gofer articles

GSM smart phones are the most widely used in the entire world. Reports suggest that the typical comprises some 80% of all cell phones in use around the globe. And while GSM cell phones are a all-pervasive feature of 1st world countries, it is their presence in far less “civilized” areas that best demonstrates the reach and influence of current communications.

Picture Somalia: a substantial, desert country on the eastern horn of Africa which for the past 20 years has been wracked through civil war and famine. Bombed out bullet riddled cities dot the barren landscape where for thousands of years, nomads have roamed the desert herding goats as well as camels across hundreds of miles from pastures in the rainy season to sell in the dry period. Even practical measures of distance here do not adhere to the metric or imperial conditions used by the rest of the world.

Nomad determine distance simply by units referred to as a Gedi: the distance a browsing herd animal could travel in a single day, which changes every season relying on the physical strength of each herd. Even working automobiles are rare here, not to mention something sophisticated as a GSM cellular phone. Yet the simple application of GSM cell phones, which we under western culture have long taken for granted, has proven unbelievably practical to this nomadic way of life.

For decades, Somali herdsmen have followed an annual pattern. At the end of the year as soon as the dry season comes, they migrate from the more fertile fields elsewhere in the country, across the desert, to coastal cities where they can promote their stock in the markets to traders from the Middle East and elsewhere. Keeping their animals in pens in the cities while they organize a sale is incredibly costly, as they will have to continue to feed and water their herd with stores provided for by local merchants at obscene rates. They have no alternative. However, GSM cell phones have granted them to forego this process.

A Somali nomad, a man wearing hand sewn clothes that he has probably worn for almost all of his life, carrying a staff in the traditional posture – horizontally over his shoulders, his arms resting atop – a person who sleeps using a mat of thatched grass under the stars, beside a fire he constructed himself, can now merely make a phone call and organize the sale of his herd ahead of time. Instead of lingering in the city for several days, expending what meager wealth he has on sustaining his herd there, hoping his sale can get back his losses and also turn a profit, he can now simply set up to have a buyer prepared for him the instant he arrives. Such high technology might appear incredibly out of place in Somalia, but it’s application is perfectly suited to the needs of a nomad.

As popular as the team is, it’s an open question whether Dallas Cowboys merchandise would have been as popular as they are without the equally legendary Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. These ladies aren’t just any ol’ football cheerleading squad members, but make up a veritable franchise in themselves.

No less than two made-for-TV movies have appeared about them, not to mention any number of Dallas Cowboys merchandise bearing their likeness somewhere on the product! For when you think of Texas football, you think the Cowboys – and when you think Cowboys, you think of their cheerleaders.

Sure the die-hard fan may prefer his Dallas Cowboys clock “straight-up” but several others who aren’t so hard-core would most likely welcome a shot of the cheerleaders illustrating their fan merchandise! No other collection of young ladies so epitomize the American woman: young, fun, and fit; spirited; glamorous; intelligent.

Yes, regardless of the voyeurism involved these beauties know how to comport themselves and market themselves. Team try-outs obviously concentrate on athleticism and physical beauty but as spokesmodels for the team a good amount of social savvy and hence intelligence is required, too.

The only other set of girls that have left such a deep impression on popular culture worldwide would have to be Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Bunnies. Interestingly, the Cowboys’ cheerleading squad actually started out mixed, with both males and females, as was high school and collegiate football tradition.

And indeed, it was local high school students that actually made up the squad back in the 1960s. In 1969, however a deliberate attempt was made to raise in-game attendance by offering only female cheerleaders whose routines were unlike those prevalent at school games. By 1972, all cheerleaders were over the age of eighteen as their moves became increasingly much more like sexy dance routines.

A wealthy man like Zalman Silber is broadly applauded for making a lot of money and giving it away. From a certain perspective, that is the best of all worlds, to be a winner in life with access to the world’s luxuries while also doing good: to be admired for one’s material achievements as well as spiritual aspirations.

Yet for all the Zalman Silbers of the world, there is a world of difference between being and having. Many misconstrue having with being – the more they have, the bigger they are, as if a better person is produced by ever more goods. Yet real good comes about not from possession – or, even, good works – but from being, true being.

It is a hard thing to fully grasp, as most of us take life very much for granted. We imagine that to be is the simplest thing in the world – but we discount our own humanity in supposing that, plant-like, all we need is some light and water and we are all that we can be.

No, not even having a beachfront mansion with a helicopter out front and a yacht out back on your very own island makes you all that you can be. To be fully human, we must also understand deprivation, fear, want – we must experience life in all its totality.

We must empathize. For the act of empathy makes us most human – the exercise of our imaginations, the use of our unique ability to almost literally put ourselves in another’s stead.

And hence the distinction between being and having. One sees this very clearly in a classroom, even in college, where most students scribble away furiously, taking down notes as the professor speaks. Yet how much are they really retaining if half their brains are busy recording what was said instead of being fully engaged in what is said?

Full undivided attention means just that. It is the total direct no-holds-barred personal experience of what is going on, what is being said – and what that means in all its implications. In the act of note-taking, however, one is necessarily forever playing “catch up,” with a significant amount of one’s attention focused on the act of recording – and editing, moreover: a necessarily “distancing” set of behaviors.

It is as if these students believe that the very having of some notes of the lecture constitutes knowledge itself – literally having knowledge – while the fact of the matter is that one best knows, most completely knows, in the direct experiencing of what is to be known.

This direct experience does not come from notes hastily jotted in a strobe light-like manner. It comes from being fully in the moment, as opposed to standing outside of it recording.

With media attention typically focused on foreclosed homeowners, this article will take a brief look to consider the effect on homebuilders such as Isaac Toussie.

Embittered homeowners who have been foreclosed upon have taken to trashing the premises before getting kicked out, with anecdotal estimates by real estate agents putting the number of such vandalized properties at up to one half of all such units. But given all the media coverage of foreclosed homeowners, it’s time to take a look now at how the same crisis is affecting homebuilders like Isaac Toussie. After all, many of the small-time businessmen had to take out loans in order to finance their housing developments. Of course, there are no such developers out on the street, and their cases, unfortunate in themselves, are not anywhere near comparable to that of homeowners who have nowhere to go at all. But it’s intriguing to see how things can turn out for businessmen and women caught up in the same economic typhoon, and how reactions can differ – or not.

For example, many small homebuilders have had to dip into personal savings just to keep their companies afloat, a familiar situation to many homeowners. Buyers were disappearing with cash deposits of several thousand left on the table, proof that local residential property markets had turned ice-cold. Even more unfortunately, many homebuilders have proceeded since then to file for bankruptcy protection, with vast sums owed not only to their lenders but also their subcontractors and workers. But still worse yet, these small-time builders have often financed their businesses with so-called recourse debt which allows banks to seize homes, cars, and other personal assets in case of default – again, quite a familiar scenario comparable to that faced by many homeowners.

Such predicaments have increased and are now considered commonplace across the country. Many a builder has been left with unsold units and land, falling behind on interest payments and facing foreclosures. And in a very bad sign of the extent of the destruction involved, even very large homebuilders are in trouble, with legendary builders such as Levitt & Sons, founders of Levittown, New York on Long Island, famous for epitomizing postwar suburbia, forced into bankruptcy like some small unlucky start-up.

It’s gotten so bad that once solid partnerships and friendships have frayed as an every-man-for-himself mentality creeps into the proceedings. Contractors and subcontractors have had to take out liens on the property they build in order to protect themselves. And it is in this regard that the experiences of homeowners and homebuilders differ: the latter have almost no hope of any governmental assistance whatsoever, despite being affected by the same subprime mortgage industry shenanigans that’s made owning a home so suddenly onerous.

Legal Disclaimer: Be advised that such information as has been presented so far only constitutes mere opinion and should under no circumstances be misconstrued for professional advice of any kind whatsoever! Always consult those properly licensed and/or otherwise qualified when it comes to making business decisions of any financial importance.

Surgical masks are most often worn by health professionals, but in several Asian countries they are worn simply as a way of protecting oneself from the smog, a common issue in that part of the world. Asians also wear surgical masks when sick in order to not infect anyone else. Interestingly, such a basic everyday thing is involved in one of the most uncanny of popular legends in Japan.

Kuchisake Onna, or “slit-mouthed woman” in Japanese, was originally a extremely gorgeous woman whose jealous husband cut her mouth from ear to ear, taunting, “Who will think you are beautiful now!” Ever since then, on foggy nights, she can be seen roaming around in a surgical mask. When she encounters somebody, normally youth, she will shyly inquire whether the individual thinks she is beautiful.

If the response is yes, Onna will take off her surgical mask and ask, “How about now?” Different versions of the legend give different outcomes if the answer remains affirmative, all bad: she will either cut the person from ear to ear to resemble herself or kill the person – or both – or, inexplicably, give a large blood-soaked ruby and walk away.

Different versions of this tale offer for the same general set of options even if the original answer had been negative – mutilation or murder. Basically, meeting Kuchisake Onna is bad luck. However, a lot more modern versions these days advise that responding “You’re average” or “So-so” or even asking her what she thinks of one’s own beauty will turn the tables on her and confuse her, providing an opportunity to escape.

And, in one of those only-in-Japan kind of things, there’s even the tactic of simply informing her that you must be on your way, so as to embarrass her for forgetting her manners and making her excuse herself from your presence!

After the unpleasant, fiery tailspin the world economy has dropped into, a growing number of people have been forced to depend upon credit when under ideal situations they wouldn’t have, leading to many people suffering harsh blows to their credit score because they are simply not in a position to effectively use credit, but are left with no other choice. As such, a credit score increase is much sought after by a great many people suffering from credit card debt. Especially if given the attention to that matter immediately can make it easier for credit repair.

Credit score, being a numerical measure of one’s potential and skills in handling and repaying credit, is important for any large financial decisions in one’s life. For example buying a house, or a vehicle, or applying for various loans all necessitate a decent credit score, given that these are purchases very, very few people can afford in one down payment (or in the case of loans, obviously can’t manage, otherwise there is simply zero reason to apply for one). However, people with bad credit scores – who are generally in that situation to begin with because of financial difficulty – are often not able to acquire these things, which sometimes are even necessary for them to improve their financial situation, resulting in a sticky catch-22 that is very difficult to escape. Therefore, for people with bad credit it is essential to make efforts towards a credit score increase.

It takes a lot of hard work and time to net a credit score increase – sometimes as long as ten years before a substantial credit score increase can resurrect one from financial ruin. And in spite of the incompetence and irresponsibility previously required to sink that low in America’s strong economy of the 1990s, many people just can’t afford it in an economic climate that has so suddenly and rapidly declined. To make any significant credit score increase one must rigorously apply oneself to a carefully outlined financial discipline that will allow them to consistently and decisively pay off debt and use credit to their advantage.

Because everyone lives a different lifestyle, in different circumstances, in different economic environments (which differ drastically across various states and parts of the country), there is no one set method that will apply to everyone. And because many people are entangled in such fiscal disarray worsened by a assortment of factors (dependents, income, taxes, housing expenses, etc), the task of increasing one’s credit score may seem very complicated.

Fortunately, there are companies and services whose sole design is to help people improve their credit. Using their specialized understanding of the esoteric world of finance unavailable to those who live outside the Wall Street Journal and CNBC’s Mad Money, these companies apply their skills to your particular situation for a modest fee that is far outweighed by the sheer amount of debt you can erase, thus making a respectable credit score increase.

Many sufferers swear by their arthritis pain relief gel for helping make their aches bearable, if not disappear altogether! Arthritis is really a really serious debilitating condition that has no scientifically proven cure right now, although research proceeds apace in laboratories around the world.

The arthritis pain relief gel is one of the most popular of non-prescription items sold nowadays, although the ailment has over a hundred different forms – that’s right, over one hundred variations of arthritis exist, though the most common types are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and septic arthritis.

In all likelihood no single arthritis pain relief gel will work on all forms, but anecdotal evidence suggests that some kinds are much better than others. Also, though the symptoms of pain are the result of joint inflammation, variations do exist that may factor into the efficacy of any treatment plan.

Ultimately, prevention is better than cure, and while it appears that certain forms for instance rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis might not be entirely preventable, one’s own individual risks can be reduced through such means as being physically active, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining a healthy weight.

Arthritis is a mysterious disease that afflicts not only human beings but other animal life-forms as well: evidence of ankle, or kaki, arthritis has even been discovered in dinosaurs! And scientists believe that arthritis was the most common ailment of prehistoric man, with a wealth of empirical data from mummies and other remains pointing to its prevalence.

In our own day, up to seventy percent of those over the age of 65 could be affected, most of whom are women. The disease has usually been predominant among the elderly, though children can also be affected in some cases. Close to one million persons are annually admitted because of the life-altering challenge that is arthritis.

When most people consider the idea of funding money, whether applying for a grant or a loan or what have you, they typically first look at applying for such a service from their bank. Nevertheless, sometimes due to adverse conditions or a general distrust of banks or official lending institutions, people seek alternative financing from other sources, some of them a little less than legal, whether a normal loan or small business loan.

Some people in dire need of quick cash, often times because of financial irresponsibility, are simply unable to go to banks who will outright refuse a loan due to their client being too high of a risk. Earlier in history, most banks preferred not to grant small loans because those in search of them were considered to be irresponsible for putting themselves in whatever circumstance first necessitated a small loan. Needing alternate financing to help cover other debts or expenses depending on their specific circumstances, they will often seek help from a figure who has been around for as long, or perhaps longer than there have been banks: The loan shark.

Loan sharks are an unofficial source of alternative financing who will loan money at very high interest rates, normally coercing repayment out of their borrowers by means of violence, threats of violence, or blackmail. In the United States, loan sharks first became a popular fixture in major cities during the 19th century, when illegal money lending was a mere misdemeanor and they were able to operate openly out of offices.

Those looking for alternative financing would go about signing a contract which, though appearing very official, had no legal binding by any means and instead served only as a means for the lender to potentially blackmail their client, if repayment wasn’t promptly made. Often by praying on a debtors ignorance of the legality of such alternative financing, or the lack thereof, loan sharks would threaten legal action to coerce repayment, in lieu of more direct violence.

As time continued, the legal repercussions of illegal lending became harsher, driving loan sharks toward the more underground criminal element where they would do business with more unsavory types whose debts were more sinister, whether it be gambling, criminal enterprise or other disreputable practices. This gave birth to the image of illegal lender in league with the likes of Cosa Nostra that the typical person conjures when they imagine a loan shark.

Today, alternative financing remains a large industry and is in most cases entirely legal, operating in accordance with legal lending procedure and with no threat of violence or blackmail or even negative stigma towards borrowers. They are simply independently owned and operated companies that lend cash with terms and conditions that are more specialized and sympathetic than those similar services offered by national banks.

Marriage counseling has arguably become a rite of passage for modern American couples. Social conservatives lament such facts are proof that the social fabric has frayed considerably while others view such developments as a positive sign that everybody is owning up to reality at last.

Whatever the case, marriage counseling has certainly been a growth industry, though whether these kinds of trends will hold in such recessionary times remains to be seen. What is expected, nonetheless, is that the need for such services will only increase – especially in recessionary times. For what most drives couples apart is not sex or the children but money.

Marriage counseling often reveals that the main issue eating away at a relationship is one of control, or who has how much say over what. This is why it’s essential to choose spouses with really similar values! But whatever the situation, the first thing to establish is clear and open lines of communication. Understanding is fundamental, and without good communications it is very unlikely for anything to be accomplished.

Interestingly, the decision to go into therapy or counseling frequently seems shameful but is really a good sign, a sign that the couple in question is still willing to try to work things out somehow. The very agreement, however reluctant, to enter into a possible make-up instead of heading straight into breakup shows that honest communication is desired, at least minimally.

Depending on the situation, things might be so bad that the counselor or therapist has to meet each party separately, but the fact that any attempt is being made at all at a reconciliation is hopeful. However, while reconciliation might be desired, it does not follow that breaking up, despite counseling, means failure. In cases of intractable differences, going separate ways might actually represent the best possible option for all concerned.

It is crucial to do your research when it comes to investing in New York properties. New York City is a very diverse place, and even adjacent neighborhoods can be drastically different, never mind those in different boroughs. According to industry experts such as Isaac Toussie, nothing is as it seems, and if you are looking for residential property that you plan on living in yourself, you might even want to arrange to spend a few nights on the premises to really know personally what it’s like. For example, many peaceful-looking places are actually not peaceful at all but deadly, ridden with crime and pollution and a host of other social ills. Even when it comes to commercial real estate, things may not be as they seem. Developers like Isaac Toussie are plentiful in this town, and to stand apart from the crowd you need to be known for something more than simply a hole in the ground of an empty lot.

New York realty markets are unique in many categories, including population density. As an investor you want to thoroughly investigate them all before proceeding to a decision of any economic importance. It is often helpful to think of different neighborhoods as cities or towns in themselves, which was indeed actually the historical case. Such an artificial view of the city would not suffice long-term, but it can be usefully dabbled in from time to time for specific purposes. For example, it is not uncommon to find the direst poverty fairly close to some of the most opulent luxury. As an investor in New York property you want to be aware of this possibility so as to not miss any good opportunities simply on account of ignorance.

When looking for property in New York City, you must consider the people, especially when it comes to homes for yourself or potential tenants. Ultimately, the people are what will determine the quality of life. Will it be a noisy place? Full of trash? Or does the local community take some pride in itself, without any kids running around causing trouble?

Even when it comes to the commercial side of things such considerations are important. If you have space for rent but the neighbors are lower class people, you probably won’t get any upscale businesses looking to sign a lease with you, even with all the governmental encouragement there is, such as tax breaks and the like.

It’s a delicate balance, which is part of the reason why rents are so high in the city. But what to do as an investor?

Watch. And learn. You can never learn enough about such an exciting, dynamic city, and you never can tell just when such knowledge may be put to good use. Why not bicycle around to get a good feel for a place? New York City has ambitions to become one of the most bicycle-friendly municipalities in the country, and this is one of the best ways to transport yourself through different places in order to get a direct feel for them.

Ever since its invention, the water cooler – and subsequently,office water delivery – has been a permanent fixture in the modern day office environment. In lieu of a water fountain – which itself has its own cultural associations and connotations, even as a icon of the American civil rights movement, another story for another time – many offices choose the use of a free-standing water cooler fitted with the easily recognizable five gallon tanks installed to the top. Actually, this is what gives office water delivery its title, in that these five gallon jugs are actually delivered by truck to the office, typically all the time and usually in exchange for the empty jugs left from the prior month.

The preference for office water delivery and these free-standing units is generally one of function over form. Through there are the usual logistical inconveniences of having to physically manipulate the heavy, five gallon jugs obtained by office water delivery, the features of the unit itself more than make up for it. Whereas a water fountain generally only provides cooled water out of an individual spout, water coolers usually have a number of spouts, usually two or three. Of course there is the primary spout, which when operated with a simple lever delivers cold water, but it is not rare to find models with spouts for room temperature water, or even extremely hot, almost boiling water – perfect for use in making tea or fast coffee.

Apart from functionality, sanitation is a common reason for preference of office water delivery over locally available tap water by means of a water fountain. The reasonably sizable, free-standing units are often laden with various water purification technologies which, in addition to the large jugs of water that happen to be already sanitized and purified at their bottling plants, make for the purest water accessible. Commonly office water coolers use some form of activated carbon filtering, which uses specially treated charcoal to filter larger impurities (salts, dissolved inorganic compounds, etc) out of the water.

In latest years, it has also been common for these units to be fitted with some form of ultraviolent light treatment, which usually kills what might be left over after charcoal filtering: dissolved organic compounds, bacteria, and so on.

Though unbelievably easy in design and purpose, the insufferable banality of the modern day office cubical labyrinth has made the ubiquitous water cooler a sort of social hub at the office. So recognizable is this fact that colloquial terms like “water cooler show” have been coined off of it, in reference to the kind of trite dialogue about well-known culture expected among employees gathering around the unit. Even the phrase “word around the water cooler” in reference to rumors or gossip has entered the cultural lexicon. Interesting that such an oddly ordinary things as office water delivery could be, in a way, liable for such widely identifiable cultural phenomena.

Stocking and providing medical office supplies has traditionally been one of the duties of a hospital dispensary, which is mainly dedicated to dispensing medication according to doctors’ prescriptions. Nowadays, the term “dispensary” refers to a handful of different institutions around the world – or, even, within the country.

For instance, in California a dispensary can be a specially designated store licensed to sell not medical office supplies but medical marijuana (which is also the case in the Canadian province of British Columbia), while in the states of Idaho and South Carolina a dispensary used to refer to the governmental agency that served as the only legal source of alcohol.

Also no source of medical office supplies is the Kenyan dispensary, a small outpatient health facility normally managed by a registered nurse. These nurses report to clinical officers at a health centre, which is also where patients are referred to for treatment in cases more complicated than a common ailment like cold or malaria. Modeled on the British system, this sort of health care dispensary is no basic storehouse of supplies but what Americans would call a community clinic.

This kind of medical clinic or dispensary got its start up in London, England back in the 1700s, and is credited with aquainting physicians with the issues of the poor because unlike the case with hospitals or a private practice, this dispensary service in fact brought doctors into their patients’ homes. Their social consciences shocked, thus were the first dispensaries set up – free healthcare for the poor.

Indeed, young aspiring physicians of the day were really eager to serve as honorary physicians to the dispensaries, though such an appointment was generally voluntary (with no more than a small honorarium at best) and not as prestigious as a hospital posting. It was nothing short of a healthcare revolution: for the first time since the Hippocratic Oath, altruistic motivations had been the norm.

Greek vases are among the most well-known museum replicas anywhere, and no wonder. The pottery of ancient Greece aren’t only beautiful objects of art but bear witness to one of the most intellectually important civilizations of humankind. Acquiring a museum replica of Greek vases oneself is a way of connecting to a glorious golden age and lends a “blue-blooded” kind of elegance to any setting.

After all, it could be argued that the Greek vase has set the aesthetic standard for the Western Civilization for hundreds if not thousands of years. Having one on your desk, mantle, or shelf can create the right atmosphere for yourself to be inspired! There is something to be said about having a faithful reproduction of a museum masterpiece in your own home or office. Imagine the feeling on your next trip to the museum as you walk through a collection, identifying those which you own a personal copy of!

Museum replicas let us all to play the part of a refined collector of antiques – not “antiques” in the now commonly debased sense of someone’s grandmother’s grandmother’s quilt abandoned at a yard sale, but treasures from the ancients now owns to enjoy thanks to the painstaking skills of replica sculptors who work in the traditional methods with conventional materials.

More or less always handmade, such replicas of vases can be so faithfully reproduced as to fool even professional appraisers! Offered in a wide variety of styles, these fine works are truly no less art objects in themselves, so exquisitely crafted as to warrant being their own museum pieces!

They also tend to be very affordable, too, allowing true connoisseurs the opportunity to own more than one. Finally, they make excellent gifts, too: thoughtful, and a little out of the ordinary, after all its not everyday you get a Greek vase as a present.

MLM network marketers are a lightning rod in any discussion about small business, salesmanship, or entrepreneurialism. Several successful individuals first got started as MLM network marketers, though the field is viewed with deep suspicion or outright hostility by many. The tiered compensation structure is probably the most onerous issue for such individuals, though many sales-heavy operations function that way, on a comission-only basis and with overrides and bonuses for managers, directors, vice presidents up the corporate ladder.

MLM business opportunities may also be derided for their pay-to-play nature, although franchises function in the same exact way. Actually, the standard admission fees for traditional franchises are many times that required of any MLM scheme. MLM is simply a way of doing business, or a business model.

It’s one rather easily subject to abuse precisely because it is so easy to get into – providing a great solid fighting chance for ordinary people to dabble in a bit of entrepreneurialism to see if doing business is something they would like. With nearly no barriers to entry, it’s in fact a fairly safe method to go for many individuals who have little cash on hand and little experience actually running a business.

Even first-time MLM network marketers will understand very quickly the basics of supply and demand, inventory management, and most importantly salesmanship. As independent contractors who file IRS Form 1099, they will also learn very quickly about taxes and accounting! It’s all there, in microcosm, all the many maddening elements of owning a business. And it’s no wonder that so many wind up burned.

After all, the overwhelming vast majority of start-ups do not last five years, and even fewer last ten years. MLM schemes are no different in this regard, and it is crucial to note that many of the most successful, which have withstood the test of time and even the occasional scandal, share much more in common with non-MLM organizations than commonly held misconceptions would suggest.

Dallas Cowboys merchandise are among the best-selling in any sport, but especially popular among football fans, even those whose first-choice favorite may be another team. That’s since the Cowboys are one of the most successful and storied outfits in all of football history, and it’s memories of this kind which are evoked by all the varied forms of Dallas Cowboys merchandise obtainable on the market, from clocks and towels to clocks as well as license plates!

Perhaps the most popular form of Dallas Cowboys merchandise to be found on fans and collectors are team jerseys, particularly those bearing the specific roster number of their favorite player. After that, however, must surely be those products bearing pictures, photographs or illustrations, of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders! No other team in American sports fields a cheerleading squad that’s a veritable franchise in itself.

It was purposely created to capitalize on female sexuality and boost in-game attendance, and its genius was to offer an “All-American” look and feel that played well not only nationally but around the world as well. For many foreigners, a real American girl was someone like a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, fun and fit. In the United States, their popularity lead to two made-for-TV movies about the squad along with other media like annual swimsuit calendars.

Oh, yes, and as for the team itself – it was the first modern-era expansion team, and can boast of numerous notable achievements as a business entity. But obviously, no one buys team merchandise on the basis of business innovations, and even the venerable cheerleaders would be just another squad were it not for the club’s stellar performances on the field.

Founded in 1960, just ten years later the team became a serious national contender, and by the end of that decade was the undisputed “glamor team” of the entire sport, with a cheerleading squad that epitomized what an American girl should be like and winning players and coaches who embodied American can-do.