@ Michael Brown, former Director of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), who was heavily criticized and subsequently fired for his agency's slow response to Hurricane Katrina, tells the Rocky Mountain News he's starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm! Brown is quoted as saying officials need to "take inventory" of what's going on in a disaster to be able to answer questions to avoid appearing unaware of how serious a situation is.

@ The U.S. Pentagon is considering setting up a commodity-market style trading system in which investors would be able to bet on political and economic events in the Middle East � including the likelihood of assassinations and terrorist attacks.

@ Giant NIKE has agreed to pay a 13-year-old soccer prodigy, named Freddy Adu, $1 Million to wear NIKE shoes and clothing. Just one week earlier, the Beaverton, Oregon company agreed to pay 18-year-old LeBron James, the expected No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, close to 100 times that amount for endorsing their brand.

@ Two Words: Freedom Fries. Yes folks, this is what U.S. citizens pay some of our elected representatives in the U.S. House of Reps to do -- change the name of "French Fires" to "freedom fries"... and just in time for war, too! I wonder, are plans underway to return the Statue of Liberty, given to the United States of American by FRANCE? For help with changing words or phrases appropriately, click here (flash required).

@ Liz Claiborne, the fashion designer known for professional career apparel for both men and women, has launched Claiborne Flooring -- coordinated flooring, incuding carpet, vinyl, wood, laminate, ceramic tiles and area rugs. The television commercial promoting the new brand of flooring looks like a Saturday Night Live spoof of a commercial, with an attractive woman saying something like, "She dresses me; now she can dress my floors."

@ Sports Illustrated has launched an outdoor adventure website called SI Adventure: Outdoor Sports. Click here to see for yourself.

What is Belicove.Com?: Belicove.com is the personal Web site and Blog of Mikal (pronounced "Michael") Belicove (pronounced "Bell-Ah-Cove"). The information contained throughout this site is provided free of charge (in other words, this is a non-commercial site intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as fact, unless you're gullible).

Who is Mikal Belicove?: Well, I'm a single, 42-year-old guy who now lives about as close to the Pacific Ocean as one can get (Laguna Beach, California). By day I used to own my own company (a Boulder, Colorado-based Internet publishing company, which I sold in 2002), and more recently I was the Director of Community & Education for the 23rd-ranked company on the 2007 Inc. 500 List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies. I have also been an Acquisitions Editor in the book publishing industry (I worked for both Wiley Publishing and Penguin Group USA), Executive Director of a trade association, and an outdoor environmental educator. (I am also the author of 2007 Edition of the Internet Yellow Pages (Que Publishing/ Pearson, 10/06), co-authored with my writing partner, Joe Kraynak.)

These days I spend my time working as Executive Director of RRR Productions--a Laguna Beach, California & Washington Township, Michigan-based social media, public relations, and publishing consultancy. Professionally, my areas of expertise include: business blogging, crisis management, corporate communications, personal branding and positioning, social networking for business, conference and association management, book publishing, knowledge management, online retail management and product sourcing, and more. I do everything from drafting business plans and press releases to directing media campaigns and ghost blogging for select clients (yes, there actually is such a thing as a 'ghost blogger').

A great deal of what I do professionally helps to establish 'thought leadership' and 'sense of community' status for businesses and individuals via micro-branded blogs, business blogs, CEO blogs, and earned media placements.

By night, well, I'm still someone who used to own his own Internet company and used to be an Acquisitions Editor and who used to be all the other things I mentioned, but who still spends way too much time working or thinking up new ideas for businesses, but that's really what this site is all about.

What is That Supposed to Mean?: Well, for a long time I was the type of person who allowed himself to be defined by his work and career. Creating this Blog was--and still is--an attempt to find out more about myself and the world around me.

How Will A Blog Help You Learn More About Yourself and The World Around You?: Great question (I'm glad you asked). Here's the deal... I do a lot of thinking, and most of the time I keep my thoughts to myself and rarely share them with anyone outside of a very small circle of friends and former colleagues. By posting my thoughts and observations throughout this site, and by inviting friends and acquaintances to visit and comment, I hope to expand my world and thus learn more about myself and the world around me.

That's It? This Site Simply Exists For That Purpose Only?: No, there's more to it than just that. I also hope that this site draws my immediate and extended family and friends closer together (through the sharing of updates and photographs).

Tell Me About The Different Sections Of The Site: Well, there's the main Blog, called "BeliBlog" (a made-up word using part of my last name and the word 'Blog'); a Guest Book where you can share your thoughts on the design and navigation of the site; a Pictures section where family and friends can view various images, both new and old; a Links section where I'll share interesting links to other websites and Blogs Of Note; a login for people with Belicove.com e-mail addresses to check their e-mail online; a section dedicated to creating 'the case against recreational fishing' -- something that I'm very passionate about; and various 'side-bars' located throughout the site touching on topics that are of interest to me.

Is There More?: Yes, check this page from time-to-time to see the thoughts and ideas behind the continued evolution of the site.

How Can I Reach You?: Try my first name (Mikal) at my last name (Belicove) dot com, or, if you have a Yahoo! Instant Messenger account, and if the following link is lit up, feel free to drop me a note: