"Let me put that on my debit card..."

Another stimulus package is likely to come along soon or, as Professor of Economics and finance at Yale University Robert Shiller suggested this past June, policy makers should “stand ready for another after that, and another.”

Details on how and where the next bailouts will be spent and to which bailiwicks they will be given are speculative but the possibilities are considerably different than those rebate check that dribbled through the economy over the past six months. More banks? More to Wall Street? The auto industry? Most Americans feel these are lost causes and do little to help them through their personal financial challenges.

President-elect Barak Obama is floating around the idea that, in addition to the Bush administration’s $700B bailout, another $700B may be necessary just to make a dent on the burgeoning challenges of the economy. One provision would allocate billions of dollars in funds toward projects to upgrade roadways, bridges and water systems. This is but a trickle of the $1-trillion some deem necessary to avoid further deterioration of the infrastructure.

The home mortgage crisis still demands bailout funds to hopefully avoid the next landslide of foreclosures… and the one after that. Governors want the assistance of federal dollars to meet their states’ needs for Medicare. Some would exempt the first $15,000 of income from payroll taxes. Extended and expanded unemployment benefits have already been given.

However bailout dollars are divvied up, people still want their own share of handouts and have control over how they spend whatever happens to be thrown their way, whether it’s spent, saved or invested. Immigrants, legal or otherwise, often send their money shares to families in their countries of origin. Using stimulus dollars in such a way defeats the purpose of getting money circulating in the American economy.

In 2007, immigrants sent over $40B to Latin American countries, of which more than half found its way to Mexico. Putting this in perspective, the $20B figure is more than Mexico’s yearly revenue from tourism. Although safeguards have been implanted to keep illegals from receiving rebate checks, this hasn’t prevented eligible immigrants from sending the money outside America’s borders. Regardless the exchange rate, it’s a bad trade-off for the greenback.

Economists admit that a good amount of stimulus dollars end up in foreign economies simply by Americans purchasing the endless variety of products manufactured overseas. This is unavoidable but there are steps that can be taken to make it more difficult for rebate recipients to exchange dollars for pesos, or any other currency.

The Treasury Department already issues pre-paid debit cards, called a Benefit Security Card, to Social Security recipients who don’t have a bank account for electronic direct deposit. The have proven to be an affective deterrent to identity theft and forgery, and the added problem of stolen checks. Nominal fees may be incurred for certain transactions on the debit card.

This same method of supplanting funds to taxpayers could be used to administer stimulus dollars, guiding all recipients to the intended goal of bolstering the economy through spending. Cash advances at ATMs could be restricted entirely. Other applications, such as money transfers outside the United States could also be restricted.

Debit cards would divert consumers away from putting their moneys into personal savings and investments – the only investment intended with a stimulus package is in the American economy, a concerted effort if it is meant to make a sizable difference.

Perhaps economist Robert J. Shiller will prove to be a bit of a prophet with his visions of multiple stimulus packages. Then again, perhaps fewer packages will be needed if consumers are made to spend their debit dollars on the goods and services offered by American businesses.

In any event, no one would turn down the opportunity to spend their token bailout funds with an extended arm offering payment with a piece of plastic saying, “Let me put that on my debit card…”

How stimulating!

Would You Give Me A Little Privacy, Please?

The magnetic strip on the back of the driver’s license is more than just a means for law enforcement to validate your history of traffic violations. It gives access to a whole slew of data – personal data. Much of the information is helpful to identify a person’s medical history. Other data includes the name, the given address (it may have changed without notification to the DMV), physical characteristics and organ donor information. It also makes available a person’s age to verify they are of drinking age, used by restaurants, bars and liquor stores. In that respect, it provides a way for an establishment, say a dance hall, to get the person through the door, on the floor and imbibe du jour, the ultimate goal for profitable patronage.

A quick wipe of the card is supposed to be confidential, not available to be used illegally by recording the encoded data, although it can by supplemented to look up personal details through other data collection services such as Experian and Choicepoint, including other agencies that collect and retain personal consumer information.

No matter what a person buys or where they apply their purchase power, it’s well known there are tracking methods that give creditors a view of past items charged with plastic money. It’s only a marketing tool, right? For the most part, yes, but the risk of computer hackers to use private information for fraud and identify theft is of major concern. But when you use that credit card, or debit card, you should already know that a good part of the data is transferred to other links in the financial interests unless the opt-out box is checked on the application. Still, within the vast network of subsidiaries of any given banking establishments it can be, and will be, shared. Either way, they’re happy to be included on your preferred list of trusted creditors.

Websites are a specific point where the tracking of a person’s purchases (and previously viewed items) can direct you to similar selections of interest. They know where you’ve been and where you should go to further spend your consumer-driven credit. Of course, it’s all in your best interest… and theirs. Many sites even offer their own credit cards with a one-time discount and selective perks if more widely used; hook, line and sinker.

Wouldn’t you just love to list your own Terms and Conditions, and more important, make up your very own Privacy Notice? Consumer’s rights are restricted to purchasing power.

So, your personal data and past purchases are very well tracked. So are those entries in the likes of Facebook, YouTube and MySpace. If the sole intention is to keep in touch with friends and relatives, you still bare a bit of your soul with written words, pictures and videos. Once you’ve made such an imprint on the Web and you don’t know for sure where else it may wind up in the worldwide network. I call it the Inet: the information network.

To what other extremes have information technologies taken away the privacy of an individual’s life? The GPS system that has transformed the safety of a driver and steer him in the right direction also makes it available for interested parties to track every stop and turn along a journey through SPOT satellite GPS messenger service. It comes at a price but it allows friends and family access to a traveler’s whereabouts anywhere around the world, unlike the limitations of cellular service. And it’s updated every five minutes! It provides the driver with general information assistance and emergency services through local police, state highway patrols and the Coast Guard. It’s got ya covered!

Satellites provide a whole different range of opportunities that invade upon the privacy of people, places and things. GOOGLE and Yahoo! each have a network of satellites that zoom in on locations just about anywhere, most of which is not “real time” imagery; some are years in the past so don’t expect to see yourself waving to the camera in the sky.

GOOGLE makes the most use of geographic information system technology. You’ve got Google Maps with high-definition images from aerial photography, with anything from zoom to wide-angle views of a designated location.

My Maps let’s users and businesses create an overlay that can assist in the planning of a subdivision or a business of any size and nature. Just think how Wal-Mart at this very moment may be in the process to position itself for a location between a rock and a hard-place – Wal-Mart can move mountains, right?, or at the very least do what it can to fit in any environment it chooses.

GOOGLE can blur out military installations and other areas of security, the White House for instance. The National Weather Service even uses GOOGLE services for local weather forecasting. GOOGLE Transit can plan a whole trip using public transportation routes. Street View gives a 360-degree panoramic street level view of various U.S. cities, with Canada in near eyesight. Technology marches on.

Otherworldly-views at GOOGLE Moon (www.google.com/moon) show Apollo landing site images and pinpoints astronaut activities. As if that’s too close to home and you want a bit more adventure, GOOGLE Mars (www.google.com/mars) shows a color-coded elevation screen. You can zoom in on mountains, canyons, dunes, craters and more, then take a moment to gather information on when the photo was taken by whatever mission. On either site, if you drag the hand cursor in any direction you’re on your way along the celestial body’s surface!

Satellites provide some pretty amazing stuff but technology marches on in different directions.

Take for instance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Going back to 1883 when an Englishman was the first to take photos from the wings of a kite as a novelty, drones have been increasingly used for military surveillance and gathering of meteorological data. Although big and bulky in today’s world of high-end technology, the US has developed an MAV (micro aviation vehicle) to a weight of 2-ounces and a dimension of 6-inch square, called the Black Widow.

MAVs are a relatively new technology. They’re small, some the size of dragonflies, and some of those with spheres as small as berries attached to the tails, and at times seen maneuvering in unison in what appears to be a flight formation – very uncharacteristic of insects. They don’t look quite lifelike yet with metallic casings and mechanical but movable antennae; synthetic wings buzz at the speed of 120 flaps per second.

Live insects have been imbedded with silicon computer chips and used to keep surveillance on suspected felons, navigate through collapsed building in search of survivors. Rather than relying on batteries, liquid fuel is turned into a gas that increases the range of deployment and reliability for reuse. Which doesn’t mean they can’t get eaten by birds and caught in spider webs.

There’s no telling for sure what the next steps technical engineering will develop. Most likely, small will become miniature, then transformed into tiny if not microscopic. Don’t be fooled, someday you might find yourself purchasing a high-definition television with nearly invisible dots that watch your every move, with audio sensors that eavesdrop on your private conversations, streamlining through data cable to a control center hundreds of miles away. Yes, your every move you make will become a target of surveillance.

By George, it’s all Orwellian! Don’t you just wish could go back to 1984 and regain a little bit of your the privacy? But then again, going back to an era long in the past, the Trojan Horse was a telltale sign of things to come.

As GM goes so goes the Country

Need I say more?

The Screaming of America

In 1970, Charles A. Reich, a Professor at Yale Law School, authored The Greening of America, appearing on the New York Times Best Seller List, taking a concept through chapters of progressive intuition how modernization would transform society into one that would put corporate success as the perceived champion of family values. Dr. Reich painstakingly took the reader on a journey that emphasized how the corporate state would transform society from the simplistic ‘50a and 60s to years of corporations offering a helping hand for the best of times. Enticements were plentiful.

During the ‘70s consumers were prompted to feed on their desires, betting on upward climbing salaries and accumulated property wealth to afford them the means to continue their materialistic spending. Baby boomers were the first recipients of this ideology.

Keeping up with the Joneses also meant that kids had to have whatever the kid across the street had. ‘I want’ begat ‘give me’. It remains so today. The goal is to have bigger and better (homes and autos), smaller and faster (electronics and autos).

Going back the ‘20s, in-store credit accounts were identified on imprinted metal “cards”, similar to dog tags, and kept by the merchant. It wasn’t until 1950 that Diner’s Club founded the first charge card that required payment in full upon receipt. By 1958, Carte Blanche and American Express helped create a worldwide credit card network.

Bank of America created what would evolve from the BankAmericard (1958) to Visa (1976) and Master Charge (1969) became MasterCard (1979). Sears introduced The Discover Card (1985) and became a part of Dean Witter, then Morgan Stanley, until Discover Financial Services became an independent company (2007). Many stores now offer their own credit cards but accept more widely used cards for consumer convenience. Americans became ensnared in a wonderland of plastic fortunes.

One premise of The Greening of America was to define the influences that corporations would have on family values, how to “spend” leisure time and show how, thanks in large part to labor unions, a person’s wealth would be an accumulation of funds so they could continue spending in retirement.

Over the years, the size and extent of businesses have instilled in people a continuity of society. Restaurants. Grocery stores. Drug stores. Department stores also became mainstays for everyone, everywhere. TV, the I-net, flashy neon lights, mobile communications and even the commerciality in public schools contributed to a very controlled society.

Eventually, corporations overextended their influence over political interests. It had to happen. It’s all a part of the ring around the federal government money tree.

As an analogy, in it’s infancy, creditors extended their palms open wide to consumers with a warm, fuzzy feeling of prosperity. As decades passed, slowly but surely their palms curled into fists, now with too firm a grip, strangling the victim. Today, banks are lending very cautiously because they over-lent these past few years and the odds aren’t currently in their favor; it’s too risky a business.

Now, people aren’t buying because they too spent beyond their means. Banks are hoarding money, as do consumers. In the short term, people won’t likely be fooled again and will be conservative with their money, putting more value on maintaining a roof over their heads, food on the table and savings accounts to take control of their financial destinies. When consumers don’t spend, businesses fail and workers lose jobs, further limiting spending.

People distrust corporations because of exorbitant executive salaries, reduced benefits and flat-line wages. Employers have abandoned America by hiring undocumented workers and sending jobs overseas. This is a “redistribution of wealth” from the American economy to emerging markets.

Credit card companies, all “lenders” inclusive, are telling “lendees” they must pay short-term, unsecured loans in a timely manner or a ruined credit rating will result in higher interest rates.

The Greening of America took the reader through Consciousness Levels I, II and III: the eagerness to comply with new traditions; materialism that plays into the manipulative greed of corporations; the enlightenment of the populous to reject decades of false promises and return to the roots of individually and self-destiny. Americans are, in essence, screaming for an equitable balance of prosperity.

So, you say you want a revolution of consumer awareness? Level III is upon us!

USA Yesterday

USA Today has announced that, due to progressively declining readership, it will reduce the frequency of its publication. Every other weekday, hopefully three editions (M-W-F) and not two (T-T), the newspaper will become a periodical, relying on the Inet to reach readers no longer willing to shell out their money for a dying cause.

Yesterday’s news will become the norm, condensing on-line articles from the previous day to save on paper and ink. Not only are there fewer readers but in these economically challenging times when there are too few working men and women, advertisers don’t have the cash or they find that, whatever amount they’ve paid for an ad, the returns in revenue just don’t make a profit.

I can hear the words coming from the voice at a newsstand, Read it! Read it! Read all about it! It’s yesterday’s news but it’s just as bad today!

After 26 years as a staple of providing the latest in worldwide reporting, the paper’s hope of surpassing the circulation of The Times of India with 2.8 readers has come to end. There’s no consolation for being second best with an all time high of only 2.5 million copies distributed in all 50 States, Canada and Guam.

The Nation’s Newspaper will also have fewer full-color pages to catch the eye of people bypassing their vending machines. Published by Gannett Company, USA Tomorrow will become one of over 1,000 non-daily publications. Gannett will still maintain, and more heavily rely on, its 130 Web Sites, reaching nearly 24 million visitors monthly.

For the time being, Gannett will rely on the 20 million households that tune into its 23 television stations. Gannett is promoting the belief that the primary reason for the reduction in printed editions is to go-green by cutting down fewer trees. A stiff upper lip and all else that comes with a bad turn of events indicate otherwise.

Gannett has declined to comment on the future of one of its other publications, USA Weekly, as insiders have suggested it may soon be renamed USA Monthly.

We're Black and We're Proud

For the first time, in a long time, I’m proud to be an American. Similar words have been spoken not that long ago.

It wasn’t in desperation that Americans voted en masse for Barak Obama. It wasn’t in retaliation for a failed Republican Party. It wasn’t the poor selection of a running mate of the opposition party. It wasn’t the negative campaign strategy of a Presidential candidate with a lost cause.

It was about a man with a message. It was the stature and the assertion of a man that better times are ahead, no matter how long it takes to right-side eight years of poor leadership. It was about The Man, Senator Barak Obama, and his assurance that change is before us.

Change we can? Change we did!

We set aside the difference of the skin color of our fellow men and women, showed the world that racism is behind us. A minority group is now prominent in America and the tone of bipartisanship rings loud and clear for the next four years. The American people gave our nation the legacy of a new generation where droves of young citizens joined the ranks of voters. Generation Y, oh why?, became Generation Yes.

Colin Powell, a Republican turned Obaman, became the most respected Secretary of State in memory. He refused to cotton up to Bush and Cheney and resigned out of disgust. Condoleezza Rice stood firm against their manipulative ways and gained her own level respect for her guidance in international affairs.

Americans cheered before Election Day and cried with hope as a concession speech was followed with an acceptance speech at the stroke of midnight to announce the dawning of a new day, drowning out the rantings of fear from right-wing media.

Change we can? Change we shall!

Jobs. Cleaner air. Respect for, and the saving of, endangered species and environmentally threatened lands. Respect from nations that had lost faith that the United States of American would remain the world leader of the future. Alternative energy solutions that, given time, will reduce our dependence on foreign interests.

Obama’s words were spoken in plain English so every citizen could understand. We listened to his firm, passionate voice, one that assured us that his strength and youthful spirit will guide our nation to brighter days, bluer skies and greener pastures.

Change we can? Change he will deliver!

Step by step, little by little, the Obama Administration will turn the red of our financial institutions back to black. Black, white, brown, red and yellow men and women will all take part to revitalize the American Dream. He will bring together the brightest minds of this and other nations to promote, not dictate, democracy as an alternative to despotic governments.

Obama will offer solutions to the challenges facing our country by not only reaching across party lines but with the help of another Democrat of change, Senator Hillary Clinton.

Change we can? Change we have!

To paraphrase the lyrics of the Godfather of Soul, a music icon of the ‘60s, James Brown, We’re black and we’re proud of it! And Sam Cooke, A change is gonna come! We have finally delivered on the message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., We have a dream come true!

Yes, Michelle, your husband, our next President, will make us all proud to be an American… again.

A Bi-Partisan Agenda?

With Barak Obama as our President-elect, there's anticipation that his campaign promise to include bi-partisan appointments to his administration. This in itself would be a monumental achievement in proving to the world, again, that minorities will have a say in the broad reaches within our government, just as Obama is the first African-American to take residency in the White House. Just as Obama took Pennsylvania in the General Election, so he shall occupy the House on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C.

If in fact Barak Obama includes Republicans in his cabinet choices, it may provide an opportunity toward giving the Red Team of politics a means to overcome the damages done by soon-to-be dismissed President George W. Bush.

Take a moment, if you will, to check out a previous blog item originally implanted in a Florida Menagerie '08 entry during the period of time when Charlies Crist held a favorable consideration as V.P. choice on the Republican ticket with presidential hopeful John McCain.

http://ronraeblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/giving-charlie-secretarial-position.html

Assuming the Best of the Worst

Finally, the Election Season is over and the Super Droll of Politics is behind us as the magical number of 270 placed Barak Obama as Commander-in-Chief, President of the United States! American citizens chose to bring back en vogue Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness! The election of an African-American proves this is still The Land of Opportunity! Pledge allegiance to the Grand Old Flag!

It’s time to go on with views on other news.

Unemployment, the big bad bear of Wall Street continues to claw and shred the economy with vengeance. There’ll be no hibernation this winter with the frigid chill of reality bringing with it a financial ice age and a snowy landslide of plummeting degrees. The spring back to a positive gain in employment figures may have to wait a number of months before workforces once again grow the economy in green pastures. Without refined regulations of financial institutions the bear may become grizzly.

Awash in debt, private, corporate and government, with job losses over 1.2 million thru October, there’s nary a glimmer of hope that the recession will ebb anytime soon. Some predictions cast doubt that “things”, as in “multiple factors”, will get worse before they get better; in all probability, a distant two years. Was that a whisper suggesting three?

Look forward to the blockbuster thriller, "2010: A Financial Odyssey", coming to your financial worries sooner than you think.

The first decade of The New Millennium has been pretty nasty; an economy that was good just a few years ago has, within a matter of months, brought us, and a super majority of every other country in the world, free market to its knees. It’s not us little guys who created this mess; it’s the Power of Corporate and Political demonizations, each with their own groups of special interests.

Of late, news releases have given us facts and figures damaging to the psyche of low and middle class workers/consumers. Right there, before our very eyes we glare at October numbers telling us that 240,00 non-farm payroll jobs fell by 240,000 which follow the 284,00 jobs in September (revised after initial numbers put it at 175,000) and another 127,00 in August. The past three months' job losses more than doubled the previous seven months' fingures.

Through the first ten months of 2008, 1.2 million jobs have been lost but it doesn’t tell the tale of the real tally that puts the number of unemployed at 10.1 million workers. In the past 12-month period 2.8 million jobs have gone away, some forever, many for a very long time.

Check out the U.S. Department of Labor facts and figures at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.
I fudge not on what’s the scoop.

And yet, those who control the pocket books of all Americans, namely financial institutions, were given bailouts nearing $1-trillion. Some are hoarding these funds, thanks to the rushing sound of Congress giving in to their real constituents, hastily passing a bill that showed little faith that we, who desperately need our own bailouts, would filter moneys up the financial ladder to the unrepentant money mongers. Please, go figure; I'm too biased since I'm among the unappreciated contributors to the money flow.

At least some of us would just as soon allow the auto industry, in particular, and other business failings. Let them bankrupt, reorganize or become as one, if necessary, but let them not convince the Federal Government to slide billions upon billions of our dollars their way. However long it takes to right the economy, if America is still at the forefront of innovations, the youth of corporate auto executives leave the safety of the herd and bring their own visions of competition face-to-face with the leftovers of the Big Three. The free market is not fair to all. It’s survival of the fittest.

We, the people of lost jobs and dreams, were not at fault for what caused such economic despair and yet we’re left with the hard labor of bailing out this, that and every other failed the others of little foresight. Don’t they understand our buckets have holes in them? The next two generations are faced with paying off the over the top $10 trillion national debt; their unfair shares are over $80,000 per bread earner who, in turn, may have to supplement their diminishing meals with bread and water to sustain their poorer lives. Whole milk and whole wheat bread are healthier but the cost of staples have us stapled to proverbial wooden stakes.

I assume (instead of “ass-u-me”, it really says “ah!-sue-me”) the darker side view of days to come, primarily because it cushions my anticipated falls if worst really is the worst, and springs me back from the doomsday mood if the best is yet to come. Overall, it give me a positive mindset as I reassess my expenses and use common sense to keep me from excesses.

It needs to be everyone’s New Year’s Resolution. Put those written words on every page of the checkbook, always right there facing your determination and commitment. Simple words will work best. “SAVE”. “BILLS ONLY”. “REASSESS”. “ARE YOU SURE?”. “GUILTY?”.

Remember, if you don’t do it yourself, NOBODY WILL! NOBODY CAN!

Remember, too, however fortunate you are right now, others are not as well off; you’re reading this, whereby others may not have electricity.

Hopefully, it’ll be an easy fall with stubbed toes and bruised knees, with a recoil as with the strength and fortitude of a football player catching the touchdown pass and making a goal!

We have a new quarteback, a commander for changes to come. A winning season?

RAH! RAH! RAH! For Home Team America!

Touchdown?

Trumped Up Voter Holiday

How so generous of Donald Trump to express a ‘demand’ that employees within his many organization get out and vote, offering them an hour to do so.

It’s a corporate mindset that there’s a responsibility for every registered voter to take part in his or her civic duty to participate in choosing the next President of the United States and every other candidate in federal, state and local elections.

I myself have been given that same ‘opportunity’ during my working years in a corporate setting. The offer was made to take an extended lunch period to make the employees’ voices heard by means of the ballot box.

Well, it sounds real good and patriotic but it still puts a burden on the employ to accomplish the duty within the time allowance. In my instance, the challenge was to get to and get back from the designated polling place for the district I was in. It would have taken 20-30 minutes in travel time. Who knew how long it would take to stand in line before I could stand inside the voting booth to cast my votes? There were, and never are, any guarantees.

Trying to make sure the ballot would be filled out and taking time to eat lunch is a challenge. If you haven’t returned to the work desk within two hours, questions would be asked and answered would in turn be questioned, if not verbalized then expressed by the look in the boss’ eyes.

I wasn’t the only one who would take that extra hour with the lunch period but not fulfill the intended directive. And working an 8 to 5 job it was too risky a deal to do it in the morning before the workday started and occasionally too much of a challenge to place the bet after work, with booths closing at 7, especially if you have other priorities, such as picking up kids.

For the Trump-ster, it’s more of a PR job to make the appearance that his generosity might be second in importance only to the vote count of employees. He can smile with determination, but it’s still the corporate attitude above and beyond all else.

Many states give citizens the opportunity to cast votes early but it’s common for many folks to ponder their choices until the General Election is actually upon them. Absentee ballots are another option but a lot of states have requirements that must be met before the request is honored, such as verification that the voter will be out of town or a handicap makes voting an obstacle.

There are free world countries that respect the rights of voters to make a selection of candidates who will directly affect their lives and the world at large. A national ‘holiday’ to give American citizens a respectful right to vote would be of such importance placed on July 4th, Independence Day.

ECHOES

This could be considered an addendum to the previous blog SO INDEBTED TO DEBT posted two days ago. http://parcelpost08.blogspot.com/2008/10/so-indebted-to-debt.html

On this day of Halloween celebration, Associated Press reports that Chase, Bank of America, Discover, Citicorp, American Express and other large credit card lenders are urging the Federal Government to allow as many as 50,000 people deep in the doo-doo of credit card debt be forgiven of up to 40% of their balances.

With all this freaky financial turmoil continuing to undermine America’s free market ideology, you might wonder ‘When or will it ever end?’ With the deep, dark, bottomless pit of worldwide failing economies, is that an echo we hear reverberating downward in an abyss of person desperation asking in a helpless voice, “Help me! Help me! Help me! Help me! Please... Somebody help me!?

Financial institutions are asking that this bailout of individual debt be a pilot program, meant to become a permanent practice.

The rest of us should be asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’, sure to deduce that somewhere along the way we’ll be the ones to ultimately shoulder the expense from adopting such a program.

The proposal seems to put us on a path that will lead the country to BIGGER government, a welfare state and to taking measures suggestive of a socialist government. This is the very claim that presidential candidate John McCain proclaims we will find ourselves from the proposed policies of his rival Barak Obama, but we’re already well on our way so socialism as a result of the too-long a period of time from the policy of the Bush administration giving exorbitant tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations.

The balance of scales has tipped in the wrong direction for low and middle class families. They’ve endured eight years of flat-line wages and reduced benefits for taxpayers earning less than $200,000 per year, a figure referenced from the words of Obama. At this point, lower taxes will make little difference to this segment of the workforce – it will only get worse because one bailout after another puts an endless future of paying off the added national debt.

It’s a shame that the U.S. Government still suggests we’re on the verge of a recession, with much of the media in alignment, while the Grand Poobah of world financial gurus, The Economist, specifically calls the goblin what it is. Let’s hope this deity of financial messengers tells no tale that the ghost of future days is upon us. It would too depressing.

So Indebted To Debt

The economic situation that we’re experiencing in the United States won’t get much better any time soon. Just when Wall Street suggests we might soon hit bottom to the tumult, my notions put the economy high on the Richter scale of continued shaky financial ground.

Credit card debt is biting at the heels of stability of the banking industry with lenders writing off over $20B of unsecured consumer loans during the first six months of the year, with a strong likelihood that year-end figures of defaulted credit card debt will more than double. Credit card debt is the next ticking time bomb of financial doom.

I continue to get more offers for plastic than my wallet could possibly hold. I already have a number of cards that, if I were to carry all of them in my back pocket, they would give me a one-sided bubble-butt!

The banking industry has already done a good job to snag me into their web of irresponsible spending. Although I only carry one card at any given time, I typically only use it when absolutely necessary, using the debit card in most transactions; as I make entries into the checkbook, the balance shows me how seriously I must to do some penny-pinching.

On a recent timeout from the real life, I did some spending unbecoming of my pocketbook. From past experiences I've learned that there's little likelihood I'll revisit places I’ve been, although I did fall in love with the Black Hills with the mountains, rolling hills, canyons and the desert conditions of the Badlands. It may be another thirteen years before I visit other natural wonders in these United States. The Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and the Rocky Mountains are on my mind, just the other side of South Dakota. I can't disguise my yearning.

I splurged, within reason, by eating out every day and night, not willing to domesticate what was a time of freedom from everyday food preparations. I brought back a few souvenirs and momentos that I would never have the opportunity to cherish otherwise. Temporary housing was the major source of charges.

The bills are now due. The means of payment? They go on another credit card account, one that gives me a transaction fee of 3% and an "intoductory" interest rate of 0% through the billing period in July 2009. This was my “budgeting plan" for the trip. If I fail to make the minimum monthly payment or go over the credit limit, the default rate is over 25%. Depending on a person's credit score, the standard credit card company charges the prime lending rate plus 14% with the same aforementioned default rate. I’ve already made other charges toward auto and home insurance premiums. Property taxes will likely be next in line. It adds up quickly. And so do interest fees.

Keep in mind, if you believe you're doing the right thing by canceling a credit card, it's a negative effect on your credit score. Cut it up and feel empowered to negotiate with the lender a means to pay off the balance, if necessary. Consumer aren't meant to get too far ahead, just like indentured servants in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Just as payday loan sharks snag the workingman with exorbitant fees of 30%, so does the banking industry with rates not much less severe. The recent bailout of large financial institutions that's intended to ease borrowing between banks won’t help the little guy much toward meeting their monthly shortcomings of cash; those Big Government dollars are meant for businesses with that tricky trickle-down expectation.

Hopefully, the bailout success is just around the next bend and the unemployed will get back tens of thousands of jobs, again giving them a means to be consumers, who are the ultimate source for economic growth through spending, the very same source that will fund the bailout.

I was wrong earlier this year to believe oil futures would reach $200 per barrel by years’ end but who knew an alarm through financial markets would grind the wheels of transportation to a near halt? “The squeaky wheel gets the grease” but only if the driver pays attention to the warning signals. It didn’t happen, so the grease slick sent the economy slip-slidin’ away, now flat on its back. Where’s an honest chiropractic mechanic when you need one?

I’m not a financial swami, but more ongoing foreclosures and job losses will continue to lead people to max out their high-interest credit cards, declaring bankruptcy and leaving lenders in another round of what will be a further meltdown in this and world economies.

Hopefully, Election Day 2009 will bring leadership that will prompt changes in credit card interest rate lending practices that create too challenging an obstacle for consumers to pay off their debts. Consumers need a clean slate before they can give a real boost to the economy by, once again, using their credit cards. Indeed, it's a revolving door of credit debt.

The Economist Global Galloping Poll For Obama

Call it The Economist side of my reading that takes an interest in worldly opinion of the Presidential race between Senators John McCain and Barak Obama. The on-line poll requests participation in casting votes toward the “Global Electoral College”, asking the question, “Obama or McCain, who do want?”

The poll is probably pointless, other than giving a worldly view of what each country would like to see in the Election Day results. With the re-election of G. W. Bush four years ago, America has proven world opinion is worthless, the same attitude of the 43rd President of the United States.

As of October 24, Obama has racked up 36,286 votes compared to 6,731 for McCain. This translates to 8,969 Global Electoral Votes for Barak and 285 for McCain.

Eight countries have put McCain as their preference, of which 3 (Cuba, Iraq and Namibia) are strongly for his election victory and 5 (Algeria, Republic of Congo, Macedonia, Moldova Sudan) are leaning toward his maverick ways. On the Obama side, 109 are strong in his favor and 4 lean his way out of a total of 194 countries.

In 62 small countries, more votes are needed before the tally is complete. In one country, Georgia, it’s a “Toss Up” with a 2% difference.

Of course, the poll is fairly selective in the class of voters. If nothing else, they read The Economist, the magazine Governor Sarah Palin listed as an afterthought when questioned which newspapers she reads. Was she McPrompted just as teachers give guidance to students taking the FCAT?

The rest of the world can be brushed/Bushed-aside but in these United States of America, The Economist voters selected Barak Obama over John McCain 80% to 20%! Any margin of error wouldn’t give McCain much of a chance at succeeding in his opportunity to become Commander-In-Chief of this most influential Government in this great big world.

You are invited to check it out, and cast a vote when you log-in, at:

www.economist.com/vote2008/?mode/=leadershipboard

McCain In Vain

For a military man intent on maintaining a military presence in Iraq for an undetermined length of time with the belief that the war can be won, it’s more than just a little surprising with some of his actions and decisions in his bid to succeed in the General Election and become America’s Commander-in-Chief.

He has chosen to wave the white flag in a state that would delivery 17 of the 270 electoral votes to win the Presidential election. That’s over 6% of the necessary total. How many other surrenders will he declare in the final countdown to November 4?

I felt McCain’s demeanor in the debate was unbecoming of a Presidential candidate. I chuckled more than once when his eyes rolled and facial expressions indicated a juvenile reaction to Obama’s comments. Off camera, I imaged him sticking out his tongue!

These are reasons why I believe the Arizona Senator’s election bid will be remembered as McCain In Vain.

Ya Having A Good Time, Boys?

Happy Anniversary, Boys.

Traveling along I-90 west from South Dakota into Wyoming to visit Devil’s Tower Monument, one of the first sights to see are those gray, aged wooden fences where two boys posted the body of Matthew Shepard ten years ago today.

The two murders’ names aren’t important. Their life sentences were well served with their act that took the life of an innocent 21-year old man of a different sexual orientation than their own.

What is most notable is that they are behind steel bars. With other men. For the rest of their lives. May they spend their days and nights getting their own just deserves from other cellmates.

Have a nice life, boys

Moon Gas

Oil prices began a moderate retreat as the discovery of undetermined amounts of natural gases in the south polar region of the moon. No timeline has been given for further exploration.

It was an unexpected find when a probe named Huygens parachuted from the parent spacecraft Cassini to investigate what had appeared to be hundreds of dark, lake-like features. In the joint venture of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, the success of the launch included proof that, other than Earth, there is now at least one celestial body in the Solar System that has liquid on its surface. The total cost of the mission is over $3B.

The body of liquid is about 7,800 square miles, slightly larger than Lake Ontario. Other dark areas on the surface have the same appearance but remain unconfirmed as other lakes of ethane, a liquid solution of methane, other hydrocarbons and nitrogen. The find substantiates scientific belief that clouds of methane exist in the moon’s atmosphere.

Ethane derivatives are rather diverse in their applications and could ease the energy squeeze of developing countries. A process called “cracking” incorporates a procedure that breaks down the molecule weight to produce “light hydrocarbons”. The resultant product is dependent on the temperature (750 to 950 degrees) and various catalysts.

One of the chemical byproducts produced is ethylene, which is used in a wide range of consumer products.

By nature, ethylene is produced by climacteric fruits, such as bananas, pears and tomatoes, to speed up ripening. That’s why some fruits ripen quicker in a plastic bag. Commercially, small amounts of ethylene are added to agriculture products to speed up ripening. It is also used to induce flowering but lessens the life of flower arrangements as it depletes the oxygen level.

Other commercial use is extensive: wires, insulation, automotive, carpets, flame-retardants, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. And plastics: shopping bags, plastic jugs and all those other consumer throwaway containers. Think of all those Made in China products.

It is also used in the process of producing gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel and ethanol.

Actually, this monumental discovery has nothing to do with Earth’s Moon but about obtaining scientific knowledge about the Solar System. The spacecraft Cassini was launched Oct 15 1997 then did two flybys of Venus before getting a gravitational boost as it passed by Earth on Aug 18, 1999. On Dec 20, 2003, the most detailed pictures to date of Jupiter were transmitted back to Earth as it gathered other scientific data.

Just imagine spacecraft Cassini cruising between the outer rings of F & G as it became the first spacecraft to reach orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004. The probe Huygen was released Dec 25, 2004, and reached the surface of Titan on Jan 14, 2005. Titan is one of 60 known moons, of which only 52 have been named, and the brightest with a size consistent with small planets like Mercury.

So, none of the world’s ever-increasing energy needs can’t be solved with a commodity over 600 million miles out in space and, however extensive the volumes of ethane and other natural gases may be on Titan, it won’t help resolve any portion of our energy needs anytime in the foreseeable future.

Crude oil investors, and all those other opportunists of making an easy buck at the expense of Earth and its inhabitants, can add that bit of trivia to further justify their politic solution (excuse) of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Hotter Than Hell In July

Growing up in rural Michigan in the 60’s, when life was easier and amenities were simple, parks and recreation areas were more of a pleasure than they are today. The summer could be hot and sweltering and, believe me the humidity and the barometric pressure weighed a lot heavier on people than Florida during hurricane season.

Mosquitoes swarmed in the multitudes, attracted by human sweat with the sweet reward of blood beneath a soft layer of flesh; they had their own straws. It wasn’t much of a triumph when you might catch one of those critters before they took flight and squish their bodies to lighten the load and end their lives. And yet, you still itch and scratch for hours, if not for a couple days.

Once school let out in early June, the Great Lakes State had plenty of smaller bodies of cool, fresh water to ease what otherwise might be a less than eventful day. The first big holiday where everyone had the day off was July 4th – this goes back to the days when stores would open as the late-morning church services were coming to an “Amen”.

It wasn’t a short ride from home, but you had to go through Hell to get to Silver Lake. The State Park was vast and well kept with some of the first trails I walked along with my childhood friend, Chucky. It was a favorite spot for the general area of central Lower Peninsula. It was s feast of chicken and burgers and homemade goodies such as baked beans, potato and macaroni salads. Of course, there were also chips, pop and a variety of desserts.

To accommodate the necessary picnic tables and grills for a group of a couple dozen of friends, there would have to be one or two early-birds in your party willing to wake well before sunrise to park their vehicles for a couple hours before the parking lot was open. As they waited, they would walk to lay claim to a chosen area that might offer some shade as the day progressively heated.

With five kids and the chores of a farm to attend to, our family arrived shortly after sunrise with Dad at the wheel, inching slowly to a parking spot of his own.

The rest of the day was mixed with eating, swimming (“You have to wait an hour before you can go back in the water!”), sunbathing and, for the adults, imbibing when it was still allowed. By the end of the day, sunburn was a memory that would last for nearly a week as the discomfort and redness eventually faded and the skin peeled. Suntan lotion hadn’t yet been given SPF values.

Just after dusk the celebration of the anniversary of the birth of these United States of America filled the sky with fireworks. As a kid, you swore that no other display was as grand as the one you were witnessing.

Hell, Michigan, was the gateway to that first holiday of the summer. Really, there was no finer day of the year. Sure, Christmas Day had its place high among other holidays but that day in early July laid the groundwork of memories for the summer vacation from school.

Of course, Silver Lake itself was just as hot as Hell in the summertime but there other locations around the world that better mirrors the fire and brimstone of the truly damned. Take for instance the daily newspaper and the page that gives global weather/temperature data. Check it out - the hottest place on Earth is in the hell hole where our troops are - Baghdad.

The Sticker Price of Ethanol

A few weeks ago, when a little orange bar on the dashboard of my truck warned me that if I didn’t satisfy its need for the elixir that gives it energy to keep me from being stranded, I stopped at a gas station along US-19.

It wasn’t the sticker price that made me do a double take – by then there was an assumption that it would be, and was, a few pennies more than the day before, a fact that I had become accustomed to as the forever-increasing cost of a fill-up dug a little deeper in the funds available from a wallet-sized debit card.

I was concerned about the sticker prominently displayed on the gas pump that informed me an additive was now a part of the mixture that keeps my truck motoring. I had no choice but to accept what is, in my opinion, a ten percent disillusionment that ethanol might help save the planet from the affects of all the nasty residues that our civilization has accumulated over the past century.

As our country became industrialized, and the billows of smoke rose from the stacks of factories, the harmful gases of fossil fuels filled the skies and acted as a smoke-screen to what would eventually be realized as poisons to planet Earth.

I did double take at the sticker that had a permanent look about it. A frown and a little shake of the head wouldn’t take away the concern I felt for what was glaring at me in the eyes. I had little choice but to fill ‘er up or before long I’d be stranded.

The media has told me repeatedly that an ethanol level of 10% ethanol wouldn’t have an effect on engine performance but with somewhat fewer miles per gallon. I seldom imbibe these days but I felt a little woozy at the thought of what the side affects will be for a misbegotten attempt to right the wrongs of uncontrolled carbon footprints into the atmosphere. I had a sense of malnutrition. I heard a growling sound but to this day I don’t know if was my stomach or a guttural sound from the depth of my lungs.

I know full well the need to rid us of foreign oil dependence. I also acknowledge an immediate obligation to contain the emission of green house gases. But there has to be a better way to accomplish this goal without adding to the pangs of world hunger. Diverting corn from the mouths and stomachs of people has become a major problem, creating a health risk for millions upon millions of those in third world countries.

Nearly everything we consume with our daily bread hits our pocketbooks right where it hurts: having to divert any of our earnings from the consumption of discretionary spending, most prominent being high tech electronics. This is not good for capitalism; it narrows the scope of profitable businesses and harms the growth of the economy.

Right now, thanks in part to Al Gore and his inconvenient solution to global air pollution, we’re addressing the carbon footprint of man without consideration of our fellow inhabitants of the planet.

Diverting grain products from the mouths of the hungry is misplaced because lobbyists and a Congress willing to supplement the profits of mega-farmers intensifies the ill affects of a hasty solution. Higher food prices are already giving them hedge funds with profits detrimental to the rest of us. Small, family owned farmers don’t reap the same benefits.

Rather than giving consideration to mega-farmers, these misspent moneys would be better given to areas in need of assistance due to natural disasters. The best example is the recent floods in Missouri. These areas won’t recovery from the loss of crops, and livelihoods, without emergency funding from the federal government.

Fertilizers laced with phosphates have their own side affects with poisons that make rivers, lakes and even larger bodies of water uninhabitable to every form of freshwater and sea life. Woops! There goes another food source!

Politicians are eager to get on bandwagons to appease the electorate but their loads are marching bands supporting another term in office. Their wagons need to be filled with life’s grains of plenty.

Yes, steps must be taken to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions but until there is committed dialogue on solutions to save planet Earth from the ravages of mankind, and when food is again bountiful, the sound of growling will continue to fill the air. I won’t know for sure if it’s coming from me or from the empty mouths of the hungry.

An Assimilation of Prosperity

A stimulant is meant to temporarily boost the activity of an organism. Hypothetically, the heart of government stimulus payments is going to give the American economy a booster shot.

President Bush hopes to spur consumer spending, an attempt that some view as a misbegotten idea sure to come short of what's needed to get the economy on the road to recovery. The formula that the government uses to give validity to a recession is more lenient than what is on the minds of most consumers. Recovery has little relevance to the pocketbooks of cash-strapped Americans.

The sad reality of the payments is that they are actually more like a loan, the repayment of which will be added to other debts placed upon the next generation, possibly two. Those of us in our 50s or older will be less affected, or so we think. But our futures will most likely provide less security as the social costs of Medicare bring higher deductibles and reduced benefits.

Very few are immune from this Administration’s relentless spending of money that just isn’t there. Corporate elitists are the exception. They too will get their share of stimulus dollars, however reduced with a formula that lessens the amount for those making over $75,000, but to them it amounts to pocket change, a dime in their pockets compared to emergency funds as viewed by most of us.

Some people are disappointed in the payment schedule. Payments began May 2nd with electronic deposits. People relying on postal delivery for the legal size envelope with a government-issued check are most likely those without bank accounts, living week-by-week or day-by-day with limited funds. Many will have to hang in there until the final batch of play dough is mailed on July 11th. We’re half way there.

It’s not likely that lower income citizens will spend their dollars as the government intends. Mortgage payments, car loans, outstanding credit card balances and medical expenses will be primary concerns to many people. Food and gas might take precedence above all else. You have to eat; you must get to work. Spending money on luxury items will be less common.

Sunday newspapers will continue to offer deals with pages of glossy inserts offering a myriad of enticements to tempt consumers

The government cringes at the word “savings” but people are beginning to realize that having cash reserves is a means to ward off future economically challenging times. Years of false security and promises of ever-increasing buying power have come to an end. Frivolous spending has helped damage the economy. Living on borrowed money has to stop.

When analysts suggest dwindling home values are a natural order to bring pricing to realistic figures, it also points to a change of consumer habits whereby discretionary spending may come to a dribble. This will be devastating to an already gloomy economy but it may be necessary to bring America down from its high-hat altitude.

For years, consumers have accommodated corporations and their executives with mounting fortunes. A 360 is in order. Their profit margins will have to right size the economy. Many sustain their profits by reducing their workforce. Wall Street has a history of going goo-goo every time layoffs are announced, ignoring the affects of declining wages and unemployment. Us poor folks can no longer fill the corporate feedbag.

Whichever way you look at it, bailouts by the federal government are poor business practices. Ultimately, it is put on the economic shoulders of every taxpayer; many are spent-out. This land of milk and honey is turning sour; the hive is near empty. For the past three decades, we have been led to believe the trickle down effect from corporate successes will bring us all prosperity. The tide has turned and the lost earnings of the millions of American jobs shipped overseas are biting these businesses where it hurts in the end: sustainable profits.

Perhaps the best any of us can do with our stimulus dollars will be to give a little boost to
local businesses where friends and relatives are employed. Otherwise, those loved ones may find themselves in the ranks of the unemployed.

Whatever you do with your stimulus payments, it will be an assimilation of prosperity. The real thing may be a long time in coming.

Honey Dippin'

Living in Spring Hill FL has given me some very uncommon experiences. For one, having a garbage disposal has been a convenience throughout my adult life but having my very own underground cesspool is very unique. Adapting to the dos and don’ts of a septic tank has been a slow process.

Most notably, bones, shellfish casings, eggshells, glass, plastics and greases are among the obvious items to avoid. Fibrous foods, such as celery, cornhusks and potato skins, should also be avoided; they’re not easily broken down. Pieces of cut citrus peels are suggested to sweeten the disposal drain and, if frozen, help clean the unit of food buildup.

Toxic household cleaners will eventually seep into the soil, on it’s way to underground water supplies.

Simply put, the only items intended for the septic tank are water, human waste and “septic safe” bathroom tissue. Following that simple rule can save the expense of contacting a place of business that uses a hose called a “honey dipper” that fills up a “honey truck”!

This brings to mind my childhood on the farm. For one thing, there was no electric disposal. We had a wastebasket for man-made trash but also a separate “garbage pail” strictly for table scraps and other food wastes. It wasn’t a pretty sight or pleasingly scented and flies and bees tended to guard the contents during summer months. The pail would go to a farmer’s best disposal system: hogs. The pig slop was supplemental to a mixture of feed grains – those hogs had a very healthy, balanced diet.

These comments came to mind from information offered by Hernando County Utilities Director Joe Stapf.

Mr. Stapf invited homeowners to discard their food wastes along with the twice-weekly regular trash pick-ups, thereby avoiding the septic from reaching a state where un-decomposed sediment can restrict proper drainage. You don’t want a septic backup or the cost of a honey truck.

Mr. Stapf explained that the garbage would be added as landfill material along with other trash. My thoughts immediately foresaw a manmade hill that could eventually rival the higher altitude of Hickory Hill, a high-end community in the next ten to twenty years. Of course, residual soil contamination prohibits such development, but many a golf course has found its home atop these mounds of trash.

I also wondered if the added tonnage of trash pickup would result in increased fees to Waste Management Inc. Rates may go up anyway. (I’m in awe that WMI has transformed their fleet of trucks from diesel fuel to natural gas – cleaner means greener.)

Since 1962, 70 municipal landfill sites have given way to 39 golf courses, surrounded by upscale housing. Although landfills are given a daily cover of compressed soil to prevent an interaction between the waste and air, the breakdown of organic materials is restricted, producing large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas over 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide. As much as 70 million metric tons of methane escape into the atmosphere each year.

Although precautions are taken to lessen the release of methane, the most respectful means to maintain earth-friendly conditions is through organic recycling, where for-profit companies strictly recycle organic waste (treated wood is not used). California has been a leader in this field for decades, benefiting vineyards and other crops with nutrient-rich soil. Amerigrow, headquartered in Delray Beach, supplies organic products including mulches and compost soils. There are many others across the country.

Recycling organic wastes on an individual level can be a relatively easy endeavor. There are a variety of compost bins, such as wire mesh, fencing or a hole in the backyard. Above ground composts are generally 3’W x 3’H and a length as needed.

Vegetables and fruit waste with intermittent layers of finely cut grass and leaf clippings and dried cow manure starts the process. Turning the pile weekly and introducing worms to the pile will speed things up; they both maintain aeration for better decomposing. Keeping the pile moist will result in a naturally rich fertilizer within a matter of weeks, ready to be used in gardens, flowerbeds, and fruit and vegetable plants.

Unless you fail to follow established guidelines, especially turning, there should be no foul odor.

With increasing food costs, there are plenty of incentives for homeowners to grow their own gardens. The local 4-H Chapter can assist residents in their efforts to be successful in their farming endeavors.

Mr. Stapf can be commended for offering homeowners a convenient option to rid themselves of additional waste products with regular roadside pickup. The easiest is continued use of the garbage disposal. Or you can feed the scraps to your pig.

Now You See It, Now You Don't

This has nothing to do with the craft of a magician, although a slight of hand plays a major role.

This has to do with the habits of many young adults born in the 80’s when the housing boom in Spring Hill, Florida, was in its early stages, the poorest played-out planned development era in Hernando County. The kids were raised under conditions that all but guaranteed them a life of distress with repeat offenses of one crime or another. Quite often it’s one crime and another.

This has to do with shoplifting.

I admit there was a time in my life when I did a bit of it myself. The smartest thing I did to arrest these activities was to discontinue the habit when I turned 18. It was wrong then as it is now but this was back in the late sixties when store detectives lacked the assistance of cameras to nab an offender. Security enhancements have made the activity much riskier. Apparently not enough.

I’m not a witness to these finger-pickin’ crimes but the spoils of their dishonesty have been brought to my attention by the perpetrators themselves. They’re not only brave in their activities, but they’re down right proud of their successes. It’s like show-and-tell time.

By whatever means they steal their choices of apparel, footwear, bath items and a variety of other human wants, including food, it works very well. There are days when some go on a free-for-me shopping spree. And yet, they haven’t gotten caught.

I express my distaste, pointing out what the eventual repercussions can bring to their lives. A first time offender will most likely be given a citation similar in effect of a traffic offense. A Notice to Appear letter sets a court date with a fine and community service to follow but no jail time.

A trespass warning would be issued, prohibiting the person from entering the store forever more. If broken, there’s a civic fine of $200. If unpaid, the place of business reserves the right to proceed with a lawsuit. Retail theft is indeed punishable by law.

A person with a rap sheet goes directly to jail with a $350 bond. That’s just the beginning for restitution. The lack of a sales receipt comes at every shopper’s expense.

Of the three people I’ve come to know who have committed these acts, two are on probation for one reason or another, one of whom is on house arrest. The third person has a family of three ranging from 1 to 4 years old. All have menial jobs, if in fact they have a job at any given time. They are lazy at living, even more so with employment, leaving one job before securing another. None have a driver license because of one or more traffic infractions. It creates a situation whereby keeping a job is in jeopardy.

When I think of those babies, I have concerns they could likely become wards of the state when DCF takes the on the responsibility of their safekeeping. I would sorely miss the times they demand a high-five; it’s cute regardless of the number of times they insist I take part. We giggle together. We eat apples together. If taken from their parents, their smiley faces would be contorted; confusion would accompany tear-falls.

It’s disgusting that some children are made accomplices in the crimes. Baby carriages are a poor means of keeping thievery hidden from view.

Since moving to Spring Hill, there have been many times I’ve felt like a shock absorber, trying to cushion myself from the rocky paths of many who have been raised in environments foreign to my upbringing. At times I feel worn. I have become thankful multi-fold for having been a farmer’s son.

Not all people are distressing. I’ve met a more unique mix of people than any other place I’ve called home. They range from those in their 20's to others who are, or could be, grandparents to these young adults. Some are acquaintances while others are neighbors, or people I have come to know as friends. The number of true friends is limited and a long time in coming. As a result, we especially appreciate our relationships.

The kids I have come to know are good kids, no different than my own childhood friends. I can’t envision them growing up to be as their parents are. Only time will tell whether or not they are led to paths of petty crime.

I pray that the sons and daughters of today’s young adults are taught lessons that will keep them outside the confines of a detention center, or somewhere worse. Otherwise, now and again you’ll see them, then you won’t.