Remember on TV when the gangsters demand money from the store keepers to PROTECT them. Of course the shopkeepers were paying to keep the gangsters from smashing, or burning their establishment. Probably still do. Here is an example of another protection scheme, This one by the upright citizens of a small town in Tennessee. Imagine, if you will, watching everything you own going up in smoke. Now imagine the local firefighters with their trucks and equipment sitting there watching it also. That is exactly what happened in Tennessee. The family in this small town near the South Fulton Tennessee fire department, watched as their mobile home and belongings went up in flame. Why? Once again it was because the home owner did not pay the subscription/protection, fee. We saw this once or twice before. I understand the fire department had to go out of their usual confines to answer the call. They did respond in the event of human peril. Here is the catch. The fire department needs the money to keep it’s facilities and equipment up to date. These fees offset that need. The FD could just charge…..say $150.oo for these outside calls. But then there would be no need for anyone to pay the $75.oo annual fee. I vote for the $150.oo or so per trip charge. After all this is not like it is an everyday thing. Here is my dilemma. As a member of the human race, with the proper training, be able to just stand (or sit) and watch another person’s life belongings, go up in fire. NO! I couldn’t. But apparently the firemen of South Fulton Tennessee, have no problem with this. I guess that will teach the outsiders. Pay Up! or lose it. One last question before I close. I realize it was just a trailer home. But has anyone assessed the fire department a fine for, in my mind, violation of the EPA code. Surely a public minded group like a fire department, is concerned with AIR POLLUTION. Should they not have done their part to prevent this polluted air. That Is How I See It. Views: 335
Category: USA
Pizza a Vegetable?
Well it looks as if our United States Government, has done it again. No they did not say Pizza is a vegetable. Only the Sauce. This will be a very short post, because that is all this deserves. If any at all. Correct me if I am wrong…. But isn’t pizza sauce made out of TOMATOES? This is just another example of the inept leadership we now have. If the leaders of our country don’t know a FRUIT; from a Vegetable, How can they possibly be relied upon to make decisions regarding the SAFETY, HEALTH, and WELFARE of our great country. The TOMATO has been a fruit from the beginning of time. Come on people. Do we maybe need to require an IQ test for anyone elected to office. That Is How I See It Views: 193
Fair TAX???
As most sport fans know our professional sports players pay Federal Income Tax. They also pay State Tax. However did you know they pay the STATE TAX to the state they earn the money in. Not necessarily their home state. Let’s say a Eli Manning plays a game at Indianapolis. The money he earned for that game is taxed by the state of Indiana. (I can only assume local city, county, etc. taxes are also collected). Can you imagine the tax nightmare? Does he have to prepare a tax form for every state he earns money. Does this include personal appearances also? But here comes the rub. I recently read..Pius Heinz, a German poker player won $8,715,636.oo in the WORLD SERIES OF POKER, in Las Vegas TAX FREE !!!! Martin Stazko of the Czech Republic the second place finisher won $5,433,080.oo. Neither of these men will pay tax on any of this 14 million plus earnings. However third place winner, Ben Lamb a resident of the good old USA will have to pay approximately $1,524,011.oo on his $4,021039.oo Fourth place finisher Mark Gianetti, another USA Citizen won $3,012,700.oo but will have to surrender $1,524,642.oo to the Federal Government. Granted the 2 nd place winner will have to pay taxes in his native Czech Republic. Due to Germany’s tax exempt gambling law, Herr Heinz will pay NO TAXES. That is almost $14 million of U.S. Currency leaving the country, with no return to our treasury. Does anyone else see anything wrong with this? I sure do. This Is How I See It. Views: 893
Obama On A Genocide Mission?
Gen·o·cide [jen-uh-sahyd]: A noun. The deliberate ans systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or CULTURAL GROUP. Since Mr. Obama has taken office it seems he has pinpointed the elderly as the means to balance his budget. Or should I say slant things to his pet projects. What do you do if you want to spend money you don’t have. You eliminate things you don’t need. Divert that money to what you want. That my friends is just what Mr. Obama has done. First on his agenda was to bail out his buddies in the banking, and manufacturing industries. (Rich helping Rich get Richer). To do this he refused to admit the costs of living rises (Medicinal, Utilities, and yes gasoline) . He even wants to change the formula for figuring these costs, because he says they project a false and higher cost of living than is a true cost of living . Therefore not giving the elderly the raises they deserved, since he has been in office. To subsidize his buddies, the elderly have, by not getting a raise for 2 years. Has amounted to between $45 and $90 trillion dollars. That more than paid the trillions given to the bail out effort. These people have paid into this account for 40 to 50 years. It is not their fault the Government gave that money to other Government agencies. (Which fail to pay it back. let alone pay interest). merely a mismanagement of funds. Some of you will think the amount paid in does not equal the amount paid out….HOWEVER… Let us not forget the INTEREST which this money had been properly invested. How many of the people who have paid in never receive a check, because of death. Or just drop out of the system. How much of this money is being spent on people who never paid in a cent. How about planning our own retirement income. I did this. I invested the maximum I could. Two years later it was all gone. My company shut the doors, Not my fault. Due to EMERGENCIES, and the need to get by until I could find another job, (which has been 3 years now). I have no money. The barter system works fairly good but I still have to do without a lot, So you see that doesn’t help either. So how does this relate to GENOCIDE? By denying the elderly people the money needed to exist on. The poverty level is $10,890 a year. If I were to be on Social Security now I would be getting about $13,800 a year. But as of now I would have about $1392 a year subtracted before I get my check for MEDICARE, Which I have also been paying for all my working life. That takes me to $12,408, a year. Now let us not forget we need a supplement insurance. This cost is around $125 a month (according to friends paying it). This is another $1500 gone. Leaving us with $10,908. This puts you at just $18 above poverty level. Now subtract a conservative average of $600 a month for rent or mortgage. There goes $7200. Let’s see, that takes us to $3708 dollars to pay utilities, and buy food, house or renter insurance, life insurance and let’s not forget MEDICINE, Car insurance if we are lucky enough to have one. But then you would not be able to put gas in it. And let’s not forget we have to pay SALES tax on everything. Including our utilities. It seems that Mr. Obama’s plan is eliminate the elderly as quickly as possible. After all they are a drain on his economy. Genocide or what. I see it as an attempt to eliminate the elderly. That Is How I See It. How many people do we have die of starvation or heat, or just plain a lack of compassion by our leaders. more than between find merely find find Views: 180
Legalize Marijuana?
Legalize marijuana or not legalize marijuana. That is the question. We have heard this argument for many years. Does it really matter? I must admit I have never tried it so maybe I fail to see the advantage, or disadvantage here. From what I understand drugs like marijuana have been used in many different rites during the course of our history. The American Indian supposedly used this or a similar drug in some of their ceremonial rites. The tribes of Africa used similar drugs for the same reason. For all I know our forefathers may have participated in this type of rites, or maybe even recreational purposes. Perhaps the medicinal uses were known way back when. I remember hearing of our ancestors, and even royalty abroad having snuff boxes. (And it wasn’t for tobacco snuff). No! I don’t know the answer. What I do know is this. If it is legalized, our Government will be able to get a piece of the action, (money) . The cost will most likely go down. Thus crime created by trying to get marijuana should go down. I suppose these would all be pluses, and I can’t really think of any minuses; other than there will always be those who have no legal claim to buy marijuana. Also if it is legalized, will growers be monitored like the existing drug companies, like Eli-Lily. If it is legalized will insurance companies pay for it. How much more will this cost us, the consumer in increased insurance premiums. And how will it affect hiring practices of business. There is mass impacts involved here. I’m sure more than I can foresee. Finally let me insert my personal observation. People already take legal drugs, illegally. I know of one young lady who stole a doctors prescription pad, and wrote her own prescriptions. This was many years ago, and the doctors signature would be impressed on the sheets below it. Do doctors now take measures to prevent this? I also know of people who will steal a relatives much needed medication out of their medicine cabinet. Without regard to the relatives health. I also know peoples homes are broken into for the purpose of finding legal drugs. Legal or not people will get their hands on them and use them illegally. MOOT POINT. Does it really matter if it is or is not legal. The government will benefit by getting a portion of the proceeds. That Is How I See It. more than involved Views: 209
Bad Umpires? Replace Them!
Recently there has been a lot of criticism of professional baseball umpires. WHAT is new? Every call is a judgment call. Ever since I can remember baseball umpires have always made bad calls. It is like the weatherman. Most of the time he is wrong. Occasionally he gets a call right. Like when it is pouring down rain and our local weatherman predicts 51% chance of rain. After all they can’t be completely wrong There is always that percentage. Umpires have a 50% chance on every call they make. It will either be WRONG, (which will be remembered), or right which will not be remembered. And let’s not forget whatever the call it will be wrong from one perspective, and right, (regardless of how wrong it is), to another’s point of view. We now have the technology to eliminate those blind men behind the plate, at the bases, etc. COMPUTERS. With Cameras, as small as they are, and as portable, WE can have the computers make the calls, a lot quicker, and more accurately than mere men. I guess then everyone will be yelling, “Kill the computer”, or “Computer are your cameras blind?” Of course we could return to the olden days of baseball. You know the days in early baseball, where the Umpire brought his char on the field sat off to the side, and called the game. The good thing about this was the crowd could over rule a call the Umpire made. Or we could just make sure the umpires we have are thoroughly trained, and tested. Give them a 3 strike rule. Three wrong calls and you are fired. I really like the choice of one umpire with the crowd able to over rule his call. But I guess that is impractical. Thus the only choice we have is COMPUTER UMPIRES. That Is How I See It. Views: 1,383
End of Smartphones?
With the announcement by Verizon of the end of the unlimited data plans, on the heels of AT&T and T-mobile’s announcement of the same. This leaves Sprint as the lone major carrier still offering unlimited data. The big draw of the SMART PHONE, is the unlimited data plan. Instead of unlimited they propose you pay by the GIGABYTE. I suppose most of you know exactly how many gigabytes you and your family will use each month. I’m not that smart. It is sort of like when you go to a pre-pay gas station for a fill up. You have to guess how much your tank will hold. I can’t guess that close. So I don’t buy my gas there. For me it will be the same if I have to make a guess of how many gigabytes my family and I will use during any given month. We rely on this plan for a lot of things. But do we use 2 gigabyte. or 10 gigabyte a month. Like I said in an earlier post “I HATE CHANGE”. This move only complicates my life. If it comes down to having to guess how many gigiabytes I use I will just go back to using my cell phone for phone calls. I did that for many years, and I can do it again. Of course it will be harder on the teenagers, on my plan. But think of the money I’ll save. At least $1200.oo a year. So shall we lay to rest our smart phones? YES!!!! I will. I don’t need my life anymore complicated. As for those of you who are so addicted to your phone, may your wallets get deeper so you can pay the higher cost involved. But you can fight this by doing what I will do and “Just say no!” To a pre-pay per gigabyte plan. If everyone does this. Guess what the companies will most likely do. That Is How I See It. Views: 412
Hope You Had a Happy 4th
The 4th of July when we celebrate the signing of the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. The beginning of our country. The Pilgrims came to our shores to escape religious persecution. In fact our 1 st Amendment states.: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Yet as we celebrate our DAY OF FREEDOM, we must look at the rights we have lost,: and there are many of them. Remember just recently our 4th Amendment, barring illegal entry of our homes, was struck down by the Supreme Court, by upholding a ruling that police no longer need a warrant to barge into our homes, and we lost our right to defend our homes from police action. Sometime ago our SUPREME COURT sided with a minority led by the ACLU (Anti Christian Lawyers Union). When they errantly interpreted our 1 st amendment. What they are missing. The SEPARATION of STATE and CHURCH. Was actually meant to protect our right OF, (Not FROM as your local ACLU would have you believe) religion. You remember at the top of this post I said the Pilgrims cane here to flee religious persecution. Well that was what was happening. EXAMPLE: Some states were mandating the prevailing sect of that area, or of the ruling class. (Yes we did not have royalty. But like now we have the wealthy who can make the most noise, and thus assumed to be the leaders of the people). Perhaps in one State, let us say predominately Methodist. This sect would be essentially the state adopted religion. While a Baptist minister might be jailed for preaching the Baptist beliefs in this state. In a neighboring State, The state may favor the Baptist, and the Catholic priest may be in jail. Do you see what I am getting at? Separation of State and Church was meant to keep the STATE from mandating a religious sect. (Religion, if you will). Not to remove GOD from our country. We hold these truths to be that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. CREATOR as Dictionary.com explains. The Creator, GOD. Hope you had a happy 4 th of July. That Is How I See It. Views: 216
NBA Lockout
Here we go again. Multimillionaire vs Multimillionaires, (or billionaires), who knows, who cares. The NBA claims the league lost $300 million this past season. The league will tell you it is the players fault. The players will say it’s the owners fault. I’ll take the blame. I haven’t been to a professional game in years, therefore it must be my fault because I didn’t pay to watch a bunch of overpaid people play a game I would play for free. No! I don’t take advantage of watching them on TV. Will they never learn? We had the NBA lockout in what (1998), then to get people back they created “SUPER STARS’, By allowing certain players to not follow the rules, and blasting their names on anything, and everything. These were decent players before, (Let me explain. I look at the overall skills of a player to rate them. If a player scores 30 points a game but puts up 60 shots; does this mean he is a great player. If a player is allowed to go from one end of the floor to the other with only 3 dribbles, is he a good ball handler. The answer in my opinion is NO!) The fact that professional basketball is not real BASKETBALL, but comparative to professional wrestling. They give what the so-called fans want. That’s OK it is merely a business, BIG BUSINESS, but business. In the NBA’s greed, they started raising ticket, and licensing fees. Then the players said Hey I want some of that. And I have no quarrel here. What we have here is: The NBA owns the company. The players contract with different teams for the most money they can get. It is just business. Who cares? Will we not be able to feed our kids if the two can’t reach agreement. Probably we would have more money in our pockets. I suggest if you want to see exciting BASKETBALL take in a grade school, (or as some of the upper class prefer elementary school), games, Jr high or middle school, or high school. Or a nearby division 2 or 3 College game. It won’t cost you nearly as much, and you will most likely see a more competitive game than the NBA will offer. And I’m sure your school and community could use the money. That Is How I See It. high school merely Views: 715
Cost Of Entertainment On Rise
I just read where Disney World is increasing the price of a day pass. Admittedly it may not be a big increase. I really don’t know. I once won a 3 day stay there, which included flying down, and back, with a room and continental breakfast. I told them to give it to someone who would go. It would take about a $million to get to Florida. Well I might go for $100,000.oo. I was there once. Drove 18 hours to get there, After reaching our destination, I stayed 5 hours and came back home. Worst place I have ever been. Exception might have been Camp Eagle. But that is another story. It may just be in my blood. My Dad went there to visit my Uncles who moved down there. He hated it too. My son went to college there one year. He is a little more lenient than my Dad or me. He will go there for a day or two to visit friends. But back to the rise in costs for Disney World. Now it isn’t just Disney World, it seems most amusement parks are raising their prices. We all know sometimes a price increase has to come along. As employee’s need raises, and employee benefit cost raise. So I’m not really knocking them for the price increase. However, when you think about the overall cost for someone like me to go as a family of four, it really is quite pricey. Assume it is still the 1800 miles I traveled the last time. (There wasn’t Interstates all the way, so went by U.S. Highways), I think a good estimate for cars now is 26 mpg average. So round trip of 3600 miles, figure gas cost now about $3.50 a gallon, equals about $485.oo. Entry at $80.oo time 4 equals $320.oo. Now we are at $805.oo. Even for me 1800 miles is too much for a one day trip. Figure, driving the interstates, it is at least a 2 day drive. Thus we end up with at least 10 meals each for the round trip. Even eating at Burger King, we are looking at $200.oo for food, and that is not counting any drinks or snacks you have while on the road. Two overnight stays at a motel, (one going, and one coming home), that’s at least another $300.oo. I don’t know if Disney World charges to park there, I have been to some Amusement parks that do. But most don’t. So I’ll assume Disney doesn’t. Now we are at $1300.oo and just getting in the gate. Assuming, (again), you and your children spend what we spent the last time I took my family, which was several years ago, on drinks and food and souvenirs we’ll ad another $100.oo. Up to $1400.00 now. And let’s face it how much are you really going to get to see or do in one day? I know most of you are probably thinking WOW! that’s not bad. I suppose not but after driving 12 hours a day, for 2 days to get there, and 12 hours, a day for 2 days to come home. (Let’s not forgetting listening to the children and wife all that time while trying to keep your mind on driving), is it really worth it? Again probably yes, just to see the kid’s having fun. But for me that is more than I make each month. AND I still have my house payment, utilities, food, auto expenses, etc. But don’t worry, even if I could afford it I wouldn’t go. Disneyland in California would be another thing. That Is How I See It. have been just getting Views: 125
