Iresponsible card holders
I found
this article at MSNBc.com and I thought how could all these people be that ignorant? It seems that if all these people would bother to keep track of what they spend, they would no accrue overdraft charges. But most people are just too lazy, or ignorant, or more than likely, both to keep their recordsd straight. It is their own fault that they are being charged these seemingly outrageous overdraft fees. Believe it or not, the best way to cover most small purchases is simply to use cash. Cash is simple and, what's more, it is free of charge.
The real culprit is our collective mentality that we require instant gratification. The American people feel that we are entitled to have the latest and greatest things. This is partially due to massive media advertising. And, considering what was written in the article, it seems that Corporate America has done a wonderful job.
Sweet cars and sexy women!
Stop giving money to the terrorists!
Isn't it ironic that the very regions of the world where there are strong anti-U.S. feelings are the very areas where we get our oil from? People wonder where organizations such Hamas and Hezbollah get their funding. They get most of their money directly from Iran, which happens to be a major supplier of oil to the U.S. So, logically, it would seem that we supply the funds that the terrorists that want to wage jihad on our own people.
It seems that we have the best means to fight terrorism right down on the corners of our streets. 98% of the oil that we use every day comes from overseas and from countries not friendly with the United States. We have been so short-sighted that we do not seen that the money we pay for oil is the same funding used to make the weapons that are killing our soldiers.
Most people cannot see beyond what they pay at the pump. If they realized who that money is going to, would they buy those huge SUVs that they really don't need? Or think they have to race everyone else that happens to be on the road? I don't think they would. Of course, most people don't see beyond their own pocketbooks. Imagine what they would save there.
Then you have the people that just don't care. They blame Iran for destabilizing the Middle East, but they don't think about where that regime gets it's money. They get most of their money from the American people.
Those Dukes are hazardous!
The industrial age is over, the information age is in full swing
It is the black man's attachments to the past and to their roots that has kept the black population in the past. The factory jobs that black people have relied on in the past are quickly being moved overseas where labor is cheaper.
In just a few year's short time, we will have at least two factories in Holland closing, Hart and Cooley and JCI. The main jobs for unskilled labor here will be in the low-paid service sector. Getting an education and relocating is the only way out of poverty. But they are afraid to leave family and what is familiar to them, and in being so afraid, are holding themselves back.
The economy of the United States is very quickly changing. The new normal is quickly becoming an information based economy that requires a highly educated work force that simply cannot be done with our current education system. But the funds needed for education are being wasted on a useless and irrational war that will cost more lives.
We need leaders that are willing to bring our education in line with the rest of the world in order to compete on the global stage. The industrial age is over. The information is now in full swing. It is time for us to get with the program. As anybody can see, those changes would not only benefit the black population, they would benefit us all.
Israel existed before the rise of Islam
Those who say that the Israeli people do not have roots in the Middle East say so only because they only look back to the beginning of the Twentieth century and say that the creation of Israel was an illegal act. In fact, there is scientific evidence of Jewish settlements in that area going back at least 1500 years before the rise of Islam. The nation of Israel dates back to around 1300 B.C. It took the Roman Empire to subdue the nation of Israel and even after that, they enjoyed a very high level of prosperity.
After the Roman Empire fell, it was the Ottoman Empire invaded the nation of Israel and drove them from their ancestral lands, the land promised to them by God himself.
Now Islam does share one thing with both Judaism and Christianity. With each of these religions, other than the fact that all of them hold Jerusalem to be the center of all three of these world religions, it can be said that all three have been spread by violence and the sword. When I look at radical Islam today, to me it is like looking back through time to the early days of Christianity. Have not the Popes of old wielded all the same powers of kings? The answer to that question is a resounding yes.
How many times have ancient popes declared war on protestants and separatists simply they did not share the same views as the Pope said they should? You could count the Crusades in with those wars. Another not to be forgotten is that period called the Spanish Inquisition.
I think it would be safe to assume that Christians and Hebrews have grown beyond their early differences and matured quite a bit. On the other hand, fundamental Islam still has a long way to go. All we can hope to do is ask for them to grow up some time soon or kill themselves trying.
More sportbike stunts not to be tried at home.
The wide world of seaplanes
Bill Zang takes his Universal Hovercraft airborne outside the Seaplane Base opening.
It was on the internet that I found more interesting pictures of seaplanes. Of special interest was the picture of an arttist's conception of what a C-130 would look like with floats attached.
Seventy percent of our world is covered by water. That means that aircraft that can only take off and land on land can only use a limited number of runways. Therefore, it only makes sense to design an aircraft to be able to use any available lake or river to use as a runway. The best compromise is to design the aircraft as an amphibian. That way, an aircraft is not only limited to land or water. Amphibians can use both land or water to take off and land, the best of both worlds.
Despite their large land mass, the former countries of the Soviet Union seem to me to show the most interest in developing large jet-powered amphibious flying boats. In addition, there are some airlines that only fly floatplanes. They also seem to be popular with bush pilots for their ability to use water as runways.
More pictures from the wide world of aviation
Corporate America is out of touch
These comments at
Business Week.com show how out of touch with their customers and their employees corporate America has become. When a business closes it's doors, it does not happen overnight. The customers fired that company long ago. That was once said by my current employer, Fred Meijer. Corporate America seems to have forgotten where their money is made, off the backs of their employees and the pockets of their customers. These overpaid executives seem only to see as far as their bottom line. Their bottom line will disappear as soon as their customers fire them and put them out on the street.
