State Of The Union...Not So Good.

Did you see good ole George W. the other night giving his State of the Union? He was in rare form. According to what I got out of it...he wants to continue giving our jobs away and sending our business overseas. He was just in Dubai you know....where most of our corporate headquarters are relocating. Raise the standard of living for the foreign countries and put most Americans in the poor house. He wants to open the borders, when we should be closing them. Open the doors of trade to Panama, Columbia, Peru, and of course those toy making experts the Chinese! Panama, Columbia, and Peru have flooded our Country with drugs for decades in an attempt to destroy us.....but all is forgiven when G.W. takes you under his wing. Why didn't he take all those home owners that were taken advantage of in the so called recent "Mortgage Crisis" under his wing??? The Government wants their hands in everything else.....so why not in this? They could have stepped in and made it mandatory for those banks and companies to refinance those people at a fixed rate of 9% or so.....the loses could have been kept at a minimum...and those people could keep their homes, keep making payments, and avoid a crisis! After all, a 9% return on your money is no small amount....I believe those mortgage companies could have survived on this profit margin....don't you? The answer to this is simple.....Wealthy investors will buy those properties at dirt cheap prices when the home market bottoms out and then when the market recovers they will make huge profits on the resales and so will the banks and mortgage companies. Once again leaving the American tax payer and the middle class home owner with the loss. You say, "this is unbelievable!" Just watch what happens....and those who will profit most from this so called crisis....will be the friends of the people in political power! How can 600 million people let a few hundred politicians place America in such a mess??? The American people are going to have to gut up and say, "We have had enough!" Foreigners should have to state a specific purpose while inside our country and be given temporary visas and this should include diplomats. American citizens are going through all kinds of inconveniences lately when we need to do something......have you taken a flight lately? Renewed your drivers license? You get the third degree. It should be 3 times as hard for someone to cross our borders legally...and the illegals should be deported and given a large fine.....if you cannot pay it....work it off in jail at 5 dollars a day! Nothing like a little free labor to discourage someone from crossing into our country illegally. These problems are so easy to fix......WHY ARE THEY NOT BEING FIXED??? I believe we are being regimented for a take over.....freedoms taken away....and the country sold to the highest bidder by our politicians! I have been saying this for 10 years to anyone that will listen. There are no more easy answers....if we don't take a stand soon...it will simply be too late!

Moving Back With The Parents: The New Trend

I had a good friend of mine ask me a question this week. It was an advice question about his teenage daughter. She is out of school and out of the home, living with a boyfriend and his parents...not working.....and doesn't want a job anytime soon. This is of her own free will and is not encouraged by him or his wife. Apparently she called up last evening and wants to move back into their home because she doesn't get along with the boyfriend's parents very well. This is what I told him: Working a job and being responsible at a job is a sign of teenage maturity and is an absolute must if she is to move back in. She will be able to learn time management and responsibility; not to mention she can save some money for when she is actually ready to become that independent adult....she says she wants to be! I told him to open her up an account at the bank and not let her waste all of her earnings. He cannot control whether she works or not; but he can control his expectations of her as a young adult. When she asks, "Can I come back home?"...she is actually saying....I am not being taken care of like you and mom took care of me and I am in economic distress. She is looking to be rescued, even though she has been living in her current situation almost a year and is in no real danger. (Of course if your child is in danger you go get them immediately.) Any parent will help out but there are a few things to keep in mind.....Now, you will want to be parent and landlord if she is going to learn anything from the experience....and watch her attitude....she should be grateful for the opportunity to return home, if she is not, this may raise a flag for you......no one wants to be taken advantage of. You should require what a landlord would require....maybe not rent....but keeping the room clean, helping out with the food expenses, doing chores, and acting like an adult. Once again maintaining steady employment is a must. No hanging out with the boyfriend at your home....they must do like adults would do and provide their own entertainment, dates, ect....now this is not to say that you could not share dinner or a movie with the young love birds.....that is if they will want your company and they are acting like young adults should act. The bottom line is simply this: If it is not a win-win situation; then it is a lose-lose situation! It has to be a two-way street or it's a no-way street. If she can't abide by these rules.....she can continue to live where she is!!!

Apologize: I Had Nothing To Do With It!

Many of the States have started a trend to apologize for slavery in the past year. There has not been a slave of any kind in the United States in over 142 years! No one in my family history dating back to the early 1700's, when they came to this country, has ever owned a slave. My family was too poor and were indeed sharecroppers themselves until the early 1840's or so. I have the proof...so I only have one question...What should my family apologize for??? Slavery was wrong, but my family simply had nothing to do with it!!! As a matter of the facts...your family probably didn't have anything to do with it either, unless you are a descendant of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the United States from 1620-1865! Don't look surprised...this information is correct...you can do the research as I have. By 1860 only 15 states still had legal ownership of slaves. The slave population in America at that time was around 4 million and all of those slaves were owned by 8% of American Families....Yes, that would be the upper wealthy and elite 8% of the Nation. That would mean 92% of the Nation's Families during that period of history did not own a slave. I hate to be the one to break this news....but....the slaves were made up of different kinds of people....they were Africans, English, Native Americans, Spanish, Central Americans, Chinese, and Irish. The majority however were Africans. Only a small percentage of African Americans today are direct descendants of slaves, and none that I know of today are in slavery. According to my research the apology should be coming from the rich and powerful descendants of that elite 8% of long ago...indeed the very families of the blue bloods that made their wealth on the backs of the slaves and poor people of our Country. In that case My Family is due an apology also!!! There have been slaves all down through history dating back to the Ancient Egyptians....where are those apologies??? My God, Hitler and Nazi Germany almost wiped out the entire Jewish Population and that was the Country as a whole not just the wealthiest 8%; and I don't hear any apologies from the German Parliament today for it! I think slavery of any kind is wrong and I would stand up against it...but don't ask me to apologize for something that my descendants had absolutely nothing to do with.