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New Rules For American Hiring

2010-02-10T07:40:00.001-08:00

New Rules For American Hiring

Americans are abiding people to the rules of law. Tens of millions of Americans suffered while their jobs went overseas, or illegal aliens replaced them on the job in America, or legal temporary alien workers were brought in to replace additional Americans on the job. A few people complained. A movie was made about the outrageousness of it all. The vast majority of our Federal representatives told us that they would do nothing, in fact they would promote the causes of illegal aliens and H1B Visa alien temporary workers taking our jobs and just look the other way when jobs were outsourced overseas. There has been no public outcry basically.

American businesses large and small seek to outsource overseas whatever they can. We see it everyday. The stores are packed with foreign produced goods. It is difficult to find American made goods. Even services are outsourced overseas such as customer service. How many of us would think we would talk in our lifetime on the telephone to an Indian in India or a Filipino in the Philippines? For many of us it is a regular occurrence.

Illegal aliens own hundreds of thousands of jobs in America because the American government will not enforce the law that exists. The laws exist that illegal aliens are required to be returned to their home countries and employers and landlords are guilty of crimes if they hire or rent to illegal aliens.

H1B temporary worker aliens visas were created to supplement the American worker when not enough American workers are available to do the work. With US unemployment officially at 9.7% and unofficially at 20% there is no need for any H1B right now in America. Tell them all thanks but to go back to their home countries. Employers of H1B alien workers are violating the law because the purpose of the H1B visa was to supplement the American workforce not to replace it.

Many American companies seek the lowest salary levels to pay their workers in America. Twenty years ago, it was paying lower wages in the midwest rather than higher ones in the northeast. Now they contract work to third parties that hire illegal aliens to perform the work at low pay. They think that by having the work done at arms length the companies will keep their good names and not be prosecuted. But it is all a scam to cut costs for office cleanup crews, cafeteria workers, warehouse workers, landscapers, construction workers, hotel workers, and many other jobs. I bet most of the contractors do not even carry workman's compensation insurance, thus breaking the law.

One could say this is an example of the rich getting richer. But this is an example of going too far.
We always has some outsourcing overseas, illegal immigrants, and even the H1B visa for many years but they were all at a moderate level. Now because there has been no public outcry, and no prosecution by our enforcement officials business is optimizing their efforts to replace Americans on the job in America and is too successful. And they are going to continue to do it until there is public outcry and enforcement of the law.

The President says we need these people to do the work in America. But is he not trying to spark employment for millions of Americans? Most of the fast food restaurants in central New Jersey employed local Moms during the day and senior citizens at night ten years ago; now they have been replaced by Hispanics most I believe are illegal aliens. I believe the Moms and Seniors would come back if the jobs were available to American citizens. A Hispanic comedian stated proudly that most of the reconstruction work has been provided in New Orleans by Mexicans. I don't know how the Federal government, the State of Louisiana, and the City of New Orleans would stand for it, if it is true. One would think that it would be best to provide the jobs to the citizens of New Orleans, and then the rest of the State of Louisiana, and finally to other American citizens. If those jobs are pretty much minimum wage jobs with no or little benefits an investigation should be made.

The President was an activist in Chicago. I am sure he would have relished 10,000 apprentice training position in construction which should have been done in New Orleans and the other Hurricane areas for American citizens.

Write to all of your favorite companies. Tell them to hire American. Tell the stores to offer more American goods. Look for American merchandise and buy American first. Tell the automobile manufacturers that 60%, 70%, 80%,or even 90% American is not good enough, that we want 100% made in America.

If you are a member of a union, tell the union to support Americans. The illegal aliens are the problem.

Tell your town, county, state, and Federal representatives that we want the existing illegal alien laws enforced.

Everyone tell their representatives to send all temporary alien workers in America back to their home countries. Tell them to buy American merchandise and to hire Americans. Tell them to send H1B aliens back to their home countries.

Tell your congressmen to start twisting the arms of business to keep jobs here in America and even to bring a few back to our shores.

America is in the worse recession of all time and some say that American unemployment really id beyond 20%. Our representatives and businesses have given American labor a real haymaker and it is time to restore the jobs that have been torn away. The President and Congress miss the point. There are jobs in America filled by illegal aliens and H1B visa holders where Americans can replace them very easily. It is earier than creating brand new jobs.

Stop The Bleeding of American Jobs

2009-09-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Stop The Bleeding of American Jobs

Another 30,000,000 American jobs can go overseas during the next decade on top of all of the jobs already outsourced overseas. That means you, your family members, friends, neighbors are in jeopardy to lose jobs. As if that is not bad enough our federal government is allowing hundreds of thousands of aliens to "temporarily" work in America replacing Americans on the job in America. And the temporary aliens (six years) are not just farm workers, but semi-professionals and professionals replacing Americans in computer, legal, accounting, teaching, nursing, and many other good paying fields.

Businesses in America believe it is still business as usual to outsource jobs overseas and to import H1B aliens into America. American labor is now squeezed and there are no solutions in sight for relief.

It has to change.

American business and our elected officials have to learn it is best to hire Americans.

Billionaire and Mayor of New York City Bloomberg is still hiring H1B aliens to perform work under city contracts that could be performed by Americans. We all know that Billionaire and former CEO Bill Gates of Microsoft pleads for more permits for Microsoft to sponsor more alien workers as if he sees almost no value to hire Americans to work for him in America.

Many people think IBM Corporation is loyal to America but they sponsor too many aliens to work in America when Americans are able, qualified, and willing to do the work. These alien workers by law are supposed to help American companies and government when there is a shortage of American workers to perform the work. There is no shortage of Americans to perform the work especially when there are so many Americans unemployed at this time.

Bloomberg, Gates, and IBM are all traitors to America. I have no use of any of them. They should be punished for violating the law of H1B Visas that these people should only be brought to America when there are no Americans available to perform the jobs. There are thousands of other similarly guilty corporations and individuals in America. They should be proud to hire Americans.

American made produce and products are getting more and more difficult to find in America. America should support the American farmer better. America cannot be lazy and stop manufacturing most everything. If it has not come time already, America will be sorry that they ever outsourced so much already with more most likely to sent overseas during the next few years.

America should put a 100% duty on all products manufactured formerly by American workers now overseas outsourced to foreign countries and imported to America.

From the federal level through the state, county and local governments purchase preference should be made for American goods and services. Why should American taxpayer money be paid out to benefit foreign workers when American workers need the work and revenues. America also needs the tax revenue generated from those products, rather than foreign governments benefiting from it.

It Is All About Jobs

2009-08-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

15 Million Americans Are Out Of Work. So Why Is Our Government Still Bringing In 1.5 Million Foreign Workers A Year?

"It doesn’t make sense. 15 million Americans can’t find a job and our government is still allowing 1.5 million foreign workers a year to legally enter this country and take American jobs. And that’s not counting the illegal workers taking jobs. With Americans losing their houses and struggling to put food on the table, how can we continue giving jobs away? Does anyone really believe there’s a labor shortage? And yes, Americans will do "those jobs."

One of the problems is that most Americans don’t realize their own government is giving their jobs away. The whole concept this could be happening in this horrible economy is counter intuitive. So, if you want to help, start talking to your friends about it. Talk to the media about it. Send emails. Spread the word. Tell everyone you know. And get fired up about it because it’s just not right. Start by watching the TV spots below and emailing them to your friends. Then, go to the “How You Can Help” section below and take action. It’s up to all of us to stand up for the American worker now. Who knows, the job you save could be your own!"

Comment
American business is still in outsourcing mode and H1B mode while hundreds of thousands of American jobs disappear each month. American business and American government thinks that is ok to fire American labor unfairly or at will without consequences. As more Americans lose their jobs, the rotten economy will become worse. No state, town or city can support teachers, police, fire, or rescue with minimum wage jobs.

We must inform our elected officials and business that the status quo is unacceptable now. It is time for the pendulum to swing to create jobs in America. We must talk it up. Too many American officials talk a good line and then they hire aliens to perform budgeted work. Rank and file Americans must let government and business know that we need jobs to be given to Americans now.

Below is taken from americanworker.org:

How You Can Help – If We All Speak Together, We’ll Be Heard Loud and Clear.

Talk About It! Many Americans have no idea we’re still bringing in 1.5 million foreign workers a year to take American jobs. So talk about it, send emails and helps us communicate what’s going on. Talk to your friends and talk with the media. If we all speak together right now, we’ll be heard loud and clear!
Start Asking Our Leaders Questions:
1. Why are we bringing in 1.5 million foreign workers to take jobs when 15 million Americans are out of work?
2. Ask why Congressman Gutierrez is insisting President Obama stop worksite enforcement of immigration laws? Enforcement is opening jobs across the country for unemployed Americans. Unfortunately, since President Obama took office, worksite enforcement has declined significantly.
3. Why aren’t Jobs created by stimulus money just for American workers? That’s right, there aren’t safeguards in place to make sure Stimulus money jobs go to Americans? That idea was rejected! Right now, illegal workers and foreign workers are allowed to take Stimulus money jobs.
4. Why are Congressman Gutierrez and Senator Schumer so adamant that we need to give illegal aliens amnesty and bring in more foreign workers now! That’s not Comprehensive Immigration Reform. That’s Comprehensive Amnesty. It would also be a Comprehensive Disaster for the American worker.
Call President Obama at 202-456-1111. President Obama can make changes to the nation’s immigration policies without Congressional approval. Call him and tell him we need to reduce the number of foreign workers coming to this country to take jobs, so Americans can get those jobs.
Believe it or not, many in Congress don’t know we’re still giving jobs away. If you want to help educate members of Congress, the Congressional switchboard can be reached at 202-224-3121.
Join A CFAW Group. For that matter, join them all! Get active and let’s make a difference.

Checkout the URL's below for additional information. Some people may not be informed how big the problem is. Many people may not be aware of the bull that some elected officials and American corporations spreading. Below is taken from the website of Programmer's Guild Partners and Alliances :

The Programmer's Guild works with and supports the following groups and organizations:

Alliance@IBM
www.allianceibm.org

American Engineering Association (The "good" AEA)
www.aea.org

California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO)
www.calaborfed.org

Californians for Population Stabilization
www.capsweb.org

The Coalition for the Future American Worker (CFAW)
www.americanworker.org/

Displaced Techies
www.displacedtechies.com/

Hire America
www.hireamerica.us

Hire American Citizens
www.hireamericancitizens.org

Information Technology Professional Association of America (ITPAA)
www.itpaa.org

NoMoreH1b
www.nomoreh1b.com

NumbersUSA (Send faxes to Congresss)
www.numbersusa.com

Onshore Alternatives Lists companies that offshore and keep work onshore
www.onshorealternatives.com

Outsource Congress - Mike Emmons
www.outsourcecongress.org

Rescue American Jobs
www.rescueamericanjobs.org

Save U.S. Jobs
www.saveusjobs.biz

TechsUnite
www.techsunite.org

TORAW (The Organization for the Rights of American Workers)
www.toraw.org

Washtech - Washington Alliance of Technology Workers CWA/AFL-CIO
www.washtech.org

Zazona - H-1B Hall of Shame
www.zazona.com

10 skills you wish you'd learned

2009-07-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

10 skills you wish you'd learned

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/10-skills-you-wish-youd-learned.aspx

You may not have been paying attention in school when subjects like home economics and keeping a budget came up, but it's never too late to learn.

[Related content: family, frugal, groceries, prices, raising children]

By Melinda Fulmer

MSN Money

comment
During good times most people paid others to do things for them that usually they could do themselves. During bad times, like the current Bush and Republican depression, most of us are striving to do for ourselves rather than paying others.

This list of ten skills was authored by Melinda Fulmer and most of us can save money by doing some of her ideas. We each probably have other ideas for ourselves.

Here are my comments on the items in her list: I probably will make a better effort to buy clothes where they gave away free alterations. I already made an effort to create a frugal budget I log on at least twice each week to balance my checkbook. In my area of New Jersey, Campbell's condensed tomato soup is 85 cents per can and the prices of their other condensed soup are outrageous. We are making a strong effort to prepare home made soups in advance and bulk to replace the Campbell's condensed soups that we once bought at much cheaper prices. Nice knowing you Campbells. We need to do a better job comparison shopping at the grocery. We are casual wear right now and have not been to the dry cleaner in years. We do our best cleaning during each quarterly cleaning but are weak during daily and weekly cleaning chores. We try to paint rooms every few years, but do not have any furniture that could be painted. We use our microwave a lot to heat beverages, defrost things, and reheat items but rely on the gas oven for the bulk of the baking. We really do not have many filters to replace. There is no chance that I will pay someone to develop a resume for me.

Below is the list of 10 skills of Melinda Fulmer:

1. Make minor sewing repairs or alterations

2. Craft a household budget and balance a checkbook

3. Make Soup

4. Comparison shop at the grocery store

5. Take care of your own wardrobe

6. Clean your house with vinegar and baking soda

7. Bake in the microwave

8. Apply paint

9. Replace filters and screens in your house

10. Put together a résumé

An Easy Trillion Dollars To Stimulate The Economy

2009-07-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

An Easy Trillion Dollars To Stimulate The Economy

We all paid more than five dollars a gallon for gasoline and home heating oil recently. We have seen wild swings in the price of crude oil in the futures market. So much money was drawn from the American consumer to pay for the excessive prices of gasoline and home heating oil that the consumers had little to spend on other things. Many American citizens bought the gasoline or home heating oil on credit because they did not have the cash and are still liable for the climbing debt. The excessive cost of crude oil was one of the major causes of the current economic failures in America and the world.

Initially, I believed that OPEC was at fault for raising the price of crude oil excessively, but I was wrong. the I thought the rebels in Nigeria were the cause. The I blamed the big oil companies. But I was wrong.

The crude oil futures market is a "free" market that is the cause. The American federal government does not supervise the trading or set any rules in this market. The market is a free for all where the participants trade up the price of oil where the consumers pay the price. The traders operate on a 10% margin which is unheard of in any other market.this means that a trader with one million dollars can trade 10 million dollars on margin. Someone with a million dollars and the additional margin recently manipulated the price of a barrel of crude up by $10.

Right now they trade on virtual oil. They trade more oil than what exists. If it was a friendly game of Monopoly no one would care, but this is real life. No one should be able to trade more of something than what exists.

The purpose of each commodity market was to stabilize prices for the producers and the purchasers of the commodity. One would expect in the oil futures market that the sellers would be mainly the drillers pumping crude oil out of the ground and the buyers to be primarily the refineries that need the crude to produce gasoline, home heating oil, diesel, jet fuel and other related products. But here are disinterested parties in the oil futures market such as teachers unions, hedge funds, and others more interested in making a killing that to enable a market with stable prices.

The American federal government should set better trading rules and governance in the oil futures market and the other commodity markets. the Bernie Madoff swindlers in the oil futures market should be investigated and prosecuted. Why should the swindler traders soak the consumers for more than a trillion dollars enriching only themselves and putting hundreds of million Americans in financial peril.

If the oil futures market and other commodity markets had rules and governance and prosecution the prices of the commodities such as crude oil will stabilize. I would bet that the price of crude oil would stabilize around $2.00 per gallon stabilizing also the prices of gasoline, diesel, home heating oil, jet fuel and the rest of the products made from crude.

If the American consumers could have lower prices on gasoline and home heating oil then there would be lots of money in each household to spend on consumer items and then the economy would improve.

Real Estate Tax Bill Appeals Take Rising Toll on Governments

2009-07-09T15:49:00.000-07:00

Real Estate Tax Bill Appeals Take Rising Toll on Governments

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/107274/tax-bill-appeals-take-rising-toll-on-governments.html?mod=taxes-filing

"Homeowners across the country are challenging their property tax bills in droves as the value of their homes drop, threatening local governments with another big drain on their budgets.

The requests are coming in record numbers, from owners of $10 million estates and one-bedroom bungalows, from residents of the high-tax enclaves surrounding New York City, and from taxpayers in the Rust Belt and states like Arizona, Florida and California, where whole towns have been devastated by the housing bust."

""It's worthy of a Dickens story," said Gus Kramer, the assessor in Contra Costa County, Calif., outside San Francisco. "These people are desperate. They know their home's gone down in value. They've watched their neighborhoods being boarded up. They literally stand in there and say: 'When can I have my refund check? I need to feed my family. I need to pay my electric bill.""

"The tax appeals and reassessments present a new budget nightmare for governments. In a survey conducted by the National Association of Counties, 76 percent of large counties said that falling property tax revenue was significantly affecting their budgets, said Jacqueline Byers, the association's research director."

"Officials in some states say their property tax revenue is falling for the first time since World War II."

COMMENT

As friends and neighbors get reduced real estate tax bills, more homeowners will want one too. When towns and counties have reduced income, they have to adjust their budgets so they do not exceed their income. This can result in layoffs of town and county personnel, possible salary and benefit reductions of remaining personnel, and possible reductions of services.

Most of us in private enterprise have already taken our firings, salary and benefit reductions, and other losses so we know what it is like. Most of us in private enterprise will never know annual pay increases, defined pension plans, free medical, dental, and hospital plans, and job security again during our lifetimes like the government workers continue to benefit from for the most part. Most of us are pretty ignorant about the total cost of each American government worker and would be shocked to know what each is. Sure, some towns have already cut salaries of their public workers to obscene levels, but they are the exception...most public employees do very well compared to those in the public sector.

Some town and county governments are also bloated with excess employees.

Our elected officials run fairy lands where most of them spend taxpayers money like it is never going to end. In almost thirty five years of home ownership, I have never seen a year with no tax increase let alone with a reduction in taxes. And there have been many opportunities for our elected officials to be fair with us and keep taxes low, but they ignored us.

Go to your board of education, your town and county meetings and ask how many loaded employee costs are above $100,000 per year. Ask them how many and the names of employees earning more than $3,000 in overtime during the past year. Ask them for the names of each department that exceeded their budgets in spending. Ask them how many town retirees currently receive more than $100,000 in benefits. Ask them how many cars their entity is providing for personal use to their employees and their names and their job responsibilities.

Investigate where your taxes are going and complain.

In highly populated states like New Jersey, we are forced to pay billions of dollars for the education and health care of illegal aliens which is unfair to rank and file taxpayers. the sucking sound is our money being taxed at the local, county and state levels. And it is not for a few thousand, or a few tens of thousands or even for a few hundred thousand of them but tens of millions of them! This money could be reallocated for American citizens and legal aliens and maybe even provide reductions in our taxation.

My county supports a huge nursing home that pays out huge amounts of overtime money. I doubt that it is paying for itself from billing their patients. I do not think it is well run. It has high paying county jobs that smell of excess (patronage) that I believe private enterprise would not have or would not pay the excessive salaries and benefits. the hospital should be sold to private enterprise.

My county has about 23 towns all with their own school systems and administrators and a huge county education system. Instead of creatively working with the town school boards, we are paying for a parallel unnecessary universe of administrators, teachers, schools, and other expenses at the county level.

More than 90% of the town education funding comes from local real estate taxes and then we are hit with county taxes which include an excessive high school system and a large nursing home. Less than 6% of the town educational budget comes from state aid with other communities unfairly receiving much larger percentages. I can understand paying my fair share of the town educational budget, but why do I have to contribute to the high school educations to students from other town from my county?

Maybe it would be good for local, county, state, and federal governments to rightsize their salary and benefit packages including retirement to better reflect those in the lower public sector. Maybe there should also be careful thought on services that should be provided and those that should be given or sold to the private sector.

Free Entertainment This Summer

2009-06-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

Free Entertainment This Summer

Why pay for a concert this summer. Many counties and towns provide free concerts and most are open to the public. All one has to do is to look for them. You can attend and bring the entire family and the neighbors, too.

One of our favorite groups to watch and listen to is The Party Girls. "The Fantastic Party Dolls Show and Dance band is America’s favorite concert female cover group. They also happen to be one of the best party Bands around. The Party Dolls are three female vocalists choreographed with mini-skirts, go-go boots and funky diva garb (toned down for formal affairs). The band features four musician/singers. The show includes medleys from the 60’s (Supremes, Aretha Franklin), 70;s (Donna Summer, Earth and an Fire) and 80’s (Madonna, The Go-Go’s) and much more…"

We attended our first concert this season, Summer 2009, with The Party Dolls last night at "Duke Island Park Old York Rd Bridgewater, NJ 908-722-1200 7:00PM Free admission, open to the public." The concert was great. We bought soft serve ice cream cones for $3.50 each. Frozen ice cream novelties and Italian ice were also available. We brought cold water from home and our lawn chairs. Other people bring chips, dips, sandwiches, and other snacks and beverages.

See their calendar for future dates. Look for the free and open to the public dates to chose a concert to attend. We have followed The Party Dolls for at least a decade enjoying their concerts at least 4 or 5 times each summer season. We expect to see them in Sewaren, NJ (Woodbridge) on July 3rd and Summit, NJ on the July 4th. And we will look for them to attend additional concerts later in the summer.

We also attend the majority of the Union County Parks Concerts http://www.ucnj.org/parks/summerarts.html each year.

You can find free concerts this summer. Enjoy the outdoors, your family and friends, and great entertainment for free.

Foreign Aid for California and New Jersey

2009-06-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Foreign Aid for California and New Jersey

California and New Jersey and probably most other states are suffering from the recession and do not have the funds to operate efficiently. Many states are raising taxes and trying to reduce state employee headcount any way they can. California and New Jersey still need billions of dollars each in revenue and it is doubtful they or any other state will be able to raise it.

Published populations of illegal aliens are estimated to be in the range of 10 or 11 million people including children and children. Most Americans believe the numbers of illegal aliens in America are much higher than that.

Reagan provided amnesty for millions of illegal aliens and that was supposed to be the last time that amnesty was to be granted for illegal aliens.

Every President since Reagan has not closed the border to illegal aliens or criminals, prosecuted employers of illegal aliens, prosecuted landlords of illegal aliens, or prosecuted elected officials that grant sanctuary to illegal aliens.

Already taxes are excessive for American citizens and legal aliens. Services have been cut and will continue to be cut. Hospitals are being closed across America. Union County New Jersey lost 2 hospitals due to lack of funding for indigent patients. Hospital workers and teachers are being laid off because there is a lack of money to pay them.

Americans are generous people. There are not many people complaining about moderate legal immigration and the related costs to the taxpayers. Most people probably would not complain much about limited numbers of illegal aliens even 10 thousand of them across the country, but with tens of millions of illegal aliens, the taxpayers backs are breaking with excessive taxes.

Our elected officials are forcing American middle class taxpayers to pay for the education of millions of illegal children and the health care of tens of millions of illegal aliens when there are shortages of funds to provide adequate education and health care for the taxpayers. There is no difference in the education of legal citizens and the illegal alien children... the children are not specifically identified and well as health care for citizens and illegals.

Foreign Aid in the billions of dollars should be paid to the states to pay for the public services of the illegal aliens. What do you think? Notify all of your elected officials that we need to spend state taxpayer dollars on the American citizens and the legal aliens in America and that President Obama and the Congress should foot the bill of the illegals. The illegals are their responsibility not the states.

America is in recession and President Obama is seeking to increase employment and to reform health care. Supporting illegal aliens is so contrary to getting America out of a recession and to reform health care it is ridiculous. Illegal aliens in America is the Achilles heal of solving the American recession and obtaining health care reform.

Senator Menendez Supports Energy Independence & Pickens Plan

2009-06-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

Senator Menendez Supports Energy Independence & Pickens Plan

I wrote to Senator Menendez about supporting energy independence and the Pickens Plan and this is what he wrote back to me. This is all about substituting foreign gasoline and diesel for American drilled natural gas of which there is an abundance of. Basically, business or government fleets of vehicles can pretty much be converted from using gasoline or diesel to natural gas or propane. It is easier to convert to natural gas or propane for fleets because they have the management and staff to accomplish it efficiently.

My town has about 50 vehicles and my county probably has at least 1,000 and the state of New Jersey probably supports a fleet of at least 5,000 vehicles. Just think how big the fleets of vehicles are in all 50 states. The Post Office, Federal Express, and United Parcel Service probably have a half million vehicles between them. The car and truck vehicle rental companies probably have at least a half million vehicles, too. The Federal government probably has over 1,000,000 vehicles. The milk, bread, chips, soda, beer, and liquor delivery companies probably have thousands of vehicles also.

I think the municipal, county, state, and Federal government, and business can easily be motivated to convert from gasoline and diesel to natural gas and propane. Natural gas is available in America and is plentiful and is significantly cheaper than gasoline and diesel.

The following is from Senator Menendez:
"Thank you for contacting me about reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Your opinion is very valuable to me, and I appreciate the opportunity to respond to you on this important matter."

"One of our strongest proponents of getting off foreign oil is T. Boone Pickens. I recently met with Mr. Pickens to discuss his Pickens Plan and our mutual goal of reducing our dangerous dependence on foreign oil."

"As a result of our meeting, Mr. Pickens and I have decided to collaborate on legislation I intend to introduce that will increase our use of natural gas as a transportation fuel alternative to oil. Natural gas is cleaner than oil, and America is blessed to have an abundant supply of it. That means we can keep our money and create jobs here rather than sending them overseas. I look forward to working with Mr. Pickens on this legislation and will notify you when I have the legislation ready to introduce in the near future."

"Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may be of more assistance. I invite you to visit my website (http://menendez.senate.gov) to learn of other important issues to New Jersey."

Are your Congress persons on board? Contact them to tell them it is a good idea.

Get Your New Jersey Homestead Rebate

2009-06-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

Get Your 2009 New Jersey Homestead Rebate

http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/homestead/hrinfotemp.shtml

The New Jersey Homestead Rebate Program is alive and well this year (2009) for retirees and disabled meeting certain requirements. See the linked website for more details.

The State of New Jersey has budget difficulties and it appears that those not retired or disabled may not qualify.

Many retirees and disabled are having financial difficulties and the rebate check will be a godsend to them. If you are retired or disabled check it out. If you have loved ones that could be eligible assist them in obtaining the rebate.

I was told that I could expect as much as $1200 from my rebate from my town tax collector. The money will come in handy and probably already spent.

Your state if you do not live in New Jersey may have a similar program. Your town tax collector office may be able to help you. My tax preparer just gave me a blank stare and no help when I asked about it, but yours may be more helpful. When you use the services of a professional tax preparer, they should be helpful in obtaining rebates and other town, county, state, and Federal benefits that you are eligible for or they should lose their licenses.

There is money out there if you can find out about it and are eligible. Go for it!

"The eligibility requirements and amounts for 2008 homestead rebates (to be paid in 2009) have not yet been finalized. The following information is based on the proposed State Budget (which must be adopted by July 1, 2009).

The Homestead Rebate Program provides rebates for homeowners and tenants who occupied their principal residence in New Jersey on October 1, paid property taxes on that dwelling either directly or through rent, and whose gross income for the entire year does not exceed certain limits.

Only New Jersey residents who were either homeowners or tenants on October 1, 2008, are eligible for a 2008 homestead rebate. (Provided they meet all the other requirements, those who were homeowners on October 1, 2008, will receive homeowner rebates. Those who were tenants on October 1, 2008, will receive tenant rebates.)

Rebates for Senior and/or Disabled Residents. Rebate amounts for homeowners and tenants who were age 65 or older or disabled as of December 31, 2008, will be calculated in the same manner as the 2007 homeowner and tenant rebates.

Rebates for Nonsenior and Nondisabled Residents. Under the Governor’s proposed budget, no rebates will be issued to homeowners and tenants who were under age 65 and not disabled as of December 31, 2008."

11 ways to save on car insurance

2009-05-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

11 ways to save on car insurance

The US Postal Service raised the price of stamps from 42 cents to 44 cents, the State of New Jersey jacked up the tolls on the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike. It seems the State of New Jersey approved rate increases of 4% on my auto insurance. The fourth recent tax killer was the federal tax increase on cigarettes that began on April 1, 2009 of about 62 cents per pack making the federal tax a total of $1.0066 per pack. The total tax on a carton of 10 packs of cigarettes in New Jersey is $38.50. The Governor of New Jersey is talking about another 12.5 cents per pack increase. It is also estimated that my real estate taxes will go up about $500 this year. Gasoline has already increased more than 35 cents per gallon during the past 6 weeks and is heading higher.

I sharpened my pencil and found that insurance premiums are my biggest expense in my budget which is even higher than what I pay to run my car and heat my house together. I was surprised. I have been with the same insurance company for more than 30 years. And every year the rates have been going up.

The link article is very good and will put you on the path to save money on your auto insurance. The major points are explained in more detail in the article. The 11 ways to save on auto insurance in summary are:

1. Comparison shop
2. Ask for higher deductibles
3. Drop collision and/or comprehensive coverage on old cars
4. Buy a "low-profile" car
5. Take advantage of low-mileage discounts
6. Consider insurance cost when making a move
7. Ask about car-safety discounts
8. Ask about other discounts
9. Buy your home and auto policies from the same insurer
10. Find out about group discounts
11. Maintain good credit

Buy Forever Stamps Now Increase May 11, 2009

2009-05-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

Buy Forever Stamps Now Increase May 11, 2009

http://www.usps.com/prices/pricechanges.htm

Mailing Services Prices Effective Monday, May 11, 2009

On May 11 the price for a 1-ounce First-Class Mail stamp will increase from 42¢ to 44¢. Prices for other mailing services — Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services (including Parcel Post), and Extra Services — will also change. ...

Customers can use their Forever Stamps — regardless of when purchased — to mail 1-ounce letters after the price change, without the need for additional postage.

COMMENT

Next Monday the rate to mail a bill or other 1 ounce First Class Mail stamp increases 2 cents to 44 cents. You have until Monday May 11th to purchase Forever stamps at the current 42 cents each.

If you have 42 cent stamps that are not Forever stamps you will have to add a 2 cent supplemental stamp starting May 11.

Many of us like to send the more decorative commemorative stamps but they are not Forever stamps. If you have leftover commemorative stamps you will have to add a 2 cent stamp to get the postage up to 44 cents effective May 11, 2009.

It seems that the US Postal Service is raising prices for postage annually, which is different from their price increases in the past. It used to be that consumers had a few years between increases.

It is a different time today when most people have computers and use emails to communicate. Now many people pay their bills electronically avoiding the post office altogether. It seems fewer people are mailing greeting cards. More people are communicating by phone daily so the need to write letters is minimized. Fewer people are subscribing newspapers to be delivered by mail. The post office also has a lot of competition from delivery services especially United Parcel Service and Fedex. The postal service still has a lock on daily home delivery and bulk mail.

Maybe the Post Office needs a new business model to remain in business. Simply increasing rates further will cause customers to seek cheaper alternatives. Maybe the post office should seek to rollback their recent price increases.

The post office should name their current annual price increase policy as, "Price Increases Annually Forever". It seems they have established annual price increases as a second Forever program.

the AARP Driver Safety Online Course

2009-04-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

Be safer, have fewer crashes, and save money on auto insurance by taking the AARP Driver Safety Online Course, or another approved similar course provided by other organizations.

http://www.aarp.org/families/driver_safety/driver_safety_online_course.html?intcmp=ILC-RIBBON-HMPG-3-DSP

I paid less than $20 for the AARP Driver Safety Online Course and from what my insurance agent tell me I can save more than $100 during the next 3 years on my auto insurance. You must see if your insurance carrier will accept the class and give you a discount for completing it. Just call your insurance agent and ask.

"Why Take the Driver Safety Course Online?

The AARP Driver Safety Program is the nation's first and largest refresher course for drivers age 50 and older that has helped millions of drivers remain safe on today's roads. The course is designed to help you:

* Tune up your driving skills and update your knowledge of the rules of the road.
* Learn about normal age-related physical changes, and how to adjust your driving to allow for these changes.
* Reduce your traffic violations, crashes, and chances for injuries.
* Qualify for an auto insurance premium reduction or discount. Specific state insurance laws vary – please consult your insurance agent for specifics in your state.

The online course is self-paced and interactive and can be taken at the time and place of your choice. Find out more by viewing our video news release."

The course took me about 8 hours to complete with frequent breaks. It was easy to understand and important things are emphasized. I learned many things from the class. I am glad I took the class not only for the money I will save on my auto insurance premiums but from some new things to me that I learned.

AARP and other organizations also offer classroom classes that also run about 8 hours, but I found the online course more convenient.

You and any other driver in your household should take this course not only to save money, but to be safer on the road and have fewer crashes.

I took the lecture classroom course more than ten years ago and I thought I was still getting the discount. My New Jersey agent told me the course is only good for 3 years when you should take the course again.

Be safer, have fewer crashes, and save money on auto insurance by taking the AARP Driver Safety Online Course..

Andy Grove for Auto Battery Technology and Production Czar

2009-04-26T10:46:00.001-07:00

Andy Grove for Auto Battery Technology and Production Czar

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/16/technology/grove_battery.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009041709

"To wean itself from imported oil, the U.S. must create a strong electric car industry. The answer may lie in Silicon Valley."

Read the article Andy Grove wrote in the attached link where he explains the need and the how of gaining technological and production lead of batteries in the world for America.

The oil vultures have recently lowered oil costs but we know they will increase prices for gasoline and heating oil back to the $5 per gallon level or even higher soon. The oil vultures can destroy America by making transportation and heating our homes unaffordable. Leading battery technology and production in the world will prevent the oil vultures from severely disrupting America.

Since President Carter was in office America suffered excessively high prices and sometimes shortages. Just when public opinion becomes inflamed to do something about it the vultures increase supply and lower prices lulling America to become less inflamed and to lower national priorities to do something about it. We should never forget the excessive prices and sometimes shortages by the vultures.

President Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu should organize an industry council - like the World War II Production Board - and run it as if we were under wartime pressure. He can pull in the National Academy of Engineering and the National Science Foundation and have them recommend the technical approach. He can use the National Labs for R&D. Congress should back it also.

Andy Grove would be a great CZAR to lead battery technology and production for America. Andy Grove is a scientist and lead Intel for many years at the highest levels. Read his article in the attached link. Andy Grove is ahead of everyone in leading battery technology and production for America.

Westfield Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc.

2009-03-16T00:04:00.000-07:00

Westfield Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc.

http://westfieldrescuesquad.org/

The Westfield Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc. is an all-volunteer no-fee emergency medical service in the town and local vicinity of Westfield, New Jersey. They respond to emergency calls with ambulances and highly trained volunteers to our homes and businesses 24 hours each day, 52 weeks out of the year. The EMT's volunteered 26,708 hours last year, responded to 2170 calls, and responded with mutual aid to 52 requests from neighboring towns of Scotch Plains, Clark, Mountainside, and Garwood. They do not and have never charged for their emergency services.

They are having their fundraising at this time to pay for the ambulances, equipment, and training.

I sent them a check with a few more dollars than I have sent in other years because I want them to continue to succeed and remain a vibrant organization in the future. The alternatives are funding the rescue squad out of the municipal budget or enabling a private for profit rescue squad either of which would cost much more and probably with lower quality. With high real estate taxes already, the cost of municipal rescue would be prohibitive. And private rescue is very expensive for each incident to the family of the sick or injured when the bill arrives. I've seen bills from private rescue services as big as hospital emergency room bills. Just think if a patient requires time consuming efforts before transport, an IV, oxygen, medicines, and other costly services and materials, beyond the basic wages and benefits of two attendants and the cost of wear and tear on the ambulance.

Continue to donate to your rescue squad. Donate for the first time this year if you never donated before. If you manage a business in town find out what you can donate from your employer and send it in. If you belong to a club or other organization, take up a collection and send it in. Principals and teachers collect pennies and make a civics project out of it...the Squad may be able to appear at your school and show off some of their equipment. If you think you cannot send in a donation, at least send in a dollar. It all adds up. If you can send in an extra five dollars or more, do it.

Some years, not enough money is collected and they have to have another fundraiser later in the year. Send in enough now so they do not have the expense of printing and mailing a second fundraiser later this year. Show them we support them.

If you do not live or work in Westfield, New Jersey, then make a generous donation to your local volunteer rescue squad. We must applaud the efforts of all volunteer rescue squads across the country and the people that support them with financial donations.

Salmonella-hit peanut company files for bankruptcy

2009-02-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

Salmonella-hit peanut company files for bankruptcy

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Peanut Corporation of America sought bankruptcy protection on Friday after a salmonella outbreak traced to one of its plants led to one of the biggest product recalls in U.S. history.

The company filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia, saying the negative economic effects of the recalls have been "extremely devastating" to its financial condition."

"The salmonella outbreak that has sickened 600 people, more than half of them children, and may have killed nine people, has been traced to a plant in Blakely, Georgia operated by Peanut Corporation."

"Federal Bureau of Investigation officials in Atlanta and Virginia said earlier this week they had joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in a criminal investigation of the company.

Inspections showed the company not only had several tests that showed salmonella contamination, but also cockroaches, a leaky roof and filthy equipment, the FDA has said."

COMMENTS

Was the FDA hiding? Where were they all of this time when they should have been inspecting the plant and taking samples of the peanut products to check for bacteria and other nasty thing. They were asleep on the job. The FDA people that should have managed the inspection of the plant should all be fired and they should forfeit their pensions. Maybe President Obama should hire somebody that can get the job done. This was inexcusable for the FDA to have this happen.

Where was the local health department, also. Did not the factory need a health certificate in order to operate. Was there not even county or state health departments enforcing site checkups and biological sampling at food businesses such as Peanut Corporation of America.

If there is no inspection required for Georgia food businesses, I do not think I want to go there and eat there anymore. Maybe I should check labels at my supermarket and discard other products from Georgia. Maybe a boycott of all Georgia products is called for. Boycott all Georgia food products!

What excuse does the Governor of Georgia, Sonny Perdue, have to say about poisoning Americans across the country? Sonny Perdue, earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1971 from the University of Georgia and knows all about bacteria, germs and other nasties. What is he going to do to promote the health of Americans with food products from Georgia? Really, how far behind is Georgia from other states in the country in public health including the inspection of food preparation businesses?

Good Luck Barry Obama

2009-01-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

Good Luck Barry Obama

It was a wonderful Inaugeration Day! Millions attended in person and many millions more watched on TV. Many people cried good tears of happiness during the events.

It was even more wonderful to see ex President Bush fly off into the sunset of retirement that morning, knowing that we shall no more have to deal with his bad judgement and bad Republican mantras. Do not believe for a minute that Bush was friendly to you out of the kindness of his heart, but he wanted to be make sure he was part of the living ex President group and get togethers like those his father participates in. He knew he had to soften his image for the future or he would be blackballed.

George Bush left you with a full plate of problems that you have said you will solve. So you have gotten off to a great start and I think it will continue for a long time. Good luck Barry Obama!

Hire One Million Americans Immediately

2008-12-12T16:08:00.000-08:00

Hire One Million Americans Immediately

It is easy. Send all of the H1B Visa alien workers in America back to their home countries.

All we have to do is to replace the H1B aliens in American that are working in America. The H1B was created to provide labor for American business when Americans were not available to perform the work. Nobody can say that Americans are not willing, able, qualified, and available to perform the work today.

There are hundreds of thousands of the H1B and more than 20 other temporary worker visas approved by Congress and The White House each year and they are allowed to remain working in America for years. Even when the deadline for them to return to their home countries arrive many are allowed to remain in America working for even more extended time periods.

Write to your congress man and women and tell them to send the H1B's back to their home countries.

If you are a hiring manager, do not hire them. They are not in any preferential or equal opportunity category. They replace your neighbors and relatives that need the jobs. You can be replaced by a H1B. Be American patriotic. Hire Americans.

If you are a H1B, start packing. Thank you for your services. America does not need you anymore. You are a pawn being cheated to fair wages and benefits. Just like illegal aliens that are contracted to clean offices, you are hired by third parties and work at American employer worksites. H1B's are no better than the illegal aliens working in America. The American employers think they are shielded from prosecution by not hiring H1B's directly are wrong.

Put America back to work by replacing the million H1B and the 20 or so other categories of alien temporary workers in America with Americans.

Additional rewards for America would include freeing up much of the rental apartment market, saving money in public schools, and lowering charity healthcare costs (most do not understand American healthcare and are grossly underinsured).

Lets Have Congressional Hearings on Consumer Credit

2008-11-21T13:34:00.000-08:00

Lets Have Congressional Hearings on Consumer Credit

There seems to still be horrible stories about the lack of consumer credit in America. The Federal government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to loosen credit, but credit seems to be too tight still.

This week we had Congressional hearings from the Big Three Automakers saying they lost many sales this past month due to high credit restrictions to the consumers trying to buy or lease their cars. It seems that the consumers trying to qualify for loans had to have much higher credit scores than were previously necessary.

Higher scores seem to be required to obtain home mortgages also.

Small businesses also seem to be squeezed from obtaining loans also.

It also seems that some banks are just not lending to consumers at all when they previously did provide them loans.

The other major consumer credit story was about credit cards where many Americans had their credit limits reduced.

All of this is not good for the American economy to become better especially if there is not enough activity where all banks and credit unions are making loans and if the requirements are too harsh to obtain a loan.

If the faucet is making loans at a drop by drop rate the American economy will become worse than it is already rapidly.

$1.77 Gasoline in New Jersey Today

2008-11-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

$1.77 Gasoline in New Jersey Today

For the past couple of years, I had 2 twenty dollar bills ready and told the gas station attendant to put in $40 worth of regular. Without a surcharge as in many other states, gas stations in New Jersey pump the gas into your car without exception to my knowledge. When gas prices were high, the $40 would just about fill up my car. The last couple of weeks, I have been getting change back and was thrilled.

On the news today, a barrel of oil was under $50 for a while, which should enable gasoline prices to go lower.

Today would be a good day to get the car filled with gasoline and to obtain any gasoline you need for the leaf blower and the snow blower.

When oil was high earlier in the year, I was billed $5.099 for a gallon of home heating oil which should be much cheaper with the next delivery. Recently the market for home heating oil was around $2 where I expect the delivery price to my home should be under $3.

Gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel surcharges and most price hikes on most merchandise due to increased delivery charges should be should be eliminated.

It seems that just about all businesses raised prices the past year even though they were not affected by the excessive oil prices, and they should be horsewhipped.

With all of America's economic problems excessive surcharges and over inflated prices are un-American and those businesses and products should be boycotted.

If prices are reduced, than Americans can have a much better Christmas than last year. All businesses should be encouraged to rollback their prices. Maybe, America's economic picture will be brighter in that case.

We have to give our merchants an earful as well as our elected officials. We should also boycott the businesses that needlessly raised their prices and do not lower them. At least they should rollback their prices for the Holiday season.

Food Prices Remain Stuck at High Levels

2008-11-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

Food Prices Remain Stuck at High Levels

http://www.news8.net/news/stories/1008/562791.html

"Washington - Even though gas prices are falling, the price of food remains artificially high, sticking at the high point established during the summer's months of inflated fuel costs.

The American Farm Bureau's quarterly survey of grocery prices found that on basic items for the last quarter, prices were up an average of 10.5 percent. Potatoes, apples, and cheddar cheese were up the most, they found, while bread and eggs went down over the past three months.

The industry initially raised prices when fuel costs went through the roof over the summer, but now gas prices are plummeting. Grocery prices remain stuck at their summer highs, however.

Experts call the phenomenon"sticky prices": companies raise prices and keep them there even when the rationale for raising them ends, since their customers are still prepared to pay.

In response, families have been forced to tighten their belts. One shopper said, "Outrageous, you barely can eat...we don't go to movies like we used to, we don't go out sightseeing like we used to, we just cut it all out.""

Comment
Congress should hold hearings on food prices.

I talked to my baker a few months ago. He was happy to vent that when prices rose in the past he usually had a substitute to buy that was cheaper so that he did not have to raise his prices. He said the market was crazy because all nuts went up in price, for example. He could not substitute walnuts for peanuts or anything. All flours went up too. Cocoa went through the roof...there is not much to substitute with that one.

World food prices fell with the lowering of oil prices but the consumer prices are still very high and have not gone down from their highs in the supermarket.

Congress should hold hearings on food prices that the consumer has to pay currently.

Write your congress representative complaining about the high food prices and demand they hold hearings. America cannot be hostage to over greedy price manipulators.

John McCain Bad Decision Making Over Sarah Palin

2008-10-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

John McCain Bad Decision Making Over Sarah Palin

Presidential hopeful John McCain made all sorts of bad decisions over Sarah Palin and expects the voters to be happy over them.

First he chose her as a runnning mate. Talk about her skills and experience as being light weight... Her claim to fame was being governor of Alaska, the largest state in size of land area, but with only 600,000 people for a very short period of time.

Sarah Palin has no national or international political experience. She is a hawk on oil energy which her state has plenty of but America has been falling behind in oil drilling requiring even more foreign oil. The oil industry has not been fast enough to even replace the wells that are old and producing a lot less than they did earlier. There are millions of acres of Federal oil leases that the oil companies have not been active at all for the last 10 to 20 years that they forfeit as a penalty for doing nothing and to be resold to companies willing and able to invest in producing oil. It is a lie to say that offshore drilling will save America because it is unlikely much will occur there also. It takes up to 10 years for new drilling to be productive where oil can be pumped to storage or refineries for use by Americans.

Megabucks John McCain knew Sarah Palin was new to the Presidential race and would have to be brought along carefully. John McCain has hundreds of paid workers and could afford additional consultants to polish Sarah Palin before the public and media. John McCain has many finance people to oversee spending for the candidates on the trail across the country to make sure budgets and the law are followed.

Megabucks John McCain failed to groom Sarah Palin to run as his Vice President. It is obvious when you watch her interviews with the media. They say that binders were dropped into her lap and she was told to study the material on her own. When someone has such a long way to go with her studies, a formal tutorial plan should have been established. It should have been multi media. Some should have been lecture based. Some should have been team conversational based. Megabuck millionaire McCain should have hired a professional trainer.

Megabuck millionaires John McCain and his wife Cindy McCain should have thought through Sarah Palin's travel requirements to run as Vice President. Sarah Palin likes to take her whole family including her husband and children on her trips. She would be appearing several times from sunrise to midnight each day in from of crowds and the media. Sarah Palin and her husband are no where as wealthy as John McCain and his wife.

The $150,000 worth of clothes for Sarah Palin and her family purchased by the Republican National Party was a lot and a surprise to the nation. I do not think it was clear to Sarah Palin what her budget for running mate really was. I believe she went shopping with mega millionaire Cindy McCain and Cindy McCain encouraged her to buy many of the outfits. I am surprised that Cindy McCain did not give Sarah Palin a tractor trailer load of her slightly used clothes which she could have afforded to give away from the closets of her 8 homes.

I acknowledge that it would be difficult to fund a female vice president wardrobe and travel for her husband and children from her $125,000 salary as Governor of Alaska so some sort of allowance should have beeen made for her by John McCain. Her travel from place to place should have included her husband and children and arranged by John McCain and his staff.

Sarah Palin charged travel expenses for her children to the State of Alaska should never have happened because she is not representing Alaska during her Vice Presidential public and media travels. McCain should have made sure that Sarah Palin was able to travel under guidelines and expenses paid by the RNC.

John McCain ran the training and the travel expense planning and funding including wardrobe of Sarah Palin like an idiot. It should have been easy for him or his delegate to do. Maybe John McCain thinks everyone including Sarah Palin are mega wealthy like him.

If I was Sarah Palin I would resent the training and funding of her role of Vice President by John McCain. It could of all been handled better and more professionally.

If John McCain cannot manage simple tasks like picking and grooming his Vice President how will he manage the country?

Notes From A Backseat Driver...Don't Giveup Your Home

2008-10-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

Notes From A Backseat Driver...Don't Giveup Your Home

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/HomeFinancing/nearly-1-in-6-homeowners-underwater.aspx

In the above link, The New York Times title is "Nearly 1 in 6 homeowners 'under water'". That is a lot of people whose homes are in some sort of jeopardy.

It seems like most people are standing still frought with worry about the home mortgage mess waiting for their notices of foreclosure and orders to vacate.

If you know that foreclosure is inevitable, you should move quickly to protect yourself so that you have shelter, utilities, and can move your belongings. You should prepare so you have a good new start.

But even if there is a chance to stay where you are then you have to motivate yourself.

I think the first thing would be to renegotiate your motgage. Go to your lender and have an honest conversation with them. The objective might be to lower the rate of interest you are being charged. You might want to find out what the payments would be for a fixed mortgage instead of a variable one. If you can show you would have no problem paying 7% rather than 11% you might win them over. Go to other banks to possibly get comparison rates from them.

Some people are losing income if they have a small business, lost their jobs, or even had their hours cut.

A nice family was interviewed on CNN and the wife and mother had a cleaning business where she lost customers due to economic times and I think they said her husband lost overtime on his truck driver job and they had a truck used in the cleaning business reposessed. Maybe she should spend all of her new time trying to obtain new customers. Maybe she should try to bring the business to another level by providing additional services. Maybe she should go to the library and use the Internet to research cleaning businesses for new ideas. Maybe she should visit each member in her local Chamber of Commerce not only for direct work but advice and referrals. Maybe both of them and their daughter should additionally obtain part time jobs.

Some families are adding relatives and sometimes strangers to move into their homes to contribute to the household. Drive around your neighborhood and count the cars that are in the driveway or in front of your neighbor's home. If their child is not commuting to college, they probably have some sort of rental agreement with the additional adults living there. Some families have several generations living in the same household. If there are children, then maybe the grandparents can provide childcare while the existing childcare provider works outside the home. Everyday, I see seniors pushing carriages and strollers and sometimes dogs in front of my home and around the neighborhood.

Rent out your garage if possible. Many people want to keep their vehicles stored in a garage but do not have a garage. Sometime a garage can be used for storage. Sometimes a garage is suitable as a small business location for a wholesaler, bicycle or auto repair, or even a hobbyist.

Start a new part time business. Begin with your hobbies that you may be able to make money from.

Take a local real estate sales course just to learn what the professionals know. Most courses are taught by a real estate broker with many years of experience selling homes. You not only learn about real estate, but gain insight on the current market and what others are doing.

Go back to school at least part time not only to qualify for a better paying job, but to help keep the one you have today. Most public programs are cheaper then commercial programs. Your employer may offer tuition reimbursement. Frequently, if you qualify, you may be able to attend for free or at a reduced rate. My local county college has free programs for seniors, unemployed and National Guard.

Do not just give up your home. There must be at least one thing to do to improve the situation. Hopefully there are many things to do.

John McCain, Tell Sarah Palin to Give Back the Bridge Money

2008-10-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

John McCain, Tell Sarah Palin to Give Back the Bridge Money

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravina_Island_Bridge

"On August 29, 2008, when introduced as Republican Presidential nominee John McCain's running mate, Palin told the crowd: "I told Congress, thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere" — a line that garnered big applause but upset political leaders in Ketchikan. Palin's campaign coordinator in the city, Republican Mike Elerding, remarked, "She said 'thanks but no thanks,' but they kept the money." Ketchikan's Democratic Mayor Bob Weinstein also criticized Palin for using the very term 'bridge to nowhere' that she had said was insulting when she was in favor of the bridge.[34]

Although Palin was originally a main proponent of the bridge, McCain–Palin television advertisements since September claim Palin "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere".[35][36] Howard Kurtz called this a "whopper", writing: "She endorsed the remote project while running for governor in 2006, claimed to be an opponent only after Congress killed its funding the next year and has used the $223 million provided for it for other state ventures."[35] These claims have been widely questioned or described as misleading in several newspapers across the political spectrum.[37][38][39][40] Newsweek, commenting on Palin's "astonishing pivot," remarked: "Now she talks as if she always opposed the funding."[41]

McCain has also weighed in on the Gravina Island Bridge. In advertisements, McCain labeled the bridge as wasteful spending. [42] and in an August 2007 townhall speech recorded on video[43] and quoted again on April 30, 2008,[44] he blamed the tragedy of the Minneapolis I-35 bridge collapse on the Bridge to Nowhere. His advertising and comments which before September 21, 2006 contradicted Governor Sarah Palin's support of the bridge drew the attention of the media,[45] when he chose Palin as his running mate."

Comment
Sarah Palin, return the $223 million bridge money back to the United States Treasury. America needs the money with the financial crises. Since you refused to build the bridge, keeping the money intended for the bridge is fraud.

Alaska has billions of dollars in surplus funds and is a state financially in enviable better shape than most states in America. In 2008, you are even returning returning more than $3,000 to each of the 600,000 citizens of Alaska from surplus. In Alaska, you do not even have state income tax or sales tax.

Sarah Palin by not returning the $223 million your state seems greedy and you do too.

John McCain, by saying you would veto pork like the Alaska Bridge to Nowhere, why not tell everyone that you will seek refunds from pork projects that are refused or not started in a reasonable amount of time.

America, write to John McCain and Sarah Palin. Tell them to return the $223 million that was paid to Alaska by the Federal government as the first payment to pay for the Bridge to Nowhere. Alaska does not need the money as much as the Federal Government does. It is the right thing to do.

Also if she wants credit to refuse the Bridge, she does not deserve it until she returns the money. Whenever Sarah Palin mentions refusing the Bridge, everyone within earshot should ask her why did she keep the money?

Cheney Is Ordered to Preserve Records

2008-09-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Cheney Is Ordered to Preserve Records

Nothing is more exasperating to the American public when public officials keep secrets on issues not regarding national security. The secrecy of President Bush and Vice President Cheney on issues not national security are legendary among other presidents and vice presidents. In fact, Bush and Cheney wanted to destroy records and brought the issue to court and lost.

Good for the court. Good for the American public. Good for "the other defendants include the National Archives and the archivist of the United States". Good for "a private group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is suing Mr. Cheney and the Executive Office of the President to ensure that no presidential records are destroyed or handled in a way that makes them unavailable to the public".

Most Americans believed that Bush and Cheney acted irresponsibly on many issues especially with the secret meetings with oil industry executives. The article did not set a date when the papers would be available at least to scholars and the press so that the facts can be examined. Hopefully disclosure can be made within the lifetimes of Bush and Cheney so that they can be confronted with any wrongdoing or apologies if no wrongdoings are found.

It seems that Bush and Cheney are corrupt while they have been so adamant to hide the documents and to go to court trying to destroy the documents. If they were honorable why not disclose from the beginning?

The Bush administration seems too litigious trying to prevent White house staffers from testifying before Congress including Harriet Miers, Carl Rove, and Joshua Bolten, the White House chief of staff. Americans love open information and dislikes hidden facts.

One must think about any legal precedent set if the Bush administration gets away with all of the secrecy to future Presidential administrations that they too may be able to keep secrets and hide things also from the public on issues not in volving national security.

Lance-Stender debate Number 1

2008-09-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/mideast_policy_dominates_lance.html

Lance Stender Debate Number 1 Held Tuesday, September 17, 2008

"State Sen. Leonard Lance and Assemblywoman Linda Stender debated a range of domestic and international issues tonight as they battled to represent the 7th Congressional District, with American foreign policy toward Israel and the Middle East emerging as a major concern for their standing-room-only audience."

"Hosted by the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, Lance, a Hunterdon County Republican, and Stender, a Union County Democrat, affirmed their support for the Jewish state and expressed concern for the emerging threat from Iran and its growing nuclear capabilities."

Comment
Read the rest of the article.

The event was held in the Community Pavilion Room of the Scotch Plains JCC of Central New Jersey. I arrived shortly before the Rabbi gave his opening remarks to a packed community room at the JCC with an overflowing crowd hanging out in the doorways and hallway. I stood behind the video and audio technicians that were there to tape the debate that were doing their jobs on the floor. I could see the video from the TV screen the AV team was using but the PA system was not loud enough to hear everything.

Many people moved up and down the crowded hallway checking out the situation hoping to find a seat to sit on but there were none. To get a seat, one should have arrived an hour earlier probably.

The two candidates were there for the seat of retiring Representative Ferguson, the son of a wealthy man, Congress's best golfer, and leading brown nose for President Bush.

The JCC is huge and impressive with a very large parking lot. The lot was huge with many earlier driving through and leaving by the exit because they could not find a place to park. The JCC has a full size gymnasium that could have held three times the entire crowd that stayed and many that just drove off and was empty when I walked by to get to the full community room and had a half dozen boys shooting baskets when I was walking out of the building. If they used the gym everyone could have been seated with some room left over.

But then there would still be a parking problem. The JCC still had many activities going on at the time that might have been rescheduled or the debate could have been held when fewer things were going on there. There were far too few parking spaces.

The next debate if there is one and none were announced, should be held in a much larger auditorium with plentiful parking. It is a sham when maybe 1/4 of the interested audience can obtain parking and get a seat to witness an event.

The debate should also be run by an impartial group such as the League of Women Voters. It was generous of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey to host the event, but the entire event was just a little too Jewish and Israeli and they seemed to be the modal group attending. Some voters may have been shy or did not realize it was a free public event to attend at the JCC for some reason.

And the debate lasted only 30 minutes. Give me a break. Whose idea was that? Cupcakes and namby pambys should not be candidates. There should have been more questions from the panel and a question and answer session from the audience to the candidates. Even Howie Mandell does an hour on stage in Las Vegas and he is not even a politician.

New Jersey Wants To Be Adopted By Alaska

2008-09-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

New Jersey Wants To Be Adopted By Alaska

Alaska has no state income, property or sales tax.

In fact 610,768, all of Alaska's residents qualified for an annual dividend of $2069 plus a one time Alaska Revenue Rebate of $1200 totalling $3269.

"Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has joined the Republican national ticket as a tax-cutter, was a driving force in raising a tax on oil companies last year that will help swell the state's budget surplus.

The increase backed by the Republican vice presidential nominee will, at current prices, raise oil revenue to $11 billion this year -- almost twice what the state needs to fund its government -- state documents show. Alaska also has gotten more money from the federal government than its residents pay in taxes -- $1.75 per tax dollar in 2006, the most recent year available, according to the Tax Foundation, a Washington research group. "...

"``It's like Dubai. It gets enormous royalties and taxes and fees of various types from oil,'' said Chris Edwards, an economist and state budget expert at the Cato Institute, a Washington group that advocates low taxes and small government. "

Comment
I could not believe it when I read it that Alaska has no state income, property, or sales tax and that Alaskans even get a rebate of more than $3 thousand dollars this year from their state. And the state has tens of billions of dollars in surplus. And receives twice the money the state needs to operate meaning it can contribute billions more each year to that surplus. And they are receiving $1.75 for each Federal tax dollar Alaskan citizens pay the Federal Government.

My first thought is that as a New Jersey citizen, the taxes are horrendous, we receive little from our state government, and less than one dollar for every dollar the Federal Government collects from New Jersey taxpayers. New Jersey has no surplus having it spent out by Republican Christie Whitman who even led the state deeper in debt. And the state has horrendous billion dollar bills to pay especially for New Jersey state and local pension and other retirement expense funding. New Jersey has been called the highest tax state in the country. And there is no relief of its citizens in sight.

I think Governor Corzine and the New Jersey legislature should ask Governor Palin and the Alaskan Legislature for adoption just for a few billion dollars of their gargantuan surplus each year to balance the New Jersey state budget each year. Alaska can afford it. If Alsaska refuses the first time, try begging. Tell them the slogan, "Alaska and New Jersey...Perfect Together".

I want to know whether the Governor Palin family will receive only 2 of the Permanent Fund Dividends and the one time Alaska Revenue Rebates or whether they and all of their children are eligible?At $3269 for each dividend and rebate it would be $6538 for only husband and wife, but for husband and wife and 5 kids it would be $22883. Boy am I jealous either way.

I cannot imagine the benefits from taxing the big oil companies would be so good. It almost makes Senator John McCain's promises and declarations of lower taxes to be ridiculous. Alaskans would never eliminate their taxes on the energy companies. Maybe America should enact special royalties and taxes from the oil companies and give the rebates back to American citizens like Alaska. Imagine no Federal income, property, or sales tax and everyone in America would be given thousands of dollars each year as dividends and rebates.

Let Governor Palin tell everyone how Alaska taxes the oil companies so America can do it at the national level and provide all American citizens with dividends and rebates while reducing personal Federal taxes.

Or if that does not work, Alaska please adopt New Jersey and give us a few billions of dollars of your revenue surplus each year from the oil companies so we can better balance our New Jersey state budget. We will not eliminate or reduce our taxes but maybe not increase them in the future.

Maybe Alaska should share with all of the 49 other states.

Will Voters Punish Democrats and Republicans in November

2008-08-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

Will Voters Punish Democrats and Republicans in November

We have a Democrat and a Republican vying for the Presidential Office and each are leaders of their respective parties. Everyone has heard them make promises if they become President.

The election is more than 60 days away and the oath of office is almost another 60 days further away. Why should America wait for the things they agree upon when the vast number of American citizens are in such pain? Are we going to have a do nothing Congress until the Oath of Office in January 2009?

So much valuable time is wasted with bad behavior of our congress-people. They should stop the insanity now. We would never stand such behaviour from our children, why should we accept it from Congress? We would never accept fault on one sibling blaming another.

Many countries have already made it to their energy independence and many others are well on their way, while America cannot make up its mind due to infighting and has no plan. Even lowly Iran is committed to fueling their cars with natural gas rather than gasoline and diesel in order to sell their oil at more than $100 per barrel.

Most of us knew that America led the world by example but now in many things, America has fell from high ranking to much lower rankings going lower. America must regain its leadership for the American people.

America would be so happy if Congress worked together during this lame duck session to solve some of the problems facing America. More than 300 million American citizens are looking for Congressional leadership.

The trend does not look good, my friends. What can American voters do to punish those in Congressional office for bad behaviour? The American voters can vote them out of office.

Where Is The Made In America Department?

2008-08-25T09:12:00.001-07:00

Where Is The Made In America Department?

If you want to have some fun and learn something do this. Every store you go to this week, go to customer service ask them where the "Made In America" department is. If you feel ambitious ask the question to the store manager.

Don't expect them to have a "Made In America" department. Almost all goods are imported into America from foreign countries as well as more and more of our food such as seafood, fruits and vegetables, honey, nuts, meats, juices, and many others.

Our American government gave exclusivity to to foreign countries to sell their goods in America
replacing American workers on the job in America. Even where American businesses and workers tried to compete the American government did not support them when the foreign countries used unfair trade practices such as dumping, subsidizing, and not letting their currency float in the marketplace.

Most of us approve of importing goods to supplement the marketplace of American goods in America. If the playing field was level then American companies and American workers can complete successfully. But the American government did not apply the American international laws already on the books and American businesses failed and American workers were without jobs.

It even happened with food such as juices and honey which was dumped at prices lower than it cost the aliens to produce it. Many farms in America and jobs went away because they could not compete at such artificially low prices.

Our American government has made America dependent on foreign merchandise. Just try to find Made in America merchandise. Russia is using oil and gas as a political weapon on Germany specifically and the continent of Europe. America can be held up on almost all merchandise, energy, food, medicines, clothes, footwear, appliances, vehicles, and most other things.

It is happening in service related jobs also. Many computer, engineering, call center, legal, accounting, and other jobs have found their way to foreign countries with as many as 40 million additional American jobs being outsourced overseas soon.

It is time that all merchandise and services are labelled with country of origin. All imported food, medicine, and other goods must be inspected by the American government before it is distributed in America. American citizens and their pets have already been hospitalized with lead poisoning, harmful pet food, and tainted peppers.

American citizens must inform our political representatives and business that the status quo is unacceptable and that things must improve rapidly. Tell customer service that you want to find "Made In America" merchandise. Tell them that you want foreign merchandise labelled with country of origin. Tell them you will buy no foreign merchandise that is not inspected properly. Now all we have to do is to write to our elected officials.

Hunterdon 4-H and AgriculturalmFair August 20-24, 2008

2008-08-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

I attended the opening night of the Hunterdon County 4-H and Agricultural Fair and had a lot of fun.

There were more than 1,000 animals including pigs, dairy and beef cattle, rabbits, chickens, ducks, pigeons, sheep, goats, llamas, dogs, and others. Children were the caretakers of most of the animals and they were fearless. They kept the pens spotless, too. It was a treat to see how attentive the boys and girls were of their entries in the animal competitions on display at the fair.

There were many shows through the day. I saw a dog competition, an informational goat show where the owners of various breeds discussed the attributes of the breed of their pet, and others.

Most of the animals were naked or in their natural state, but most of the sheep were covered in a Cotton pillow case type of garmet I guess to help keep their wool from picking up pieces of straw.

The llamas were very friendly. Some people may trade in their guard dogs for guard llamas.

There were several high school young lady contest winners wearing their banners and discussing how they won their awards.

While I was impressed with everything, the pig races were the most memorable. If you never saw a pig race you should. They are so fast and funny. The host brought several children into the show and he had a very funny dialogue including wild and crazy names for each pig.

They displayed heavy equipment including modern and antique tractors. The displayers were so friendly they would ask each person to ask them questions about the equipment. There was equipment that I had no idea was available such as a tree planter truck that could not only hoist a several ton tree but dig the hole for it to be placed in.

There was a huge tent with hundreds of small displays of fruits and vegetables. At first thought I thought they were all artificial but at closer examination they were all fresh. In competition there were usually several displays of the same variety and first place, second place, and third place ribbons were applied appropriately. There were many varieties of honey with ribbons also.

There are many food vendors where everyone can find something to munch on or drink. The amusement rides are relatively inexpensive because they bundled them by selling wristbands for several hours worth of rides.

The fair was spread out all within easy walking distance, permanent buildings like the display barns, and the tents and trailers of the vendors. There are many adequate places to sit and rest. I was impressed by the number of sinks to wash hands especially after petting some of the animals.

We spent more than 6 hours at the fair and did not even ride the amusements. We had a big lunch and drove down route 22 to route 202 south and we arrived at the fair in less than an hour. We brought soda to drink in the car and water to carry as well as oranges and apples to snack on. All it cost us was $10 parking fee and we splurged on small soft serve ice cream cones at $3.00 each. We stopped for small coffees and bathroom breaks halfway home in Flemington. We had a small late dinner when we got home.

All in all it was a wonderful fun experience. I recommend attending the fair or another similar fair in your area this year. The children and their parents all deserve applause for all of their efforts. I had no idea that 4-H and agriculture were so alive and well in New Jersey.

Writing Off Worker Safety

2008-08-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 24, 2008
For more than seven years, the Bush administration's Labor Department has steadfastly refused to update the rules that limit workers' exposure to toxic substances. The agency should have continued that policy as the second Bush term winds to a close.

Instead, political appointees within the department have suddenly become ambitious. They are working overtime to rush through new federal rules that would undermine worker protections. And they've tried to do so secretly, avoiding issuing legally required public notices. Little information leaked out until the Washington Post wrote about the effort yesterday.

Besides making the exposure formulas business-friendly, the new rules would give industry more opportunity to challenge any new limit on chemical exposure that future administrations might propose.

The chairmen of the Senate and House labor committees, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), sent a letter to President Bush yesterday demanding that the administration drop the lame-duck assault on worker safety.

But Congress needs to look at more than just the Labor Department. There is no telling what other regulatory mischief the executive branch is trying to slip into the federal rule book before Bush leaves Washington in January.

If ever there was an administration that requires congressional oversight, it is this one. Right up until its very last day in office.

Comment
George Bush and Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao are at their old tricks to punish labor and reward industry. They have no respect for those that have to earn a living to feed, clothe, and house their families. Too many Americans do not have enough to eat. Too many Americans do not have adequate health insurance. The overall wage and benefit level has declined during the Bush administration. College costs are too high and out of reach for many Americans. There is a shortage of affordable housing.

Now that George Bush and Elaine Chao diminished wages and benefits, they are seeking to reduce regulations on worker safety so that many Americans can become sick or injured or even die because of their job. The regulations were put there because of unsafe conditions in the past and are still required. In fact the regulations should be enhanced due to new technologies and methods used today at the job sites.

George Bush and Elaine Chao have really kicked American labor where it hurts. They have done it again and again. They have no modesty. They have shamed us all. They are not our friends.

John McCain wants to be our friend to vote for him in November, but he is also a Republican and he unashamedly supports George Bush and Elaine Chao. In fact, all of the Republicans in Congress support them. The Republicans want to write off worker safety.

There are more than 100 million working Americans and they should all create a stir. They should write their elected officials. They should demonstrate during an organized demonstration if they have the opportunity to attend one. They should challenge John McCain in person verbally on worker safety. Unions should express their displeasure.

The Democrats were involved with the low wage and benefit campaign of the Bush administration and they should be challenged, also. Whether by direct support of the George Bush low wage and low benefit agenda or by being quiet, he could not have been as successful without them. Now we will watch to see how much worker safety will be written off.

Do Nothing Congress on Excessive Oil Prices

2008-06-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Do Nothing Congress on Excessive Oil Prices

The dumb asses in Congress and the White House do not seem to be going anywhere to lower oil prices for the American public in the near and also the long term future.

McCain specified his long term plan for energy and is calling Obama, "Dr No" for declaring no to his proposals.

CSPAN has been airing many hearings on oil pricing and other energy topics. At least Congress is doing a lot of talking about it.

It may take at least a month or longer for Congress to make law to change the rules to invest in oil futures contracts. It is suspected that recent oil price hikes were due to exploitation of the market. The agency overlooking oil futures has many powers but is collecting data right now and doing nothing else. Right now the futures market allows for the total amount of contracts to exceed the amount of oil available, margin is as low as 7%, pension and hedge funds have taken over the market of oil futures to make a profit rather than oil industry parties interested in making a fair market for oil. The American stock markets, by comparison only allow covered trades, there are lower limits on the number of trades, margin is higher, and watchdog agency oversight is better.

While it is important for Congress to examine the fairness of the oil futures market, most of the other futures comodities markets are much smaller than the oil futures and more easily manipulated and should be examined as well. The leadership of the agency overlooking the oil futures market should be punished for not doing their jobs and be replaced with more aggressive individuals.

Congress shot themselves figuratively in the head by extending the 54 cent tariff on imported ethanol. America need independence from foreign oil and should relish the importation of imported ethanol. The American ethanol industry will never be able to produce enough ethanol to satisfy America's demand for it in several lifetimes. Brazil achieved oil independence because all of their cars are flex fuel and run primarily on ethanol which they produce internally. Brazillians enjoy at least a $1 savings per gallon purchasing ethanol rather than gasoline. Right now ethanol is only available in the Farm Belt of America and most states have no available ethanol for their residents and the outlook for American ethanol for those states is dim. Americans need price relief on their vehicle fuels where ever they can get it and imported ethanol is a good place to start.

Tell your elected representatives to abolish the 54 cent tariff on imported ethanol.

Tell your elected officials that the oil futures watchdog has been acting dead while oil prices have gone through the roof and they should be replaced with more aggressive individuals. We need better rules for that market like we have for the stock market.

Unethical Ethanol Tariff

2008-06-15T14:08:00.000-07:00

Unethical Ethanol Tariff

http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/briefings/data/ethanol

At the heart of the issue is U.S. ethanol policy. Despite the Bush Administration's explicit support for increased U.S. ethanol consumption, the United States maintains a tariff of 54 cents per gallon for imported ethanol. This tariff limits U.S. ethanol imports and creates a higher domestic price than would otherwise result from a more open market.

COMMENT

Ethanol can be blended with gasoline to create flex fuel than can be used by most of America's cars. Ethanol is cheaper than gasoline so the blended fuels should be cheaper than 100% gasoline. The 54 cents per gallon tariff is rediculous.

With gasoline prices costing American consumers more than $4.00 per gallon, the blending of gasoline and ethanol would proved some relief in lower price than 100% gasoline.

America is trying to save oil energy by conservation, windmill towers, sunlight conversion to electricity, and many other things, it is appropriate to encourage the importation of ethanol by elliminating the 54 cent tariff on each gallon of imported ethanol.

It seems that America is slow to find viable fuels other than corn and sugar to convert to ethanol...maybe international competetition will find the solution so the world stops converting food to energy. Maybe America should stop running its cars with 100% gasoline altogether and require conversion to at least 10% or 15% ethanol blend in the near future. That would elliminate 10 to 15 % of our dependance on foreign oil pretty quickly.

What do you think? Write or call your fearless elected leaders to elliminate the 54 cent tariff on each gallon of imported ethanol. Find out what your town, county, state, and national leaders are doing for you to reduce oil demand and prices.

Oil Substitutes

2008-06-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

Oil Substitutes

We all have heard about economic substitutes. When the price of butter is high, we can by margarine. If we cannot afford a Cadillac, maybe we can afford a Buick or Chevrolet. If we cannot afford a wool sweater, maybe we can purchase one made of a synthetic fabric.

Now we have a big problem with gasoline, deisel, and home heating oil. But we do not have any substitutes of major value. In New Jersey, there is amost no blended fuel available to purchase, such as a blend of gasoline and ethanol. I found that my local Hess station in Garwood, New Jersey was selling a blend of 90% gasoline and 10% ethanol and was surprised. I'd like to know what was used to make the ethanol, such as corn or sugar. I assumed that New Jersey was not getting any corn ethanol because it was too costly to ship. The last time I checked, Hess did not have any refineries in America, and shipped gasoline(blend) to America from the carribean. I'll take ethanol blend where I can get it.

Some people are converting food oil to diesel but I do not know of any in New Jersey.

South Africa and the American Air Force is promoting synthetic jet fuel made from a coal blended with oil. It looks promising and south Africa is geared up for it but it may take the Air Force 3 or more years to start obtaining synthetic oil from coal in millions of gallons per year, but it will take several times the investment to possibly convert major commercial airlines to the fuel. Maybe this is a project that should be escaladed.

A lot of businesses and government agencies are buying small fleets of plug electric cars to test them out. Deliveries are expected within the next two years.

A lot of things on small scale are being accomplished to reduce the demand of foreign oil which is encouraging. But there is not much being accomplished on bigger scales. The great Unleader, George Bush is leading the American middle class to ruin with high oil prices and food prices. We know he is a free marketer but a lot of things cannot be accomplished small scale without the encouragement of the Federal government.

Ask your elected officials what they are proposing to solve the energy problem. The dumb asses will do nothing unless they are pushed by all of us.

Petro Charged Me $5.099 For #2 Heating Oil

2008-05-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

Petro Charged Me $5.099 For #2 Heating Oil

I got an oil delivery of home heating oil on May 28th, 2008 and Petro oil charged me $5.099 per gallon for almost 200 gallons.

I have no way of knowing but to ask the public whether or not the price was fair to me. I have automatic delivery and I think my 500 gallon tank was topped off that day. I was told previously that my next delivery was scheduled for August 2008, but they moved up my delivery date. Do you think they moved up my delivery date to take advantage of current high prices while the odds are that August prices would be much lower?

I think prices will probably go up during the next heating season and I must figure out how to keep my family warm without going bankrupt. I do not want to have to choose between food, health insurance, other insurance, prescriptions, other utility bills, clothing, and other necessities whether to pay my fuel oil bill. And it does not look any better for the next heating season either.

Petro has a newsletter that can be downloaded with tips to save money during the next heating season at http://www.petrohp.com/newsletter/index.asp . I have not read it yet but it is probably worthwhile.

What are we supposed to do if prices really jump out of sight? Most of us are already wearing sweaters in the house, sometimes two of them at a time. And there is no energy plan at the national or state levels to make home heating oil affordable.

I think all elected officials that have been in office for 4 or more years should be voted out of office because they did not pay attention and did nothing to enable us to heat our homes affordably.

What do you think? Write to your elected officials and complain. Call their offices on the phone. They think they are doing great jobs unless people complain.

McCain criticizes Obama's lack of military service

2008-05-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

McCain criticizes Obama's lack of military service

McCain retired from the military and receives $59,000 each year from the Navy.

He served Congress for many years and he'll probably earn more than that from their pension.

McCain was a war hero and served 5 1/2 years as a captive of the North Vietnamese, which had to be an unpleasant experience and where he was severely tortured several times.

His father and grandfather rose to the rank of Admiral, but Senator McCain knew for some reason he was not on the list for Admiral so he quit. I would like to know why he was passed over from promotion.

He has a reputation for being a maverick. It has been said that he broke the rules so often at Annapolis that he had to do many punishment tours to make up for it. I'd like to know what kind of rules he casually broke.

I find it curious that he tries to separate his great family wealth even though his wife is worth $100 million dollars. I would like to know the lifestyle the McCain's have had. How many homes do they have? What kind of cars do they have? How many servants do they employ? What kinds of things do they splurge on?

Personally I think he did enough for his country and should retire.

Forever Stamps, A Good Idea

2008-05-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Forever Stamps, A Good Idea

On May 12, 2008, the United States Postal Service raised the price of first class envelope mail to 42 cents from 41 cents. Standard postage stamps at 41 cents will need to be supplemented with an additional 1 cent stamp.

The USPS initiated a new type of stamp called the "Forever Stamp" which costs the standard first class envelope postage and can be used anytime for first class envelope postage without additional stamps whenever there is a price increase. Those that bought the Forever stamp before May 12, 2008 paid 41 cents for them and since May 12, 2008 the new price is now 42 cents per stamp. Those people that bought additional Forever stamps before May 12, 2008 are saving 1 cent each envelope because they do not have to add an additional 1 cent stamp. The postal service says they printed an additional 1.5 billion 1 cent stamps in anticipation of demand.

The Post Office has been regularly increasing the price of their services even though they have been making huge surpluses. Government agencies do not make a profit, what is leftover from their expenses from their total revenue is called surplus. Personally I think the surpluses are outrageous and that they should wait a long time before increasing the price of services again. I think we should let our congressional representatives know that we will not accept another increase in postal service rates for many years.

Besides saving a little money whenever the next price increase comes, the Forever stamps are about convenience. With Forever stamps one does not have to remember what the current price of first class postage for envelopes is anymore. Additionally, if you had 41 cent stamps after May 12, 2008, you would have had to buy 1 cent stamps to to reach the new 42 cent price. Over the years we have all had extra stamps over a postal increase and had to buy supplementary stamps to reach the new postage price which we will no longer have to do with the new Forever stamps.

The Forever stamps should have been created a long time ago because nobody like to run to the post office getting those one and two cent stamps. It just makes it a lot easier.

Cut PSEG Electric Usage 50%

2008-04-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

Cut PSEG Electric Usage 50%

Our PSEG electric bill has a comparison chart of the monthly consumption used for the recent few months versus the same months the previous year.

Guess what? We reduced our consumption from about 600 to about 300 for this past April 2008 versus April 2007.

The bill was still $57 dollars and change. I think PSEG had a rate increase and the rate per kilowatt hour will continue to increase in the future so nobody should rest on any success they have had on reducing their consumption of electric energy.

I think the bulk of the credit reducing electric consumption in the house was replacing old light bulb technology with the newer energy efficient light bulbs. Many rooms have 3 bulb ceiling light fixtures. Many rooms have more than one table lamp. Our unfinished basement and attic have many bulb fixtures each. The kitchen has ten ceiling light fixtures. We also have several outdoor fixtures some with multiple bulbs.

This past weekend we attended a major "green" event, the PSEG Global Green Expo at the site of the old Jersey Central Railroad station at Liberty State Park on the Hudson River just across New York City. I saw Ted Danson who talked about Oceanic, an organization he supports. Ted is taller than I imagined, thin, and well groomed. He should sponsor a clothing line for men and write an autobiography. I also saw and heard another conservationist Mrs Imus the wife of Imus in the Morning radio and TV star. Senator Melendez spoke before and introduced Ted Danson. There were several other speeches that day and several tents with children's hands on "green" demonstrations. There were booths for almost 100 green groups.

The expo was tiring but well worth it. PSEG gave away free energy efficient light bulbs to attendees. Someone also gave away tree saplings to transplant at home. There were many other giveaways and handouts.

We are installing today 6 more energy efficient light bulbs in the house today and expect our energy consumption to be reduced for May 2008. And we expect it to go up during the hot months with fan and window air conditioning use but not as much as last year. No later than September 2008 we will have all light fixtures containing energy efficient light bulbs.

Right now our only problem is between 3 or 4 dozen old fashioned light bulbs some never used and some used that is in a cabinet in the kitchen. What do people do with the old fashioned light bulbs? Maybe we can get rid of them during a garage sale this summer.

Switch to energy efficient light bulbs because it really can save you meaningful dollars each month on your electric bill.

Find Out About the Depression Era Menus

2008-04-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

Find Out About the Depression Era Menus

With the high costs of everything lately, it may be worthwhile to talk to any elderly relatives or friends or even strangers about what they did during the depression to stretch food dollars.

Ask not only about the menus, but how they purchased and prepared items, too.

My Dad liked to mention that he shared oats with the rabbits they raised. He enjoyed oatmeal and cookies from the huge sacks of oats and the rabbits enjoyed the oats too. His family had a garden and also raised pigeons and chickens. I never ate squab, but pigeon was a prized meal at least in some of the movies of the 1920's and 1930's. They sold the extra eggs to neighbors for cash. My grandfather made port wine and my grandmother canned and bottled. They bottled sasparilla and root beer soda. I saw the remains of hundreds of mason jars and wire top bottles in my grandparents basement when I was younger. My Dad was able to sip port made 30 years earlier by his Dad.

Even when I was a child, my grandmother would bake at least a hundred banana breads, date and nut cakes, fruit cakes, and pound cakes that she gave away to friends and relatives mostly starting in the fall through the winter. Dessert was sometimes canned fruit at her house.

I know they had friends and relatives that had farms and they probable traded things for bushels of fruits and vegetables. A lot of the other things they purchased in bulk probably at wholesale prices. I know the oats and the grapes were bought from wholesalers.

There are things I ate as a child that we do not eat anymore for no particular reason. Boiled lamb with green beans and potatoes all cooked in the same pot is something I have not eaten in 30 years, but the more I think about it, I will try it again soon. Lamb bones were important for the marrow. Lamb is greasy and after taking the skimming top layer of fat off, the water that was leftover from cooking was highly reguarded by my great grandmother who would pour some into a drinking glass and drink it.

While in college, I watched the preparation of at least two types of pickles from scratch. It was a lot of work to prepare a couple of bushel baskets of cucumbers and other vegetables and seal them in mason jars.

I never saw my parents can anything but they enjoyed blanching green beans and putting them in freezer bags. They froze corn, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower too.

I'll have to find out what other things were popular in the family at that time. I will try to dig up old family recipes before they are lost forever.

This year I think I will try to grow a few vegetables in the backyard and even try freezing some of it. I think I will even try some of the recipes that were used back then including the lamb and string beans. I think fruit once in a while for dessert would be a good idea. I think the family meals will be more appealing and and save some money in the food budget.

State Usury Laws

2008-04-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

State Usury Laws could have saved a lot of grief for hundreds of thousands of families during the current mortgage and other consumer loans problems facing America. I am no lawyer, so you must discuss this further with someone trained and experienced in the law.

Each state can set the maximum rate of interest for consumers where any rate higher is classified as usury and illegal.

When I needed my mortgage in 1979, New Jersey raised their usury rate to above 9% per year but New York did not raise their usury rate and I obtained one there for 6.5% per year and I even received a .5% discount because I worked for the New York Bank as an employee.

From what I understand your state can set the maximum rate that can be charged for not only mortgages, but credit cards, car loans, second mortgages, personal loans, home improvement loans, unsecured loans, and even the vicious payday loans that many states allow to charge high interest. In other words they can and I think most states do set the usury rates for all consumer loans where lenders can charge up to the usury rate but not above it.

The fees charged by lending institutions can be limited by state law also.

The dilemma is that legislators want credit and the lending institutions to be successful in their state, and for the lenders to provide jobs in their state, and to receive political contributions, while serving the consumer public.

But most states side on the lenders, enabling them to charge high interest and fees, while allowing their state residents to suffer with high interest rates and fees. Some states facilitate the torture of their citizens with excessive interest rates, fees, and penalties. Some states allow interest rate increases over the duration of a loan.

Some states have requirements on banks on their state resident's deposits, such as they must be processed within the state and they must be earmarked for loans within that state at least to some degree.

There are states that are more consumer friendly keeping interest rates lower than other states and some even provide forfeiture as a penalty to the usurers. If you department store was a usurer, the court could allow the merchandise you purchased on that card to be yours without repayment in some states. What kind of state do you live in: a business friendly state or a consumer friendly state? Does your state allow for interest only loans on homes? What do they think about balloon mortgages?

Does your state allow home mortgage interest rates above 9%, or credit card interest above 12%,
or check return fees above $10 per check, or car loans above 10%, or student loans above 6%? Maybe each of us should contact our state elected officials and find out about usury laws in our state and to sound off about excessive rates and fees.

If there were some lower rates set by the states for home mortgages and other consumer loans
then fewer people would be in foreclosure. If other rates, fees, and penalties were set lower then
then more people would be able to pay their credit card, car loan, student loan, and other loans.

I think we would all like to see forfeiture on a loan for usurers. More states should be more consumer friendly instead of being business friendly.

New Rules For Food Shopping

2008-03-04T13:01:00.000-08:00

America's food basket prices have been going up and up recently. Some of the prices now are excessive. The prices on a lot of things are not going up pennies, or even a nickel, or a dime, but as much as fifty cents or even a dollar.

The reasons for American food price increases include many variables. First is global competition which means two things: world population increase and that the diets of third world people are increasing per capita as they become wealthier. For example some groups that were vegetarian and eating once per day are now supplementing their diets with animals and eating more than once per day. Another factor is that Nature ruins some crops creating shortages. Another factor is that the world including America is converting food to energy. Another is that the market of some food products are not rational and due to some forces identified and not identified are also increasing prices.

All of us know that we purchase less food today than we did last year for the same amount of money. Some of us are lucky that we can still afford to buy the foods we like and and have purchased over the years. But many of us will have to find alternatives to buy that fit our food budgets. There are other Americans that have depended upon food stamps and food banks for their food and will get less food today than they did even last year. There are other Americans who have been able to purchase their food without assistance in the past that will need assistance now. There are other Americans who go to bed hungry each night and that number increases due to to the current shortages and high prices.

We all like to eat and drink foods that are harmful to us such as those loaded with salt, sugar, fat, and white carbohydrates, but some of can control going overboard with the bad foods while those on a small budget can only afford those things and their health and waistlines suffer from it.

The food pantries are suffering from smaller donations and increased numbers of people needing assistance. We should all try to donate to our local food pantries. If we have financial difficulty shopping for our family, we should ask the food pantry for assistance.

Food Stamps have been the primary safety net on food for people who do not have the funds to obtain an adequate diet. The government runs the program. Washington has strangled the program by not increasing the income levels for people to be eligible for the program. The government has also strangled the program by not increasing the dollar amount of Food Stamps a qualified person or family is eligible for. There are at least 10 million Americans that should apply and obtain Food Stamps in America today, beyond the number already receiving benefits today.

We know prices go up pretty quickly, but go down very slowly. We should press our political leaders on the high cost of food and ask them when will the prices go down. We should ask them what do they plan to do about it, because the prices will only increase if we do nothing. We should ask them to explain their position on Food Stamps and ask when the last time income qualification and benefits were adjusted for inflation. Maybe we should boycott certain foods like eggs and soda for example until prices come down. Maybe we should throw our elected officials out of office for not meeting our needs.

We should write or call our elected officials to complain. They seem to be doing nothing about it. No public official is complaining with us about the high prices.

If you need help with your food purchases do not be afraid to ask for help. Go to the food bank. Apply for food stamps. Call your elected officials and complain. Make sure you vote.

$2 Price Increase for all Pizza Pies

2008-02-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

$2 Price Increase for all Pizza Pies

My local Pizza parlor in Garwood, New Jersey posted a sign in the window that I saw last night that all pizza pie prices increased by two dollars, which is a pretty hefty price increase. It was not too long ago when a medium plain pizza was five dollars and recently it was under ten dollars. But with price increases in cheese and more recently in wheat, the price is above ten dollars. No longer do we have the luxury of pulling a five dollar bill or even a ten dollar bill out of our wallets to exchange for a medium pizza, anymore.

Buying 2 or 3 pies at a time to provide several lunches or evening snacks is probably out right now.

This is not small change and we all should be very concerned. "Scolieri said he will join bakers from around the country in Washington on March 12 to plead for help from federal agriculture officials and Congress." Maybe consumers should join the bakers. Maybe the March 12 demonstrations should include all of the other unfair price increases, such as chickens, eggs, gasoline, heating oil, bread, beef, cheese, and the rest of the endless list. Maybe the world should not be converting as much of its food into fuel.

And poorer families are suffering at the grocery store, bakeries, and fast food restaurants more than the bulk of us. they probably need big relief with extra food stamps than they receive now.

The silver lining is that America is overweight and will probably eat less while they conserve heat during the rest of the winter season..

Where Is The Diet Specialty Section?

2008-02-13T23:19:00.000-08:00

Where Is the Diet Specialty Section?

Those that have medical dietary requirements have a difficult job to shop for food. It is easy to overdose on salt, sugar, and fat if you do not read the labels. It is peculiar when you find an item that says it is low salt, but when you read the label, it is high in fat or sugar. The food industry may have done well in producing low fat or low sugar, or low salt items but they have usually overcompensated with one or more of the other food types that you want to control.

Try to find a yoghurt that is low fat and also low in sugar. Try to find a mustard or mayonaisse that is low fat and also low salt. Try to find cheese that is both low fat and low salt. Try to find low salt and fat sausage or sandwich meats. Look at the breakfast cereals and find all of the high salt and sugar content. Many of the items advertised as healthy are not really healthy. And most restaurants offer us meals that exceed our needed daily calorie content for the day.

I am no dietician, but I have had dieticians and nurse educators tell me that white is no good when comparing breads and pastas and that high fiber grains are better than processed grains. Why the American diet is made up of so much bad stuff is beyond me. Sure some people can tolerate it all of the time and some can occasionally, but most of us should be avoiding it all of the time.

Many people just cannot wheel our shopping carts up and down the isles and just select items without reading the labels. It is not just shopping that is a lot of work, but meal planning is too.
We all like variety in our foods. Now the proper selection of foods need to be selected for the day and portion control is also essential. This is time consuming, especially doing it for the first time.

Meal planning means trying to serve meals and snacks that are healthy, nutricious, appealing, tasty, and at the end of the day do not exceed daily maximum limits of salt, sugar, fat, and calories.

All of the supermarkets in my area in New Jersey have combined low salt, low sugar, and low fat items with the regular items available in each section of the stores. This means that if you are looking for low salt dressings you have to search through all of the other salad dressings too. People looking for low fat, sugar, and salt items are going to do it for all sections of the store. The first supermarket chain that establishes a specialty diet section will have a competitive advantage. And if the food industry provides the market with enough variety of items many people will look, find, and buy their products. And if a restaurant chain specializes in low fat, sugar, and salt items then they would have a pretty big following.

Americans spend billions of dollars at health clubs, nutrician counselling, diet drugs, counselling for diet disorders, gastric operations, so called "diet foods", medical and hospital visits, and prescriptions that could be limited or avoided altogether if the food industry including restaurants offered better quality food and nutricianal guidance. I do not want to call some of the food poison, but those items should be eaten occasionally and also limited by portion control.

Many of us do not have the time and maybe the inclination to eat healthier and will suffer the consequences with illnesses that can be avoided and premature death. It is up to each of us to learn more about proper nutrition and we must work to provide proper diets for ourselves and our families. But it is also up to the industry to offer healthy products for us to purchase.

Plant a Garden This Year, Watch Out for Bambi

2008-01-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

Plant a Garden This Year, Watch Out for Bambi

President Bush and Congress are allowing our food supply to be converted to ethanol. 20% of our corn is converted to ethanol. And other basic foods such as wheat, sugar, and others are also being converted to fuel.

Fresh produce prices have risen as well as beef, chicken, eggs, baked goods, nuts, and other products at the grocery. It is difficult to stay on a budget when you go to the grocery unless you just do not buy certain items. Some of the food is imported into America, but it is difficult to identify it because there is no country of origin listed on the label usually. Cheap fresh tomatoes usually do not have much flavor.

About five years ago I tried planting tomato and pepper plants in my backyard, but no matter what I did, they were eaten down to the ground by dear. I planted 3 sets of about foot tall plants and within 2 days my investment was gone. Each time I tried different height fencing and even tomato cages. So, I gave up planting since then until now.

They are having a deer hunt in another suburban area just like the one I live in where they hope to kill 150 deer out of 300-400 that reside in the area. Read about it below:

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--toomanydeer0129jan29,0,5033815.story

I was just making myself an afternoon coffee and looked at my backyard where I saw 3 deer. The deer are smart because they spread out looking and listening for things to run away as a group in the opposite direction. Usually I spot as many as 2 dozen in my backyard but the others may have been lying down or behind trees or shrubs. They looked starved and undersized and were nibbling at the grass. They were headed for a 15-20 acre private wooded area about 100 yards further in back of my house. My neighborhood has a cemetery, Fairview Cemetery, a county college, Union County College, a private country club, Echo Lake Country Club, 2 nurseries, Williams Nursery, and Dreyers Farm and 3 county parks, Echo Lake Park, Lenape Park, and Warinanco Park. Offhand, I think there are 4 large groups of deer, numbering about 150-200 or more deer. And about 2 miles away is the Watchung Reservation the largest Union County Park, almost 2,000 acres which is mostly forested with deer.

In addition to eating my plantings, they are destroying almost all of the underbrush in the area. They trample my lawn with their hooves. They like to lie down in my ground ivy and pachysandra and damage it. They have also caused many accidents running into the street and being hit by cars and trucks.

The article in the link states, "When their numbers get too great, the gentle animals destroy the forest, spread Lyme disease and pose a hazard for drivers. "

On the other side of town, the county had hunters thin the deer herd at Ashbrook Golf Course a couple of years ago, but they never sponsored a hunt in my area.

Previously, for about 20 years, I planted strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, green beans, corn, radishes, lettuce, cabbage, rutabagas, rhubarb, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, and other things and never had a problem with the deer. I want to plant a few things this year and will seek out advice.

I think it would be more humane to thin out the herd, so that the remaining deer can find adequate food in the forested areas and not wonder into the streets looking for food in the residential areas. I am not an animal scientist, but I think the deer in my neighborhood came from the Watchung Reservation about 10 years ago and they just multiplied.

The county should trap the deer in the suburban areas and set them free in the Watchung Reservation. If the deer populations are too high then the county should drastically thin the herds in the Reservation and the suburban areas. Essex county promises to donate the meat to the food pantries, Union county could do the same thing.

By waiting a few years, the deer population will grow even larger, wondering even further into the suburbs where there is more traffic. There will be even less food for the deer to scavenge, causing them to grow sicker and more diseased. There could be so many of them that humans, especially young children could be injured by startled deer.

I am not going to can anything, but hope to supplement my shopping with fresh vegetables and maybe some fresh fruit. I think I can grow about $1,000 worth of things on about 30X30 foot growing area if the deer do not eat it first. Much of it can be eaten at once or given to friends. Some it can be blanched and frozen in freezer bags or containers like green beans and corn. Before the first frost, the remaining green tomatoes can be wrapped in newspapers and stored in the refrigerator for months, taking a couple out at a time and let them ripen on a window sill for a couple of days. I need to look up storing cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.

It is a lot easier to grow a garden without a deer challenge. It may provide a better diet for yourself and your family and could be worthwhile. In this economic challenging time, we must do what we can to make things better for ourselves.

Bad Machines Violate Everyone

2008-01-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

Bad Machines Violate Everyone

I fear bad elections due to bad voting machines. We know what is necessary to double check results, but many election officials are adamant on relying on the bad machines that cannot be audited. We all remember the Gore-Bush election in Flrida in 2000. No-one needs to see that again.

My town eliminated the old fashioned parking meters where you can see how much time is available on each meter. They have a centralized machine where you put in the coins for the time you need no matter how much time was left from a predecessor driver parked the car in the same spot. I did not mind going to the lots in town when running a short errand, I could usually find a spot with more than enough time left on it and park my car there. And other drivers benefited at spots where I still had time on the meter left. Now, only the computer and police know how much time is left at each spot. The computer usually spits out a small ticket indicating how much time you paid for, but sometimes it runs out or has some sort of problem. Now I resent having to insert my quarter or two just to drop off a prescription and also to run in and pick it up later. I feel ripped off and avoid that type of parking lot and those merchants around the lot.

These cheesy people have failed to clearly state on signs when parking rules are in effect causing many people unfairly to feed the machine with quarters all of the time.

New Jersey is infamous for highway tolls and toll booths. On the garden State Parkway, there are 3 kinds of lanes: one for electronic collection of drivers that signed up for the E-ZPass system, exact change at physical automated toll both coin collection systems, and cash where there is usually a human parkway employee, but sometimes they are unmanned. I usually use the exact change toll booth lanes where you throw the exact change and the machine counts it and usually turns a light green or has an electronic message thanking you for the deposit. This past Friday, I drove into an exact change lane and threw into the bucket the exact change. But I did not get a green light or thank you, so I threw in an additional quarter, and that did not work either. Then read the sign in front of me that said to honk my horn, wait 10 seconds, and then drive through, which I did. And less than a week later, I get a summons for the 70 cent toll and a $25 fine. It burns me that I already paid 95 cents already and due to a faulty machine they are fining me $25. Well, I am going to avoid the Garden States Parkway and when I do use it I will go through the cash lines.

I'll pay the summons because it would be too costly and time consuming to fight it and I do not need the aggravation.

I am for progress and most machines make life better and sometimes less costly. But the bad voting machines in some states, the parking lot fee meters in Westfield, New Jersey, and the Garden State Parkway exact change toll booth mechanisms and collection processes should all be corrected. As Americans we already face too many nightmare and do not need these things screwing the us.

Don't Waste Our Food Supply

2008-01-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

Don't Waste Our Food Supply

"The inflation report also suggested that the purchasing power of American workers was being steadily eroded. The cost of gasoline rose nearly 30 percent in 2007, and medical care costs also soared. Commodities and food prices increased about 5 percent for the year."

A lot of our food supply is being converted to energy. A lot of corn is used to produce ethanol which is used as fuel for cars in America. Some cars are built to use 100% ethanol while most can use a blend of ethanol and gasoline.

Corn is used directly in our American food supply and also as a primary major animal food for chicken and beef and other animals in our food supply. The chain continues because we obtain milk from the cows and eggs from the chicken. Americans drink the milk and eat the eggs, but these products are also used as ingredients in baked goods and yet other products.

It would not be so bad if Washington ratcheted up corn production and the surplus corn for example was used to produce ethanol, but the Americans food supply has to compete with the ethanol industry on an equal bases (price only) for the corn. This is bad for America.

The problem is not solely with corn but most other basic foods such as wheat also.

From what I understand, there are millions of acres in America where farmers are paid not to grow things...maybe they should be told to grow corn or some other basic food to support the ethanol producers. Maybe, Washington should have or should now facilitate the growth of corn or wheat in tens of millions of acres dedicated to ethanol production in American public lands or even in American Indian properties.

Maybe Washington should develop a comprehensive energy plan big enough to eliminate our need for foreign oil and to eliminate jeopardising our food supply.

I think we should all contact Washington representatives with the message to stop harming our food supply and develop a comprehensive worthwhile energy plan. Send an email to President Bush, his cabinet secretaries of agriculture and energy, your senators, and your representative to the House of representatives. We should also write to our governors and state representatives...

AARP and AAA Are Enough For Me

2007-12-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

AARP and AAA Are Enough For Me

There are two types of discount cards available. One type is usually free such as the supermarket, airline, or pharmacy card that most of us let our checker scan for discounts not available to others that do not present a card. All you have to do is to go to customer service and sign the card and most will hand you your wallet sized and keyring sized cards right then and there.The other discount card type is one that you pay for. I pay for AARP and AAA. The requirement for AARP is that you have to be 50 years old to join. Most people get AAA in case their car breaks down and AAA can provide roadside assistance at discounted prices by calling their phone number. The discount cards for the supermarkets and drug store chains usually are worthwhile for discounts only within their respective stores. The airlines, AARP, and AAA have agreements with car rental agencies, hotels, restaurants, and many other businesses to provide discounts to their card holders.

There is another category of cards where a fee is involved which usually is a health card that may included drugs, eyeglasses, dental, and hearing services. I have discounted prescriptions, eyeglasses, and hearing services with my health insurance and discounted dental with my dental insurance. My insurance benefit is greater than the benefit I have ever seen offered with the health cards. The health cards may be of value to others who do not have a drug plan or dental plan or otherwise have few benefits from their health insurance.

Everyone should check out the cards they possess. They should also check out their credit card and checking account statements for discount card fees they also may be paying for. I found I was being charged on my credit card for a discount card I do not remember signing up for and it was difficult to spot. $18.95 was being charged from AP9*Businessmax that I thought was Office Max which is a chain of office supply stores that I frequently make purchases. I looked up AP9 and Businessmax and found they were organizations for membership clubs. I called my credit card company to cancel the charge and also talked to Jennifer #26646 at Businessmax who said she would cancel my account and refund my last month's payment and that they obtained my information from Vistaprint. I do not have a Businessmax discount card and I do not remember receiving any mail from these people describing their service. I also called Vistaprint customer service and the representative denied passing information to Businessmax and I told her I will never do business with Vistaprint in the future.

I strongly recommend obtaining and using discount or membership cards because I saved thousands of dollars with them, but we still have to watch out to verify what we are paying for. I am going to save an extra $18.95 each month because I found out about the Businessmax charge to my account and I cancelled it. I can't believe I would sign up for a discount or membership card that would cost $18.95 per month or $227.40 per year, which I think is excessive for what they provide even if I needed the service. I can understand confusing Businessmax charges thinking it was for charges from Office Max a legitimate office supply company where I make frequent purchases.

Checkout the discount membership cards that you have and also review your credit card and checking account statements closely. I cannot say Businesmax was fraudulently charging my account, but the entire ordeal stinks. If you Google Businessmax you will find many search entries complaining about Businessmax charging bank accounts of people who have also done business with Vistaprint. I think that the banks, state attorney general's, Office Max, and all other investigative organizations should look into the practices of Businessmax and Vistaprint. Even if what they do is legal and legitimate, it is surely predatory. I think this is also a form of identity theft.

Walking 101 Overview

2007-10-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

Walking 101 Overview

I am not a health professional so use your own judgement or ask your health professionals before following any of my suggestions. Maybe, this article will provide you background information so that you can ask good questions of others.

I recommend walking everyday to help you remain healthy. Most of us have no problem walking, so why not walk. Some people recommend walking 5,000 steps or more, but I try to reach 10,000 steps everyday. Walking provides necessary daily exercise of many of the body's muscles and other organs such as the lungs. A regular walking hobby or habit will strengthen some of one's muscles but also possibly increase endurance and lung capacity. Walking burns calories and can increase one's metabolism rate. Walking can strengthen one's heart. Walking may help you go to sleep at night.

I scouted local malls, downtown areas, and parks for ideal walking areas. I needed to find locations that were available whether or not the weather was nice or not. I wanted to find benches available to sit down on that were pretty close to each other and that they were available for me to sit down on all of the time. I wanted daylight or lights at night.

There are quite a few mall walkers all over the United States. Mall walkers walk around malls to obtain some exercise. Many were enlightened by their cardiologists to mall walk for some sort of real or threatened heart problem improvement. You can readily identify mall walkers because they usually wear comfortable clothes and walking shoes, carry nothing except sometimes a water bottle, and will usually walk right by you at a steady pace. Sometimes you can find them in the park, downtown, or even in the neighborhood where you live.

I'll go to the mall a couple of times each week usually after 7 p.m. throughout the year. The malls are comfortable whether it is hot, cold, rainy, snowy, or windy outside. I have 5 malls that I travel to frequently in New Jersey: Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, Short Hills Mall, Livingston Mall, Menlo Park Mall, and Woodbridge Mall. I'll usually walk until my legs feel tired and then I'll find a place to sit for a few minutes. Then I'll walk some more. I usually spend some money each time I go to the mall. Jersey Gardens and Menlo Park have movie theatres that I attend and purchase refreshment. I also shop Sears, Bambergers, and other department stores which are located in the malls mentioned. Once every couple of months I'll also walk Bridgewater Mall in Bridgewater.

My favorite downtown is Millburn, New Jersey. It is a pretty community close to my home with dozens of places to eat a meal or snack, imaginative storefronts to window shop and purchase items, a movie theatre, and best of all the most benches closely spaced from my personal observation of all the other towns in the area. The Gobbler is probably the town sandwich prepared at one of the local deli's.

Town and county parks are a challenge in my area of New Jersey because either there are not plenty of benches to sit down on or the parking is horrendous. Mindowaskin Park in downtown Westfield is ideal with a walkway surrounding a nice lake with great scenery and an abundance of benches but the parking can be horrendous. There are not enough benches in the county parks. Warinanco Park in Roselle and Meisel Park in Union have nice running or walking tracks where sometimes the only nearby place to sit is on the grass when it is nice out, but not a good choice when it is wet, snowy, or icy.

I try to walk a moderate pace and I usually stop several times during each walk to sit, rest, and sometimes drink some water. I have been walking at least once each day for several months now. I found that originally, I had to stop standing up at the biggest supermarkets or department stores such as Home Depot for a minute or two but now I usually do not have to stop to rest at the biggest stores anymore. Maybe the biggest stores should provide rest stop seating areas for the customers in their stores. I am also resting less frequently at the malls.

The Aviation Mall in Linden is huge but there is almost no sit down rest areas there at all. To be fair all of the stores have entrances to the parking lot directly, so they are not an enclosed mall like the others mentioned. And most of the sidewalk areas are uncovered. But I know enough to avoid that mall for exercise. Blue Star Shopping Center in Watchung is another to avoid to walk because the one exterior bench is outside the supermarket and usually is unavailable, but the sidewalk there is mostly covered.

I bought three pedometers to count my steps during the past year. Only the first one seemed to work properly but was lost. The others cost more than the first, but were so inaccurate as to be useless. I haven't used a pedometer in a while. I try to walk an hour or more each morning and another hour or more in the evening. I believe I reach 10,000 steps more often than not. Maybe, I'll purchase another pedometer and hopefully it works accurately.

I am also targeting half day and all day events to stay on my feet and move around such as flea markets, fairs, museums, Atlantic City, Meadowlands and Monmouth Park racetracks, and other places and doing well. I try to challenge myself weekly.

If you can walk (and with your doctor's permission) then you should start slowly and increase you distance over time as long as you fell comfortable doing it. Your health professional may be telling you to start a walking program anyway. I can walk longer distances now than when I started and I believe my breathing has also improved. I do not have to sit down as often and rest as when I started. I also lost a few undesirable pounds of weight. I fit into more of my clothes better now. My lab results have improved. My doctor is pleased. I am looking forward if possible to more vigorous exercise in the future but for now, I am on the walking program.

America Is Too Insulated on Health Costs

2007-10-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

America Is Too Insulated on Health Costs

When I was working and had group medical and dental insurance, I was mainly interested in what my co-pay was and whether I had any sort of deductible. For the most part, I could obtain any prescription or see any doctor for a maximum of thirty dollars for a month's supply of medicine or an office visit.

A few years ago, I lost my job at the end off the month and the employer cancelled me from the plan for the next month before I was able to obtain COBRA insurance. I went to the pharmacy where I was informed that my insurance was cancelled and that I had to pay full price of more than $200 for the one month supply of one drug. That was a rude awakening at my pharmacy.

Now I have individual health coverage where I have a 50% plan for prescriptions. It seems that the bulk of the drugs are priced from $100 to $200 per month of which I pay slightly less and for others slightly more than $100 for a one month's supply. It adds up quickly. Thank God for generics. Thank God, for Walmart $4.00 generic prescription 30 day refills.

I was concerned that my family doctor and the specialist I see were not getting enough money from the health insurer. It appears that my primary care doctor receives $200 for an office visit. My office visits are on the longer side because I have some problems recently. The specialist does not get that much for office visits which are short, but makes up for it in many tests each year. Another specialist I saw to get a colonoscopy took the $30 co-pay from me and billed the insurance company more than $700 for the initial office visit. I know they do not always get the full amount that they bill, but I thought that was high. I think the doctors are well paid.

I think my specialists may have million dollar practices. I had surgery around 15 years ago and I am sure he had a million dollar practice back then, too.

I was in the dark on doctor fees and insurance payments to them for many years. Many years ago, my health insurance was something like 80% of fee paid after $500 deductible. I was younger and healthier then so I did not have many visits. I think most office visits were $15 or $20 each back then and an initial visit with a specialist might be $50 or $75. I do not know how often I would see my primary care doctor for $200 each visit and I would have a serious problem coughing up more than $730 for an initial specialist office visit. Now I know why some people go overseas to have medical procedures accomplished.

I want to be prudent with my health and obtain what I need at a fair price. I think that insurance premiums are too high and the 50% cost of drugs is cruel. I am surprised at the high reimbursement to doctors there is with all of the complaining they have been doing for so long. I am confused by the closing of some hospitals in my area while others are being added to. I am shocked that the pharmacists have a loaded cost of more than $100,000 per year
for a basic 40 hour workweek. I am shocked with forecasted shortages of staff for all healthcare job types during the next few years. I am shocked that the biggest growing expense in healthcare is administration rather than direct care. I am surprised that one insurance executive earned more than a billion dollars worth of stock while his customers depend of his company to provide them healthcare. There are far too many executives earning more than one million dollars per year each providing administrative services.

I think healthcare is in critical shape in America and requires intensive care in order for Americans to survive now and in the future. Too many Americans do not have health insurance let alone good health insurance. There are too many Americans that go to bed hungry in America. Drugs cost too much money. All administrative expense should be cut in half. If America is going to be short handed, then why not provide the additional seats for nurses, doctors, technicians, and pharmacists and fill them with willing and eager students? Let's elliminate some of the insurance company loopholes like pre-existing condition and others. Let's provide better health care education for all and model good eating and exercise in all of our schools. Lets influence health issues such as smoking, over-eating, diabetes, exercise, and others in positive ways. Let's find practical ways to reduce administration costs like reducing coding to one scheme instead of several.

America is the only country in the industrial world that does not guarantee healthcare for all of its citizens which is an insult to the rank and file Americans. It is high time for this to be corrected.

Prudent Bankers and Tony Soprano

2007-09-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

Much has been said about the mortgage industry to the extent that there are many foreclosures and other problems.

It seems that some lenders were too lenient loaning money to others. Many of the loans would not have been made if the lenders were more prudent. One hears that some of the loans were made without any down payment. Some were made to only repay interest and not principal monthly with a balloon payment for the balance eventually. Some were made to the extent that the borrower would not be able to pay if rates went up even to a very small degree. Some loans may have been made without proper inspections, appraisals, or surveys. In todays housing market for some areas some houses may be worth less than the current mortgages on them.

Some institutions made high risk loans to obtain higher rates of interest and possibly other higher fees.

Prudent bankers would require down payment and perform a means test to make sure the borrower could repay. They would also require a home inspection, a survey, and an appraisal.

Our savings and checking deposits are insured for the most part and make up the bulk of the funds for mortgages in America. If a bank fails, the depositors are protected for the most part being insured by the FDIC up to a certain amount of money. Failed banks will be bailed out by our Federal government for the most part.

Who were these people that jeopardised America's mortgage system and other credit markets in America and maybe the world? Was there criminal intent? What can be done to prevent this in the future?

This all seems like something America's favorite fictional gangster, Tony Soprano, would do.

Do you have rental reimbursement on your car insurance?

2007-08-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

If you have a car worth repairing, you should consider including rental reimbursement on your car insurance.

Check with your agent to see if it is worthwhile to you.

I am just a consumer, but from what I understand it will generally pay for a rental car or at least some of the rental fee if there is an accident and your car is in the repair shop. I found out that it may take a few days for your repair shop to obtain the parts, several days to replace the parts and do other mechanical things, and some time additional for paint.

You should examine whether or not it is worthwhile if you need a rental for a week, two to three weeks, or longer. Ask your agent how many days does it take to repair cars for typical accidents.

In any case, you should go over your policies with your agent every couple of years. I know I complain about rate increases and sometimes coverage changes to save money are necessary, but some coverages may really be necessary to keep and to make sure you still have it.

Rental reimbursement may save you several hundred dollars, maybe more, if you have an accident and your car is in the repair shop for some time and you need to rent a car during that time frame.

You should also ask about rental reimbursement coverage that your spouse, parents, siblings, children of driving age, and friends may or not have. You may be able to save them some money. You may be able to make them a little more independant if they can afford to rent a vehicle if they have an accident in their future. You may be able to also have some peace if you share the car with others and have rental reimbursement in case of an accident.

Free Tuition for Four Year Degree in New Jersey

2007-07-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

Free Tuition for Four Year Degree in New Jersey

New Jersey has 2 programs for free tuition for NJ residents who meet the requirements.

The first program is called STARS and pays tuition at a New Jersey county college for 2 years: http://www.state.nj.us/features/njstars.html

In order to qualify students must:
Graduate in the top 20 percent of their high school class
Maintain full-time enrollment status at a New Jersey community college
Perform satisfactorily in coursework while receiving the scholarship
Apply for any eligible need-based federal and merit-based State financial aid grants

The second program is called STARS II and provides tuition for successful STARS graduates to attend their third and fourth years of college at approved NJ state colleges and universities. http://www.njstars.net/

COMMENT

I am sure there are some similar programs across the United States in other states. At a minimum STARS and STARS II are worth more than $12,000 to each student taking advantage of it. I am no accountant, but I think this is free money that the student or parents do not have to pay income tax on. So, I would guess if one had taxes like federal and state income tax with held as well as social security, unemployment, and whatever else is taken out...I would guess it would be worth at least $20,000 taxable money or more.

And with such grades necessary to qualify for the 2 STARS programs, maybe the student would also qualify for other aid for room, board, books, and living expenses.

I think parents and their children preparing for high school should be made aware of programs like the STARS programs. They should target themselves for the program. Remedial courses should be made available for students to be able to master their required schoolwork and obtain good grades in high school. Middle school and high school administrators should be able to provide tutoring when necessary.

Many students take longer than 4 years to graduate from college because they spend a semester or two doing remedial work that should have been accomplished in high school. By applying themselves in middle and high school STARS awardees have proven they can do college work because of their high grades they earned there.

Most STARS awardees should not have to borrow money for their college tuition. Depending on circumstance, I would venture that most would not have to borrow for room and board either. The kids start life with their 4 year college degrees most likely without any student loans.

There are middle school students that already have a track record of achievement and students, faculty, and parents would say already that they would be the most likely awardees of the STARS program, but others can make it if they worked a little harder for it and had support from school and their family. The kids that have to work harder should have support so that they remain focused and steady in their achievement.

The vast majority of graduating high school seniors will not qualify for the STARS program in New Jersey or similar programs in other states, and these students that go on to college will have a more difficult time financially and academically. If more students applied themselves with school and family support, financing college and doing college level work would be much less of a problem.

Parents should make sure their kids in grammar school will be prepared to do middle school work. They should make sure their middle school sons and daughters are learning enough to accomplish high school work.Parents should make sure that their high school kids are learning so they will be prepared for college level work.

Here are the things to look out for if you should have a discussion with your child's teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators:
1. Ask you child what they learned that day for each subject they are taking and ask them to demonstrate what they learned.
2. Does you child bring home test papers everyday? If not, make teacher appointments.
3. Does any teacher show one or more movies in class each week instead of providing prepared lectures?
4. Does the pace of studies in each text assure you that it will be completed before the end of the school year?
5. Does your child bring home test papers with grade of C or less much of the time?
6. Does your child have homework everyday?
7. Does your child have reading to accomplish at home everyday?
8. Does your child have projects to accomplish at home like book reports, term papers, memorization of songs, poems, or quotes, preparation of speeches to give in the front of the class, and the like.
9. Does your child go to the library for books to read not required by school, but solely of the child's interest?
9. Does you child bring home crafts prepared at school or none?
10. Does your child tell you the teacher is covering material that previous teachers covered?
11. Is your child encouraged to write whole sentences, paragraphs, and entire stories or assignments each week?
12. Do you think the material and subject matter taught in your child's classes are challenging enough?

Parents must w3itness that your child has a challengong school program and that he or she is doing well with all challenges.

50% of Personal Bankruptcies Are Due To Medical Bills

2007-07-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

California Governor Schwarzenegger Says New Study Shows How Rising Health Care Costs Negatively Impact Economy

http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/48726846_california_california_governor_schwarzenegger_says_new_study_shows_how_rising_health_care_c

About half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States are due to medical bills. Several studies—including two published by Harvard Medical School and the Health Affairs journal—put the number of bankruptcies due to medical causes at approximately 50 percent. The typical person filing for bankruptcy due to medical costs is about 40 years old, with some college education, middle-class or working-class, and a homeowner.

COMMENT

It is easy to be without healthcare coverage and it has happened to most of us. Just leave a job where you had insurance and your coverage will be dropped quickly. Premium increases may mean that we can no longer afford to pay it.

Even with healthcare insurance, insurance companies weasel their way out of paying for treatment by saying it is a pre-existing condition or some other reason. Just because one has insurance, does not mean that our healthcare bills will be paid by our insurance provider.

Most of us are a medical disaster away from personal bankruptcy.

More than 50% of American personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills which is unheard of in dozens of other industrialized nations that provide national healthcare.

Americans must be ferocious demanding national healthcare from our elected officials in Washington or else it will continue to be ignored. Our elected officials are shameful with their excuses. Tens of millions of Americans including children have no healthcare insurance. There are too many escape routes for insurance companies not to pay claims.

Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate, has the best proposal for national healthcare http://kucinich.us/issues/universalhealth.php and shames the other candidates such as Hillary Clinton. Hillary should show some backbone on healthcare reform.

"The plan is embodied in HR 676 the Conyers-Kucinich bill, written by Dennis Kucinich & John Conyers
Michael Moore supports HR 676 and thanks Dennis for running for President. You can watch the video here
The plan covers all healthcare needs, including dental care, mental health care, vision care, prescription drugs, and long-term care - at NO extra cost!
Kucinich's plan, HR 676, is supported by 78 Members of Congress , more than 260 Union Locals , and 14,000 physicians and is endorsed by the New Hampshire House of Representatives. "

Does you Representative support HR 676? Find out and find out why not if that is the case. Do your Senators support HR 676 also? Ask your Governor and state representatives to endorse HR 676. Ask Hillary Clinton and other canidates to endorse HR 676.

U. S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao Rips American Workers

2007-07-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

"How Safe Is Your Job?
You could lose your job to a foreign worker—not because he’s cheaper but because he has better workplace skills and discipline. That’s the message Labor Secretary Elaine Chao hears from U.S. executives who are worried about America’s competitive future.

Beyond the cheaper cost of labor, U.S. employers say that many workers abroad simply have a better attitude toward work. “American employees must be punctual, dress appropriately and have good personal hygiene,” says Chao. “They need anger-management and conflict-resolution skills, and they have to be able to accept direction. Too many young people bristle when a supervisor asks them to do something.”"

http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2007/edition_07-01-2007/Intelligence_Report

COMMENT

With the open labor policies of the Bush Administration, of enabling millions of illegal aliens and hundreds of thousands of H1 and L visa classification aliens to work in America, and the loss of tens of millions of good paying American jobs to foreign countries we have to cry foul. Americans are suffering because they are willing to do these jobs for fair salaries and benefits but the foreign labor in America and overseas are undercutting them. Many jobs in America are owned by the aliens and American citizens do not need to apply because they will never be hired. The Bush administration is swinging the supply of foreign labor higher and higher in America and the net effect is that the level of wages and benefits are also going down. Bush has never fought to keep an industry here in America; he even outsources critical national defense items.

Now we also have the U. S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao Ripping American Workers which is unfair. Americans are starting to believe this dastardly propaganda that foreign workers are better than American workers. They are told all of our schools are inadequate. Americans are being told that foreigners make better employees than Americans.

Bush should be impeached because he is not following his constitutional responsibility to follow the laws of the United States to protect our borders and prevent illegal aliens from entering the country and to prosecute the employers of illegal aliens.

Second, the H1B and the L visa classifications were to supplement the American workforce not to replace it. When H1B and the L visa aliens start working at a job in America they are replacing an American who has been just layed off or fired. How mean and nasty can the Executive government be? Many Americans have had to work with the Aliens to teach them their jobs so they may receive severance pay or risk being fired immediately without severance pay. There is no shortage of Americans qualified, willing, and able to perform those jobs and replace the H1b and the L classification aliens in America. America must demand that all H1b and L classified aliens be sent home because they are no longer needed.

Washington is having a world wide clearance sale of all American jobs to be off-shored. I do not understand why they are doing it. While tens of millions of American manufacturing and service jobs have already left America for foreign countries, there are forty million more American jobs on the shopping block soon to travel overseas if nothing is done to stop it. I do not know where our children and grandchildren will work in America soon. Maybe we will all have to just settle for a Walmart type job someplace in America.

What is funny is that most schools in America are outstanding and our students are well educated and trained. The exception schools are immigrant schools where the local school districts refuse to rapidly teach their students English and to make them catch up in their studies to their peers in America. Most of these students in these backward school districts drop out of school before graduating.

America has always had a proud workforce. The Bush administration is trying to take that away from us. They are destroying American labor. They are reducing wage levels and benefit levels.

American students pay the highest prices for tuition for higher education than any country in the world. The Bush administration has cut grants and raised the interest levels for student loans hindering many Americans from obtaining higher education. There has been no efforts in the Bush administration to seek to reduce or slow down the annual increases of tuition across America which is several times annual inflation levels. At a national level Bush enables aliens to take American jobs while he says higher education is a state problem.

Traditional training of employees in America including tuition reimbursement to assist staff to maintain their skills has been reduced because American business has found they can reach out to hire aliens who are already trained saving major corporations million of dollars. Foreign countries provide free education for their citizens like India and China. They can also return home occasionally to become retrained for free when their skilled become somewhat obsolete so they can return to America and work a few more years.

Americans lucky to have a job start out with about $30,000 in college loans or more and do not have a safety net when they need to be retrained, especially if they have family responsibilities. And college tuition is only going higher and higher. Employers and government do not offer anything or not much.

I don't think Washington elected officials are ostriches with their heads in the sand. They know what is going on. They are not totally ignorant. They are all part of the problem. We must identify candidates that recognize the problems and have ideas on how to solve the problems.
American labor is not dead, but is lying on the mat bloodied and bruised with the referee still counting. We must act soon or else the count will reach ten and it will be over for American labor.

And I thought the U. S. Secretary of Labor was to build up and facilitate legal American labor not to tear it down. Elaine Chao you should be ashamed of yourself. Don't worry, China and India will reward you.

One Stop Shopping At Social Security

2007-07-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

Strictly speaking United States Social Security in America does a good job but it could be better.

Social Security enrolls dependants of a dead breadwinner, retired or disabled people into the social security survivor, retirement or disability payment systems and the Medicare program which pays about 80% of the bills and the enrollee pays the other 20% unless he or she has a supplemental insurance plan with a private insurance company.

Social Security has a lot of information on each American and their family group. First of all they have everyone's age. They have a complete history of the social security wages and contributions while each person worked. The applicant for disability have to document their illnesses completely. For death survivors benefits they know about each dependant child and spouse.

For 99.99% of the claimants, a social security administrator can judge whether the applicant will severely struggle to live on social security payments and medicare benefits or will be comfortable or be somewhere in between. They have ages, wage levels, and sometimes medical history. Depending on past earning history, they can predict how many assets if any the applicant probably has and whether any would be beyond a home and personal items such as pensions and investments.

Many people when they become disabled or of retirement age have difficulty traversing America's safety net for poor indigent people. Many surviving spouses especially those with children are already overburdened caring for their children without traversing the safety net. Social security and application for medicare are federal programs. Other safety net programs are state run programs such as Medicaid and Food Stamps.

Some people cannot travel to offices to apply for safety net programs. Some people are very handicapped and cannot think clearly or speak for themselves are doing without safety net benefits they would probably qualify for. Americans are confused about the programs available, whether or not they would qualify for them, and how to apply for them.

Some people refuse these programs because they think it is charity care and they are too proud. They become burdens on their families greater than they realize and jeopardize their health and quality of life. They soon enough become angry at the system as they lose their health, the bills accumulate, they do without critical necessities like food, heat in the winter, and medicine and they lose possessions like their car and house. Many of these people are citizens who served our country during wartime and have paid taxes for forty or more years, and have been volunteers in the community. They should realize that they "paid" for the safety net. And a nation is judged by how well the poor and unfortunate are taken care of by its society, so nobody else should be left behind either.

Many of the safety net programs, while most are financially supported at the Federal level, are run by State agencies where there are differences in qualifications and benefits for each program. For most people in greater or lesser need, these programs are almost a secret with barriers to apply and qualify for benefits.

Many people cannot afford supplemental insurance policies for Medicare and cannot pay the 20% of the cost that Medicare does not pay. Many people's sole income is the Social Security check and it does not adequately provide shelter and food each month. Suffering is enormous. Some people die because they are penniless and used up limited Medicare benefits and should be on Medicaid with the additional needed benefits but have not been enrolled.

I propose that any application to Social Security for survivor, disabliity, or retirement benefits or Medicare acts as a universal application for the individual to also potentially qualify for Medicaid, Food Stamps, and all other Federal, State, and Local safety net programs.

Right now it takes a Philadelphia lawyer to traverse these programs. It is unfair. It is cruel. It is unjust. Probably millions of people who are qualified for additional safety net programs do without because of the difficulty of knowing about each program, finding out whether the program would be worthwhile to pursue and whether or not an individual or family would likely qualify.

There are no national level advocates for the needy that can provide knowledgeable qualification for the various safety net programs. If you are denied social security benefits you need to hire a lawyer to appeal the decision. Hiring a lawyer to obtain Food Stamps, Veterans Administration benefits, or to obtain other safety net programs seems necessary sometimes but also evil in that it had to go to court to be remedied. Right now each safety net program has its own beaurocracy to traverse and we all know how difficult that is.

I think that Social Security Administration offices are the first step for most people with a major change in their life such as death of a spouse or parent, retirement, or disability and should also be the one stop shopping source for all other social welfare safety net programs. It makes sense. If you agree write to your federal senators and representative. One stop shopping is doable, makes economic sense, would make the lives of millions of fellow americans better, and is the right thing to do.

Food-origin law is back from oblivion

2007-06-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

Food-origin law is back from oblivion

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-060710label-story,1,6159286.story?coll=chi-news-hed

After we have a serious scare with imported poison additives from China into our pet foods, we find that some of the imported poisonous additives from China have been added to the food suppy of our food animals such as the feed for cattle, chickens, and others. There have been other tainted items such as tooth paste imported from China that have also scared Americans.

Just when you think Congress does not have a law on the books to require marking the country of origin on food items, you find out we are wrong.

"The short answer: There is. And there has been since 2002.The more complicated answer is that what Congress passes, Congress can take away. The requirement for "country-of-origin labeling"—or COOL, as Washington knows it—for food products was postponed a year after its adoption, due to heavy lobbying from food groups saying the law was unnecessary and expensive.Recent fears over imported foods, however, have given new momentum to reviving the law."

It was a very good idea, but the collective lobby of big business caused our congress to postpone enabling it.

Well, now we are promised by many elected officials that we will see the COOL (country of origin label) bill brought out from hibernationwithin 2 years.

I want to know where my food is coming from. I want to make sure it is healthy from quality sources. I want it fresh and probably not frozen. I want all additives listed.

It seems that there are exceptions to the COOL law even today such as restaurants and prepared food items. I think restaurant foods should be labeled as well as prepared foods, also.

Some business groups say that the cost to label overseas products would cost about $1,500 in each American food store. I think the American consume would benefit from better quality and better prices to know where the food came from. If American seafood prices are generally higher than Asian seafood, for example, we should benefit from lower prices. Maybe the American consumer should learn the pros and cons between Australian lamb and American lamb. I'll stand corrected but I think that many farmers in America are suffering from foreign competition with unfair prices and also the unfair belief that most items are equal in taste, freshness, quality, purity, safety, ingredients, nutrition, and other yardsticks. I think that labeling and additional consumer educations would benefit America.

It seems that other countries can enforce inspection standards and refuse American food imports, while America does not even inspect food imports. There should be a level playing field for American food exporters where currently they cannot compete fairly on their stock. And the American consumer has to be fairly treated as to price, quality, safety, taste and all other food yardsticks.

Why Congress has to wait until COOL's suspension is due to end in September 2008 is beyond me. I think the suspension should be suspended immediately. What do you think? Contact your Senators and Congressperson immediately.

Coupon Wallet

2007-06-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

Coupon Wallet

We see coupons in newspapers, magazines, fliers, inserts from companies like Valpak, and even through the Internet. Some companies will send you additional discounts when you register with them. Frequently we each save more money with a shoppers card. My birthday was recent and we received quite a few additional discount offers.

We sign up for a shoppers card or the shoppers club at all establishments that we think we may sooner or later return to someday. Everyday we get one or two emails for discounts from these sources. I'll print down the ones we will probably use and delete the rest.

I'll tear out coupons that I think the household can use in all newspapers, magazines, and junk mail we have delivered to the house. If a pair of scissors are available, I'll use them.

We used to keep all coupons in a pile in the kitchen. Sometimes we had three or four hundred coupons stacked together. The main problem was many coupons expired and were no longer useful. The next problem was that if we were looking for a restaurant coupon we also had to go through all of the grocery coupons also. Sometimes we had friends in the house who were coupon traders and they just found the pile of coupons and went through all of them thinking that we already used those we were going to use and cherry picked a lot of good coupons for themselves.

We recently bought a coupon wallet and suggest that everybody also invests in one too. A coupon wallet is about 7 or 8 inches long and 3 or 4 inches wide and come with several sections like a loose leaf binder. We put grocery store food coupons in the first section, grocery store non food in the second, restaurant coupons in the third, coupons for miscellaneous things in the next, and coupons to trade with others in the next. You may find this organization good or you may use your own.

We found that we bring the wallet into the house to add coupons, weed out expired ones, and to pull the ones we want to use while shopping that day. We also found it useful to bring it in the car each time we take the car out because you never know when you may need a coupon such as to eat out.

We also found that most shopper clubs give you both wallet sized and keyring sized id cards where we have opted for the keyring size and carry about twenty of them around with us. We also believe in adding additional family names to the same shopper club account. That way if the offer is a free turkey with $250 worth of purchases and each buys slightly more than $125 worth of groceries, they are still entitled to the free turkey. Always use the shoppers card even if you do not think it will save you any money...you never know.

A coupon wallet makes things a lot easier. It does save time. I think we maximize using our grocery coupons now. We almost always use a coupon when we go out to eat saving money. We save more money each week with the wallet than before we had the wallet.

Its All About Good Paying Jobs For American Citizens

2007-05-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

Its All About Good Paying Jobs For American Citizens

Whether you are working today in America, or looking out for your children and grandchildren in the future, you must realize that President Bush, the Senate, and the House of Representatives have made it difficult to earn a decent wage and obtain good benefits in America, now and in the future.

For the most part, Americans competed for jobs in America with other Americans for many generations. Our elected officials in Washington, D.C. have changed that so we are also competing with illegal alien invaders for lower skilled jobs in America and H1B Visa holders for the more high educated level jobs in Ameria. Additionally, our leaders in Washington have enabled the flight of tens of millions of other high pay manufacturing and service jobs in America to be outsourced to foreign countries. Some highly reguarded people have forecast that as many as 40 million more jobs will transfer from America to foreign countries within the next few yars. And we know that illegal aliens will increase about 2 million each year because our leaders in Washington will not secure the border.

Another insult to all working class Americans is that our leaders in Washington took about 10 years to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 over a period of time, which is really half measure, but they gave themselves several pay increases during the same time period. Ralph Nader said more than a year ago, that to have the same purchasing power as minimum wage during the 1960's, it would have to be increased to $10 per hour right away. Lower pay earners in America will recieve something but they were still cheated.

Every American citizen must be informed to know whether or not their elected officials favor good paying jobs for American citizens. Do they support securing the border? Do they favor the arrest of all employers breaking the law by hiring illegal aliens? Do they support sending the majority of the H1B Visa holders back to their home countries? Do they support the $10 per hour Federal minimum wage? Do they favor amnesty for illegal aliens? Do they want crime to pay and qualify illegal aliens for Social Security and Medicare? Do they want all illegal aliens to be charged local tuition fees instead of out of state fees at your public colleges and universities? Do they favor forcing all government contracts at the Federal, state, and local levels to be given to American companies to employ American citizens? Do they favor all govenment regulated agencies especially those that approve rates for businesses such as electric, gas, telephone, water, waste, cable, and others to force employers to hire American citizens in America? Do they favor arm twisting corporations when it appears they are moving jobs overseas and it is not in America's interest for them to do it? Do they favor selling strategic American businesses to foreign countries?

The vast number of lobbyists in Washington work against working American citizens and we are paying the price for it. They lavish gifts on our elected officials. They donate huge funds for their re-election. The provide luxury travel on private jets to them. The lobbyists have easy access to our elected officials. Lobbiests write many of the bills in the Senate and the House. All elected officials know that if they play ball, then maybe they can obtain a very high paid lobbyist job in the future. There is not a fair number of lobbiests representing average American citizens in Washington. The average American does not have equal access to our elected officials and because of it, our causes are ignored too often.

Every American citizen must ask questions about how their elected officials vote and will vote in the future if they want a future fianancially secure for themselves, their children, and their grandchildren. We must join our local political party and also get involved at the county, state, and federal levels. We must write or email our representatives frequently. We must be informed and vote.

New Graduates, This is as Good as It Gets

2007-05-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

New Graduates, This is as Good as It Gets

Whether you just graduated from high school, college, technical school, trade school, military training or some sort of on the job training program, your employment opportunities are as good as it gets right now in America.

Tens of millions of jobs have been offshored to other countries. The Federal minimum wage has not been increased in about 10 years and it will be a half measure when it is approved because it will be short at least 2 dollars from having the same purchasing power at minimum wage of the 1960's. Hundreds of thousands of H1B aliens have been brought to America and are replacing Americans who are willing, able, and qualified to perform the work and surprise, Congress is trying to increase the number. Up to 20 million illegal aliens have invaded America and are also stealing American jobs and reducing salary and benefit levels. Recognized authorities are predicting 30 million additional American jobs will be outsourced overseas during the next few years.

A writer of employment recommendations stated that recent graduates who are being frustrated trying to find decent jobs with good pay and benefits are waiting for the Baby Boomers to retire. Let me clue you in...most are gone from the workforce already. Their employers told them they were not needed anymore and fired. Many arrived outside work and found that they were no longer allowed inside. Many were escorted out of the building by police. Many were forced to train the aliens replacing them so they could continue a few more weeks of being paid and maybe obtain some severance money for their families.

It has been bleak for the Baby Boomers because most under 65 years of age wanted to use the last years of their employment to save for retirement. But Bush, Congress, and big business took that way from them. It is difficult or sometimes impossible to start a new career earning a good salary and benefits. We all know how expensive it is to pay for retraining or an additional certification or degree and there is no meaningful assistance...especially when one has to support children or is a caregiver of others. Most baby boomers still working are under-employed. Many have had to spend out the money intended for retirement just to pay bills now. It is sad to think that auto workers and college graduates are working at Walmart type jobs as clerks, cashiers, administrators, and wait staff.

The President, Congress, and big busines have bloodied, bruised, and knocked out the American worker and we must revive quickly or the fight will be over. The minimum wage must be updated and re-establised to provide the purchasing power of the 1960's. The Mexican American border must be secure. Employers of illegal aliens must be prosecuted. If jobs for illegal aliens dry up if the employers face prosecution, then many will return home voluntarily. The remaining illegal aliens should be arrested and prosecuted. All American funded contracts at the federal, state and local levels amount to trillions of dollars and should be steered to American companies employing Americans first. Many industries are already overseen by government agencies such as banking and utilities where most of the money comes from American citizen consumers who should benefit with local jobs for American citizens. We must send the bulk of the H1B aliens home because there are American citizens who are willing, able, and qualified to do the work.

America produced 52% of world gdp during World War II supporting our allies across the world and fighting wars on two continents. With Bush free trade we cannot adequately support our troops in Iraq and Afganistan properly. we had a shortage of smart bombs and had to settle disputes with Switzerland to obtain critical components. Our troops in war zones are short body armor and armor protection for their vehicles due to foreign outsourcing in the supply chains of those items. If faced with a major war like World War II, constant negotiations with our foreign supply chain partners would be the biggest problem. America must hold all of the resources it needs to adequately supply and support its military, which will bring back more jobs to America.

This is as good as it gets in America unless we all become politically active and try to straighten out our elected representatives. Right now I sometimes reject what some of the Deocrats are saying and sometimes I reject was some Republicans are saying...I guess I am becoming more independant. The polls and the results of the last election indicate one direction for the country and yet our elected representatives are pulling in the opposite direction it seems.

Just think, if we do not straighten out the labor problem now, it will only get worse for future generations of American citizens.

Don't Buy Food From China

2007-05-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

After the scandal of toxic additives being added to American dog and cat food by China, we now find out that some were also added to the feed of our food animals such as beef, chickens, and hogs and fish farm food. Some pet owners lost their animals and others were forced to pay vets to heal their sick animals. Now we find out that this misery is creeping into our food supply.

Bush and his Secretaries will not inspect food products from China unless there is a demonstrated severe health problem. Bush's budget for food inspectors have been chronically cut over his administration even though more food for American people consumption from overseas is increasing.

And the media has been discussing that there are additional health concerns about the exported China food arriving in America. The waters where Chinese fish farms raise fish are polluted are among other concerns.

China says it will start inspection of food exports, but it is a little too late and there is no evidence that it would be successful.

If the American and Chinese governments cannot inspect the food coming from China I certainly do not have the resources to do it as an individual either, so I am going to boycot Chinese food products. In fact I threw away a package of frozen Chinese fish fillets, I recently bousht from my local Shoprite Supermarket in New Jersey.

From what I understand, countries of origen of some ingredients do not have to be listed on the package. That is a problem because you do not know what you are eating. I think all imported food or ingredients should be listed on the label. I will notify my representatives in Washington, DC.

It is a shame that harmful products for ingestion by humans, pets, and food animals cannot be identified until people or animals get sick. And we all know that some harmful thing make us sick right away and others may take years for simptoms to appear.

I am glad that China is our friend, imagine what they could do to America if they were not.

Ten Pesky Airline Fees

2007-05-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Ten Pesky Airline Fees

The article describes 10 fees you may have never encountered before if you have not travelled by air for a few years and how to possibly avoid or minimize them.

This article can save you time, money, and aggravation. It is distubing because many of the fees seem to be outlandish. Many of the fees can be paid by credit card or debit card, but some may require cash like buying soda or renting a pillow and blanket. The fare is not what you pay for the ticket anymore since most airlines also add in fuel surcharges and airport fees and possibly other things.

One has to be computer savvy to purchase a ticket on the airline's own website and possess a computer printer to print out ticket purchase documentation. And one really needs to read the rules, which may be somewhat different for each airline and departure and arrival airports.

There is already plenty of tension travelling by air already and most of the additional fees add to it unnecessarily. To avoid fees some people bring food and beverages aboard and each of us hope that it is not too disgistingly smelly or messy. Others bring pillows and blankets that add to the other things they bring on board and hopefully it is clean, odorless, and everyone does not catch a disease from it.

I am sure many are looking at alternatives to air travel such as driving or going by rail.

The 10 easiest ways to green your home

2007-04-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

The 10 easiest ways to green your home

http://realestate.msn.com/Improve/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=440485

Read the article...it is a really good one.

We saved $10 each month on our electric bill just switching to an "Energy Star" refrigerator.

Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) use 66% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb and last up to 10 times longer. Replacing a 100-watt incandescent bulb with a 32-watt CFL can save $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb.

There are coupons and sales for these things in our Sunday newspaper, which we are buying. We already are using two of them and expect to add them to the bedroom ceiling fixtures (three bulbs in three bedrooms) this week and maybe additionally in a few selected lamps. We are hoping to save an additional $10 each month in our electric bill. We wind up replacing from 4 to 8 incandescent bulbs each month it seems.

Today we reached 78 degrees outside in New Jersey and I shut off the furnace at least for during the day today. We have consistantly kept the thermostat below what we have traditionally kept it. When no one was home we shut it down to 55 degrees. And we covered the windows with the insulating plastic to keep out drafts. When you are charged almost $3.00 for fuel oil it really pays to manage the thermostat. We wore sweaters more often during the past two winters, but probably saved at least $250 each year in fuel oil charges than when oil was much cheaper.

I noticed on our last electric bill that our electric charges are cheaper at night and on weekends and I am planning on taking advantage of that. Right now I can only think of trying to move laundry time to nights and weekends, but there should be more things to take advantage of the lower rates. We should try to leave the house more frequently during the day also.

We are going to look into adding insulation to the house this summer to keep maintain cooling and heating better. And maybe replace the furnace because it is more tan 20 years old and they say the new ones are 25% more efficient.

We usually fly on distant vacations and rarely travel more than 50 miles roundtrip on any one day. I'd trade in my gasoline burning car for a plug electric car in a jiffy if I could find one that went as many as 100 miles on a charge. Then, I might have to rent a gasoline car maybe once or twice each year for longer trips.

We all have to do what we can to save energy and it is worthwhile especially when one can save money also. Some of the things may even enhance the market value of our home also.

Buy Energy Star Appliances and Support CAFE Standards

2007-03-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

Buy Energy Star Appliances and Support CAFE Standards

With the cost of energy so high recently it is a no brainer to buy Energy Star products and follow their recommendations.

ENERGY STAR Qualified Products
Products in more than 50 categories are eligible for the ENERGY STAR. They use less energy, save money

It does not matter whether you are trying to save on consumer items or business items, Energy Star probably has recommended products for you, including Appliances
Battery Chargers
Clothes Washers
Dehumidifiers
Dishwashers
Refrigerators & Freezers
Room AC
Room Air Cleaners
Water Coolers
Heating & Cooling
Air-source Heat Pumps
Boilers
Central AC
Ceiling Fans
Dehumidifiers
Furnaces
Geothermal Heat Pumps
Home Sealing (Insulation)
Light Commercial
Programmable Thermostats
Room AC
Ventilating Fans
Home Envelope
Home Sealing (Insulation and Air Sealing)
Roof Products
Windows, Doors, & Skylights
Home Electronics
Battery Charging Systems
Cordless Phones
Combination Units
Digital-to-Analog Converter Boxes (DTAs)
DVD Products
External Power Adapters
Home Audio
Televisions
VCRs
Office Equipment
Computers
Copiers
External Power Adapters
Fax Machines
Laptops
Mailing Machines
Monitors
Multifunction Devices
Printers
Scanners
Lighting
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs)
Residential Light Fixtures
Ceiling Fans
Exit Signs
Traffic Signals
Commercial Food Service
Commercial Food Service
Commercial Fryers
Commercial Hot Food Holding Cabinets
Commercial Solid Door Refrigerators & Freezers
Commercial Steam Cookers
Other Commercial Products
Battery Charging Systems
Exit Signs
External Power Adapters
Roof Products
Traffic Signals
Transformers
Vending Machines
Water Coolers

I bought a new Energy Star refrigerator and noticed a $10 monthly savings on my electric bill. I am sold on the Energy Star program. The refrigerator will pay for itself in a few years. I have other Energy Star products in the home including computer monitors, TV monitors, printers, air conditioners, and some lighting. I also tried to follow recommendations on insulating and sealing my home.

There has been much effort made by the Bush administration to provide comprehensive Energy Star guidelines. There is some gossip that they are late in providing all results. They should be applauded for what they have accomplished so far and encouraged to complete the task. They should also be encouraged to mandate compliance to the guidelines.

This is also similar to the CAFE standards for automobiles. Strong CAFE standards were established by prior administrations and other administrations ignored them. This mandated the average fuel use by automobiles in America for new cars each year, with the intent to reduce overall the fuel use over time. CAFE standard right now are a joke meaning they will not meaningfully reduce fuel usage over time in a meaningful amount. The Bush administration should be encouraged to adjust the CAFE standards to reduce fuel usage even more than they do today and in the near future.

I think appliances and other equipment that do not meet minimum standards for Energy Star compliance should be banned. Heavy penalties should be assessed to manufacturers and merchants that offer banned items. Heavy penalties should also be assessed to architects, engineers, utility companies, designers, and others that recommend or specify banned items.

Construction laws for new homes should include Energy Star guidelines. New homes seem to have some qualified kitchen appliances but little else. It is cheaper to add more insulation and sealing as a house is built than to add it later. I do not know why local, state, and federal authorities do not mandate Energy Star for new construction. If I bought a new home today, I would be livid if it was not built to Energy Star standards.

Maybe we need to make energy a national agenda item. I do not think we are making much headway with alternative fuels. And I would like to see 95% of all local, state, and federal automobiles electric plug powered within 10 years. We had them in California and they worked well and the drivers were thrilled with them. The technology has advanced since then and any compaints about plug electric cars are moot today.

Ask your favorite presidential contender, congressperson, governor, and mayor what they think about Energy Star, CAFE Standards, and a national agenda on energy and what they intend to do about it.

Consumers and businesses can save money with Energy Star and CAFE standards but we can also lessen the requirement for new electric power plants, America's dependence on foreign oil, America's use of fossil fuels, and enhance clean air, water, ground, and help prevent global warming.

Bill Gates Says U. S. Students Ranked 24th Out of 29 Industrialized Nations in Math

2007-03-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

Bill Gates Says U. S. Students Ranked 24th Out of 29 Industrialized Nations in an international math test in 2003.

He also states that "Other governments are waking up to the vital role innovation (education) plays in competitiveness.

This is not to say that the growing economic importance of countries such as China and India is bad. On the contrary, the world benefits as more people acquire the skills needed to foster innovation...".

I agree with him when he says, "we must demand strong schools so that young Americans enter the workforce with the math, science and problem-solving skills they need to succeed in the knowledge economy. "

...Gates continues, "To remain competitive in the global economy, we must build on the success of such schools and commit to an ambitious national agenda for education. Government and businesses can both play a role. Companies must advocate for strong education policies and work with schools to foster interest in science and mathematics and to provide an education that is relevant to the needs of business. Government must work with educators to reform schools and improve educational excellence."

What do you think about American education from pre-school through college? Is it as demanding as when you attended or not? Does your school system prepare your child for being a good citizen, patriot, spouse, and employee? Will your child be prepared and qualify to be successful and graduate from a trade school or college? Are your schools challenging? Or are they warehouses where the students waste their time? Do most of the high school students in your town graduate on time or do many drop out?

Do you think we need a national agenda to for American education to remain competitive in the global economy?

Larry King of CNN TV stated that New York City schools were so highly regarded a couple of generations ago that something was wrong with you if you went to a private school. So many recognizable successful people graduated from NYC public schools in the past, including Larry King that it is difficult to realize the system is failing the students today.

Bill Gates want to cherry pick the best graduates from across the world to be employed in America, which I do not agree. As an American, I cannot agree to that wholeheartedly. I believe in moderation. I always worked with H1B's since I graduated from college in 1972. For almost 30 years recruitment of H1B's was accomplished in moderation and Americans could still find work at decent wages and benefits. But for the past few years, the importation of college educated alien labor has been excessive because it is difficult for Americans to find jobs in their chosen fields, and wage and benefit levels for those jobs have diminished.

America must also make education affordable to all Americans. American higher education costs are excessive compared to the costs of other industrialized nations. Other nations recognize the importance of education and subsidises it, but America does not. It is also critical not only for our younger students but for older Americans that need new skills to remain employed. Many fields of study have half lives of useful knowledge when newer technologies in the same fields have made rapid advancement. Just look at the computer hardware field where it used to be tubes were important, then transistors, then integrated circuits, and more recently chips.

American business has outsourced many American jobs overseas, mostly industrial but now white collar. Students today realize this and are abandoning courses of studies that they fear will not enable them to be employed in America such as computer science and engineering. American business like Bill Gates cannot have it both ways by outsourcing jobs to India and China and expecting Americans also to be available and educated in the future for those same jobs. American business must decide whether or not they ever want Americans to be trained in those jobs or else they will not be available in the future. The American government must realize the impact to the country when millions of highly trained Americans are no longer available a generation or two down the road. To many Americans that are willing, able, and qualified to do the work are on the beach now, fired, outsourced to foreign countries.

Some of what Bill Gates is the truth and some is not. He has learned as the CEO of a major American company that for his company to survive he needs a highly trained workforce. Gates is correct that American education has recently gone downhill. He is correct that American government has not supported education as it should. He is wrong to invest billions in India and China when he could accomplish the same things here in America with American workers. And then he wonders where in America can he obtain future American workers. Gates, you cannot have it both ways.

Do you think America should have a local, state, and national agendas on education and employment of a highly trained workforce? Don't you think the Presidential contenders, your Congress people, your Governor, Mayor, School Superintendent, and School Board should address these problems?

I think the time is now to address the problems. To delay would be unforgiveable.

Buy $4 Generics at Wal-Mart

2007-03-07T08:42:00.000-08:00

My doctor told me to buy generics at Wal-Mart to save money. I looked at the Wal-Mart website where there is a page that lists the $4 generic drugs by name, strength, and quantity. Most of the drugs are for a month's worth of time. Here is the Wal-Mart pharmacy page with additional information.

If you have a health insurance prescription card give that to your Wal-Mart pharmacy in order to receive the better price between your insurance and the $4 Wal-Mart charge. In other words, if the insurance price is cheaper than the $4 Wal-Mart price, Wal-Mart will charge you the cheaper price. Wal-Mart accepts most plans just like CVS, Rite-Aid, Walgreen's and your local pharmacies.

Pathmark Supermarkets, located in the New Jersey area and other local states, also has $4 generics available. Pathmark Supermarkets recently gained publicity for a planned merger or sale with A & P. Here is a list of the $4 generics from Pathmark. I did not compare the lists of Pathmark and Wal-Mart item for item but they are similar.

Why not save some money and take advantage now. With the high cost of drugs, we all need a break wherever we can legally find one.

From what I could tell, Wal-Mart $4 prescriptions are better for me because there is one item on their list that is not on the Pathmark list from what I can tell. Over the next few weeks, I will try to get my generics filled at Wal-Mart near me. If service there is good, then I will reward them and bring the rest of my prescriptions them to be filled.

My health insurer is Horizon Blue Shield and Blue Cross of New Jersey and my prescription plan is a 50% plan. I found out with my card, I will pay no more at Wal-Mart then any other pharmacy and will save money with the $4 generics. It is a no brainer for me to go to Wal-Mart. How about you? I think I can easily save $200 or more each year.

One of my other drugs recently went off patent and should be a generic right now, but the drug company went to court to fight it and it could be anytime from now to two or three years for it to be on the market as a generic. The generic drug company Mylan is prepared to make and distribute it already from what I understand. That does not mean it will become a $4 generic anyplace soon, but at least it will be a generic and cheaper than what it is now.

Save 66% On Home Electric Bill

2007-02-20T08:24:00.000-08:00

Australia to ban old-style light bulbs, go fluorescent to reduce greenhouse emissions

SYDNEY, Australia: Australia is switching off the lights to help the environment.
The federal government on Tuesday announced a plan to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs across the country — a move that Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said was a world's first.
In fact, Australia is not the first country to make the switch to energy-efficient lighting. Cuba's Fidel Castro launched a similar program two years ago which later inspired close friend and ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to launch his own light bulb giveaway scheme.
Legislation to gradually restrict the sale of the old-style bulbs could reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tons by 2012 and cut household power bills by up to 66 percent, Turnbull said.

COMMENT

Just changing from the old fashioned incandescent bulb to the newer energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulb can save you up to 66% on your home electric bill. It could also save additionally if the government (city, state, and federal) would mandate it in America also. And it could have more savings if business would also make the effort.

It is a no-brainer. I guess it is too tough of a concept for national, state, and local leaders to come up with. It would not only save greenhouse gas emissions, but also slow down the need for additional power plants, and reduce our requirement for oil and gas to fuel those power plants.

I have a couple of energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs already in use at my home and will make an effort to replace more of my old fashioned incandescent bulbs right away. I always look for ideas to reduce my bills.

Relocating to a Different State

2007-02-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

Have you every thought about relocating to a different state in America? I started to examine it and really got confused. I checked out many of the books on retirement to a different state but they do not answer all of my questions. Basically, I do not want to jump out of the frying pan state where I live into a worse situation the fire in another state.

New Jersey has $2.549 per gallon price of home heating oil, excessive real estate taxes, employers are leaving the state, excessive financial obligations and no fair opportunities to fulfill them. Without illegal aliens, New Jersey would have had declines in population the past few years, even so we may lose at least one possibly two seats in the House of Representatives soon. Many citizens complain they cannot afford to live in New Jersey anymore and leave to live in more affordable states.

Florida seems to be the state to move to if you are really wealthy. That is not my case by a long shot. Like most Americans, I believe I am one disaster away from being at the poverty level. I heard that home insurance premiums in Florida has as much as tripled due to the recent storms. Home real estate taxes in Florida are rising rapidly too, although they are still much cheaper than New Jersey. And I do not want to replace excessive home heating costs in New Jersey with excessive cooling costs in Florida.

I want a warmer climate or at least more moderate one. I want to be near the beach. I want cheap entertainment such as minor league professional or college level sports nearby. I want to attend college courses and maybe plays and concerts there too. I want to cut my mortgage and real estate taxes at least in half or more. I want a good health plan where I do not have much out of pocket expense. I do not want to be flagged for a pre-existing medical condition where my insurer can ignor paying bills. If I ever needed it I want a free scooter, diabetic supplies, and breathing supplies like they advertise on TV. I do not want to live near a nuclear reactor or a hazardous waste dump. I want to live where I can speak to my neighbors in English. I want to be able to obtain a job if I want one. I want to be safe from harm. I want clean air and water.

William J. Clinton and the Democrats and Bush and his fellow Republicans believe in States rights and do their best to walk away from common problems in the states. They allow some seed money to be distributed among the states but the formulas usually are unfair and disproportionately go to fellow party members as some sort of political reward instead of being fair across America. The federal money is obscenely lacking to for the states to pay for federal mandates. Most major state problems are national state problems affecting all states and many are caused by mandates at the Federal level.

Everyone knows that Federal education grants across the spectrum of preschool through college has been terribly deficient for a long time. The Federal share of medicare and medicaid and social costs of illegal aliens have ripped off every state in the union. With outsourcing to foreign countries, hardly anyone is discussing the stoked up competition between states to retain existing employers and to gain new employers for their citizens. Nobody in Washington is discussing the excessive insurance premiums that are hurting our citizens. Everyone is ignoring protecting our borders and punishing the employers of millions of illegal aliens.

Some states do not have any sales taxes. Some states do not have an income tax on wages. Some states seem to have low real estate taxes. Some states seem to have affordable tuition. Some states seem to have better laws than others on health insurance. Some states like California have some wild laws about grandfathering real estate taxes while others pay the current burden.

I want to move to a state where I think my money can last the longest while obtaining some enjoyment in life. I'd like the majority of my bills to be covered by my Social Security check each month. I know that with straight line forecasting my real estate taxes in New Jersey would eat up my entire social security benefit in about 5, 6, or 7 years, which is unacceptable.

I think that the differences between the states are so sharp that one has to take out a very sharp pencil and do a pro-forma list of monthly and annual expenses to see what they total. I think that the differences are that pronounced in each state. Maybe I will need to go to a professional to review my calculations and to develop estimates five, ten, and twenty years out into the future.

I think that moving to a state should be a no-brainer. Just pick out the local weather that you want and go. But now there are so many costly differences that everyone needs to be very careful. Hopefully, the Federal government will soon pay its fair share, guard our borders, prosecute the employers of illegal aliens, go green with energy, and protect the environment, Hopefully there will be more common similarities among the states than differences.

Have you critically evaluated your President, senators, and representative for their contributions to the expenses and debt of your state? Are you looking at the roster of presidential hopefuls on how they would lead the nation and whether or not they are interested in saving our states and local governments? President George W. Bush has minimized taxing the super wealthy and placed the burden of paying for government and services squarely on the backs of the poor by cutting services and the middle class by also decreasing services and increasing their tax burden.

Watch Out! It Is Not Just Excessive Bank Fees

2007-02-10T10:15:00.000-08:00

Watch Out! It Is Not Just Excessive Bank Fees

Britain’s consumer watchdog said yesterday it was expanding its inquiry into the fees charged by credit card associations.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it would broaden the scope of its probe into “interchange” fees, which retailers pay to the banks that issue the credit cards.

COMMENT
Everyone is discussing high bank fees and interest rates, but other businesses are becoming fearless in charging excessive fees to their clients also.

BANKS
I think the credit card fees are abuse and should be limited. I transposed the digits on a payment and owed about $5.00 for a particular month's worth of charges. I got charged more than 10 times that amount with fees and interest. Unreal.

CABLE
My cable provider, Comcast is getting wild beyond belief. This past week they are dropping my HBO service if I do not convert to there digital service. There was no mention whether or not they would reduce the fee they charged me. Second, for the first month ever my cable bill which includes TV and Internet services increased from $100.03 to $102.11 without any real explanation. That is what they specialize in is adding increases without any changes in service. I had their uninterrupted service for more than 20 years and it has gone up so many times, I lost count. I started paying $6.50 for TV and it is now more than $54 almost ten times what it was originally for the same stations. Third, they have a $150 fee if you drop service before 2 years are over. I wonder if the monthly fees I have paid them year after year for 20 years have paid for the cable line from the street to my house yet? I think the government committee that approves cable rates has gone asleep. I would drop them if it was not for other family members in the house.

AIRLINES
Have you ever paid an airline fees to change your reservation? These fees can get quite huge. Many things can get out of our personal control such as violent storm are a major traffic accident that ties up traffic big time. Frequently, you can obtain a break, but sometimes you can't. I do not believe that the fee to change a restricted reservation should be more than $25 or $50 tops. Anything more is just abuse. If you came down to it, most airlines would still make money if it was lowered to $10.

MEDICAL DOCTORS
Most of the local doctors have instituted a $25 no show fee if you miss an appointment and do not cancel at least 24 hours in advance. If I had some traffic and was going to be late, I have always kept on travelling and got to my appointment as soon as possible. I don't have a cell phone and you cannot find a working pay phone anymore. I think most doctors overbook anyway and they know from their history that a given percentage of their patients will not show up in time anyway.

I think that health costs are absurd already and I do not need another $25 fee occasionally to pay out. I would always do my best to get to my appointments on time, anyway. I think it would be a deal breaker the first time a doctor tried to charge me that fee and I would go someplace else. Health costs are my biggest bill already and it does not need to get bigger.

SUMMARY
There are a lot of outlandish things occurring today. We have a President that should be impeached but is not. We have the public outraged about the Iraq war and the the President ignores us. We have tens of millions illegal aliens with more coming and there is no real zeal to prosecute those that hire them. Tens of millions of American jobs have been outsourced overseas and nobody is outraged. Hundreds of thousands of American jobs have been outsourced in America with temporary foreign workers (H1B).

Excessive fees are all parcel of all this Republican outrageous behaviour. Businesses are no longer timid about what they do to the middle class Americans. This stuff did not happen overnight. It was gradual, building speed. And Americans did not demonstrate. But they did shock the President and Congress during the November 2006 elections with the Democrats taking the majorities in both the House and the Senate. The American middle class needs to stand up for itself and be heard louder.

Now is the time to plan your garden

2007-01-29T10:22:00.000-08:00

Now is the time to plan your garden

Nothing tastes better than than fruits and vegetables that you grow yourself and you can usually save some money also.

If you grow from seeds, the packages usually tell you when it is best to plant depending on which frost zone you are in. It also tells you how many days approximately it takes to bear something to eat.

A seed catalog usually has that information all in one place. Your county agricultural office may have a pamphlet. The internet has information. Sometimes the store where you buy seeds may have flyers or spare catalogs. A lot of information is on the seed envelope.

Some plants can be started indoors so that when the warmer weather comes and there is little chance of frost you can transplant into the ground. Tomatoes and peppers are good choices to grow indoors early so that they can be trnsplanted as soon as the frost is over in your zone. Some people will plant herbs or even tomatoes in a planter indoors and move it outdoors in the summer. Some tomato varieties can grow huge with tomatoes weighing several pounds each so be sure to read the envelopes.

Some types of plants you may have enough seeds for several years and they will stay fresh if you follow the instructions on the envelope. Some types of plants, you may use all of the seeds in a season or may need several packages of the same depending on the size of the planting area and how many plants you want.

Many people skip the seeds for the most part and start their gardens when the frost disappears with live plants bought at their garden center. Usually the plants are sold by the half dozen,

Now is the time to start planning your garden. If you are going to start seeds indoors you should purchase your seeds within the next couple of weeks. Follow the instructions on the envelope.

We have no eCommerce website right now

2007-01-29T09:07:00.000-08:00

We have no eCommerce website right now

We closed our ecommerce gift shop VSQI Gifts as of Decmber 31, 2006 Our Internet provider refused to back up our logs which is something they have accomplished for us since we started in 2002.Not backing up our logs froze our website from any update by customers trying to place things into our shopping cart or even adding their name and address to our mailing list. We could not even update the website with new products or prices. The integrity of the Microsoft SQL server database which they used to store our products, customer, and sales information is based on the logs. When the logs are full, no additional update is allowed until the logs are backed up. The logs are used for backing up the databases and in case of failure for recovery. To see messages about the logs, please look at the previous entry in this blog.

I called tech support to back up the logs and they refused. I wrote emails and they still refused. I begged them and they refused.

Since 2002 when I began, I spent about $20,000 dollars with them for the website, website monthly service fees, thousands of catalogs and brochures, merchandise, shipping fees, and sales taxes to California and Arizona. I was in good standing with them and was even designated "Superseller" all of those years.

As you can imagine my Christmas 2006 sales hit rock bottom and this is the time when all gift shops depend on most of their sales for the year.

They are the 500 pound gorilla and they really did a number on my investment with them, and my other investments in the business such as internet directory fees, pay per click payments, ads in local shopper newspapers and VALPACK, business cards, sales postcards, promotional gifts, mailbox at a UPS Store, business insurance, rubber stamps, flyers, flea market table fees and transportation roundtrip, monthly cable internet service, business phone and fax service, post office fees, local Chamber of Commerce fees, and many others.

I also paid and attended a webmaster course and also a SEO course. i also joined the Kean University Small Business Administration and attended numerous seminars and consultant sessions.

As a gentleman I cannot tell you what I think of them or how mad I am, but I think you can imagine it. I think they origenally misrepresented or fraudulantly presented the opportunity with me as they said I did not have to be technical with the website. In 2002, they turned over to me a dead website. I called them and told them I had no visitors to my website. They told me I needed to register with search engines and directories and they could do it for me for $150. I agreed and waited a couple of weeks. I still had no visitors, but 'VSQI Gifts' was a searchable keyword at this time. The problem was no-one knew my company name. I called tech support again and asked when the search engines would index my sight so that potential customers could find me for my 3,000 products. They told me I needed meta tags and they could do it for another extra fee. I haven't generated any money and they are draining me of more and more of my limitted cash. I decided to take the webmaster course at that time.

I could go on and on about them, but I need to get on with my life. I am sorry we are no longer currently in business. We overcame major obstacles and learned plenty. I think we did well despite working on a shoestring. I do not know when, but we will come back with new merchandise from other vendors and a new website, I think we will be able to serve our customers with better merchandise and a better website experience. I want to thank all of our customers.

Please visit this blog for shopping advice and hopefully some fun things. We will let everyone know when we come back with our shopping website.

Attention: Webmasters, Microsoft SQL Server DBA’s, Please Advise

2006-12-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

Attention: Webmasters, Microsoft SQL Server DBA’s, Please Advise

I feel like I am being stabbed in the back, have been kicked in the groin, been stabbed in the eye, and robbed by my Website Provider. And this is happening during peak sales period for most sellers of the things that I try to sell. I am losing tons of money from potential sales and probably losing repeat customers. I am currently paid in full with my monthly website service charges and all merchandise and shipping costs. I am also losing all of my efforts adding my store items to FROOGLE, sending out catalogs to my customers, creating internet advertisements to my website, adding reciprical links to my website, getting listed by various directories, and other efforts and expense. Being added to the Yahoo directory costs me $299 each year. Please confirm my suspicions.

I am paying for the privilege of a website to the public where I sell gifts, home and garden décor, collectibles, toys, jewelry, and Christmas decorations.

I have been in contact with technical support by phone and by email since December 4, 2006 with repeated civil contact through December 12 but they refuse to do anything. There is no technical suport from them until Monday morning at 8am pacific coast time.

I have seen timeout messages on my website before and the customer service says that all website are being treated equal and there is nothing they can do, but the problem seemed intermittent over the years, but now it is chronic. Since I paid thousands of dollars for my website in 2002 I have never seen the other messages before.

I am obtaining these errors when I access my commercial website to sell products to the public. Obviously this is not good since most visitors will probably go elsewhere. What does his message mean?

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80040e31'
[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver]Timeout expired
/bcrawford/include/dept_list.asp, line 30

I also get this message when I go to the shipping basket. It seems to be the website cannot make any sales. It is screwed and the provider has to do something to fix it. Obviously I do not have the security password or access to perform the work. The provider should do the work.. Am I correct that the website is hosed or inoperable to sell anything?

Commerce.MtsPipeline error '80020101'
[bcrawford]Component Execution failed for component[0xE] hr: 0x80020101 ProgID: Commerce.Scriptor.1 MscsExecute() failed. Script invocation failed. [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]The log file for database 'tempdb' is full. Back up the transaction log for the database to free up some log space. Line: 40. [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]The log file for database 'tempdb' is full. Back up the transaction log for the database to free up some log space.
/bcrawford/include/util.asp, line 307

This is the response for my checkout page. What could cause this error message? Is my website hosed?

Commerce.MtsPipeline error '80020101'
[bcrawford]Component Execution failed for component[0xE] hr: 0x80020101 ProgID: Commerce.Scriptor.1 MscsExecute() failed. Script invocation failed. [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]The log file for database 'tempdb' is full. Back up the transaction log for the database to free up some log space. Line: 40. [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]The log file for database 'tempdb' is full. Back up the transaction log for the database to free up some log space.
/bcrawford/include/util.asp, line 307

17 steps to a bigger paycheck

2006-12-04T09:03:00.000-08:00

This is one of the better articles on finding extra income. It has 17 links to more detail information lower on the page. Some of the steps make ideal New Year's Resolutions.

If you want to save money this Christmas season on unique gifts including table games, scented candles, wall clocks, learning toys, animal figurines, decorative pillows, porcelain dolls, bird houses, water fountains, indoor planters, garden benches, and Christian store items go to

http://www.vqigifts.com

We are featuring NBA replica jerseys, a NFL Store, and Nascar memorabilia.

Handling Holiday Stress

2006-11-30T06:09:00.000-08:00

Handling Holiday Stress by A. Christopher Hammon is a one page article that everyone should read and follow the six easy things to do to better handle the pressures of holiday stress.

Computer Software and Games

2006-11-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

Watch out if you are considering buying computer software or games for yourself or others this Christmas.

We recently bought 2 games that were incompatible for the two computers we have.

You have to check out the vendors website and read reviews about the product as well as reading any requirements printed on the box. Even so, you can easily be tricked into buying software that will not work on the intended computer.

Most vendors are reliable to return your money if you made a mistake, but you usually have to act promptly for a refund. You should also review the vendor's return policy before you buy.

Our desktop is six years old and the laptop is about 3 years old both running Windows XP Pro, but both are probably pretty obsolete with hardware features currently. We probably have a new computer in our future real soon.

Several years ago the hard drive needed replacing in the desktop and all of the software had to be reloaded. The first indication of a problem was a failed upgrade from Norton Virus to Norton Internet Protection. The requirement was a higher speed CPU than the one in the machine, but I thought it would still be ok and run slower...but I later found that they did not support the computer chip in my machine. They were excellent returning my money and I had to install McAfee Internet Security instead and it works well.

We haven't had a problem with software or games until last week when two games failed. We haven't drilled down to uncover the problem to see if we can still run them on our current machines. The problems are not obvious from requirements on the boxes, but we will check it out.

It seems that new software and games take advantage of new hardware technology currently available and really do not always have built in backward compatibility with even slightly older technology.

I like to hold off if possible buying new software until I have to purchase a new computer and then try to obtain everything at once.

Games are a different because people really into them always want the latest and greatest. This is the first time we ran into a glitch with games.

We recommend investigating the software or games requirements to make sure it will run on your computer or get assistance from someone you know is an expert about it. If you are gifting it then maybe you should consider giving cash or a gift certificate instead.

Celebrate Veterans Day

2006-11-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

Most of us have veterans in our family. Some are still living and some have passed away. We should honor all of them.

The living veterans can be very young recently volunteering for service or they can be getting older serving during World War I and II. Many served at times during Korea or Vietnam. When was the last time you talked to him or her? When was the last visit? Everyone should catch up write, call, or visit within the next week or two. Active duty personnel like mail and care packages and should be encouraged to write or call back to you. Some are recently discharged and others have been discharged long ago. Contact them and find out how they are doing. Visit those in hospitals or nursing homes.

Some of us have veterans that have passed away. If you are near the cemetery drop by. Think about them when they were living. Some cemeteries are terrific and maintain the graves extremely well and others do not. We bring grass seed, rakes, and water to cleanup the leaves and repair the barespots once or twice each year. We also bring shears because they do not trim around the monument very well.

We have a serious amateur genealogist in the family and he has a two shelf museum of family history accumulated during the past ten years. Military service is only part of it but is important. Interview the veterans and find out what their job was and where they served. Find out what they like and disliked about it. Ask them whether or not they have any pictures and if you can make copies. Write it up on your computer or use pen and paper. My grandfather served in France during WW I and spoke French at home when his VFW friends visited. When I visited Paris I tried to imagine what places he may have visited. I did not know because I was too young to ever have that conversation with him.

My Dad served in Borneo and the Philippines during WW II and he really liked the Philippines and the people there. Since the 1950's thousands of nurses from the Philippines worked here in New Jersey and he would walk up to each one he found and talk to them without hesitation.

It is interesting to accumulate information and documents about the family. If you are interested in gathering information about your family, it is better to start sooner than later.

Democrats Have Majorities in House and Senate

2006-11-09T14:33:00.000-08:00

Democrats Have Majorities in House and Senate

Booyah! Outstanding! Hopefully it is good news for the American middle class.

President Bush called it a thumping. Hopefully Bush and the new Democratic Congress get it right during the next two years or else they ALL will receive a thumping.

Double or Triple Your Reading Speed

2006-10-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

How would you like to complete your daily reading in one half to one third of the time it takes today?

Recently I felt that I was getting behind on my reading. Everyday there was reading that I should do but could not get to, not for lack of trying, but just running out of time.

I just completed Dr. Richard Feldman's Speed Reading Course at Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey and I tripled my reading speed and improved my comprehension. This will enable me to accomplish my daily reading in about one third of the time leaving me with a lot of extra time to do other things.

If you never attended a speed reading class or feel your speed has fallen since you last attended a class, look for a speed reading course in your area. I recommend Dr. Feldman's class if you are from the New Jersey, New York, or Connecticut areas where he has scheduled courses documented on his website: http://www.learningtechniques.com

The course takes a baseline reading for starting reading speed and comprehension and after each of several techniques and exercises, measures progress with additional short readings and tests. There are additional short exercises to perform after class for 12 days for reinforcement.

I recommend taking a speed reading course whether you are still in high school or college, in the workforce, or even retired. If you read, you'll benefit.

New Rules on Homeowner Insurance

2006-09-30T21:37:00.000-07:00

Something must be done to reduce homeowner insurance costs. I think there are things that can be done to reduce homeowner insurance costs for most of us. The link tells about insurance companies increasing premiums for many Florida residents two or three times what they were charged previously and even more. Almost everyone in America is seeing big homeowner insurance premium increases this year.

Maybe the insurance industry should inform homeowners about what they can do to reduce premiums instead of just increasing their deductibles or reducing coverages.

LOCATION

There are many really dumb places in the United States where people build and expect to be insured. There are some locations where peril is just a matter of time. I would not insure home in low lying areas of New Orleans until the city is certified to be safe from category 5 hurricanes. We have seen earthquakes demolish buildings in California. I would not insure homes in coastal flood plains until they were certified safe from peril. We have witnessed periodic Mississippi River flooding in middle America where whole towns are pretty much wiped out. We have seen homes in Malibu California that were heavily damaged by storms and flooding. Many other coastal areas have histories of repetitive storm and flood destruction of homes. Tens of thousands of acres of western America's land are destroyed by wildfires that also burn down homes. We have seen homes slide down hills especially in California that I would never insure. There are homes in Wayne New Jersey that flood every year that I would never insure until the problem if it could be fixed, was fixed permanently. I am empathetic for the people struck by disaster, but not when the same disaster for the same buildings and usually the same people have occurred annually for some time.

There should be laws for new construction that everything be built in areas that are free from peril. If an area can be fixed so that peril is unlikely, like certifying New Orleans for level 5 hurricanes or repairing the dam that is flooding out Wayne New Jersey than that should be done first. Building in dumb peril ridden areas should be discontinued.

BUILDING CODES

Homes should be certified to withstand any perils known for the area where it is to be built. It is unconsciable to see the roofs missing for so many Florida homes when they could have been built to survive a category 2 or 3 hurricane and probably even a category 5 hurricane. An earthquake can occur anywhere in the United States and all homes should be able to survive one. Almost all mobile homes were destroyed where people were living in them in a permanent basis during recent hurricanes and they should be built much stronger and better anchored. Windows were falling out of high rise buildings in the Miami area recently that should not have occurred.

Homes should be built to new code where 99% of current damage claims are avoided.

PREVENTION

All buildings including homes should be inspected by the local fire department for fire prevention and since they are doing EPA type inspections for that also. Homeowners passing the inspection should get a discount on their insurance premium. Homeowners with working fire detectors and fire extinguishers get extra credit.

Police should inspect all homes for safety and prevention.

Building inspectors should inspect homes regularly looking for hazards and potential improvements that could save the homeowner from potential disaster.

Regular inspections every five years could save the community and the homeowners from potential disasters and even save money for everyone.

EDUCATION

We all need to learn about buying homes that are "safe" and how to build safer homes. We also need to know what it takes to maintain a "safe home". Maybe we need to also learn more about the rating factors the insurance companies use to compute the insurance premium for our home. And we should also learn what other homes are in our insurance pool that the insurance companies put our home in. I doubt that I am in the New Orleans pool but maybe I am in the Wayne New Jersey flood pool even though my house is not in a flood area.

STANDARDIZATION

It seems that many people have not been paid for their claims due to Hurricane Katrina for one reason or another. Some have "settled" for 10% or other low number. Some carriers have blamed 100% on flooding on homes not in a flood area whose homeowners did not buy flood insurance. I am not sure whether FEMA is supposed to pay any claims, but if they are then they are very slow payers or avoiding payments.

I think that everyone wants to pay for insurance and know that they are insured and will be paid promptly and adequately. I don't think homeowner insurance should be confusing to any homeowner and all homeowners should be covered for all peril. I don't think any insured homeowner should have to hire a lawyer to press a homeowner claim.

AFFORDABLE

If we do not build in dumb locations, have very good building codes, have prevention inspections, and we are educated to prevent or at least drastically minimize damage to our homes by various perils then I think our homes and ourselves will be safer and our insurance premiums will be affordable.

What do you think? Should not all of America's communities build sensibly instead of stupidly? Should not perilled areas be fixed properly before new construction begin again? Should not homeowners that paid for insurance be paid?

Sales Tax: Delaware 0%, New Jersey 7%

2006-08-14T11:28:00.001-07:00

We took a trip to Delaware from New Jersey of almost 400 miles by car roundtrip on Saturday, August 13, 2006 and was surprised and impressed on what we found.

It was a real nice pleasant day and easy to get to our primary destination. We traveled down the New Jersey Turnpike and it cost $3.40 each way, crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge and it cost $3.00 one way, and paid $2.25 roundtrip on the highway 1 and 13 Delaware tollroad, we got on and off at different places.

We stopped at the Entenmann's bakery discount store and bought some cake at less than half normal price. We also dropped by some other interesting stores and bought a few small items. We went to Sonic Drivein Restaurant and was not charged tax. We dropped into a farm tractor store and looked around. We travelled down U. S. Highway 13 South about 80 miles and saw about 20 or more housing developments. We saw many signs to Delaware beaches but did not go there...we will have to look at a map to see how close we were to the beaches.

We met many people. All you have to do is smile and say I am from New Jersey and you'll get a reaction. Many people in Delaware are New Jersey transplants. They all tell you about the zero sales tax and very low real estate taxes in Delaware. Some mention you can save money at least $.25 per gallon with ethanol in Maryland, a neighboring state instead of gasoline. They all said they were also able to save on the Delaware house prices too. Most seemed early retired military, police, and teachers from New Jersey that moved to Delaware to save money and that they could no longer afford New Jersey sales tax or real estate taxes.

We passed a University of Delaware campus, the Delaware State Fair grounds, I think Delaware Downs (a race track), Tony Danza (and other big name entertainment) will appear soon at a venue there that we passed, as wetraveledd down U. S. 13. With all of the farmland andconstructionn of family homes, the area reminded me of Ocean County New Jersey during the early 1960's when I was a child when it was mostly farmland and chicken ranches and had a lot of single family home construction.

From what I saw and heard, Delaware makes a fine alternative to New Jersey and I could save each year $7,000 in real estate tax and probably $300-400 in sales tax and even more if I made a big purchase like a new car. I think I could also save a lot of money on selling my New Jersey house and buying a Delaware house and put the rest of the principal into some sort of savings.

Delaware looks like a fine alternative to New Jersey.

Sonic Drivein Restaurants

2006-08-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, august 13, 2006 we drove according to Mapquest.com http://www.mapquest.com http://www.mapquest.com, 187 miles from home to Bridgeville, Delaware to visit our first Sonic Drivein Restaurant. Even though this is the closest Sonic to us we have been enticed from 2 or 3 showings of their commercials everyday on TV for many years. Their commercials especially focus on their wide selection of beverages and ice cream desserts.

We have even checked out their website http://www.sonicdrivein.com/index.jsp http://www.sonicdrivein.com/index.jsp, for more information and directions.

Mapquest was correct on the distance and it took us about 5 hours to get there because we took quite a few breaks. Driving was easy. We just traveled down the New Jersey Turnpike to the Delaware Memorial Bridge and got onto U. S. Highway 13 and followed it straight down. The restaurant was on U. S. Highway 13, also known as Sussex Highway down there.

We used to be weekly customers of McDonald's until they stopped cooking to order. Now we go about once 3 or 4 times a year. They used to put the cooked sandwiches on a tray and the counter people would wrap them in a sheet of wax paper and put them in the bin. We used to try to get our sandwiches that were on the tray freshly cooked and prepared. When they were slow we ordered grills, which meant requesting some garnish to be removed or extra to be put on. I am crazy for the fish sandwiches and would ask for no cheese or ketchup instead of tartar sauce, and they would cook it to order. Now the meat and fish are cooked in advance and stored on the side and they put the sandwiches together. You can still order a grill, but it usually will not be cooked to order. McDonald's used to have the cheapest sodas, shakes, and ice cream but I think it no longer the case except for the higher priced highway ice cream stores.

We were hoping to find a McDonald's killer at Sonic but unhappily did not. We really found an alternative with bright spots.

The Sonic outdoor cleanup person deserves recognition and a bonus. The property was spotless and the garbage cans were adequately emptied and not overflowing with garbage. I almost never even notice a clean lot but this place was impressive.

The drivein service consists of driving into a stall that has a console on the driver's side that has a sign describing all of the food, a speaker and microphone, and a credit card machine. There is another sign on the passenger side describing beverages and ice cream offerings. You select what you want and order it over the mike and speaker setup. If you want to pay by credit card you can swipe it right there. In a few minutes someone brings out your order and takes cash if you wanted to pay in cash. There were three patio setups that worked basically the same way. The interior sit down area worked the same way, you sat down and used a direct line phone to call in your order. I like the drivein car stall and the patio drivein concept but not the inside sit down concept.

We went inside to order 2 number one hamburger specials with cheese and the bill was under $10.00. The order taker on the phone was too quick and hung up and lost out on an order of onion rings and an ice cream. We were also afraid we might only get one order instead of 2 number one's, but the order was brought out by a very nice person and was correct. The person went away quickly and we realized we had no napkins or ketchup for our french fries and there were none available in the dining room. I prefer the fast food places with a counter that you can see the kitchen is clean and you can watch them putting your tray order together and make sure there are napkins and ketchup.

They have diet Sprite! I only drink diet and non-caffeine drinks and they have diet Sprite which fills the bill. Most fast food restaurants only have plain diet cola which has caffeine and I will not drink it. I'll go back to Sonic just for the diet Sprite.

We were only 20 feet from the kitchen and the food was not hot as just off the grill and right out of the fryer.

Most of the other customers in the dining room were eating hamburgers and most had some form of ice cream. They have a wider variety of beverages and ice cream than anybody.

I think Sonic is the cool go to place to go for beverages and ice cream.

They also serve nice breakfasts, but service I think is like lunch and you need time to order and wait for the person to deliver it to you. Dunkin Donuts and 7-Eleven is faster for breakfast or even for a quick coffee break.

I did my fair share of kp in the Army and the kitchen was the dirtiest I have ever seen. The can was overflowed by at least a foot and there was garbage all over the floor. The kitchen countertops were messy. Even though they were very busy, someone should have emptied the cans and swept the floor at least 30 minutes or an hour previously. If I was an owner, I would be afraid of slip and falls.

Overall I would give Sonic a 4 out of 10 and Mcdonalds deserves their 3 out of 10 with 10 being best.

The Book, I Have the Book, and Sparky Lyle Signed It

2006-06-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

On June 21, 2006, I went to Somerset Stadium in Bridgewater, New Jersey to catch the Somerset Patriots beat the Camden Riversharks by a score of 5 to 4. The highlight was that after the game I found Sparky Lyle, the Manager of the Somerset Patriots, and told him I had his book, the Bronx Zoo, and asked him to sign it, which he agreed. That made my week.

I bought the book in 1979, as a fanatic fan of the New York Yankees for many years and I was well aware of the Cy Young award winning pitching of Sparky Lyle. I felt that I knew all of the other members of the Yankees at the time including: Catfish Hunter, Graig Nettles, Roy White, Paul Blair, Reggie Jackson, The Gator Ron Guidry, Lou Pinella, Ed Figueroa, Dick Tidrow, Ken Clay, Jim Beattie, Mickie Rivers, Thurman Munson, Fran Healy, Willie Randolph, Billy Martin, Cliff Johnson, Yogi Berra, Chris Chambliss, Bucky Dent, and others. Through the 1970's and 1980's I followed the New Yankees on TV, radio, in person at the ballpark, and in the newspapers. It was as much fun to follow each game as it was to follow the gossip.

And Sparky Lyle played a major role in the success of the Yankees at the time.

In 2005, Lyle reached his 500th win as a manager for the Somerset Patriot franchise and is the winningest manager in Atlantic League History.

Under his guidance, the Somerset Patriots have won three League Championships, seven Half Championships, and six South Division Championships.

Now, I would like to see Sparky Lyle elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, write another book (he has written 2 books already), and continue to remain in professional baseball as long as he wants (they love him as Manager of the Somerset Patriots). Right now the ballpark is named Commerce Bank Ballpark, but they should rename it Sparky Lyle Ballpark, soon or at least a major section of it after him like the stadium.

I saw him twice this year so far and intend to continue to attend Somerset Patriot games. I will attend sooner, but am looking forward to July 2, when the Patriots play the Long Island Ducks and the have a promotion of $1.00 hot dogs and a Jimmy Buffett Tribute Day with live music before the game from 12:30 to 1:15. I m also a Jimmy Buffett fan.

I live in the middle of two league teams locations, the Newark Bears and the Somerset Patriots. I have been following both teams. I have been to both stadiums...especially when the Patriots play the Bears in Newark. The highest priced ticket is cheaper than going to the movies. I never paid for parking in Newark, but the Patriot parking is only $2.00. The games are always excellent and the parks have additional entertainment especially for the kids. Most games have special promotions. There are plenty of seats available each game day to walk up to the stadium and purchase them and walk in.

Below is a short biography of Sparky Lyle.

http://www.somersetpatriots.com/roster/coahces/index.html?player_id=5

Cy Young Award, 1977, Sparky Lyle

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nyy/history/awards.jsp

New York Yankee All-Star Sparky Lyle 1977, 1976, 1973

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nyy/history/all_stars.jsp

National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007

The list of eligible candidates for consideration by the Veterans Committee for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 has been announced, the first step in the election process to consider players, managers, umpires and executives for next yearÂs Veterans Committee election, and Sparky Lyle is one of them.

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/news/2006/060403.htm

The next phase of the process, to take place this summer, will involve a BBWAA-appointed screening committee to pare the list of former players from 200 to 25.

Save on Car Insurance

2006-06-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

If the premium of your car insurance jumped, you may want to call your insurance representative and ask why it seems so high. You may also ask what is recommended that could be done to reduce it. The first suggestion may be to increase the deductible. If you have not changed your deductibles for 10 or 20 years you may want to look into it.

I am not an attorney, but I know there have been changes to bankruptcy law. You may want to ask an attorney for advice on this issue. You may need only the state minimum amount of coverage instead of the maximum amount of coverage under certain conditions. I would talk with my insurance sales rep who is licensed and get some information. My policy is to obtain the maximum amount of coverage that I can afford. My point is that if you do not have or expect many assets, you should check with an attorney and find out how much coverage you really need.

When I am out to buy a new or newer car, I will call my insurance agent to find out how much the new insurance will cost me. If it ballpark to what I am paying now, I usually feel pretty good about it. If it is much more, I'll ask why that is so and how could I save on the premium? Many of the rates are determined by make and model of the vehicle. Some cars just get into more than their share of accidents. Some get into more severe types of accidents. Many also are stolen more frequently. It all is factored into the rates. Sometimes a different model of the car has cheaper premiums, such as the V-8 versus the hemi version or the plainer version vesus the hot rod version. Your agent can suggest similar cars with rates that are much cheaper than others.

Car insurance is expensive. Why pay for coverage you may not need? Maybe you can increase a deductible or two. You should check to make sure any future cars you may buy have inexpensive premium rates. You may be able to save thousands of dollars over the years if you talk to your insurance agent and attorney. Maybe you could save enough to pay for a new car someday with the savings.

Pay Attention When You Shop, Watch Them Like a Hawk

2006-06-10T11:33:00.000-07:00

Pay Attention When You Shop, Watch them Like a Hawk

I had a rude awakening at the supermarket a few days ago and wanted to tell you about it.

First, when we review the weekly store circular we circle the ad of products we want to purchase and examine it closely. Many sale items have a limit on the number of each item you can purchase on sale. If you order too many items you can get stuck paying regular price for those. Other items are on sale by weight, for example, you may have to purchase a package of something weighing more than 3 pounds to obtain the advertised sale price and if you pick up a package of less than 3 pounds it will cost more money per pound. Many times we bag our own groceries while the checker is scanning the order but have found this to be a costly mistake. We try to watch as each item is scanned for the correct price and find one or two errors during each shopping trip.

We recommend that you write down the price of the sale items on your shopping list as well as the specified characteristics of the sale item: brand, weight, quantity, minimum or maximum. Especially if you have a large order you may not remember accurately. And carry your own store circular.

Be careful with store circulars. Some of the stores in my area start all sales on Sunday while others start on Thursday. Some chains are franchises and do not respect each others sales. The Clark Shoprite is a separate franchise from the Garwood and Springfield Shoprites. We get the circular for the Garwood Shoprite delivered weekly, but we found sometimes there are differences each week when we go to the much larger Clark store in the neighboring town. We quickly review the Clark Shoprite flier when we go there.

When we notice a discrepancy during checkout we tell the checker and try to peacefully resolve it and point out the sale item in their flyer. If it cannot be resolved, we tell them to remove it from the order.

Pathmark of Linden had a sale on Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore Tuna in 6 ounce cans in either oil or water for 10 cans for $10.00, a really good deal. We could not find individual cans packed in water, but we found packs of 4 cans of what we wanted. I put 2 packs of 4 and 2 individual cans in the carriage. The 2 packs of 4 rang up at the much higher regular price and the 2 individual cans rang up at the sale price of $1.00 each. They would not let me have the packs of 4 at the sale price. The front end manager said that was the way it was. I had the checker take it off of my bill.

We just stopped in at the Linden Pathmark on the way home from visiting a relative at Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth, New Jersey. We needed milk and bread and checked out their flyer and found a few sale items we could use. We found only half of the sale items we wanted. The balance of the items were out of stock. The shelf tags for many of the sale items we found were posted on the same brand items but the size was different from the size specified for the sale. For example some ice cream novelties were on sale packed 4, but we could not find them packed 4 but the shelf tags were displayed at the larger quantity sized boxes of the similar item. We could see many people paying much more money for items they thought were on sale, by not watching the prices as the items were scanned.

An older incident at a Shoprite was fresh fish that was advertised for a certain price. Normally you expect prices to be price per pound. I did not check the fine print which was for half pound and was in shock when I saw the price tag on the package. You have to be very careful in the true price and can no longer depend that it is price per pound.

Everything should be individually marked in the supermarket. The shelf tags are sometimes not there or are misplaced for some items or they are just wrong. The majority seem to be correct, though. Each week there are sale items that are not on the shelf...we get rainchecks for many of those items. Instead of getting easier to shop at the supermarket, it is almost necessary to have law school training. Many people shop like they have a lobotomy and just add things they want into their cart. I am sure those are the preferable customers supermarkets want, but most of us cannot afford to shop that way.

Talk With Your Pharmacist

2006-05-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

Most of us bring prescriptions to the pharmacy and go back and pay for them and run out of the store.

We should talk to our pharmacist for four reasons. First, we should understand everything we need to know about the medicine. Second,we must make sure they have our allergies listed in their computer. Third, they must be able to check for drug interaction for each of the prescriptions we are taking, and finally, we should ask their advice on how to save money, if possible, on our prescriptions.

The pharmacist has as many years of college as your average medical doctor, and passes a difficult license qualification procedure. Go over how to take the medicine. Should you take it before or after meals? Should you avoid anything? Should your doctor take a blood level of the medication to measure whether or not you have the correct amount in your system and are not over-medicated or under medicated. Should your doctor take lab work to test your kidneys? What are the symptoms for you to stop taking the medication?

Ask the pharmacist what allergies are listed for you on the computer? It is important for that to be listed so that they do not dispense anything that will give you a reaction. Even if you previously gave that information sometimes things become missing and it is worth making sure the information is there.

The pharmacist needs to check for drug interactions. You should go to one pharmacy, so they have all of your medications on the computer. You should make a list of your medications and give the list to your pharmacist for review if you go to several pharmacies. You should also go to the pharmacy and ask whether or not any vitamins, minerals, herbal therapy items, and cold or sinus off the counter items are harmless or harmful to you and the medications you are taking.

You should ask the pharmacist whether their computer system alerts them to drug interactions. If not you should ask them to review your medications for drug interaction and possibly find another pharmacy to fill your prescriptions.

Of course, we are all interested in saving money. The cost of medication is very high and we need to be good shoppers. Many of us have to pay full price because we do not have a drug plan. And many of us have co-pays ranging from as little as $5.00 or $10 up to 50% of the full price. Some people will face the Medicare donut and have to pay full price until they reach another threshold. The pharmacist can tell you whether a generic may be available. If you want to split pills maybe ordering fewer more powerful pills and splitting them can save you 30% or more. The pharmacy is usually aware of programs available in your area to save you money. New Jersey has the PAAD program where you can purchase medication at a low co-pay if you qualify as low income. Some of the drug makers have assistance programs for customers to better afford their medications.

You should also talk to your doctor about affordability of your medications. By law the pharmacist has to fill the prescription to the letter that your doctor writes unless there is an error of some kind. Tell your doctor to convert everything possible to generic. Ask about doubling doses of some medications and splitting them to save money. Ask for free samples and coupons. Yes, they are getting coupons to give to their patients by the drug companies.

Pharmacists are well trained. Pharmacists in a hospital setting sometimes are expected to review lab work to determine whether the strength of a medication is optimal or needs to be decreased or increased. Sometimes they check lab work to make sure an antibiotic is working or to recommend other antibiotics.

By talking to the pharmacist, we can make sure we are taking our medications properly, we can prevent allergic reactions, we can prevent harmful drug interactions, and we can be wise shoppers paying only what is necessary for our medications.

Dont Pay Credit Card Membership Fees

2006-05-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I realized that I was paying several hundreds of dollars in annual membership fees for several of my credit cards.

I read an article somewhere that said that most of us do not need more than one bank card, one department store card, and maybe one gasoline company gas card. It went further to explain that it is insane to pay an annual memebrship fee for the card either.

I was sick and tired also of having a dozen credit card bills being delivered to my home each month needing to be opened, paid, and mailed.

I took out all of my credit cards and layed them out into two initial piles: one for cards that I have used in the past year and the other for cards that I have not used in a year. I found a couple of cards that I paid an annual fee in the pile of cards that I haven't used for a while and called the 800 numbers and cancelled them. Then I cut up each card that I did not use for about a year and threw them away. I was lucky there was no balance that I owed on these cards.

Then I seperated the remaining cards into bank cards including American Express cards, department store cards, and gas cards. The first card that I got rid of was the American Express green card. I did not even ask for them to ignore the annual $50 fee. The deal with that card was that I had to pay the bill in full each month. I just told them to cancel it and dropped it like a hot potato.

I decided to keep one out of many bank credit cards. I called the 800 number of the card I used the most and asked for them to not charge me the annual membeship fee and they agreed. I cancelled and cut up the rest of the bank credit cards. VISA, MASTERCARD, and DISCOVER are accepted internationally. You can check with your travel agent how you can pay different expenses on your trip.

I looked at the department store cards and realized that they all accepted the bank credit card so I cut them up too and kept the bank credit card.

I looked at the gas cards and realized they were all from premium gasoline companies that charged more per gallon than most of the discount brands. I cut up all of the gas credit cards. Most of the discount gas companies accept the bank credit card, but I am glad I do my best to pay cash especially with todays high prices. I think paying in cash makes me realize I should not drive excessively or else I will be going to the atm many more times each week to pay for gas. I feel bad for others using credit cards to pay for gasoline at the pump knowing they will face big bills in the mail when it came time to pay for the gasoline.

I dont pay any annual fees for my credit cards. I get fewer bills in the mail from the credit card companies taking me much less time to pay the bills than when I had many additional cards. I save postage. I get an annual statement from my one bank card making it easier to prepare my income taxes than if I had to put together information from many annual reports or monthly statements.

You can consolidate your credit cards and save on annual membership fees. You will be glad you did.

Now I wish I could get a handle on my phone-internet-cable-tv bills and my family health bills. Do you have any suggestions?

Don't Pay Checking Fees

2006-05-09T18:29:00.000-07:00

One of the best ways to keep money in your pocket and not to give it to someone else is to avoid bank fees. This may take a little investigation, but is worth it.

Some banks have a fee schedule for your normal banking activities such as per check that you write or for each deposit that you make, and some even charge you for using their atm even if you have an account with them. If this is the case where you bank, check out their competitors in the area.

In most places in the country banks have signs outside their offices for free checking. One bank's free checking may not be the same as another bank's free checking. One bank may require a minimum balance that may be double or triple the requirement of another bank, all with hefty fees if your balance goes below a certain amount. Find out what the minimum balance is, if any. In my area some banks have free checking with no minimum balance for seniors that direct deposit their social security checks with them.

Also watch out for limitations on free transaction limits on writing checks or making deposits or using the atm. Ideally you want no limits on transactions for free or at least limits that you know you will never exceed.

Make sure if you do use atm's that the bank has them located conveniently where you are likely to go. There usually is no fee to access the atm where you bank. But if you access a foreign atm, then you may get a fee for atm usage from not only the foreign bank, but also from your bank.

Watch out for fees when you access your account from the internet. Some people like to let the computer balance their account for them. I like to check whether a deposit cleared for me so I can use the money without getting an insufficient funds penalty. I know of a local bank that offers free checking for writing checks and making deposits, but charges $15.00 each month for internet access.

If you find a bank that also offers free checks, you deserve praise because few offer it. I get a kick out of it when you are asked to select your check style and color. I usually ask for the cheapest.

I have my phone number, name and address printed on each check because most stores want the phone number when you cash a check anyway.

Sometimes, I use the yellow pages and call the list of area banks and tell them I want free checking, can you help me. Then I go through my list of minimum balance, limits on the number of checks that I can write for free, and the number of deposit I can make for free, free atm access, free internet access, and finally, who pays for the checks?

Buy Flex Fuel Vehicles

2006-05-09T04:32:00.000-07:00

Brazil's government is no longer dependent on foreign oil because they changed over to ethanol fuel made from sugar and enabled their population's vehicles to utilize the ethanol by using flex fuel engines.

Flex fuel engines can run on gasoline or gasoline with a small percentage of ethanol added to the fuel mixture such as 10% or 15% or can run on an 85% mixture of ethanol with 15% of gasoline added. The flex fuel engines can handle the combinations of gasoline and ethanol automatically.

The market for 85% ethanol fuel or E85 is small because the vast number of American vehicles cannot currently run on it. Existing vehicles can be converted to flex fuels for a few hundreds of dollars, but would it not be wiser if you are in the market for a vehicle to purchase a flex fuel vehicle. New flex fuel vehicles may cost only a hundred dollars or two more than a gasoline powered vehicle of the same make and model. This way, as more ethanol is available, then we can pump it into more vehicles than we can today. If there is a shortage in gasoline then we can use ethanol. If one is priced higher than the other we can purchase the cheaper fuel. If we are eco-friendly we can buy the ethanol. One of my priorities in selecting my next car is that it must be flex fuel. General Motors built most of the hybrid vehicles for Brazil.

If you have additional money to spend, a flex fuel hybrid is a good choice. A hybrid has two engines to power the car including a battery powered electric motor. Up to now, most hybrids were gasoline and battery powered, but the flex fuel hybrid can burn both gasoline and ethanol.

The bottom line is that if you think ethanol production will continue to increase, you will need a flex fuel vehicle to run on it.

We should also try to motivate our local, state, and federal government to look into purchasing flex fuel vehicles and to order ethanol fuels to run them. Tell them you are interested in flex fueled vehicles and ask them what they are doing to make ethanol available across the country and the area where you are living. Write to your representatives.

Are Your State, County, and Local Representatives Responsible?

2006-04-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

I don't know which state you are from, but the State of New Jersey is hurting. Newly elected Governor Corzine has just increased the sin tax on cigarettes to the highest state tax level in the country and he also increased the tax on liquor. He is seeking to raise the state sales tax from 6% to 7%. The state share of fines collected for traffic, parking and other penalties by town courts has been increased recently, adding to state coffers but diminishing town coffers. State aid to local communities for public schools and municipal government has remained flat therefore also radically increasing local taxes especially in these times of high energy, medical, and retirement costs. American citizen flight out of the state is very high with many New Jersey citizens seeking relief in lower tax states. If it wasn't for the gain of more than 500,000 illegal aliens, New Jersey would have a net loss in population and a loss of a representative seat in Congress. The local real estate tax in 2 towns in Union County are going to $10,000 next year for average houses for municipal, county, and education taxes. One town in the county will see the tax of the average home go to $11,000 next year. The State Department of Labor has conservatively stated that New Jersey has recently lost 10,000 higher paying jobs. It is getting grim for residents of New Jersey.

New Jersey must stabilize the tax rates and then seek to reduce expenses. We have many people that still think everything is still business as normal. In fact our superintendent of schools is lobbying to build an administration office complex Taj Mahal costing millions in this grim time. Our county ran up excessive mandated overtime costs blowing out the overtime budgets by not managing properly. There were suggestions that county employees stayed home during snowstorm and the like and were using their sick days like special or vacation days each year. New Jersey courts have mandated state increased education funding of low income cities (called Abbott Districts) reducing previous funding of the vast majority of all other educational districts. Abbott districts have long been criticized for incompetence, excessive salaries, excessive expenses such as state paid personal cars and trips. The bulk of the educational expense of the children of illegal immigrants has been to the Abbott districts at the direct expense of non Abbott districts. New Jersey is also the land of government employee double dippers. The double dippers are full time employees who additionally gain one or more additional government jobs at the same time. It seems that they get full pay for each job and then collect a combined retirement benefit for each job. Prudent people would make this type of thing illegal or at least mandate unpaid leave of absence when the person is performing the other job. And their pensions should be adjusted appropriately. New Jersey must stabilize their tax rates and seek to lower them.

New Jersey leaders must step up to the plate and be active in making the correct choices in the new American and International roles New Jersey institutions and people have to play. New Jersey has been a LOSER in competition for jobs with other states and also a LOSER in sending jobs overseas that were held by New Jersey residents. New Jersey is a LOSER in that many low and middle income job pay and benefits have been diminishing instead of increasing recently. New Jersey has been a WINNER in for generations in providing hundreds of thousands of high paying with high benefits jobs for its citizens and must do what is necessary to become WINNERS again.

Is your state bleeding good jobs and suffering from high taxes? Are you confused about the role of your state in competition for jobs with other states and internationally? Do you really think your representatives are doing a good job or are you dissatisfied? Do you think your government is telling you the truth and is your media presenting everything truthfully and adequately? Do you understand the issues facing us today and our children tomorrow? Have you gotten involved?

If we do not get involved today and correct the problems, then we will have bigger problems and just like the later stage cancer victim have less of a chance of recovery.

How to stop guzzling gas

2006-04-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

How to stop guzzling gas
Helpful tips to maximize your miles per gallon

Conservation has three basic parts: driving habits, vehicle maintenance and vehicle selection. For many, the toughest thing about saving gas is breaking old habits.

This is one of the best articles I have found. Click the link and read the article.

I would add a few things.

The first is to establish a weekly budget for your gasoline spending and do your best to stay within the budget. The article mentions combining trips, but I would go a step further. Instead of running errands to the supermarket or dry cleaners every day, why not turn those trips into once or twice weekly trips. How about leaving the car in the driveway every other day instead of taking it on the road everyday.

The second is what I call minimizing the joy rides. I bought a pedometer and I am supposed to walk at least 5,000 daily and during the winter I go to different malls in the area for diversityto perform my mallwalks. You can usually identify mallwalkers because they usually wear running type shoes and comfortable clothes while walking briskly around the inside perimeter of the mall and usually do not carry any merchandise. Sometimes they take their pulse or check their pedometers. With the warm weather, I hope to get my steps at the local park and next winter I will concentrate on walking outdoors when it is still nice, but to go to the closest mall the rest of the time.

The second set of joy rides is seeking the best food across the state which is another reason why I should walk more than 5,000 steps daily. I like Harolds for pastrami sandwiches, the Cheesecake Factory for cheesecake, IHOP, Dennys, or Bob Evans for an occasional breakfast, Pinnochio's for chicken parmesan, White Castle for an occassional vanilla shake, Old Country Buffet for a quick dinner, Stewarts for a hot dog and root beer, Famous Daves for barbeque, and other places. All in all, I should seek healthier foods and either eat them at home or find closer restaurants.

I think more than half of the vehicles on the road can easily be downsized to the next lower sized vehicle. I think that personal vehicles with 8 cylinders are a waste unless you need to pull a trailer, if you are lucky enough to have a boat or trailer home. When we need a new vehicle, I think most of us should downsize. All government passenger vehicles should be downsized except for maybe half of the police patrol cars. Many government workers including elected officials should not be provided with a government vehicle for personal use...it is a huge waste of taxpayer money. Most government officials are paid very well and can afford their own vehicles. Some are paid so well that I think it is obnoxious for them to demand government paid vehicles.

Finally, I think the best solution is when it is clear for us to go out ot buy either a hybrid, flex fuel, electric battery powered vehicle charged from an electric outlet, or fuel cell powered car.
Right now it is as clear as mud.

What do you think? Please add your comments.

Gift Pantry

2006-03-22T08:19:00.000-08:00

Gift Pantry

Many of us have to go shopping for a gift and gift-wrap for each event that we need to bring or send a gift. It takes a lot of time and we may not find something each time suitable. Most gift occasions and the people we know we will probably give gifts can be predictable for the most part. Sometimes we just want to give a gift that is not for a special occasion but just a friendship gift, or a thank you gift, or a gift for a special person. As a child, more often than not, I would receive a small gift from relatives each time they visited my family or we visited them, in addition to presents on traditional holidays.

Many of us do take advantage of the sales after a holiday such as buying Christmas wrapping paper right after Christmas and save it for the following Christmas. But how many of us thought to take advantage of the sales after Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, and other gift holidays? Many cards are available in boxed sets such as Christmas and All Occasion. Frequently, some of the stores have sales on cards and decorations for other occasions such as birthdays, weddings, graduations, personal religious occasions such as baptisms and confirmations, house warming, and other occasions.

We keep four plastic boxes of decorations and gift-wrap. The first box contains Christmas decorations. The second box contains Christmas gift-wrap, ribbon, bows, cards, and the like. The third box contains birthday cake candles, wall decorations for a birthday, and a supply of cards for various occasions such as birthdays, St. Patrick’s Day, graduation, thank you, sympathy, and others. And the fourth box contains gift-wrap for all occasions other than Christmas. Right now we only have to run out for individual occasions about 10% of the time because what we need is missing from the supply or not what we really want at the time.

For gifts, we try to make a list of everyone that we intend or should give a gift to for that year. Across the top of the page we try to list each occasion that we may want to give a gift. Then we put checkmarks next to each person’s name for each occasion that we want to give a gift. Your children will have more checkmarks next to their names than the mail delivery person who you may only give a Christmas gift to. The chart is easier the next year because you only have to add names and checkmarks of additional people you want to give gifts to and cross off the names of people you no longer want to give gifts to. Then we make a list of each gift occasion and the people and then we try to think of an appropriate gift. This is easier than it may seem because some people will always get money and maybe an appropriate token gift each time and others may require some real thought such as a spouse. My family was really into fairness with children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews. All of us pretty much got equivalent things as boys or girls each time. Other groups such as teachers, mail person, and school crossing guard can get the same things. Finally, you can consolidate the list and maybe prioritize certain items you may need first.

Building the inventory in your gift pantry, you can always store some items in quantity. If there are a lot of young children puzzles and learning toys may be appropriate. Dolls may be good
presents for girls. Older girls would like bags, journals, headbands, a baton and other things made for girls. Older children might like a chess set. An avid fisherman or golfer might like a fishing or golf themed item. Animal figurine collectors might want another. Women of all ages like costume jewelry. Religious people or occasions may call for guardian angel figurines or other religious themed items. Boys like Merlin, dragon, and old western themed items. Men like tools and luggage. Women always like kitchen and bath accessories. All women should get a spa gift. Picture frames with pictures and candles are appropriate anytime. And we have all this and more available on our website www.vsqigifts.com always at discount prices!

Use Supermarket Courtesy Card, Review Ad Circular, Use Coupons, Stock Up On Sale Items

2006-03-20T08:07:00.000-08:00

Use Supermarket Courtesy Card, Review Ad Circular, Use Coupons, Stock Up On Sale Items

We save between 15 and 35% on each supermarket-shopping trip using the courtesy card, buying and stocking up on sale items, and using coupons. The supermarkets in my area print the discounts totaled on the paper receipt you get at checkout. It will show what you saved on sale items that did not require a courtesy card, what you saved on items with the courtesy card, and what you saved with the coupons you presented at checkout.

I had a rude awakening when I went to a major supermarket where I did not have a card and went to the checkout with a few sale items from the circular. The bill was about double what I thought it would be and noticed that the sale prices were not ringing up as each item was scanned. I told the clerk that the items were on sale and the prices were wrong and he told me I needed to use their courtesy card to get each sale and that I could go to the courtesy counter and get one in a few minutes. It was late at night and I felt that I already was carrying too many courtesy cards and thanked the clerk, and told him I was sorry, but I had to decline and I walked out. It was aggravating to spend the time shopping and then to be surprised at the checkout. I have not returned to that store since.

I carry courtesy cards to Shoprite, Pathmark, Foodtown, and Stop & Shop. Most now are the small size that can be carried on a key ring. Shoprite generally will double the face value of coupons up to $1.00 and sometimes will triple coupons several times each year. Most supermarkets also offer free turkeys or hams during the major holidays of Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas if you purchase $300 worth of merchandise within a certain time period. We almost always earn a free 18 or so pound turkey each time. One year we earned 2 turkeys during a holiday and were given another turkey by someone. Foodtown carries some items that we like that the others do not.

In our area, we get a bag of store circulars each Thursday thrown in the driveway or steps with the sales of several stores, which usually begin the next Sunday morning. Usually the same stores also have ads in the Sunday newspaper. We at least review the ads for Shoprite and if we are ambitious will scan the others, too. We obtain most of our coupons from the Sunday paper, also.

We are also flexible in substituting items. We usually will buy the store brand instead of the national brand because we find no difference in them. We will buy the milk, bread, soda, frozen pizza, ice cream, and some other items that are on sale that week. For commodity type products like extra virgin olive oil we will buy the cheapest we can find at the size we want to buy.

When an item is on sale we will try to stock up on it for as much as 2 or 3 months, but sometimes a sale is limited to only one or a few of that item. Occasionally, we will go back to the store the next day and buy the limit again. And we have storage limitations primarily on freezer items. And we like variety, so don’t think we will buy certain foods and eat them everyday.

We also found that some items are always cheaper at warehouse clubs, but most are cheaper at supermarkets or local produce stores especially when items are on sale there.

If you follow this kind of strategy, you can probably save at least $1,000 from your annual supermarket bill. Would it not be better to remain in your pocket instead of giving it to the store?

Stick Money Everywhere

2006-01-23T01:15:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate to usually earn more money that I needed to spend. I also knew that there would always be an emergency of some sort to occur when I would need extra cash. Also, I am a true believer about paying yourself first because I knew that I would likely not be to eager to save any additional money. I found these things to be very helpful.

Like most of the financial planning articles, I recommend allocating the most you can to your 401k especially if your employer also contributes to it. Secondly, I always try to have more taken out of my paycheck than necessary in federal and state income tax withholding in order to obtain a several thousand dollar refund. Additionally I try to sign up for savings bonds so that i can obtain at least a $100 face value bond each month. Finally I try to optimize my employee spending account so that I can make tax free payments on some of the family bills.

The income tax refund checks from the federal and state each year usually helped out for a house repair or maintenance project that always comes up.

Hopefully, we are all going to retire some day and we will need to have some retirement savings. Also we are all going to be faced with emergencies where we will need to really reach for savings such as our retirement savings for other problems, such as severe medical problems or unemployment. I have had to spend down some retirement money for daily expenses, transitioning from a job to a business. Many of my friends have had to spend most of their retirement money due to health problems. Some of my other friends spend down their retirement savings because expenses are very high when you retire before you are elligible for social security and medicare.

Savings bonds are great nesteggs. If you can build a supply over many years they really add up with interest. They recommend cashing them in when you will have low income for the year.

I also believe in establishing seperate bank accounts for your children and to leave the money there for them for college or starting out on their own.

Funds from a part time business are always a good thing, too. You never know when you will really need it.

The worse thing about saving is to have close friends and relatives that had the swim club membership or expensive cars and trips that did not save and now are now needy. You wind up trying to help them out too.

Stick money everywhere is a good idea. It can keep your credit card balances low or even at a zero level. It can help ellininate the need for a second mortgage or personal loan. It can help you save more. I still believe in sticking money everwhere, more than ever.

Everyone Should Have a Business by Age 12

2006-01-23T00:06:00.000-08:00

Everyone Should Have a Business by Age 12.

Everyone should have a business by age 12. Right away one learns so many things in life. I started out with a paper route. I delivered newspapers door to door and collected the payemnt for the paper and my services. I was lucky to not only earn the profit from what my customers were charged for the newspaper and what I paid for them, but most of my customers would give me a little extra as a tip. I would up with a windfall with the Christmas presents too. At the time, my territory was about 1000 garden apartments where people moved in and out all year long. My newspaper company paid me a dollar for a new daily subscriber and another dollar for a new Sunday subscriber, but usually they ran contests to Mets baseball games or party boat fishing trips to the New Jersey shore. I saw a lot of games and went fishing many times. I was learning all about being an entrepeneur. I started to save some of my money and spent some mostly on fishing tackle and my coin and stamp collections.

I learned about the reward of working. I learned how to keep records. I learned how to save. I learned about responsibility. I enjoyed some financial independance from my parents making good decisions on spending the earnings. I enjoyed the "free" trips to the Mets games and fishing trips. And it did not take up too much of my time.

There are a lot of things boys and girls can do today. Some places still have kids newspaper routes. Baby sitting, grass cutting, car washing, light housekeeping, leaf raking, snow shoveling, and many other things need to be done in most neighborhoods. Some businesses need flyers delivered door to door. There are many things available for kids to do today.

Cook extra and refrigerate or freeze meals for future use

2006-01-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

Cook extra and refrigerate or freeze meals for future use

We all have cooked extra and refrigerated or froze meals for future us. Just think turkey. Those of us lucky to have leftovers, maybe had enough for two or three days of turkey sandwiches and even a dinner entree. Plastic wrap, sealable plastic bags, and sealable containers help make storing easy.

We specialize in spagetti, stew, and chicken rice soup. We generally eat some on the day we prepare it and then put the rest into containers for future use. because we know we will eat the extras within a couple of days we normally refrigerate it and do not freeze it.

We leave enough turkey or beef roast for sandwiches in the refrigerator but we freeze enough for a future dinner entree.

A great idea we just started was to peel, slice, and boil enough potatoes at one time for mashed potatoes that evening, and potato salad and home fries for future use.

We also try to use the storage containers to prepare and serve the leftovers to minimize cleanup. Some things can be heated up in the microwave in the storage container.

Preparing meals in advance can save time and money because you can be eating in 5 to 15 minutes heating something up when you don't feel like cooking. You have the meal in the house and don't have to go shopping or to a restaurant. You'll be eating healthier too. Cleanup is much quicker too.

Start Saving For Your Children Early

2005-12-30T22:22:00.000-08:00

Within a couple of months when your child is born open a savings account for him or her if you can afford it. Some institutions have a minimum amount of money necessary for the initial deposit, usually $100 or less. Before opening the account obtain a social security number for your child, first. Use the child's SSN to open the account.

There are many gift occasions while growing up from birthdays to religious events, graduations, holidays, and others. Some gifts are clothes, toys, sports equipment, and other things including cash and checks. While the child is young, deposit as much of the cash and checks into the child's account, as you can afford. Let the deposits accumulate and earn interest.

If you are knowledgeable about investing in stocks and bonds, excellent! Otherwise you should attend adult education financial classes at a local high school or junior college. You should buy or borrow books by Suze Orman and others that your local librarian can recommend to you. Suze Orman has a website, television program, and travels the country to give speeches. Share age appropriate information with your children about family finances and investing occassionally.

Compare notes about investing your child's money with others who had or have children.

On the resource page on Suze Orman's website she has a suggestion to investigate that may safely increase the yield compared to that of your local bank for your child's account.

As the child grows older show the account to him or her and say this is for you when you graduate from high school. Discuss the need to save for college, a car, a first home, and everything else that costs a lot of money. When the child receives an allowance, a cash gift, earnings from a paper route or babysitting, or other part time job discuss how much should be budgeted to spend and how much should be saved. When the account statement is delivered, make it an event with the child.

If you invest for yourself in stock, bonds, and mutual funds and are pretty successful, then I would invest very conservatively for each child. If you are not a successful investor then I would do the best with insured savings or CD's from the local bank. A few shares in a well chosen DRIP or some short term STRIPS may be appropriate if everyone in the family is comfortable with them.

Some parents withdraw most of the money each year from the child's account. They use it for a new suit, or a winter coat, or an musical instrument, or summer camp. Don't do it, if you can afford not to. Let it be the long term savings for your child. Give each of your children a boost in life with some savings for things they will need as they mature into adulthood.

Some parents gamble with their children's money trying to turn a couple of thousand into a quarter of a million and almost all fail. The child will need the money starting around 18 years old as a college freshman. Regular deposits and interest over 18 plus years can grow to pay local tuition and even a new car.

The first lesson is to learn to save starting at a very young age. The second is to learn about finances and investing, which is as important for people today as breathing, getting enough exercise and eating properly. The third lesson is that all learning begin while a child is young and never ends.

TCO or Total Cost of Ownership

2005-11-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of websites offering to sell you the same or similar item. How do you choose to buy from one site or another. One method is TCO or Total Cost of Ownership.

Lets say one website offers you an item for $6.00 as cost of merchandise and another offers you the same item for $1.00. Sounds fishy?

Well,lets dig down further.

Most website also charge for shipping and handling. Lets say the first website offers shipping and handling for that item at $7.00 and the other website offers shipping and handling at $20.00 which TCO or total cost of ownership was lower or cheapest to own? The first website $6 plus $7 totals $13, while the second website was $1 and $20 totalling $21.

There are often other charges to watch out for such as state and local sales tax. vsqigifts.com only charges for orders delivered to New Jersey and the customer does not have a New Jersey Sales Tax Certificate.

Some websites have a process fee in addition to merchandise cost, shipping and handling, and sales tax. Others have a membership fee also. vsqigifts.com does not have any process fees or membership fees.

In fact people that register with us on the vsqigifts.com website enjoy further discounts.

vsqigifts.com also lists ground shipping rates on the website on the green horizontal bar across the website under the link "shipping" for you to see our shipping rates. Many other websites have hidden shipping rates that you cannot see until you are checking out.

What do you think about this hint to save our customers time and money? Please let us know.