So the CEOs of the big three are back in DC asking for bailout money in order to stay in business. It seems that Ford's CEO is going to work for $1 a year and there will be cuts on executive salaries and bonuses and lush travel expenses etc. All sounds pretty good but I wonder.....What about the unions....Will they give anything back? Certainly these people want to keep their jobs so maybe they need to contribute toward saving the companies. It's fine for them to put up signs on their union offices about buying American cars, but if they want to stay in business, the workers need to take some cuts too.
They have a great contract and get super benefits including full pay even after a layoff. And why do you thing the cars are so overpriced?
If you have
the ability to work out of your home then consider this possibility:
Why not
check with doctor's and dentist offices, and other like types of businesses, to
see if anyone is disinfecting the children play areas in their waiting rooms. If the toys and areas are only receiving a
cursory cleaning like the rest of the waiting area then maybe you can suggest
that a disinfecting cleaning should be done in the interests of not promoting
the spreading around of diseases. After
all, kids love putting things in their mouths.
If you get
into this type of business you could offer different packages for daily,
weekly, or monthly cleanings. Maybe they
will even allow you to advertise your business with a sign in the areas that
states that disinfecting of the toys and area are done by X company, because it
also informs people that they are involved in due diligence and acting with
concern for them and their children.
Those poor people...I dont live in that area. BUT I went through the outage thing both during the summer AND winter. It's no fun, especially with children.
Summer you can kind of stay in your home (hopefully some will take your food in your freezer).
Winter you cannot stay in your home..the food will be fine but unless you have a fireplace there is no possible way to stay in your home.
Being in that situation seeing those Ameren UE trucks in your neighborhood is a lovely sight to see. I know I have been there!
how bout everyone write a blog today...lol well heres one since they are a lil slow... this tree across the street was about to uproot and fall, damn, i was hopping it would fall on my cars and i'd get a different car, oh well..
well i timed these guys and it took 37 minutes start to finish to get this tree outta here, they were fast.. 3 guys one with a chain saw, one moved the trucks around and one in a bobcat that could pick up the tree so fast, and load in the trucks, should have videoed this guy... heres a picture of it as soon as it started falling...
Well, my son lucked out, I guess....he works at a school in Webster Groves, and there is no school for him today!!
Then he hears on Fox2 that his wifes school, Mason Ridge, has smoke.....but she still has to go in. I didnt hear what that was all about at Mason Ridge.
We got a generator about 2 yrs ago....the permanent kind....and we have lost power twice since getting it...but both times we were out of town....I would have liked to see what it was like during the transition from no power to generator....I am sure I will get that opportunity at some point.
According to the Communist Party of America yes.....they plan on totally running the County in 50 years.
The Communist Party is on the rise in the United States. This year they have built a new 1 Million dollar office. Recruitment is going well (for them), and they have built a new internet division to help get out their message of "equality". Also in Califonia it is no longer illegal to be apart of the Communist Party and work for the Government.
They even found a similar intrest in the New President in his book "Dreams of my Father" when he refers to a mentor of his Frank Marhsall David a Communist Party USA member.
They even say that the Democratic party has alot of similar points of view, including National Healthcare. And since the eleciton and the majority of Dems in the Congress, they hope that their joint Communist/Socialist/Democrat agenda will be progressed.
They feel they have alot of reasons to be hopeful, alot of reason to be able to grow their numbers with the young......
She
loves her inexpensive outfits from the mall, but Michelle Obama will
soon be sporting something much fancier than anything you'll find at J.
Crew.
A spokesman for top Italian designer Giovanni Bosco has confirmed that President-Elect Barack Obama is looking to purchase a $30,000 Harmony ring
made of rhodium and encrusted with diamonds as a thank you gift to his
wife Michelle. We expect the future First Lady to receive the ring in
time for her husband's January inauguration ceremony. The gift is a
thank you for her support throughout the last two years of campaigning.
One
of the world's rarest and most precious metals, only about 25 tons of
rhodium are mined each year, setting the price at over $7,660 per ounce
-- or about ten times the cost of gold.
I love the "Deal or Dud" program on Fox2. They seem to help out the little guy before making a purchace. We all know that there are some dishonest citizens out there that do sales work and at this time of year when someone wants to buy gifts for a loved one or friend, we want our good citizens to end up with a Merry Christmas.
I am curious as to how this all works. I have applied for several jobs on craigslist, monster, and carreerbuilder. Thinking I am appling for a real job (in an office somewhere), only to find that the jobs are work from home. How does someone go about researching these jobs to see how legit they are? Is there a list of reputable work from home jobs anywhere?
I would be interested in any information you have concerning these work from home jobs.
If anyone is in getting together over the holidays let me know and we will try and put something together, if not in December then let's shoot for January.
Mr. Wild can you check into the Eagles and see what the story is with them! Looking for a place where you will be playing!! Hugs!
According to the Washington Post the United States Federal Government wants to have 20,000 Federal Troops, Not National Guard, Federal regualr Military Troops deployed in the States to assist state and local law officials in case of an emergency. Those "emergencies" range from terrorist attacks, natural disasters and even civilian uprising.....The 20,000 troops will include three 4,700 man Fast Reaction Forces.
Thats right.... civilian uprising similar to the LA Riots... or at least that is what they say.
Now I am sorry, this is Bull.... Who believes this? What do we need three 4,700 man Fast Reaction Force for in the United States??? Are we going to get invaded by a large number of Terrorists? Is the National Guard Not Good enough anymore???
This Ladies and Gentlemen is for one Reason and one Reason only.....they read the Blogs....they hear the Talk...they see the anger...
This is a Force to do nothing but suppress what they fear may be an eventual Revolution.
I love the Armed Forces. My family has a long and Proud Tradition of serving this Great Country, from the Revolution to the Current War my family has always had someone serving. I Love this Country and Never want to see it fall.
But this concept of deploying troops under Homeland Security in the United States is wrong..
The National Guard has always been used for these matters and the Gov. of each state has always had the say in who gets deployed to where in case of an emergency. This new Deployment will interfere with the States Rights and will renew the Fear of the Founding Fathers about standing Armies.
This is not a direction we wish to go. This will not supress Revolutionary Ideas, but increase them, even support them.
I pray that the wisdom to negate this deployment will be granted to someone, somewhere......before it's too late.
On this morning's Hey Elliot, Rob Swearingen from Legal Services of Eastern Missouri offered warnings about using payday loans. Here's more information about how these loans work, and why a $500 loan can quickly become much higher as sky high interest rates (422% is the average) and fees are tacked on.
Payday loans give you cash until your next payday.
You write a personal check to the payday lender,
who holds the check for a period of 14 to 31 days. At the end
of the period, one of three things will happen: the check is
deposited, the borrower returns with cash to reclaim the check, or the loan
gets renewed and you pay additional fees and interest.
WHO ARE THE PAYDAY LENDERS?
Payday lenders lend $500 or less as a quick fix to
Missourians
who are experiencing temporary economic hardship. Payday
lenders often target people with bad credit, low income
individuals,
military members and elderly people. The lenders make money from
high interest rates and fees. The companies are so profitable, that there
has
been an explosion of stores: There are now three times more
payday lending
stores in Missouri
than McDonalds.
WHY SHOULD I BE CAREFUL IN DECIDING TO USE
A PAYDAY LOAN?
When a person is facing financial problems, a short term
loan seems like
a good option, especially to someone with credit
problems. However, the solution
can become a cycle of debt that can be economically
devastating.
Payday loans are extremely expensive cash advances that must
be repaid
in full or renewed on the next period in order to keep the personal
check from
bouncing. Cash
strapped Missourians can run the risk of becoming trapped in
a cycle of repeated borrowing at annual percentage rates
that can exceed 500%.
HOW HIGH ARE THE INTEREST RATES?
The loan is written with an interest rate for a short time
period.
For example, the loan will show a 25% interest rate for one
month.
But this rate over a year is actually 300%. Payday lenders will write loans
for 30 days or less.
At the end of the period, the lender will accept the interest
payment and 5% of the loan must be paid in order for the
loan to be
“rolled over”. On a $500
loan, the interest alone will be $125.
If you only pay
$150 for the month, you will owe the $475 for the next
month. In 2006, the average
Payday loan charged 422% interest. The highest annual percentage rate charged by a payday lender was 1,277.54% in 2004.
WHAT IF I CANNOT PAY THE LOAN OFF WITHIN AFTER THE PROPER TIME?
If you cannot pay the loan, the loan will be rolled
over. In
many cases the borrower will not be able to pay the loan off
in full, and the interest will begin to build up all over
again
at a high rate. This
is called “rolling over” or “flipping” the loan.
HOW MANY TIMES CAN THE LOAN BE “ROLLED OVER?”
By law, the lender may not allow the loan to be renewed more
than
six times. If the
loan is “rolled over” six times the interest charges and fees will
be very high.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I DO NOT PAY OFF THE LOAN?
The lender can present your check to your bank. If the check bounces,
the payday lender can charge up to a $25 dollar fee, plus
you will be charged
by the bank for a check returned with not sufficient
funds. Giving a check to a payday
lender that bounces does not violate criminal laws unless
the borrower stops payment
or closes the account.
You will also be on the hook for the balance of the loan, growing ever
larger due to the extremely high interest rate.
WHAT IF AFTER I SIGN THE PAPERS I WANT
TO GET OUT OF THE DEAL?
You have the right to cancel or rescind the deal for one
business day. You must
repay the amount borrowed without interest until the close
of the business on the day after the date of the original loan began. For example:
If you get $500 on Tuesday,
You must give back all of the money by the end of Wednesday,
but you do not have to pay any interest.
WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES TO PAYDAY LOANS?
Payday lenders are not
the only option for consumers facing debt problems. There are many alternatives to payday loans
such as: small savings accounts or rainy-day funds; salary advances from
employers; credit card advances; working out extended repayment plans with
creditors; and loans from friends, relatives, religious institutions, or social
service agencies. In addition, many lenders have developed lower-cost
alternatives to payday loans that have better repayment terms.
CONSUMER CREDIT
COUNSELING
There are
various consumer credit counseling agencies throughout the country that can
help consumers work out a debt repayment plan with creditors or develop a
budget. These services are available at little or no cost. Contact a nationally
accredited consumer counseling agency in your area by calling 1-800-388-2227 or
visiting www.debtadvice.org.
When I hear people speak about human systems in terms of science or
nature, I think “no.” The “social sciences” took
their name as an homage to the real deal, a quaint way for, say,
sociology to sneak in there next to the branches that de-code
chromosomes and build rocket ships. Economics is the most aggressive
social science. Capitalists claim the system is as natural as evolution
and that the free-market is an intricate, self-perfecting coral reef.
Hands off.
Evan Newmark of the Wall Street Journal sums up
the dominant free-market language: “The laws of capitalism … are
unyielding. The strongest companies survive. The weak and infirm die.
And the economy moves forward.” Or, sections of the economy are already
dead but pretend to be virile and flourishing. It’s like a possum in
reverse. Good trick!
Economics
is not science; it’s people and money, and the laws are flexible and
theoretical. Science is what’s spanning the Rocky Mountains right now.
Pine beetles are killing off
millions of acres of lodgepoles. They bore through the tree’s bark,
scratch a spot for their larvae and lay eggs. Young beetles eat the
lodgepole’s nutrients and, to defend themselves from life-threatening
sap flows, inject a fungus that stops the movement of liquid and kills
the tree. The lodgepole’s lifesaving ally — cold winters — is gone, so
eventually the brittle red trees will be swept away by conflagration.
Then, LodgePole 2.0 will evolve with its competition in mind,
outperform the pine beetle, take back its market share and send the
beetles back to the boardroom with weak excuses for investors.
Economic competition is competition, not Darwinism — which
doesn’t factor in human emotions, errors and speculation, Fed
statements, holidays and last night’s binge. The notion that the market
corrects itself is another mistaken ecological comparison that, as we
just found out, applies only to certain sections of the market. Where
the market connects with buyers, it is self-correcting. Constant
consumer engagement allows products to thrive (iPod) or die (Reebok
Pumps), and no matter how attractive the advertisements (Zune) and
publicity (XFL), the buyers decide what they want. But, there are no
innate guarantees to success — "American Idol" was not genetically
engineered to flourish. No one is recommending federal intervention to
prop up TV.
Government oversight is required, though, when economics don’t even
act like markets. The “toxic” (“Well, gee, there ya go talkin’ about
ecology again, Joe”) lending system has played out entirely
disconnected from the Friedmanian trust bestowed on the aggregate of
buyers. Technically, it’s up to internal regulators to figure out risk,
but as Brian Calame told us during a visit to Mizzou last year, he got
flack simply for fulfilling his role as New York Times ombudsman.
Objectivity in the land of six-figure bonuses is not possible and
shouldn’t be expected. The subprime gambling racked up
$625 billion in bad loans by ’05. That’s not natural; it’s Chernobyl.
“Credit is the air that financial markets breathe, and when the air is
poisoned, there’s no place to hide,” writes Charles Morris.
Government regulators keep watch over retail banks, restaurants,
bars, schools, streets, forests and just about anywhere else. Economic
institutions don't have natural rights that free them from oversight.
They'll adapt to operate successfully with the regulation; we can be
confident about that. Right now, shipping companies are insisting a coalition of governments protect their coral. Business sharks can't deal with pirates on the high seas.
We are all mentally ill....... Unless you live under a rock there will be something that will alter your mental realm and you will interpret things a little different than the next guy......... Most mental illnesses are harmless and some are actually fun..... I have always loved the class clowns or the guy that is the life of the party sort......... There are neat freaks..... Pack rats....... Ones that can't stand for their food to touch the other food on a plate..... Exercise buffs...... Groupies....... And many many more ..... One illness that seems to be very common these days is the Control Freak...... Although all of us suffer from it in some harmless form, some will take it to stupidity and some even to a dangerous level
"The need to control is almost always fueled by anxiety – though control freaks seldom recognize their fears. "
Many spouse relationships can turn deadly because of this obsession.....
Hopefully all of us have normal mental illnesses...
On Thanksgiving Day my 23 year old college student son made a confession while he was home for the day. Somehow the topic of Bingo came up and he made a confession about what he and five of his friends did this past Tuesday night. They played Bingo.....! Yes bingo and they have been playing for the past several months...! That's right.....playing bingo with the folks down at the VFW Hall in Springfield, Mo. My son said it was a lot of fun and the older folks there think it is really great that a group of guys in their early 20's come to play bingo and socialize with them. He also confessed bingo was no walk in the park. He said, "those people are serious and the competition is intense." He claimed the people who always win have some kind of computer gadget. He also made mention they make good food and it didn't cost much to eat a very good meal while there.
The rest of the story is how he took time late Thanksgiving Day to show the teens at the family Thanksgiving gathering how to play the game. What a site to see watching my 23 year old son as a Bingo caller. There the kids sat in a circle on the floor for a couple hours with bingo cards doing their best to keep up. The ages ranged from about 12 to early 20's including our foreign exchange student. I just can't explain what a neat site it was and how good it made me feel to hear my son say these words, "that's a good bingo."
I guess all is not lost in our world with young people. You hear all about how youth are not responsible and how they don't respect their elders. I suppose what you wouldn't see on the news or hear in conversation is how a group of twenty-something young men play bingo every Tuesday night with the likes of WW2 veterans and widows. It sure did warm my heart and give me a sense of gratification knowing my son was apart of something so simple and good. That is one thing this Thanksgiving holiday I am very thankful for.
Are there really that many things for sale on Black Friday
or is it the adrenaline rush you get waking up early and stampeding into retail
stores to find out they JUST sold the last of FIVE laptops for $400 each?
Black Friday 2008 is being remembered as a day of stupidity
and violence. Thankfully, the Metro East
was more sedate than that of the coastal regions. As a matter of fact, I haven’t heard anything
bad happening in our area.
The Long Island Wal-Mart incident will possibly go down as a
manslaughter charge after they try to review the security cameras. This is just an example of the lack of
respect society has for other human beings.
Officials claim that identifying a suspect would be near impossible.
In Palm Desert,
California, two men were shot to
death in a Toys R Us store on this violent Friday. Authorities claim the incident wasn’t directly
related to a shopping argument. My
problem with this is two men enter a toy store with guns? What the heck is CA coming to? It was said on one news report that the women
with these men were arguing first thus causing the confrontation.
Folks – be careful out there and if you think you are really
saving an extra $50 or so on a retail product, just wait a few months and it’ll
be $100 less. It’s not worth a trip to
the hospital or morgue for such a discount.
Make 2009 a year to be nice to your neighbor or a stranger – pay it
forward – help someone out rather than STEPPING on them!
Years ago I made most of my Christmas presents. It was the only way in those days I could afford to give everyone something just for them. Because of the economy this year I am returning to that tradition. I am making ornaments, breads, cookies, and well you get the idea. We also used to gift each other with tickets for free car washes or house cleanings, etc. The only things I am buying are some good books and warming throws to curl up under while reading. Maybe this year is a good time to give that son or daughter the family heirloom you were saving for whenever. Do you have any good homemade and thrifty Christmas gift ideas? Please share and have a wonderful holiday season!
There was an interesting story this morning on the news. Research shows that cherries help remove the pain of arthritis and other types of pain without any stomach problems. Has anyone tried this? There are also pills available from cherries to accomplish the same thing, no pain. Have you tried any other natural remedies using fruits or pills made from fruit. Has it worked? Please share!
She
loves her inexpensive outfits from the mall, but Michelle Obama will
soon be sporting something much fancier than anything you'll find at J.
Crew.
