There are many methods by which salespeople can sell the products which provide revenue for their businesses, their clients, their employers and a myriad other entities dependent on their talents.

Firstly they will need to somehow draw attention to the fact they have a product to sell.

This part of the operation should be pretty straightforward and simple. For example, they can place an advertisement in a newspaper, magazine, radio, tv, signboards, car trunks, the sides of big and small trucks, on the sides of cargo ships, even on the internet. Everywhere we look , wherever we are , we will see advertising.

The fact that advertising is everywhere can be a problem in itself for salespeople looking for new ways to advertise. If advertising is everywhere, the people we wish to target could be so accustomed to seeing it, they no longer take any notice of it. This is where the clever advertiser makes a new opportunity. He knows he needs something to attract the attention of those of us who are bored with  the usual advertising techniques. For want of a better word, he needs, bait! Bait advertising is where a salesperson recognizes an item is either , rare, hard to find, expensive or otherwise highly sought after. He doesn’t need a large number of these items. One or two will be enough. He advertises the item at what he claims is a ridiculously low price, knowing that he will sell them quickly to the first couple of customers. If he priced them to produce a profit, that’s all good. Of course,  since he now has none of that product left, he will see that as a perfect opportunity to hike the price of the next lower grade item and make a killing, selling stuff he didn’t even advertise to the customers who came for the bait. Of course, the fact the product is a dud isn’t the salesman’s fault. The product advertised ran out of stock.

Another slick selling  method is “product bundling” . Selling low quality, hard to move or overpriced items by coupling them with one or more other products to make them appear more attractive . Of course, there are many variations of this practice and just as many side benefits , such as upselling more expensive substitutes for items which are “out of stock.”

The advent of the internet has opened an exciting  world of new advertising techniques. What better way to sell a product than by , “Word of Mouth” ?  One way of getting the opinions of former customers is the “Product Review”, or “forced recommendation”. It’s not uncommon these days, for a sales team to offer a new customer this wonderful way of telling the world he thinks the product he just bought is wonderful, the sales staff who sold it to him are terrific and the customer support guy who sorted out the mess made by the warehouse staff , is absolutely to die for. They even, usually, give that opportunity before the delivery is on it’s way to the customer.( But what’s a few days between friends?)

It appears the attitude of many sales staff towards customers today is that he/she is fair game and should be lied to, manipulated ,cajoled, pestered, cheated wherever possible and should never be told the truth. Why tell the truth when a good lie will sell the product and make everyone, ( except that pain in the ass customer), happy.

I was appalled at the shooting attack in Christchurch, New Zealand last week. Like most people, I am  horrified that someone could do such a thing to anyone , much less, to worshippers in a place of prayer. My prayers and my condolences go out to those who lost loved ones and respected members of their communities.

What is almost as appalling, to me,  is the way some influential people have used such a horrific event to grab some headlines for themselves. There are elections looming in Australia at this time , so obviously, our politicians are out there getting their names in the paper. I guess most people think that’s understandable because , after all, that’s what politicians do. World-wide, spokesmen and women have made their thoughts and feelings known about how they feel about terrorism , racism and  religious intolerance. For the most part , their comments have been kind and have shown some empathy.

There are some, however, who have sought to use this awful terrorist attack to forward their own interests. I was absolutely mortified to hear the comments from the Turkish president on the subject. I’m afraid, I can’t understand why he chose to attack Australians in his speeches. I don’t know how the citizens of Turkey view Australians but I’m extremely worried about any Australians who want to attend the annual Gallipoli commemorations next month, if the Turks , in any way, agree with their president. His rambling, almost incoherent speech about how he would be ready to send home any Australians who threatened him  or his country, “In boxes , the way his forefathers did in the first world war,” He alluded to that ill-fated First world  war battle at Gallipoli . It seems he would like people to believe that the Turks won that battle because they were a superior fighting force. They actually won it by default because the allied commanders  sent the attacking force to the wrong beach, forcing them to fight uphill in ridiculously steep terrain against a much larger force.

I’m wondering why  Mr Erdogan is using  video of the Christchurch Massacre to promote the view that Australians and others may be planning to attack him . Personally, I think that is a nutty idea. I’ve not heard or seen any evidence of Australians even disagreeing with Erdogan in anything but his recent crazy rants against peace-loving Australians. He’s even using video which world opinion has unilaterally condemned.  Even profit-hungry social media companies  have  removed it from their sites but Mr Erdogan continues to use it to try to foment hatred of a people he doesn’t have a clue about. I think we should treat this man with care and never underestimate the dangers of allowing  the ravings of people like him to cause mass hysteria.

Statements by Tony Abbott and John Howard about  former Archbishop of Melbourne and more recently the  treasurer of the Vatican, exemplify the attitudes they have toward the public who once voted for them.  Cardinal George Pell was convicted of 5 counts of child sex abuse including penetration of a child under the age of 16.  At the time of his conviction,in December 2018, the court system placed a gag order on the press so that Pell’s lawyers could secretly mount an appeal against the conviction and make preparations for his sentencing which will take place on March 29. Howard and Abbott both vehemently assert that Pell is a wonderful person and an exemplary character who is above reproach. I guess they also think he should be above the law. His lawyer stated yesterday that Pell’s crimes were really just minor issues and were at the lower end of the debauchery  scale ,certainly not worth all the media attention and public revulsion.

In most instances , in the real world, the  alleged perpetrator of such crimes will not be informed that he is being investigated until the moment he is arrested, handcuffed, charged and jailed.  They will then be dragged, handcuffed, into a court and indicted within days of the crime being reported. They will then be bound over, either in custody or on bail ,until a court date and if found guilty, held in custody till sentencing.

Pell was warned with plenty of notice that he was to be investigated and  continued to be allowed to preside over church matters  in Italy until public outcry demanded he be extradited to Australia for trial. He was flown first class to Melbourne and continued to act in his position as a Cardinal until his indictment.  During that period, he was allowed to take leave from his  church duties while he prepared a defence , whereas anyone else would be at least stood down, suspended or sacked. Today, for the first time , Pell has finally spent a night in jail, almost three months since he was convicted ,but he still hasn’t been sentenced?

It’s little wonder that a large section of our community has no respect for either the law or common decency when the former leaders of our country and the hierarchy of the most powerful church in the world believe it’s alright for the rich and powerful to abuse children. Even the Pope himself won’t take action against Pell because he believes doing so may influence the outcome of Pell’s sentencing and expected appeal. What about the victims of his crimes? Where is the shepherd of the flock in their hour of need?

Christian churches appear to be in serious trouble and are losing the support of their congregations because of the perception they are not transparent . The saga of Cardinal Pell will do nothing to repair that view.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton