Come and visit my company store!

https://www.zazzle.com/michaelsreeddesign

For a few years now, I have had an online store powered by Zazzle.

Let's see if we can get 500 people to at least visit this store.

I have merchandise for sale on it. It's great stuff and backed by Zazzle. Much of it has my logo on it. I think it's a great logo. It's the one I've used for something in the neighborhood of 25 years.

Drop by and take a look. You look like you could use a T-shirt or a coffee mug.

https://www.zazzle.com/the_i_love_arizona_t_shirt-235225397049067212

https://www.zazzle.com/the_keep_calm_t_shirt-235338229181687269

Also, if you click on the banner below and buy anything at Zazzle, I get a credit for the referral.

A Quora question: "How can Republicans connect with the African American community?"

Here is my answer to a question which was posted on Quora. I may not have been on this blog for a long time, but I HAVE been posting various responses on Quora. It's one of the BEST sites on the internet and I have learned a LOT about various perspectives on various issues.

https://www.quora.com/How-can-we-as-Republicans-connect-with-the-African-American-community/answer/Michael-Sheldon-Reed

I am a Black liberal, and have been for the last few years after considering myself “moderate” during my early adulthood. This is because I personally faced a lot of hardship and adversity that “conservative” policies simply could not adequately address - and this was not counting a childhood spent basically on food stamps (and later in foster care), but AFTER receiving a college degree and entering the workforce. (And, I might add, also being perfectly qualified for the workforce, including from a “culture” and “employability” standpoint.)

I will always believe that the best solutions for the issues America (and the world) faces come from the left side of the aisle/spectrum. I will always vote for true liberals and leftists, and I’m becoming less inclined to support even centrists and those who want “middle ground.”

That said, if Republicans want to broaden their support outside of the rather tiny percentage of Black Americans who identify as conservative:

1) Renounce “white supremacy” once and for all and actually help eradicate it.Aggressively prosecute and imprison domestic terrorists who attack ethnic minorities simply for being alive - or threaten to do so. This includes white supremacists who have infiltrated our law enforcement agencies. Reject people in your party who hold such views and let them know they will not be allowed to hold positions of authority, or public office, with those views.

2) Actually accept and acknowledge that America rightfully belongs to Black people just as much as it does anyone else - and base ALL your policy decisions on that. Vet ALL your potential candidates - from county dog catcher to POTUS - based on that. Do not deny ANY American the right to cast their vote for the candidate of their choice. This means no gerrymandering, no voter suppression, and restoring civil rights, including voting rights, to ex-offenders who served their time.

2a) This also means America actually starts to find a way to accept and integrate the “tired, poor and huddled masses yearning to breathe free” instead of calling them, and treating them like, “criminals” and “animals”. Give people (including non-white people) from other lands the right to come to our country and become proud and productive Americans. And give meaningful and REAL solutions to underdeveloped parts of the world so those people have a greater chance to have a decent life in their own countries.

3) Stop your unrestrained idolization of the “free market.” There IS a place for a government of “We The People” to work on behalf of ALL Americans. And the corporate and business sector DOES need to be held significantly and dramatically MORE accountable than it is right now.

4) Allow for a free and fair journalistic profession that has the full legal, social and financial freedom to report truthful and accurate news, that holds the powerful accountable, without fear or favor.

Dusting this blog off

Man, it's been a long time since I've posted.

In the last two years, my job went very well and I moved to two separate apartments in Mesa, an eastside suburb of Phoenix (southeast suburban, to be exact).

The biggest thing that has happened to me in the last six months:

Dealing with a major medical issue.

I was hospitalized (Banner Desert Medical Center here in Mesa) for a week (end of January and early February). I had a doctor's appointment but at the last minute decided to call the advice nurse for my insurance plan - she suggested I go to the ER based on how I was feeling.

For some time prior I was getting very, very, very tired and had trouble breathing sometimes. I went to urgent care the weekend before Christmas with a nagging cough and was given medication for acute bronchitis. At the end of taking this medication, I noticed significant swelling in my lower legs and ankles. It was very difficult to fit in my shoes.

Long story short, I was diagnosed with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (similar to heart failure but apparently not exactly). Several ultrasounds, x-rays, etc were performed on me while I was in the hospital, and I was immediately placed on a few medications. My condition can be managed with medication, diet changes and exercise and I was put on a plan in that regard. When I was discharged, they sent me home with a device called the LifeVest which is a wearable defibrillator. If it detects an abnormal heartbeat, it will start to initiate a treatment unless I am conscious and tell the device to cancel it.

When I was discharged from the hospital, I would still get somewhat tired easily and it was hard for me to walk a block or two without having to rest.

As I kept taking my beta-blocker medication (carvedilol or Coreg as it is known) for all these weeks, my strength and stamina pretty much returned to about 95% of what it was by early March. I try to do at least 15-20 minutes of walking each day. I have been going to medical appointments on the bus, doing a little shopping sometimes, and briefly did a cardiac rehab exercise program, where I went three times a week to the hospital's rehab clinic and did treadmill and stationary bike exercises and lifting free weights. I had to cancel that because I knew I was going to lose my health insurance before long and would not be able to afford to go any longer.

In late March I was informed that my job (and department) with my employer (the State of Arizona) was being eliminated. Fortunately, I was approved for short-term disability benefits and that kept me going all this time.

In the middle of June, as part of the treatment program, I received an ICD (basically a pacemaker that can also give a defibrillator therapy treatment if needed) at Banner Heart Hospital. They kept me overnight for observation. I have spent the last couple of weeks recovering from the surgical procedure and limiting arm movements on my left side (where the incision was done). Thankfully this was completed right before my medical coverage expired (I was not able to pay the full cost of the premiums since the State stops paying their part after employees have been absent for a long time). I sent the LifeVest back to the manufacturer.

I was medically cleared to return to work the final week of June. At that time, the State of Arizona put me back on a paid status for a three-week period (to accumulate a severance), which I'm in the middle of right now, and then they will officially terminate my employment (as my position has been eliminated after 3 1/2 years).

My plans are to take a complete distribution of the funds on account of my state pension. This will give me the ability to keep the rent payments going during the fall months, while I look for another job. If those funds run out before I am hired somewhere, I should have no issues qualifying for unemployment benefits, and my renter's insurance has a benefit to supplement the payment of rent for two months as long as I am on unemployment.

It will likely take a couple of months for me to find a new job and I probably should be careful not to get a job that's overly stressful. I will be looking at call center work because graphic design is a "young man's game" and I'm not confident I'll find anything out there that matches the skills I have and the skills I'm willing to maintain.

I will try and update this blog and keep everyone aware as I continue this journey.

I hope your 2015 is better than mine

I haven't posted here for a while, so here for your perusal is my year-end recap.

2014 has been an up-and-down year for me.

I began the year in the final days of a high-paying yet stressful temp job with international package delivery company DHL, doing telephone customer service at their call center in Tempe. After that was over in January, I became homeless again by February, and by the middle of March, thanks to the temp agency, I was soon holding down another temp customer service job while sleeping at night on a vinyl mat in a run-down shelter. The mat turned into two separate hotel rooms (more than that if you count the times I had to change rooms at the first facility - which I had to leave altogether because it was shut down in early May as a result of damage from a nasty fire at the used oil business in back of the hotel - it has not reopened).

Things were going relatively fine (from about the beginning of May, I was paying for the Friendship Inn, each week, in downtown Phoenix in a cool "retro" room) until I was laid off from the University of Phoenix call center in late August. Once again, I found myself homeless - but I did try and prepare for the worst by having applications for other jobs in the works. In late September, I interviewed for, and was hired as, a Digital Imaging Specialist at the State of Arizona's Library, Archives and Records department. That job is going quite well, the work is fun and interesting, the people are nice, and the pay is relatively excellent, but it is only a part-time position, meaning there is ZERO money left over to get an apartment - and what's more, the Men's Outreach Shelter (MOS), where I have returned to sleep each night on, you guessed it, that same vinyl mat, was ordered to shut down by March 31 for lack of funding to bring the building (a run-down brick and stucco dump that really should have been replaced 20 years ago) up to code. (See the article: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/12/25/county-may-close-phoenix-homeless-shelters/20904607/) Maricopa County seems reluctant to get a replacement facility up and running as the official position is that shelters don't end homelessness - yet there is a huge lack of adequate funding to place all who want housing into an apartment. Something doesn't quite make sense about that. Either put people into apartments, or build a new temporary shelter. Phoenix and Maricopa County cannot in good conscience leave people to fend for themselves on the street - at least the people who need a "leg up" to be self-sufficient and productive citizens.

I am trying to investigate my options for subsidized housing. There are "rapid re-housing" programs supposedly available, that people around the Human Services Campus tell me they are being hooked up with left and right. I am told by some that I may not qualify, others tell me I should qualify, so I will keep being persistent. I sent a letter to the director of Central Arizona Shelter Services a couple of weeks ago asking for intervention in the matter, and met with two of the shelter's top officials, who promised to at least look into some assistance for me. I also sent a similar letter to the CEO of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee. You see, Phoenix is hosting the Super Bowl this year, the big event is coming up VERY fast, and the city is no doubt freaking out that the "homeless problem," exacerbated by the MOS situation (they are required to turn away more and more guys each month in advance of the shutdown) will have a negative impact on the touri$$$$$t$$$$. (I copied the mayor of Phoenix and some members of Phoenix city council on these emails).

If something doesn't happen, and soon, it may not be possible for me to keep this excellent job I have found as we draw closer to the time that MOS closes down.

In the meantime, I have applied for unemployment benefits and I'm very hopeful this part-time job with the state will turn into a full-time job. (I'm also keeping my marketing efforts for Michael Sheldon Reed Design somewhat alive on Twitter and LinkedIn.)

What do I want most for 2015? Seven clients (early stage startups) to design brand identity systems for. My business model puts me as somewhat of an investor in the startup in exchange for my creative genius. I am getting some interest on Twitter and will keep pushing. Once the clients start coming in, things will get much better for me very quickly.

I hope your 2015 is a lot better than my 2014. Or yours.

Homeless again

Tomorrow, I will be homeless again, for the third time in the last two years.

As I have indicated on this blog, I was fortunate enough to have regular employment from March until this past Wednesday (August 20), when the assignment came to an end. That employment made it possible for me to leave the homeless facility where I was staying for about two months. The job was a temporary assignment in a call center with no guarantee of permanent hire. I was given the opportunity to apply for a permanent position in another area of the same call center but was not selected after an initial phone interview.

I am currently staying in an extended stay hotel and pay by the week, so there is no lease. Because my week is up tomorrow morning, I must check out.

In the past five years (since 2009), I have been homeless four times, because I have voluntarily quit a job and was unable to find other employment in time to keep paying rent on where I was living at the time. In the process, during this five-year span, I relocated from Phoenix to Austin, Austin to Houston, and from Houston back to Phoenix.

This time is different. With the position I left, I was employed, and performing at a satisfactory level, but asked to leave due to overstaffing and a business need to reduce headcount, and was told all along that there was no guarantee of permanent hire. The managers were not happy to see me leave but indicated that the situation was unavoidable.

I am cautiously optimistic about my chances of securing another job - but it may again be a process that could take 2-3 months or longer depending upon the economy and demand for employees here in Phoenix.

I am also still promoting my services as an independent graphic design/branding consultant, offering unique brand identity solutions for startups and small businesses. That process will continue regardless of the immediate situation.

I did go on a job interview today. The manager noted that I was probably overqualified for the position, but was gracious enough to offer to pass my name along to another company where she indicated an opening may come up soon. She also agreed to keep me under consideration in case she was not happy with her other applicants.

Bottom line: I should not have to face homelessness just because I am unemployed. The so-called "safety net" does not work for people in my situation, because of the means testing and other requirements that are difficult to easily meet. For example: I would like to apply for food stamps, but in order to do so I would need documentation that my income has actually ended. That might be problematic because the job was through an employment agency that I am still actively registered with. Theoretically, the agency could call tomorrow and say "please report to this new assignment." So I am a little reluctant to even apply for food stamps.

What America MUST implement - NOW - is a guaranteed basic income. Over the past few months, I have become convinced beyond any possible doubt that a guaranteed basic income is a huge step and a major solution to the problem of poverty in this country.

1. A guaranteed basic income would be a more effective replacement for other welfare programs such as food stamps, Section 8, SSI and others.
2. A guaranteed basic income would preserve people's ability to support themselves in the face of job loss or inability to find work. Increased productivity WILL make many jobs obsolete, and this is already happening.

A guaranteed basic income need not add to the tax burden. It can be paid for through the use of interest-free United States Notes, NOT tied to the "fractional reserve" system, and NOT canceled after they have been spent. United States Notes can be "backed" by the full faith and credit of the United States, as well as by the quantifiable productive capacity of business and industry.

A guaranteed basic income, paid for with interest-free United States Notes, can stimulate the economy, reduce or even eliminate poverty, and have little to no adverse impact on the national debt, the budget deficit or the rate of inflation. In fact, the deficit may actually decrease as economic activity is stimulated by direct injection of millions of dollars of these interest-free United States Notes into the economy.

Along with other reforms, such as single-payer healthcare, college tuition benefits, and minimum wage reform, a guaranteed basic income would keep me, and others like me, from having to again deal with 1) having no permanent home and 2) having no permanent job.

Our nation, including our political leaders, must make the guaranteed basic income a national priority. It is the modern, efficient and common sense way to solve MANY problems, and reduce or even eliminate poverty. Eliminating poverty will in turn reduce the crime rate and reduce so many other problems in our nation related to that.

Let's work on really ending poverty in our nation. We have the tools to do this NOW. All we lack is the national political will.

As we move into summer...

I haven't posted here for a while, so I thought I would provide an update.

1. My call center job seems to be going fairly well. The quality assurance standards are a little on the "nit-picky" side, but as they seem to place a far higher priority on good attendance (no lateness or absences), I'm not terribly worried as far as that goes. Because of the Memorial Day holiday, I worked a schedule where I had 10-hour days for the four working days this week, as I am not eligible for holiday pay. What a grind! Very tired this weekend as a result. Also, the initial 90-day period for the temp assignment is coming shortly to a close. No word yet on whether or not the assignment will be extended, but the call center is gearing up for August, which I am told is by far the "busy season", and they hired about 20 new agents this month, which seems to indicate my services might still be very much needed.

2. I am still in Friendship Inn, paying by the week. It's not really possible to save to move into an apartment unless I get a huge infusion of cash to cover move-in costs somewhere, and I want to wait until I find out more about my employment situation before I even worry about this. Weekly rent is scheduled to go up next week, by how much I do not know, so I will need to see if staying at Friendship Inn is still even possible going forward. This time next week I could be in a different hotel.

3. My activity on my msreeddesign Twitter feed has increased dramatically in the last two weeks. This has been very encouraging as far as my ongoing plans to make a living at graphic design without working for some other company as an employee. I renewed my self-promotional efforts and focused on retweeting tweets about startups, giving selected tweets promoting my design and brand identity work, and focused also on adding followers from the startup and entrepreneurial community; this is my target audience for clients. I went from about 20 followers at the beginning of May to almost 300 at this writing. I am using tools such as Buffer and Twuffer to automate my tweets at strategic times in the day. I think if I keep this up through the summer I might actually land a few clients. Because of this, I have switched focus to this Twitter feed, and de-emphasizing my activity on LinkedIn, which seems to be losing its effectiveness as a promotional tool for me.

4. I will focus this weekend on my personal Twitter account and comment on social and political issues. I have become a huge advocate of a guaranteed minimum income as a means to eliminate poverty, and funded by means of the issuance of debt-free US Treasury notes that recirculate in the economy rather than being canceled as is the case with the current Federal Reserve Notes. If such a "Social Credit"-type system was implemented, and debt-free money injected at a massive rate into the economy to finally jump-start consumer spending, our recession would literally be canceled. The only people in the workforce would be those who truly wanted to work (as opposed to those who "needed" a job to keep a roof over their head or to keep food on the table); employers would compete for the best talent still available AND automate those functions where having a human being was no longer cost-effective or needed.

How to fix the economy: my new thoughts

In a society that has the capacity - and potential - to fully produce, domestically, everything we need for basic survival - food, clothing, housing and transportation - at minimal cost, there is simply and utterly no excuse for scarcity. There must be a commitment to rethink and redefine our society as a culture of abundance and NOT a culture of scarcity. We CAN afford it and we MUST afford it.

How do we get the ability to afford it?

We must redesign and reform the financial system so that it actually works for the citizenry, for the people.

These ideas are based on the following previously published ideas:

• The $25000 per year stipend by Marshall Brain (the man behind the "How Stuff Works" website and books)
• The "Cook Plan" and the "Gaia Plan" by author and researcher Richard C. Cook
• The "Social Credit" movement

There should be new, mandatory state banks chartered and established in the 49 states that do not yet have one, modeled after the highly successful Bank of North Dakota, backed by the full faith and credit of each state, and by extension, the federal government. Each state, and all cities and counties therein, would be required by law to deposit all of its revenues in the state bank. Interest and profits are returned to the state government and to the local economy. Each state bank would deposit up to 5% of all its revenues in the US Treasury.

The primary new medium of exchange can be a a debt-free currency issued by each state bank. For the sake of convenience and discussion, I will refer to this new currency by an old, historic name: the greenback.

- This should eventually be done through a nationalized Federal Reserve under direct control of the United States Treasury with the existing Federal Reserve Notes transitioning into debt-free federal Treasury greenbacks

- State-issued greenbacks shall be accepted as legal tender and payment for:
- Basic necessities as food, clothing, housing and transportation
- Other uses such as leisure/business travel; books/magazines/movies; sporting events; Internet access; cable/satellite TV/radio
- Prohibitions and/or restrictions on other uses such as gaming/lottery, alcoholic beverages, tobacco and drugs

- Credit unions (NOT commercial banks) can be affiliates of the state bank for purposes of disbursement of the dividend but...
- US Postal Service shall be the primary issuer of greenback deposit accounts/debit cards as part of its service to the public
- Businesses would then deposit the greenbacks in the state bank, NOT commercial banks. Businesses would be required to keep a certain percentage of greenbacks on deposit to help capitalize low-cost/low-interest public/community lending by the state bank (and again, credit unions can be affiliates of the state bank to issue the low-cost/low-interest public/community loans).
- State-issued greenbacks shall have unconditional reciprocal acceptance as legal tender in all 50 states and all US territories and possessions
- Greenbacks can be completely virtual currency with no paper printed if so desired, just deposited on existing debit cards
- Banks/credit unions/card issuers cannot take more than 3% of dividend as direct fees for account service
- US Postal Service cannot take more than 1% of dividend as direct fees for account service
- Greenbacks CANNOT be traded like a commodity

- Federal taxes collected on greenback purchases shall be converted into conventional US dollars to pay necessary taxes, and also for debt/deficit reduction, and state and municipal taxes shall be deposited into the state banks for capitalization of the greenbacks
                    - It may be possible to reduce or eliminate taxation eventually

How is the greenback paid for? What is it backed by?
- Value of the greenbacks is pegged to the value of the US dollar at date of adoption by the first state that uses it, and all states agree to that value, which is frozen and set indefinitely. It is then matched 1:1 by the determined value of goods and services existing, as well as an equivalent level of production of new goods and services within the physical economy. This can be accurately determined and tracked; because of this the greenback cannot inflate.
- We have a surplus of productivity and goods in society
- No bank interest charges shall ever be added
- New greenbacks are issued as the need arises; the potential need can be quantified and tracked
- Once created a greenback remains in circulation because it never gets canceled as loans now do
- Any surplus greenbacks are held as surplus savings to eventually be released and redistributed

What can the greenbacks be used to pay for?
Any usage deemed reasonable, beneficial and necessary by the people.
- Guaranteed minimum income
- Single-payer healthcare
- Low-interest community loans
- Public transit infrastructure
- Complete funding for construction and operation of schools, colleges, universities, libraries
- Funding for certain operations of US Postal Service

Impact:

The "Great Recession" will end within one year because of the massive economic stimulus. Consumer spending shall skyrocket to levels not seen in years. Demand for goods and services will skyrocket. The greenback can quite literally eliminate poverty if used responsibly and never tied to the interest-based fractional reserve system that has bogged down and ceased its effectiveness for the public good.

--------------------

Ways to spend the greenback and fix the economy:

1. Guaranteed minimum income:
- $29,500 mandatory annual lifetime dividend to every adult US citizen beginning at age 18, payable without any other conditions or means testing
- non-taxable (except when buying taxable items)
- to completely replace SNAP, UI, EITC, Section 8, Social Security which are actually piecemeal, stop-gap, "Band-Aid" measures that are ineffective to end poverty

2. Abolish minimum wage BUT:
Implement major labor/workplace reform
- Require mandatory reduction of standard workweek from 40 to 32 hours
- require mandatory collective bargaining across all industries every two years with an agreement on basic wages.
- These will help discourage downward pressure on wages.
- Wages paid in either greenbacks or conventional, existing dollars that can be deposited in the same account as the dividend
- Banks/credit unions cannot take more than 3% of wages as fees for account service


Impact:
Companies may hire fewer workers, but will not totally cut back.
- Because of the GMI dividend, those people who truly do not want to be in the workforce, or who cannot for any reason, can safely drop out of the job market without risk of losing income to pay for basic needs.
- Base wages may initially come down sharply to compensate for dividend but...
- Companies that want to attract the best workers will need to keep base wages relatively high in relation to the guaranteed income dividend.
- This will be critical to keep service sector going in the face of increased consumer spending and demand.
- Companies will compete with one another to attract and retain the most qualified candidates.
- Some jobs will be permanently replaced or consolidated through increased efficiency/automation via machines and software.
- Some companies will eliminate certain positions altogether if they cannot find suitable talent at a price acceptable to their needs and business models.
- Some of the most unnecessary jobs (i.e. telemarketing) will eventually disappear for lack of demand on both employer and worker sides.
- Productivity will actually increase as technology makes it possible to produce the same amount of goods and services, if not more, with fewer workers, and fewer materials at the same or lower overall cost, with no decrease in quality.