.

Farmer, meet the corn worm.

There are two ways out of this for banks:

1. Develop and invest in a free-market alternative.
2. Let your kids pay all of this debt off when the government - i.e. taxpayers - just soaks all of this up.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/1/2009 11:08:56 AM
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Purple

I read that Atlanta might elect a new mayor who describes herself as a "'purple' fiscal conservative."

I like that description. That describes me pretty well. I strongly support gay marriage, I am devoutly capitalist, I believe in individual freedom and limited government, and I'm definitely a fiscal conservative.

"Purple fiscal conservative" - that'll work.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/1/2009 11:58:39 AM
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Vote

Tamara and I woke up today and voted. It was a city council election. Only one candidate came to our house, a guy named Brian Rickert, who espouses lower property taxes.

I bought a book not too long ago - Get Out the Vote - and it listed all of the methods politicians use to increase voter turnout.

Long story short, the most effective method for getting out the vote is: the door-to-door visit.

Mailers, robo-calling, TV campaign ads - all of these take a big backseat to the door-to-door campaign.

The bigger the district, the more volunteers you need - because a politician can't physically visit every house. But volunteers can.

The guy running against Rickert? Well, I never heard from him at all. I expect Rickert to win. As a matter of due diligence, I went out to the other guy's web site and checked him out. He too favors lower property taxes, but he tried to engage in some negative campaigning, I discovered. So Tamara and I gave the "A" for effort to Rickert, the guy who bothered to come to our door and traded a few email with me.

Electioneering takes work, and a strong pool of volunteers. There are no shortcuts.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/3/2009 1:36:16 PM
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Skinned Knees

I like to remind people at times that the best way to help somebody might be to let them skin their knees.

Back during the summer, John McHugh - a little-known congressman from upstate New York - voted for the Democrat Cap and Trade bill. He was nominated and later sworn in to become Barack Obama's Secretary of the Army this past September.

By becoming the Army Sec, he left a vacancy that had to be filled, and the Republicans of New York's 23rd District chose a tax-loving liberal in the person of Dede Scozzafava to be his replacement to represent the Republicans; at least until conservatives around the nation got wind of it.

At this point in this election night, it appears that Constitution Party candidate Doug Hoffman, a quiet accountant who believes in freedom and limited government, will lose to Democrat Bill Owens, for whom the former "Republican" candidate, Ms. Scozzafava, stumped.

I think the best outcome has happened, should Hoffman loses by a shred. Nancy Pelosi already has her majority; a win by Hoffman wouldn't erase her majority or substantially change anything.

But what it will do is to demonstrate to the leaders of the Republican party that nominating RINO's is a loser strategy. If Hoffman wins, they narrowly miss skinning their knees.

If Hoffman loses, their knees stay skinned for quite a while. They lost a seat that they didn't have to lose. The activists stay mad about it, and are therefore not complacent. And Newtie? His time is pretty much up within the ranks of the Republican party.

It started out as a RINO district. I won't be surprised much if Democrat Owens wins. RINO's are, after all, Democrats wearing a Republican jersey. What's the difference? Since they voted one into office with McHugh, Owens isn't much of a stretch.

In the event of a loss, the leaders of the Republican have to live with their unnecessary loss for a year before the next election.

"Mom, I skinned my knee."
"Were you doing something you weren't supposed to?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, then don't do that and you won't get hurt."

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/3/2009 11:57:45 PM
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Religious Fundamentalism

Killing others in the name of any God or prophet or religion is wrong. It's a form of genocide, of ethnic cleansing. It's clear prejudice. It's not in self-defense. It's an open act of offense to purge the earth of people who suffer the great offense of believing differently than the murderer believes.

Agreed?

One of the greatest recorded acts of this kind of genocide deliberately sought after the men, women, and children and slaughtered every last one. And a well-recognized religion of peace has no problem with this. In fact, it celebrates the guy who did this.

Numbers 31 in the Old Testament tells of Moses, giving the order to kill the Midianites.

"Kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."

So it's okay when Moses did it - because God told him it was okay and Moses and God were tight like that. But Muslims? To listen to some people yesterday, they were about ready for internment camps over the incident at Ft. Hood.

I've already stated my position: any act of killing in the name of God or a prophet or a religion is wrong. If what's written in the bible is true, then Moses was an murderous asshole - just like the guy at Ft. Hood.

Christians like to forget that their god is "the Lord of Hosts." That used to mean something to people, but I'll bet that most folks don't know what that phrase means any more. It means: "The Lord of Armies." The Christian god is a military god, who according to the bible waged a bloody campaign against the Midianites by the hand of Moses and the Israelites. If you believe that the bible is the word of God, there you go.

To a Christian, is that an atrocity?

If it's not because your faith dictates that you must accept it as the will of God, then surely you understand how a Muslim can believe the Qur'an and its dictates - some of which can be interpreted to murder infidels. I mean, true believers act on their faith, right?

"Well yeah, but that was different..." will be the reply of devout Christians. "Muslims don't know the one true God. God told Moses to do that. God didn't talk to Muhammad."

Yes, of course. What a fundamental difference, to be sure.

Christians come from a bloody faith and they justify, rather than repudiate, the despicable acts that spawned their faith because anything less would require them to either question their faith or to equate that element of their faith with the horrific religious fundamentalist acts done today. Just because it was done thousands of years ago doesn't make it any less wrong. It is the height of hypocrisy to allow yourself to accept a murder done in God's name in one instance and not allow someone else to accept murder done in God's name in another.

Unless of course, you know, God tells you that it's okay.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/7/2009 6:04:07 AM
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A Vote for a Democrat is a Vote for Pelosi

Now that Nancy pushed her national healthcare plan through the House of Representatives yesterday, people need to understand: a vote for any Democrat to take seat in Congress is a vote for Nancy Pelosi driving forward with her socialist agenda.

So if you like the government being able to fine you for not having health insurance, then vote Democrat. If you think that's wrong, don't vote Democrat.

It's that simple. Because the Democrats in the House of Representatives voted her into her position as Speaker of the House, the only way to remove her from that position is to give the Republicans control of the chamber.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/8/2009 6:34:56 AM
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Citizenship in Heaven

I read this today:

A fellow Army doctor who studied with Hasan, Val Finell, told ABC News, "We would frequently say he was a Muslim first and an American second. And that came out in just about everything he did at the University."

Religious fundamentalists tend to be people who don't like or respect individual freedom. America is all about individual freedom. If you have a problem with individual freedom, then you can have your citizenship elsewhere, that's fine, but don't claim to be an American citizen.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/9/2009 10:54:49 AM
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Photos from the Weekend

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/9/2009 2:13:46 PM
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Augusta Tea Party Express

I had the good fortune of being in Augusta, Georgia, when the Tea Party Express rolled through town. Here are some pictures I captured of these great Americans gathering and working to restore liberty to our country.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/10/2009 2:12:29 PM
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Killing Faith

This is, like, the third time I've started this post. Tough subject, and something with which I'm really wrestling...

My whole family is abuzz about the soldiers killed at Ft. Hood, the murderer and the press' reaction to him, and the lack of government awareness of how close this guy was to out-and-out loony with his "faith."

And then there's the Islamic issue. Or is Islam the only issue?

My son called me tonight and said that he wants to know what the Qur'an really says. I think I'll get him this book.

I've done a lot of thinking about faith and killing - what it's really all about.

In any society, there are those who make the decisions, those who protect the decision-makers, and those who just live in the society.

If I'm angry at the decisions made, wouldn't it make sense to target the decision-makers? Or those who protect the decision-makers?

Instead, we get people like Nidal Hasan (the Ft. Hood terrorist), John Allen Muhammad (one of the DC snipers), and the 9/11 hijackers who target random people who just happen to live in the society. They weren't going after the decision-makers, or those immediately around the decision-makers. They chose the innocent. They targeted their victims indiscriminately.

Here's a graphic from Michelle Malkin's site, drawn and written by Lee Malvo, the second of the DC snipers.

All of the people I listed above did so because they believed their faith, Islam, urged them to do so.

Abortion clinic bombers and abortion doctor killers also do it because they believe their faith prompts them to do so, but they target those involved in the deed - not just random people. The people at the World Trade Center were targets of opportunity, not decision-makers.

Christians don't kill those who believe differently than they do. Abortion clinic killers kill those who are actively killing, and justify their action as a preservative and protective measure. They're killing the killers. They're not out to convert anyone to Christianity through murder. They don't kill you because you're not a Christian.

Islamic killers target non-Muslims in a non-Muslim land. You're guilty and worthy of death because you don't think like they do. Hasan believed that Muslims in our nation's military should be able to file for conscientious objector status when the enemy is Islamic. He was a Muslim first and foremost, and being an American was a distant second. While some Christians are a Christian first, and an American second, I don't see any Christians in the military who refuse to kill other Christians, or who target non-Christians just because they're not Christian.

America was founded on the premise of maximizing and preserving individual freedom. If you don't believe in freedom, you're in opposition to the very premise of America.

Freedom of religion - my right to determine my own faith - is central to the reason this nation began. Christians who assert that America is a Christian nation and work to force it to be a Christian nation stand in opposition to any freedom of religion. The way they interpret that is not a freedom of choice of personal religion, but a freedom to practice Christianity. I recently asked a very devout Christian, who believes that this is a Christian nation, where I, the non-Christian, belong in America, if America is a Christian nation. She shrugged.

This planet needs a haven where freedom is maximized and preserved. A haven where laws are based on the preservation of individual liberty. A haven where I can be a Christian or a Muslim or a Jew or an atheist, and people respect my right to choose my own faith and the laws of the nation don't have a religious basis. A haven where I choose my own vocation, keep what I earn through my work, and the government is limited. A haven where I can determine the direction of my own life, so long as I don't step on the liberties of others.

Is that America?

I believe that America was founded to be that haven, but it's not that haven today, and never will be according to some Christians and some Muslims.

Faith is waning in America. I reckon that the urgency of religionists to enforce their faith by pushing it on others is part of the reason for that decline. People innately crave freedom of religion. There's a reason it's part of the First Amendment.

Any person who doesn't respect freedom of religion sends others the clear signal that they're not welcome in this country. That's mighty offensive.

You can kill me for not believing like you do, or you can push your religious agenda into our nation's laws. Neither respects my freedom of religion. Neither wins converts.

I'm coming to believe that respecting the individual freedom of others is the highest moral there is. If I can disagree with someone and not work to strip their liberties through force or through legislation, that's the greatest respect and honor I can show them.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/11/2009 10:05:10 AM
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You're Not in Iowa When...

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/11/2009 7:37:59 PM
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What He Said

Casey does an excellent job at his blog, and his post on The Case Against Universal Health Care rocks. So I'm just gonna point to what he said and introduce you to his site, if you haven't been there before.

ETC: And to help his point along, the Boston Globe gives some facts regarding the stimulus "saved or created" jobs numbers cited by the Obama administration:

"There were no jobs created. It was just shuffling around of the funds."

Government-run enterprises fail. That's just the truth. Anybody else who wants to believe otherwise doesn't have the facts at their disposal or they refuse to look at the facts. Either way, they don't look smart.

Love your kids? Care about their future? Don't vote for socialist politicians.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/12/2009 6:38:19 AM
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Cognition

One of my strategy/innovation heroes, Tom Wujec, gives a talk on how we get meaning from the world we sense around us.

"We make meaning by seeing... by an act of visual interrogation."

And then he gives three lessons for us to extrapolate from this.

What he says is deep, and it's one of the reasons why I'm such a big fan of Scott McCloud's books.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/12/2009 7:23:01 AM
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The Hardest Thing

Over 15 years ago, I realized that the hardest thing in life is to see things as they really are. How we see ourselves, our work, our family, our life... seeing those truly - as they really are - is incredibly difficult to do without bias and wishful thinking.

One of these days, I'll write a big post on starting a business. In fact, I'll likely write a book. I'll start it right after the day that I lay catatonic on the grass in a forest beneath a deep blue sky with my head resting on Tamara's leg - which will be the day after things are going so swimmingly that the business is just fine without me for a day.

In a couple of days, I'll get my copy of an agreement we just signed with a professional sales company out of Atlanta, which is eager to sell 247Toolset. One of the questions I answered today, asked by Sanjay, was this: "What's the maximum number of portals you can create in a week?"

My favorite quote about business: "Risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down."

Amen.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/13/2009 6:26:35 PM
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Travels

I own a 2000 Dodge Caravan. I've had vans my whole life. My first vehicle was a 1970 VW Minibus.

The picture above is one of our dog, Mojo, resting on his big pillow in the void of the backseat. I removed two of the seats before our trip and having that room for the dogs and our stuff - including my bike - makes for a far more comfortable trip.

We've taken the van across the country maybe 15 times, with various configurations of kids, seats, stuff, and dogs.

I'm somewhere near the end of the road for this van, and I was thinking about getting a truck, but this trip brings me back to a van for all of its versatility, convenience, and comfort.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/14/2009 9:11:44 AM
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Multi-Syllabic Southerners

While visiting many stores and gas stations on our excursion to the south, I was reminded of something I noticed while I lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. Inconsistently - depending on the person - a southern accent can render a single-syllable word multi-syllabic.

My name, for example, can go from a one-syllable word (Brett) to two syllables (Buh-rett) to even three syllables (Buh-ray-ett).

I'm not sure what the trigger for that is, but it's fascinating to observe. My wife, Tamara, is from Augusta, Georgia, and is a one-syllable southerner. Food Networks' Paula Deen, who is from Savannah, Georgia, is a multi-syllabic southerner.

Tamara: Whisk a dash of ginger in there.
Paula: Whee-yusk a day-ush of gin-juh in they-er.

If you've never noticed this before, you are now forever cursed to hear this inflection in some southerners.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/15/2009 1:27:16 PM
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Today's Beauty

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/16/2009 5:38:08 PM
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Liberty

This artwork was hanging in a friend's office, so I took a picture of it. No clue who the artist is... but it's right on.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/18/2009 8:57:17 AM
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Others

A little over a year ago, I left Wells Fargo. It was a no-brainer decision - despite a lot of initiatives and ideas that I proposed, Wells wouldn't move forward on any of it. So I could have remained as an expert thumb-twiddler, or I could have moved on. I chose the latter.

Since that time, my life has gone in strange new directions. I became a spokesperson for LG and was flown out to LA to film a 3-minute spot promoting their cell phones. I've started a new company. I'm creating a very complex web site for a local firm. I became an outspoken advocate for freedom and helped organize the local tea parties. And I find that I'm being used more and more as a strategy consultant, which is the position I'd held at Wells.

I'm not being paid for my work as a strategy consultant. At least not yet. What I'm learning is that there are people out there, bold and daring and eager to figure out their place in life and business, who benefit from my view of their position and ambitions. I met for a long time with one of those people today. Had lunch together. He asked me, "What do you want from all of this?" I told him that if my advice and directive held merit and worked toward profit, I trusted that he would be fair with me. We'd figure that out later - let's focus now on executing the plan.

It was a couple of weeks ago that I was driving through rural Georgia. Tamara was resting quietly in the passenger seat next to me, and I had spent the previous 100 or so miles considering this man's business and his goals. He'd been looking for a better model for profitability, and he and his partner welcomed my help. We never discussed rate or money. I did it because I like these guys and because it was an interesting puzzle. These two men were trying something no one had ever really done before.

Somewhere near Griffin, Georgia, I figured it out. Over the next day, I wrestled with the various logistics of my solution, and then I called the man's partner and pitched it to him. I wrote a 4-page white paper, further clarifying the model, and got his buy-in. Today, I laid it out for the man himself. He loved it. The model is crazy and unobvious and brash, but promising - just like what they're trying to do.

Recently, I met another guy, and he too does something no one else really does. I had dinner with him a few days ago and pitched a different twist on what he does. He took it home to his wife and they are now excitedly working with me to hone the idea. If this works, it might change the direction of his life.

Neither idea I offered costs any money to implement.

I don't think innovation requires big risk and money, usually. Time? Yes, of course. But the best ideas are those that come from new ways of doing what's already being done. It's a re-flavoring, a re-mixing, a re-turning.

This Saturday, Tamara and I will go to dinner with a man and his wife and discuss their store that they own here in Des Moines. He approached me after reading my strategy / innovation web site and told me right there that just from reading that, he wanted to write me a check. I asked him to wait until we discuss it all from the perspective of his family's business, but he's brimming with enthusiasm for innovation and greater profitability.

I have no clue how this will all turn out, but it's fascinating. And it reminds me of something I learned long ago...

It's about helping others, believing in them to achieve their dreams. At the end of the day, being a part of that journey is worth every step. Being paid for my time and ideas right now is not important. Joining people in their life's adventure is. If my work with them helps them succeed in a greater way, then a reward for me will work itself out and I'll be compensated for the value I helped to bring.

In the meantime, what a privilege to be able to stand with these brave people while they pour their souls into a dream they have...

When I was seventeen, I drove to my drummer's house. I don't know why I went there or what I had wanted to do with him, but he complained that he had to rake the yard. The yard was big and messy with autumn leaves.

So I offered to help him.

"My parents aren't going to pay you. You know that, right?"
"Dude, it doesn't matter. Let's just get it done. We can hang out that way."

Bewildered, he accepted my help and we spent the next five hours raking his yard - and laughing our asses off.

It's important to roll up our sleeves and jump in with others. Life is a hell of a lot more interesting and fun that way.

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BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 11/19/2009 12:50:44 AM
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