So often we get frustrated by others who have a view different than our own. Maybe you are a “conservative” and other people tend to classify you as a religious zealot and a Tea Party loyalist. Or maybe you are “progressive” and people tend to look at your sort as an elitist who sees the World through “rose colored glasses”. But most likely you are neither of these, because you are uniquely you.But when when we classify people into groups like this, we do it to ourselves. Each person is unique. While some people may seem to “follow like sheep” at times, it is easy to automatically make assumptions that are incorrect. I would like to offer a different approach...Try to understand why people think...
As people debate about issues, it is so often a trap to start attacking people personally, rather than challenge one another with ideas and facts and questions. A large part of the problem with the political discourse in this country is people’s acceptance of the idea that mudslinging is okay. But I think there is more to it than that!It is all too common for people to make up facts that sound good without spending time going over the details that support their assertions. Part of it is laziness, and another part of it is lack of education. While I didn’t finish college, I had a great English teacher, as well as a great Logic professor, and in both cases they insisted that I supported...
I have to admit that playing games like Cityville and Farmville are highly addictive. There are always new building you can put, new goals you need to meet, and new friends you end up making as you play. There is also the competition among friends. For example, who built the nicest looking city or achieved the highest level? But in short, this is a game you never win. You just keep playing. And the game developers are always coming up with new ways to entice you to play more often, and even spend money on the game. For example, you can buy gift cards online to places like Old Navy, and then get some extra “City Cash” to spend making your city better.What I have also...
When we talk about the growth of the US economy, we measure it by GDP or Gross Domestic Product. The formula for that is as follows:GDP = private consumption + gross investements + government spending + )exports - imports) So if the government is running a deficit, we start talking about cutting spending by the government. We might cut spending on any number of things from medicare to education to defense, but that spending is money that is contributed to the overall economy. That money helps fuel business from producing better workers through education, building new roads where businesses can be located, and paying government employees who then spend some of that money in the economy (private consumption).It is important to recognize that if you cut...
How difficult is it to buy a couple of yellow squash, cut them, boil them, add some salt and pepper and eat? It takes all of about 5 minutes of actual work time. You are then more guaranteed not to be eating things like preservatives or throwing plastic containers into the waste bin. Even easier, grab some leave spinach. Put a little salad dressing on it. Mix it and eat it. Or try some sesame seeds and soy sauce (image below) It is also easy to grab many other fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and grains and eat them in a similar amount of time. We’ve all heard how important a variety of fruits and vegetables are to being healthy and feeling good. Why wouldn’t you want to...
As we look at how America has changed, often it is difficult to notice changes that take place over time. This plays well into the hands of corporations and lobbyists who work with short term goals. There was a time when corporations made longer term plans, but that will be another topic to be discussed soon. But let’s look at prices and wages today as compared with the past. Here are some interesting comparisons: Wal-Mart’s slogan went from being “Made in America” to “the low priced leader”. The nation’s largest employer for many years was General Motors. Now it is Wal-mart. The average page of a Wal-mart employee is far less than GM paid in terms of cost of living. With all the hype about getting the lowest...
As we talk about spiraling deficits, we should discuss what has changed that brought about the deficit. As people have lost their jobs, they obviously are not paying as many taxes to both federal and local governments. As people have lost their houses, they are paying less in property taxes. Here is a look at the federal level (courtesy of Wikipedia). {nextpage} So the government was used to receiving taxes at one rate, and then after the recession, they received much lower revenue from taxes, even though spending had already been decided based on previous revenue numbers.Now as we look at the GDP it is this formulaY = C + I + E + G(where Y = GDP, C = Consumer Spending, I = Investment made by...
There are some good reasons why we should not legalize Cannabis or marijuana, and often we get some distortion as groups who would benefit by keeping this drug illegal also wield strong lobbying power to help make sure those reasons are the rule of the day.Beneficiary #1 - Gun MakersMexican police report that 90% of the guns seized from drug gangs come from American gun manufacturers. Moreover, gun shops nearer to the border regularly make sales to customers who request multiple weapons, sometimes dozens of weapons. So long as customers provide documentation and pass background checks, the gun shop gets their money, the gun maker gets their money, and everybody is happy, except of course those towns in Mexico that live in constant lawlessness and...
In today’s society there is often a feeling that there is something missing, but we just can’t seem to pinpoint it. The Tea Party wants government out of our lives, and the Coffee Party wants corporations to pay their share. Millions if not billions of dollars go into think tanks and lobbying groups to help sway public opinion. So much goes into convincing us who we should be as individuals that we are left confused. We forget that we are individuals with our own unique experiences. Each of us has a story to share that is like no other. But political parties and marketing agencies would like to convince us that we are not individuals but numbers that correspond to data sets that they can...
As I was watching the story unfold in Egypt, a reporter on the ground from CNN (Engel) mentioned the teargas used by Egyptian police on protesters was from Combined Tactical Systems, which is based in Jamestown, PA in the United States. As people question the role of the United States in their plight, do things like this have an influence on the view of Egyptians on the United States?...