T-Smoove

Two Hillbillies from Kentucky walk into the local bar to wash the dust from their throats and grab a beer. They stand at the bar, drinking a beer and talking about current cattle prices. Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is eating a sandwich begins to cough. After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress.



One of the Hillbillies looks at her and says, "Kin ya swalla?"



The woman shakes her head no.



"Kin ya breathe?"



The woman begins to turn blue and shakes her head no.



The Hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up the back of her dress, yanks down her panties, and runs his tongue all over her butt cheeks in a circular motion. The woman is so shocked, that she has a violent spasm and the obstruction flies out of her mouth. As she begins to breathe again, the Hillbilly walks slowly back to the bar and takes a drink from his beer.



His partner says, "Ya know, I`d heard of that there "Hind Lick" maneuver, but I ain`t never seen nobody do it."









9-12-01

R.i.P love you pops



Business Matchmaking: Does it Really Work?

These small business owners share how your company may be able to take advantage of federal procurement opportunities

By Charlene Carter



RELATED ITEMS

Small Businesses Struggle For Contracts

Small businesses want what their larger counterparts have been enjoying for years: federal procurement opportunities. The Business Matchmaking Tour, sponsored by the Small Business Administration, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Hewlett Packard, aims to make that a reality. After the success of the pilot programs last year in Cleveland and Washington D.C., the Business Matchmaking Tour officially launched last March, making its first stop in Orlando.



According to SBA Administrator Hector Barreto, the tour was modeled after a similar program he helped develop with the Latino Business Association. The tour was introduced to offer small businesses the opportunity to meet with procurement officers in federal, state, and local government agencies--as well as large corporations.



Unlike other trade shows or conferences, Barreto says the entrepreneurs actually meet with the key people in charge of awarding contracts--appointments it would take them at least a year to set up if they could get them at all.



The program, which is expected to provide up to $1 billion in procurement contract opportunities, comes at a time when small businesses are battling to claim their share of the $200 billion investment that the federal government traditionally spends on products and services.



While the Bush administration has committed to providing small businesses with 23 percent of all federal contracts, recent reports by the Congress` General Accounting Office revealed that the mischaracterization of several large companies including Verizon and Dole, has overstated the Bush administration`s record of awarding government contracts to small businesses.



¿I don`t think that this has been a huge problem, but anytime that that happens we`re concerned about it. Now at these business matchmaking events, we`re having people provide us their information. That helps us to make sure that the only people that are really participating in this are small businesses,¿ Barreto said.



In June, the tour stopped in Chicago, where more than 70 buying organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of General Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, were represented--resulting in over 7,400 procurement appointments scheduled.



Marcus Mosley, president and CEO of M2 Media Marketing and Champs Doors & Windows, says the event gives you the opportunity to establish relationships with people that small business owners often don`t have access to.



He offers his experience at the Chicago event as an example. Prior to attending the event, Mosley submitted a bid for a contract with the Great Lakes Naval Base, through the Philadelphia Small Business Administration office, worth $250,000.



Unbeknownst to Mosley the Great Lakes Naval Base representative that he met with at the event, was the boss of the representative he turned his bid into. Mosley is now being considered for the job.



¿Fortunately when I was at the show I was able to meet individuals, the people who make things happen. And meeting those people has been beneficial,¿ Mosley said.



Also present at the Chicago event was Margaret Garner, President and CEO of Broadway Consolidated Group, who agrees.



¿There was just a level of commitment that I`ve never felt, and a level of synergy that I have not felt before at a conference,¿ Garner said, ¿There was a level of commitment to ensure the real opportunities were going to be developed,¿ Garner said.



Meeting with representatives from the U.S. Department of General Services, the Great Lakes Naval Base, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Garner says she has strong leads with all three, contracts each worth more than $1 million.



According to Barreto the tour has developed a following. ¿When we were in Florida, we had small businesses from 18 different states that flew or drove so they could be at this event,¿ Barreto said. He notes that the Chicago event brought entrepreneurs from as far as New Mexico.



The tour recently stopped through Birmingham, Alabama, where the SBA teamed up with the Black Chamber of Commerce. Other cities on the tour include Houston, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.



¿It is our intention to be in every part of the country before we`re all done,¿ Barreto says.



08/12/2003





YOUR MENTAL ATTITUDE DETERMINES WHAT SORT OF FRIENDS YOU ATTRACT.



If you want to be a positive, successful person, be sure you choose your friends carefully.Positive friends and role models will have a positive



effect upon you, while negative friends will soon kill your initiative. Donot allow yourself to be lulled into complacency by the masses who believe



mediocrity is an acceptable alternative. Focus on the possibilities for success, not the potential for failure. When you doubt yourself, talk the

situation over with a positive, supportive friend. Everyone needs a

boost now and again; make sure your friends are positive, success-oriented people who always build you up, not negative thinkers who always seem to find a way to tear you down