Banking Foreclosures

Here is something for you to think about today. As we all know, there are a lot of houses that have been foreclosed on, and there will probably be more on the way for the next several years. These foreclosed houses are owned by the bank now. The bailout which happened a couple of years ago, was supposed to be used with the intention of allowing banks to stay in business and to have money to lend (the key operative word being "lend"). This however, obviously, is not the case. I will now present to you my 'conspiracy theory'.

I think that greed in the banking system is beyond outrageous. Not only have they held on to the bailout money, but they are holding out on letting the money flow, so that they will be able to receive the highest dividends in the market. He who controls the money also controls the flow. They can influence the rise and fall of stocks by who and how much they lend to. This is their first source of income. The second source of inome, which I believe will come within the next 2-5 years (based on who gets elected into office), will be from the housing market. They have done a lot to own America, literally. (on a side note, I can only hope that our banks are not run by foreign interests). I believe that when the time is right, and they have the person they want in power (presidentially), they will start lending money again, and selling houses. They will not only make a ton of money on the interest from the loans, but they also own the houses, so it is a MAJOR win win for them. Because the banks stand to make so much money in the long run, it will not hurt them to lose a couple of dollars foreclosing on your house. Especially if your house has equity built up.

Too bad the Republicans have not wakened to the idea that regulations are essential to the growth of America. They believe that the free market will take care of itself, and unfortunately, they are right. I believe small business owners, have the hardest regulations on them, the smallest tax breaks, and the lowest backing by our government, while large industry/corporations/banks, have the most lenient regulations, highest tax breaks, and highest levels of government backing. I am hoping to come out with a rough draft of a tax plan one day (don't hold your breath though), that I think will fix the problems with the economy, once and for all.

Media Discrimination?

I have been watching the news and hearing about a local girl who was allegedly abducted from her home. The entire community has pulled together to help look for her, and there has been daily coverage on her disappearance. After about a week of coverage, there was a shorter story about another woman, who had lost her husband, within the same county, however, there was no noteworthy story of his disappearance. The woman went on to say that media coverage has a direct relation to the amount of leads that can be uncovered. I am sure that there are many more cases, not just within the county, but also the state (or at least within the news coverage area), in which people are kidnapped or just turn up missing, and yet, there is only a mention, if any coverage at all. So who is it that determines what is newworthy? Who is it that says one person's life is more meaningful than anothers? Who is it that says what we are allowed to hear and know?  I think that we all deserve to hear all of the news and not just what an individual decides to sensationalize. If there is going to be a story of a missing person, I think they should list more information, such as:

Number of people missing within that city/county YTD
Number of solved cases/returned people vs missing persons reports YTD
Average age/sex/nationality of missing persons
Number of active cases vs cold cases YTD
List of name/age/sex/date of disappearance of missing persons

This would be a good start to providing the full spectrum of news, and not being so completely unfair to the persons who also have suffered such a fate.

Heart Attack Grill Spokesperson Dies

Story at: sorry, the link to the story has been removed

I would like to take a moment to share my opinion about this story. After you have watched this video, you may be thinking that the restaurant owner is responsible for the person’s death, and that many other institutions, like McDonald’s, are responsible for obesity in America (although I am personally boycotting McDonald’s for my own personal reasons, I do not in any way blame them for the condition of obesity in America). I hope that is not what people believe. Just because someone has something to sell, does not mean that we have to buy it. Just because it’s ‘convenient’ doesn’t mean that we “have” to take the easy way out. That is what criminals do, that is what politicians do, that is what some community leaders do, and that is what most of us do.

I have said before that we, the people, have the power to effect change, but that we have to be of a like mind to do it. Regardless of your religious, ethnic, or political background, no matter you sexual orientation, or your place of residence, nor your income level, should have an effect on doing what is right. The problem is that we have become so unaware, and so uncaring of those around us, that we do not consider the effects, and sometimes, consequences of the choices that we make. Unfortunately, we are even, sometimes unaware of our own individual conditions (health, emotional, and mental). We have disconnected ourselves from so many things, I think, for one reason: Lack of accountability.

Accountability is what keeps bad people honest, what keeps the good people caring, and the criminals from running rampant. We do bad things when we feel like we can ‘get away with it’ (and I emphasize this part), “without consequence”. If you KNOW that you will get caught, you won’t do it. If you KNOW that you will be punished, you will refrain. And if you KNOW that God will judge you, you will prevent or repent. The problem, as I said, is that we have disconnected from accountability so much, that we no longer have concern of the consequences. We are not truly afraid of getting a ticket for speeding, and so at times, we find we have a lead foot. We are not truly afraid of God’s Judgment, and so we continue to fornicate, adulterate, etc.

We can point the finger at others (and some deserve the blame), but the question you should ask yourselves, before that happens is ‘at what point to we blame ourselves for the choices that we make?’, ‘at what point do we take responsibility for our own bodies and lives?’. We can continue to blame corporations (like I do), or the government (like I do), but when do we blame ourselves and take that responsibility (like I do). After all, no one is putting a gun to our heads and making us decide the things we do on a daily basis (apologies to anyone actually in that position).

Cash Flow

I would like to take the time to put my opinion out there regarding the actual flow of money, when it comes to subjects like ‘stimulus’ or ‘bail out’ money. I know that this subject has probably been beaten to death by all parties in politics, but I would still like to put my two cents out there. I would like to give a short summary of how the economy has been affected, and could have been affected, in my own perspective.

How things have been affected:

Money was given to the banks, several large corporations, and to government programs. Through this plan, the money that went to the banks was supposed to loosen the belts of this industry and encourage lending again. What in fact happened, is that the banks have relieved themselves of stress, and paid themselves large bonuses, and is holding the money for their own personal (bank business) investments, to make themselves even more money. The money that went to the large corporations, was supposed to allow the businesses to prevent bankruptcy, re-tool to expand operations, and in the end provide more jobs in an effort to stimulate the economy. What actually happened is that the corporations, got themselves out of debt, re-tooled, cut jobs, and paid themselves big bonuses. The money that went into the government programs, was supposed to provide more revenue to encourage job creation through repair of highways, and construction of new businesses. What actually happened is the bureaucrats have siphoned all the money for political agendas, cut jobs, cut spending, and have made little to no improvements in this economy.

How things should have been affected:

The ‘stimulus’ and/or ‘bail-out’ money, should have been given to the lower class of society, those who lost houses, and those with less than sufficient income. This would have; allowed people to remain in their houses, allowed people the chance to continue to live like normal people, with a sense of dignity, and most important of all, it would have allowed the average American to have money to spend, thus stimulating the economy. Why should it have gone to the people? People in general, spend. Money spent, reflects in corporate gains, which boosts economic confidence, which in turn allows banks to feel safe enough to lend, which in turn gives confidence to the people on wall street, which makes companies feel more comfortable, and become more willing to hire, thus, boosting the economy.

Summary:

Money will never boost the economy if it is not put into the hands of those willing to spend it. We have paid our share in taxes, so giving Americans the money, is only putting the money back where it came from. Corporations are always going to get their share from spending Americans. Whether it is because we have gone back to purchasing a bunch of frivolous crap, or because they are price gouging our money’s eye sockets, they will always get their share. What has happened is that the customers have been cut out of the equation. As we can all see, that really worked.

SINS OF OMMISSION – DEATH TO THE LITTLE MAN

I don’t go to church, except for that rare occasion when I am invited, but mostly not even then. So when I want to get my church fix, I usually watch the pastor/preacher on TV. What I heard, in conjunction to a conversation I had recently, gave way to the thought that prompted this entry. The preacher was saying in his sermon, that we are subject to 2 types of sins; sins committed knowingly and/or actively (sins of commission), and those committed without intent, or through lack of action (sins of omission). My conversation involved the lack of personal accountability, or consideration, for things that we should be more consciously conservative of.

There are a lot of people out there, who I feel are people who consider themselves to be greater than financially challenged (whether they actually are or not is irrelevant for this topic), who seem to have a lack of consideration of the waste they incur, from electricity, to gas, to food, to list the top of my concerns. These are the people who either intentionally don’t care, or through lack of awareness, don’t turn lights off when not in use, have doors open when the heater/air conditioner is running, or have every electronic device they own in the "on" position. There are those who drive five minutes to get to the store, when it would only take fifteen to walk or bike there, for only a few items. There are those who would allow their car to idle for extended periods of time, and insist on driving everywhere, even when it would be acceptable or beneficial to carpool. There are those who would stock their refrigerator and shelves with food, only to have it go past the "use by" date, and then wind up throwing it out. These people are the ones who have gotten my attention for this post.

The reason I am harping about this, is because of our lack of consideration at how we are killing the little guy, not by strangling or shooting them in the head, but even worse, by slowly making their lives more difficult. The little guy will have a need for the basic necessities, just as everyone else does, but for the most part (and probably because they don’t consider themselves to be greater than financially challenged, or because they are more aware or considerate), they usually only get what they need, and use only what they can afford or have to have. I am sure that there are always exceptions to the rule, and there might be some people out there who have more than enough, but are still frugal with what they have (I applaud and appreciate you), but I feel that for the majority, they are wasteful. As it is with the law of capitalism, the greater the demand, the higher the cost (I feel that supply has very little in play as a factor these days). The more that is purchased, whether used or wasted, contributes to the cost of products/services. I think that prices are mostly going to be unfair, but the less that is actually wasted, the less the demand, the lower prices will be. When we waste electricity, and the demand causes a price increase, that increase is passed on not only to the wealthy, but also to the poor. When we waste food, that drives up prices for the poor. When we waste gas, that drives up prices for the poor.

I would urge those who can afford to be wasteful, not to be. I encourage those who are not aware to become so. I implore everyone, to keep in mind that we are all living in this world together, and only together can we make everything work. I think wealthy people have forgotten that it is the little man who does all the dirty work, and provides the largest portion of their profits. I think that they need to keep in mind that without the little guy, there are no rich people.

Perspective - Bologna

I think that as a society, we have allowed ourselves to just 'go with the flow'. The problem with this, is who we have allowed to drive. Between the media, corporations, and government, we have been driven into the forest with no headlights and we are slamming and banging into every tree out there. I use this analogy for a specific reason; first, I wish to exemplify that having someone else drive, is putting our lives in the hands of others; secondly, I wish to signify that without headlights, we are driving without true direction, blindly; thirdly, the banging into trees is to represent our destruction of our planet in our blind mad dash.

I think the best way to look at how outrageous we have allowed our lives to get, is to put things into perspective. I will use the entertainment industry as my first item of focus. We have allowed all the 'red carpet' events to blind us with all the shining diamonds and fancy dresses and the paparazzi flashbulbs, to the point that we actually think it is important, what someone wore to an event. We have been led to believe that our opinion in these events somehow matter. I think that in perspective, the only award the actors and other celebrities need to get is that massive paycheck from all of us to spend our hard earned money to watch their movies. If that is not enough, then I feel sorry that their egos need to be so badly stroked. I appreciate the movies that they make, I appreciate their efforts, and their contributions. If anything, those awards should only be for the people behind the scenes; such as the costume designers, stunt people, and all the extras who made the movie possible.

In regards to putting movies themselves into perspective, I am sure that most of us are aware of our innate need to have things now, and not only now, but it has to be the fastest, best, and most expensive. We have lost our patience, and therefore have allowed theaters to charge us rediculously large amounts of money, just to see the movie. In perspective, if we had a little patience, we could wait a couple of weeks or in some cases, months, to see the same movie in the dollar or discount theater. To further put it in perspective, the dollar theater is like a dvd player on crack. You spend a buck to rent a DVD from the Redbox, when you could spend the same money at the discount theater and have a better experience from watching it on the big screen, and have great sound. I admit, it is not as fancy as the regular theaters, however, IN PERSPECTIVE, it is one of the more sound choices we can make.

The one thing that really got me fired up, and upset, and wanting to talk about putting things into perspective is Bologna. I consider myself a frugal shopper, and am usually checking the prices on products I purchase, one of those being meat, as I am a meatatarian. I cannot believe that I can buy a decent cut of beef, for as little as $3lb., or chicken for as little as $.65lb., or pork for as little as $1.29lb, but I have to pay upwards of $3lb for bologna, the meat 'by-product' that is made with all the scraps, and has all the nutritional value cooked out of it, and then artificially added back in?!!!!! Are you serious?!!!! I am paying premium prices for the leftovers?!!! Would you go to a restaurant and order the leftovers off of someone else's plate and pay full price for it? How is it that we have allowed companies to get to the point that they would have the audacity to charge us that much for something of lesser quality than whole meats?

There are so many other specific items that I believe we can all take a closer look at with perspective. I am only giving you a couple of things to think about to help get your brain started. I think that it is time that we all take our blinders off, and start looking at things in perspective, from the purchases we make, to the foods that we eat, to the lifestyles that we live, to the beliefs we follow, to the people we claim to be. I think that we have lost our perspective, and have allowed ourselves to be dwarfed by everything on this planet, except for God. I hope that we all wake up before it is too late, to grab the wheel and turn the lights on.

Corporate Chess

I have had many conversations regarding the role of Corporations in the decline of the prosperity of America. I have had some who are so dead-set on preserving the Corporate Ideology, that it sometimes seems they would die for their beliefs. I can only hope that what I say will at least open their eyes to the growing American problem that is Capitalism (unchecked). I believe that Capitalism is a great idea in America, as long as there is morality to the program. It is when morals leave the arena that people begin to get hurt. I believe that, as in chess, the entry level employees, and lower to middle management, are the pawns. Cheap, plentiful, and extremely expendable; very limited in ability and freedom. Upper management, such as district and regional managers, are the rooks, knights and bishops. They have much more room to move, have greater abilities and freedoms. They are usually the soldiers used to eliminate the pawns. Then, there are the CEO’s, the Board, and Corporate Executives; these are the queens of the game. They have the ability to move around and do almost anything they want. And of course the King represents the corporation itself. All of the players, running about trying to save the corporations, while the pawns are on the front lines, getting slaughtered.

Only when the business of Capitalism is not played as a game of chess, by corporations, will businesses really be in their full potential. I can remember when the motto for most of the companies I worked for was “hire and retain top talent”. Nowadays, it’s “the cheaper they work, the bigger the bottom line….for the top”. I can’t remember the last time, in the past ten years (with the exception of my current employer), that management actually asked the opinion of those on the front line; on how to make the job safer for the employees, or how to make a better work environment that created satisfied employees, or what the needs of the employees were, or what they saw that could improve business. I can’t remember the last time, anyone, other than management received bonuses because the company was doing exceptionally well. I can’t remember the last time that the employees were treated to a company picnic, or party, or even given a card on their birthdays. And yet, the top execs, are still pulling in fat bonuses, paid for with the sweat, tears and blood of the pawns.

I think that when corporations return to their senses, and find out from the people who make things work, what really does work, instead of making decisions from their secure offices and making others suffer the consequences of their decisions; when the corporations return to their senses and realize that the people who are here spending their hard earned money, are the same people who they are putting out of work, and basically taking the money from their customers; when the corporations return to their senses and realize that creating an out of work, desperate, criminally bound society is actually going to hurt their bottom line; that this country will begin to return to the stable, ideal place for all Americans, and will return to being the envy of other countries. As long as we continue to put the American customer out of work, by shipping jobs overseas; as long as we continue to overwork and underpay the very backbone of every corporation; as long as we ignore that being wealthy is good, and being ridiculously wealthy is, well, ridiculous, then we will continue to move on this sideways path, that will eventually be too long to support and will snap. I admit that corporations are not the only problem right now, but in my opinion, they are the biggest.