5 Reads from the Weekend

The Fourth of July weekend brought us fun, sun (especially in Arizona), and some time to catch up on some reading.

My five favorites from the weekend:

1.)  The Joy of Old Age. (No Kidding) - NY Times by Oliver Sacks.
2.)  The follow up from an ESPN Outside the Lines story of two Cleveland high school wrestlers, Dartaynon Crockett & Leroy Sutton, and the bond created with the producer of the original story, Lisa Fenn.  Video and article.
3.)  "Deal of the Day" from Randall Reinwasser of Solitude Canyon Investment Advisors.  Free T-shirt!!
4.)  From popular blogger and author James Altucher, Have an Adventure Today.
5.)  Mortgage markets rocked negatively on July 5, 2013.  What's really behind the job numbers?  NY Times - Jobs Data is Strong, But Not That Strong, Easing Fed Fears.  We'll see.

Until Next Time,

Craig Turley

NMLS #80917

CA-DOC 80917

AZ LO #0920382

Craig Turley is a mortgage and finance consultant.  He has over 19 years professional business, finance, and management experience as an entrepreneur and corporate executive.  Craig is a 1993 graduate of the University of Arizona with a degree in Business Administration, emphasis finance. 

 

Think Twice Before Making A Cash Donation to a Charity

Who says quality investigative journalism is dead?  

The Tampa Bay Times has been running a series which identified 50 of the worst charities and their boiler room solicitation tactics which has funneled almost $1 billion from the public under the ruse of helping the needy and sick.

From the TB Times:

ABOUT THIS SPECIAL REPORT

Across the nation, hundreds of charities take your donations in the name of cancer patients, dying children and homeless veterans. But the real beneficiaries are the charity founders themselves and the for-profit companies they pay to run boiler rooms that dial for dollars. To tell the stories of America’s worst charities, reporters reviewed thousands of charities and charted their finances going back a decade. These charities use deception, and in some cases outright lies, to persuade donors to give. Then they spend as much as 90 cents of every dollar raised to generate more donations. Regulators have proven powerless to stop the cycle of waste and deceit.

See which charities are in the top 50 worst here.

Read the brilliant work by the Tampa Bay Times and the non profit Center for Investigative Reporting in its entirety here.

In the wise words of a good friend of mine:  "It is wiser to donate your time to a charitable cause, not your dollars."

Until Next Time,

ct

Craig Turley is a mortgage and finance consultant.  He has over 19 years professional business, finance, and management experience as an entrepreneur and corporate executive.  Craig is a 1993 graduate of the University of Arizona with a degree in Business Administration, emphasis finance. 

H/T:  Barry Ritzhold

Coach Frosty

Best read of 2013.    

Uniquely Memorable
by Chuck Culpepper

He sometimes halted practice to have players spend five minutes gazing beyond the giant evergreens to Mount Rainier. He sometimes halted practice to have players go to other sporting fields and cheer on, say, the soccer team. He always halted two-a-day practices in August and instructed players to go help freshmen move into dormitories.

Did you know one of the most remarkable American coaches died on Friday? Did you know that Frosty Westering, who had 32 seasons at Pacific Lutheran without a losing record in any, who never mentioned playoffs or titles to his players but won four national championships and four runner-up finishes on two levels, died at 85 surrounded by his considerable family? Please know. Please, please know.

An airline pilot wrote to the university president. He wrote because the Pacific Lutheran presence on his airplane had taken a routine day and whipped it up into memorable. He wrote because Westering insisted his players respect other people's work. He wrote because that respect included rapt attention to the flight attendants, which in turn included a phenomenal sound that came when the players clicked their seat belts in unison.

He wrote because at the destination gate, the college football players had held back and lined up on two sides in a "go" tunnel so they could give high-fives to disembarking crew.

A janitor wrote to the university president. He wrote because when he came upon Pacific Lutheran's visiting locker room one postgame in Portland, he found the chairs lined up in impeccable order. He wrote because he found the floors and lockers completely free of the normal detritus. He found the place just about spotless.

(continue)


Until Next Time,

Craig Turley
NMLS 80917
480-385-1422


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