CNN has had a news story posted on their site for the last few days. If you read the story it tells that the Medicare doctor is making very little money. If you are not careful when you read it you will come away with the idea that the doctor they are using as an example is making the "equivalent of a minimum wage job."
Some key words in this CNN story are "…After the costs of my own benefits are deducted, that will leave me with the equivalent of a minimum wage job…"
The story does not tell you what his OWN BENEFITS are or how much they are."
This story was a CNN Money report and how they could let him get away with this I am not sure. If he did not want to tell them that amount then they should not have written and posted the story because they have no story.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Russ went out about a week ago to get his state ID. We been here for about three months and this is only about the second time he has even been out of the apartment.
Both times he gets out he comes back with a cold. Both times he passes them on to me. So I have had a head cold for the last few days.
What in the hell has been going on with the flu? Remember all the media hype and news about the flu. I never hear anyone even mention it now.
Popularity: 1% [?]
The man that crashed an airplane into a Texas office building that held the office of the IRS left a statement on his web site.
See The Smoking Gun
See CNN story
You can read his entire note in PDF format here.
Here is just a bit of the statement: “corrupt Catholic Church”, “mill management and corrupt union”, “incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY”, “presidential puppet GW Bush” and here is his ending statement:
“The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to hid greed.”
Details will come out I am sure about this entire story. Reading between the lines it looks to me like this guy wanted to be a capitalist and was trying hard to get in there and be a deal maker and live the American dream and everything went wrong for me. He is blaming others for all his problems. I guess that is normal.
Popularity: 3% [?]
I watch a lot of videos on YouTube. They have been making a lot of changes to their system since Google took over. I have not been happy with many of the changes they have made.
I just found a new change on YouTube. I like The Young Turks videos. I went to watch one and this is what I saw:
Yes, you can view the video, rent it, for 99 cents. This is the first time I have run into this. I do not like it. Now do not get me wrong.. I am not one of those people that thinks everything should be free on the Internet. I often pay for things and I often make donations.
I just do not want to be clicking on things and expecting to see it and then have a notice that I have to rent it.
I read some of the comments and a lot of people are pissed off. But many of those are saying that videos should be free on YouTube and saying that Google has lots of money.
My guess is that YouTube is losing lots of money. I do not think they are in the black. I think they are in the red big time. If I was Google I would want YouTube to operate in the black and not have to get money from Google.
Like I said I am not happy with the direction that YouTube is going. I guess one little thing they could do is give me the option of checking a box that says never show me something that I have to pay for.
I watch a lot of YouTube videos. I am very poor. I wonder if they went to a membership system if I would be willing to subscribe. I do not think I would with the new YouTube. With the old YouTube I might have been willing to pay a monthly fee.
Popularity: 2% [?]
CNN has a very interesting article called “Ten big ideas from TED.” One thing in the story is this:
“…$60K a year can make you happy
Psychologist and Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman says millions of dollars won’t buy you happiness, but a job that pays $60,000 a year might help.
Happiness levels increase up to the $60K mark, but "above that it’s a flat line," he said.
"Money does not buy you experiential happiness but lack of money certainly buys you misery," he said. But the real trick, Kahneman said, is to spend time with people you like…”
Back when I was 40 years of age I had an uncle die and leave me about $7K. I spent it all in one month. It was a great month. I had a girl friend and money was no object. If I saw something I got it. I could eat any place and not even think about the price. It was a great month.
I have told people that if I had $72K a year I would be happy. Now from reading and seeing stories about lottery winners…I also now understand that if you have a lot of money often and in fact it seems like all the time things do not go well for you. So it looks like $60K or $70K a year would be just about right for me.
Now how can I make $60K a year from Google AdSense? With this month half over I have made $4.04 so far. Smile
Two of my four children make over $60K a year. I think they both are pretty happy. As happy as a Howard can be. Smile
The problem is that a lot of people here in the United States were making good money but with the Bush/GOP mess they do not have a job or are working at at fast food place. It is going to take time for things to improve. They are saying that the unemployment rate is 9.7% (down from 10%).
But my grandson was getting unemployment but he used up all those funds and so he is not getting it so he is not being counted. There have got to be a lot of people not working and not getting unemployment money so they are not being counted.
I saw a job listed here in Fort Worth for $92K a year. It was a job for a security officer.
You need to be willing to work in Iraq!
I think things are getting a little better but I suspect that there are some hard times ahead for all of us. The banks, insurance companies and the credit card people are going to fuck us over and over again. It is in their nature to do that..That is their business plan.
Popularity: 2% [?]
“Turns out that Comcast, the media conglomerate with over 47.1 million cable, Internet and telephone customers, won’t just have to fret about integrating a struggling brand (NBC) into its fold. Now, the company has to deal with all the jokes about the new name for its core products. Though the parent company will retain the Comcast name, next week its cable, telephone and Internet services will be rebranded XFinity in 11 markets, and nationwide thereafter.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1960553,00.html?hpt=T2#ixzz0exVdtHUz”
I think it is a pretty neat name. But it looks like people do not agree with me.. read on..
“XFinity? Huh? It’s no surprise that the blogosphere had a field day with the name. Gizmodo called it the "worst, pseudo-pornographic, retrofuturistic marketing dollars can buy." Another well-trafficked blog, The Consumerist, also said Xfinity sounded like a porn company. "Sorry, it just does," the site wrote. In a very unscientific poll, I asked a few people for their first thoughts when I mention the word XFinity. The responses: "Porn." "Porn." "Stupid." "An energy drink or a porn site." "Stupid name." "Not positive." "Extreme sports." "A satellite something." "A car." "Drugs and porn."
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1960553,00.html?hpt=T2#ixzz0exVnlaCQ”
Popularity: 3% [?]
President Obama said today that cutting the deficit is as important as job growth. I think he is wrong. I think he is just reading the polls and seeing the tone of the nation.
We, the people, do not like a deficit. The Republicans can use that issue to pound the Democrats and the American people will go along with them. Of course we have the problems that we have because of the Republicans and we have the deficit because of the Republicans.
One thing .. and I said this back before for the start of the war in Iraq and that is that we need to pay for wars. I did not agree with the war in Iraq but I said if we went to war we needed to send 400K troops and we needed to tax all Americans to pay for the war. The Republicans did not send 400K troops and not only did they not tax the Americans they gave a big tax break to rich Americans. Plus remember how President Bush and other Republicans and Fox “news” told us that the oil money from Iraq would pay for the war and we would be rolling in money. We are rolling in debt.
I think trying to cut the deficit is not as important right now. We need to get people working. We need to create jobs. When people are working and earning money we will have tax money coming in and they can pay their bills and buy things and THEN we can start to work on the deficit.
But it is not going to be that way because of the Republicans.
My advice is always listen to what the Republicans demand and then go 180 degrees in the other direction.
Popularity: 1% [?]
I did a little checking on the Internet and I am not a news media organization and I do not have a staff and I am just a retired night watchman so keep that in mind.
I did a little checking on the Fox News web site and the CNN web site. I sort of looked at them side by side. Now keep in mind this is not a study or comment about their cable channels. This was looking at their web sites. Take it for what it is worth.
Web site Traffic Rank US Traffic Rank Linking Sites
Fox News 211 37 35,406
CNN 60 17 85,968
Looks like CNN is the big winner when it comes to web sites.
Now in the world CNN is by far the leader and that should not surprise any of us.
Just as an example in China CNN is ranked 561 and Fox is 5,815.
Popularity: 2% [?]
I find the following shocking and just hard to believe.
“(CNN) — A manufacturer that has been inscribing Bible references on rifle sights used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan announced Thursday that it will stop putting scripture references on products the U.S. military uses.
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of United States Central Command, said Wednesday — apparently before learning of the company's announcement — that the references were a "big concern" to the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps, which have contracts for the scopes.
"I hope you can sense … this is of serious concern to me and the other commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan because it can indeed create a perception that is absolutely contrary to what it is that we have sought to do," he said.
He said U.S. troops are much more sensitive "about this kind of thing," apparently, than is the contractor involved…”
I think the company should lose the $660 million dollar contract. If the company wants to donate to a church or religion some of that $660 million or put signs up in and around their plant that is one thing but to put Bible references on weapons that we give to our military and to have us send our troops in to Iraq, Afghanistan or anyplace is wrong. I do not care if we were at war with the Vatican and had troops fighting it Rome and the Vatican it would still be wrong.
Popularity: 2% [?]
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Hi Kiva Friend,
We are deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake in Haiti, and we’re just beginning to hear news from our Field Partner in Haiti, Esperanza. This month’s newsletter contains information on Esperanza, the Haitian entrepreneurs supported by Kiva lenders and a link to organizations specializing in disaster relief in Haiti.
Also featured this month are new partners in Latin America, a chance for Kiva to win $1 million, the results of our video contest and more.
Earthquake in Haiti: Update from Field Partner Esperanza
A devastating earthquake has struck Haiti, and many Kiva lenders have been asking how the entrepreneurs in Haiti are fairing. For an update from our Field Partner in Haiti, Esperanza, click here.
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Kiva Lender Makes 1,050th Loan!
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Kiva Now Lending in Chile and Colombia
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Popularity: 2% [?]
“This spring has a hot new job: census worker. The Census Bureau is looking to fill some 1.2 million part-time positions as the government gears up for its once-a-decade count of every person living in the U.S. Most of those openings are for enumerators — people who go door to door to collect information from the roughly 35 million households that won’t return their Census forms by mail. Considering the unemployment rate stands at 10% — much higher than in any other Census year since 1940 — prospective workers are turning out in droves. "The numbers who are applying are just phenomenal," says Census director Robert Groves…”
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1951980,00.html#ixzz0bvbpd1Mp
I worked the 2000 census and it was a great job. I was streaming live video from my Belton home at the time. So some of you saw me at home working on paper work at the time and getting paid for it.
If I had a car I would look into working the 2010 census. I met so many nice people and learned the area that I worked in and I found that fun.
The job is limited. It is only going to last a short time but it will be a good job for some people and help a lot of people out.
Popularity: 6% [?]
This CNN video is about reasons to be counted in the 2010 census. I worked the 2000 census (in Cass County Missouri). It was a great job. I loved getting out and meeting people. If I had a car I would have worked the 2010 census.
All the people that I met with the exception of one were great people. The one exception was not some drunk red neck living in a trailer but a guy with a suit living in a very nice home.
Popularity: 5% [?]
"(WIRED) — Google's much-anticipated new phone, the HTC-designed Nexus One, could make its debut next week.
Google has scheduled a press event for Tuesday, January 5 at its Mountain View, California, headquarters. Though the company hasn't mentioned Nexus One, the invitation mentions Android, Google's mobile operating system for phones, and the company is widely expected to show the device that has had smartphone industry watchers buzzing for weeks…"
I hope that Google does announce tomorrow the release of their Google Nexus phone. I hope it is unlocked and I hope we can just buy it for x amount of money. We will see what happens tomorrow.
Reports are that it will be; GMS-device, 3.7 inch touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, WiFi, and a accelerometer and compass. It sounds good.
If I can afford it and it runs advertising to help make it affordable I do not have a problem with that happening. I am looking for a neat phone that I can afford to buy and I am willing to pay as much as $50.00 a month but $40.00 a month max would be much better.
It would be great if it sold unlocked for $200.00 but I fear it is going to cost $400.00 and if that is the case that is out of my price range. I might go for $300.00 but I hope they come up with someway to sell them for $300.00 each.
We will see what happens tomorrow.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Years ago I told you about how you could sign up as part of a class action court case. I told you here that you could get free access to your credit information for six months and that there would also be payment of money.
I am not sure any of you signed up.. I find that often I pass on information to you about something like that and no one signs up..You think it is some sort of scam or something like that…
Today I got the first part of the settlement from TransUnion. I get their TransUnion Credit Monitoring service for free for six months. Truth is that I do not need it but I got it for free as part of the settlement.
I and the others, that are part of this class action, will hear about how much money we will get later. My guess is that it will be almost nothing. I have not followed the case or attempted to look up any of the details but I am guessing that the legal fees will amount to millions and that there will be almost nothing left over for us.
I logged in and looked at my credit report. For the first time in my life I know my credit score.
This is the first time I have been part of a class action court case.
In the past I have been contacted to sign up for some but I never did fill out the paper work.
Continue reading »
Popularity: 8% [?]
A few hours ago I logged into TMZ and saw the above photo. I read the story about TMZ had just got the photo of President John F. Kennedy on a boat filled with nude woman.
TMZ said the photo was real and not a fake and that they had their "experts" study the photo and they all said it was real and not a fake and not a PhotoShop photo.
Well they now admit it was a fake. The photo is from a 1967 Playboy photo shoot.
If I were TMZ I would take my "TMZ" logo off the fake photo right now.
I would also NEVER use those "experts" again.
Truth is I think most experts and even ones that go into our can not be trusted. I do not believe hand writing "experts", voice "experts", lie detection "experts" and all the rest of them. I think we have a problem in court with "expert" witness giving information. We need to do something about it.
I will still be reading TMZ. They have a pretty good record of stealing private medical records and doing all sorts of things like that… OH sorry.. They do not steal the information they just buy it from people that steal it.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Rich Phillips (CNN) has a good report called "Woman sues debt collector over husband's death." You should read it. I read all of it. It makes me mad but I am not just mad at the collection agency for Green Tree Servicing. I am mad at everyone… well except for the people that are in debt to tell you the truth.
I am mad at the system. I sort of wish that we could have just let the entire banking/credit system crash and burn. We can not do it but I wish we could.
The "GOP class", I do not know what else to call them, and that is banks, credit corporations, Wall Street and all the rest of them are like wild animals with big teeth. The rest of us are like little grass eating sheep. They see us as just food to feed on.
The entire system is set up to fuck us. Banks and credit card corporations do everything in their power to get you to take their credit and credit cards. They issue credit and credit cards to people that should not have them. They do everything in their power to get you to run up credit. They charge you high fees and all sort of extra fees. They tell you the payment you have to make is so low that you can never pay off the debt making that small of a payment.
Let us take an example…You get a credit card for $1000.00 and you charge it all the way up. I do not know the math here so do not hold me to it. But they charge you so much interest that each month your bill goes up $25.00 and they tell you that you need to pay $20.00 each month on the bill. Well very soon they charge you $50.00 fine because the amount on your card went to $1050.00 and that is over the limit they gave you. You did not buy anything if went up because of interest or late fees or something.
They may raise your interest rate because you were late or went over your credit limit.
Now again do not hold me to the math.. But each month you make a payment and you are paying interest… You have paid them for x number of months or years. You have paid them $2500.00 by this time. Yes, you only got $1000.00 from them but you been paying interest and fees etc.
Now something happens…You lose your job.. You have medical expenses .. Who knows what happens…
You can not pay them. Keep in mind your are up to $1000.00 now with them still. Then for a few months each month they add on charges and fees because you are not paying. Now they say account with them is $1750.00 because of all the late amounts.
Then they cancel your card and add on fees because you did not pay them and they say you have a balance of $2250.00 with them and they demand it all right now. You can not pay them.
Keep in mind they already got their money and lots of interest. They are way ahead on the deal.
Now they sell your account to a collection agency.
Popularity: 10% [?]
CNN has a report “Obama jobs plan: Bailout for Main Street.” We need to fix the mess that the Republicans and President Bush caused. If it takes spending more money now then we just got to to do it.
Of course the Republicans to a man say no do nothing.
What gets my attention is the $250.00 payment to seniors. Obama also wants to give $250.00 to veterans. He also wants to give money to states to prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers and firefighters.
Seniors need the money… Well this senior sure needs the money… But I am not sure what is the point in changing the amount of money they give to the Medicare insurance companies…They are giving them a little less… Then the insurance companies make me pay to see a doctor and pay for more for my medications. It just seems like it is taking it out of one pocket and putting it in the other pocket.
I do not know what it is going to take to fix things.. Let us face the facts … It was much more easy for the the fat cat (Republicans) to break the bank/system then it is to repair and fix it.
But the Republicans are just saying do nothing. They should come up with some answers. They are just sitting on their fat GOP asses and praying that things do not get better and do not get fixed before the next election.
Popularity: 7% [?]
It seems we have so few heroes. I happen to believe that we all need heroes.
OK, I am not a fan of golf. I never watch it. But I sure as hell heard of Tiger Woods.
"(CNN) — State troopers arrived at the home of Tiger Woods on Saturday to interview the pro golfer and his wife about a car crash near his home, but were told the couple was not available to talk as scheduled, a spokeswoman for the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The troopers were asked by Woods' agent to postpone the interview until Sunday, spokeswoman Kim Miller said.
State troopers had tried to speak to Woods on Friday as part of a routine car accident investigation, but his wife said he was sleeping, said Kim Miller, a spokeswoman for the Florida highway patrol.
Woods was treated and released from a hospital after suffering minor injuries in a car accident early Friday in his neighborhood in Windermere…"
He has an accident at 0225 hours … A single-vehicle accident… Pulling out of his driveway at 2AM and he hits a fire hydrant and then a tree? Something does not smell good to me.
Then on top of that the highway patrol officers have been trying to interview him and he is not able to talk to them about the accident. One time the officers are told he can not talk to them because he was sleeping.
I do not like the way this is all looking and sounding.
Did he have a fight with this wife and then leave pissed off and crashed his car?
She is reported to have been standing over him with a golf club and said she broke out the back window and pulled him from the car?
Something is wrong that he will not talk to the police. Even the great Tiger Woods should talk to the police and if he was sleeping they should have woke him up to talk to the police.
If he had a fight with his wife…Lots of people have fights with their wife or husband. Even the great Tiger Woods is human. If he was drinking lots of people drink. Now drugs are a different thing.
I hope it is something simple and human.
If he thinks he is better than the rest of us…To important to talk to the police or to rich to have to talk to the police well that is an entire different thing… That can be a hero killer. We simple people love of heroes and they can do wrong and be forgiven…They can be human and make human errors.
But Tiger tell us it is not true that you think you are better than us…Than you think you are above the law…Tell us you do not think you can do anything you want because you are better than us.
We love our heroes but we love them because we want to the be like us or we want to think that we could be like that hero.
Tiger please do not let us down… Tell us the truth… Tell us what we fear is not true.
Popularity: 11% [?]
I saw on the CNN website that stocks went down big time today over news about Dubai's debt problems. I am not the type of guy that follows the stock market or the financial news but I did not know that Dubai had money problems.
I remember seeing specials on TV about the construction boom and them building palm street shaped islands and world's tallest hotel and all sort of big fancy and unreal things… indoor building with lots of water and waves and building where you can ice skate and do all sorts of winter sports in the middle of a desert.
Now the word is that they are considering a postponement of payments of nearly $60 billion in debt.
I am not sure that we are ever going to get out of the mess that the Republicans and Wall Street and the bankers have got us into… We may find that if things are not better by the time for the election of a president that enough of the American people may decide to blame President Obama and the Democrats that they may turn to the Republicans and we will see the end of the United States.
If you were one of the people that invested in guns and ammo you may have been one of the smart people.
Popularity: 17% [?]
"Congressman Dan Lipinski's Town Hall Meeting on November 14th, and the attempt by the Chicago Tea Party Patriots to disrupt the proceedings, including heckling Midge Hough. They don't seem to realize they are merely tools of the Insurance industry, helping the CEOs of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, WellPoint and Humana maintain their Lear Jet lifestyles."
They laugh and make fun of a woman (Midge Hough) that just had a daughter and grandchild die. This shows you what sort of people they right wing teabaggers are and that they are just tools of the insurance industry. Plus they do not come to a meeting to get information or discuss a subject… They come to break up the meeting and create PR showing that people object to health care for all Americans.
Popularity: 22% [?]
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