I can remember when I was in college, one of my favorite courses was sociology. I found that topic very fascinating, so I learned a lot. One of the things that the professor taught the class, was the “official” definition of what “upper,” “middle” and “lower” classes were. According to the definition we were taught in class, the “upper class” were people who had really “old” money – many generations of wealth, going back as far as the Mayflower or longer. The “middle” class were the “new” money people like the Kennedys and the Bushes and most of our political leaders. These people have had tons of money for several generations.
Those of us who are “self made” wealthy, well, we’re just “upper-lower class” according to that principle. And, to be politically correct, we no longer call the “lower” class by the term “lower.” To be politically correct, we call the “lower” class the “working class.”
So it was with much surprise that I read an article on the Internet today at Investopedia that suggests that what I was taught as “working class” is in fact, in many cases, considered to be “middle class.” Are you as confused as I am?
Since the I saw on the news last week that we were all out of Iraq I haven’t heard or seen much online or on the TV about the “war being over”. In fact the few people that I’ve talked to about this didn’t even know about the convoy that was videoed leaving Iraq.
Last night while doing a bit of channel surfing I did see a news headline that stated that there is actually still 50 thousand of our military troops still in Iraq. What’s going on?
My father has always been interested in conservation – even before it became “cool” to be “green.” Part of his attempts at conservation have always included rain harvesting. Ever since I can recall we have had rain water barrels at the corners of our house and our garage. We would use the water collected from the rain barrels to water our gardens and wash the cars.
The only thing that worries me about doing this is the reports that I hear about acid rain. That’s the biggest reason we don’t use it for potable water. I don’t know if there even exists a filter system that could be purchased by a homeowner that would make it safe to drink. That is one of the things that makes me very angry about the slowing down of environmental protection acts – the air that is being polluted hundreds of miles away from us is ruining our air and water. I know that there are technologies available to scrub the pollutants from the factories at the source, but they aren’t being installed and maintained as fast or as well as they need to be done.
Well…. I’ll get off my soapbox now! Conserving water is still a good thing.
I saw this guy on a news program and immediately went onto YouTube.com and looked the video up. I was surprised to find so many videos regarding preachers that are caught on tape with strong words coming out of their mouth. But this guy is the best, check it out.
Last night’s TV was full of special coverages of the last convoy carrying the last of our American Troops out of Iraq. The word is that the war is over. I’m not sure how I feel about that and I think that that statement remains to be seen.
It is encouraging to know that real estate sales are on the rise. The majority of real estate agents are walking around once again with a smile and a bounce in their step because of this increase in sales. A good amount of these sales are due to the real estate stimulus efforts by our Federal Government. One of their better judgment calls as of late.
Giving first time home buyers a nice tax credit has made a major impact on so many people and has people who would have never even thought about buying a house looking around to see what they can find. And now they have extended this tax credit, once again, and it’s including other options as well. Folks that have lived five years consecutively in the past eight years can receive up to $6,500 from Uncle Sam.
I’ve found a good overview of the extension at Coldwell Banker’s web site, they have an interesting short video that I’ve placed below for your information. This can mean some serious money so it’s good to try and get the word out, if you know what I mean. Once again I have to thank YouTube.com for allowing us to view videos such as this one.
I never got to see this video when it was first aired on television, but I’m seeing it now on the Internet! This is the video that has been on the Television news lately. I think it’s a riot, but it does not do anything to lower my opinion of his ability to be in politics! I’ve always liked Al Franken, I think he is a very smart, and very funny man. But it is obvious to me that he is very concerned about the state of world and I think he will do a good job in the Senate. I hope that they certify him soon so he can get in there and start working!
Well I had to vote on my way into work today, stood in line for over an hour to get into vote. Even so, the lines were not as long as I expected so I guess I timed it just about perfectly for having to vote before going into work. I remember having to stand in line this long for the primaries! I’m very interested in the outcome of the race – what a major historical election this is! I sure will be glad when it is all over and we can start to move forward in the right direction!
I was quite disturbed to hear that the Republican National Committee decided to spend $150,000 on new clothes for Sarah Palin! Isn’t she the one who has been campaigning as being the “average hockey mom” type of person? I don’t know any hockey moms that have a $150,000 clothing budget! Doesn’t this elitist purchase undermine the message that she is “one of us?” I don’t know about you, but I spend less than $500 a year on clothes for myself. I got the impression that she was trying to appeal to the people who make an average of $30,000 annual salary (or less.) How is she going to appeal to them if she has spent five times their annual salary on CLOTHES? The RNC is “justifying” it by saying that the clothes will be donated to charity after the election. I’m not quite sure how that is supposed to make the purchase any more palatable to the average hockey mom voter.
We’ve been getting a lot of telephone calls everyday from political pollsters, wanting to know who we are voting for. Although I guess some aren’t really pollsters, they are working for one side or the other and are soliciting donations and asking people to volunteer time to work on the campaign. I do find it amusing that we are getting so many calls! I will be very glad when this election is over and we can have a sense of where the country will be going when all is said and done.
I watched the big debate on television last night, as I’m sure millions of other people did. I was really disappointed in how many times McCain was using untrue statements. I used to think that he would make a good president, but now I think that this country would be in really big trouble if he got into office. We don’t need someone running the country that would be resorting to spreading lies about his competitor during the campaign. We need someone we can trust to be honest with us, and he has proven that he won’t be honest with us. That’s really too bad.
I was shocked to read a news story on a website called salon.com that there is an international reporter that has worked for both the Obama campaign and the McCain campaign, essentially to scope them out and get a story for her paper, which is called NRC Handelsblad. What I was shocked about was reading that the McCain campaign was having her (and others) ghost write letters to the editor from fake people who were singing the praises of the Republican candidates! These letters were to be used by the campaign to be sent around the country to different newspapers to be (hopefully) printed out as “real” letters to the editor! The intent, of course, was to generate votes for the Republican party!
I was very disappointed to hear that this kind of activity is going on behind the scenes of the campaign!
I got up this morning and heard the news that Obama chose Biden as his running mate! I was really disappointed, I was hoping that he would pick Hillary Clinton. It is going to be really difficult for Hillary Clinton to campaign for him now! I think this was a big mistake – now I think that he will lose the election! I really don’t want another four years of the Republican administration, and that is what we will get if McCain wins. And now I think that McCain WILL win!
I couldn’t stay awake long enough to watch all of the “Revealed” shows on CNN last night, so I taped the last two hours, but I did watch the first 90 minutes where they were featuring the life of John McCain. I found it very interesting and informative. I’m looking forward to watching the tape to see the end of that story and the show on Obama. I learned a lot about John McCain that I didn’t know before!
I was reading on the Time.com website that yesterday California’s governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law, taking effect January 1, 2010 a law banning trans fats from the entire state’s restaurants foods! Way to go California! I think that all states should follow suit; there is no need for trans fats to be in any of our foods, they are very unhealthy for any and everyone!
I can’t seem to recall a Presidential candidate ever going overseas to meet and greet and do foreign policy meetings and speeches with other countries. I find it very interesting that Barack Obama has gone overseas and is receiving such a glorious reception! The television news stories, and the Internet news stories are all reporting that he is being greeted with great enthusiasm every where he is going! It almost seems like he is being treated like visiting royalty! I am amazed at this situation. Seems to me that this is strengthening his chances of becoming elected President.
With the advent of the Internet, news travels around the world with just a click of mouse button. Many of the stories that circulate around the world are opinion stories rather than factual stories. Some are wishful thinking, some are outright lies. Once a story gets out, whether it is based on truth or not, it is impossible to erase. It’s out there. Reputable organizations can print corrections and retractions later on, and they can even go to the article itself and modify the article (which is a lot handier than with the printed medium – you can’t change the printed copy; just publish a correction or retraction.) But often by the time that is done, consequences have often begun that are hard to stop.
If a lie is repeated often enough, some people will start to believe it and repeat it and then the damage spreads. The consequences of a lie that is believed are the same as if it were the truth. Case in point – the US Congress believed President Bush when he said there were WMD in Iraq, so they authorized him to go to war. It was a lie, of course, but the consequences were the same as if it had been the truth. The US invaded Iraq. The rest is, as they say, history.
The point I’m trying to make is that lies are damaging. And in the case of the Internet, hard to track down where the lies started and hold people accountable. People and businesses can be hurt if their reputation is ruined by the spreading of bad press, libel, and slander. That is where the Softline Solutions Company comes in. They offer Reputation Management Services to help keep the reputation of their clients as pristine as possible. They do this with proactive, as well as reactive measures to keep on top of what is happening in the Internet world for their clients.
I am constantly hearing people (either in person or on television) go on and on about how Barack Obama would be the first black President if he was to be elected president. I know his skin color looks dark, but I don’t understand how they can say he is black. One of his parents was white, the other black, right? So how can you say he is either black OR white? When I was growing up, I was told that the proper term for someone of this type of mixed race was “mulatto.” Going to the dictionary.com website, I type in the word “mulatto” and they define it as the offspring of one black and one white parent. So why aren’t “they” being truthful and calling it “like it is.” Is “mulatto” now considered “politically incorrect?”
I know that Barack’s skin is black, and his father was black, but his mother was white, and since his parents broke up when he was really young so he was raised by the white side of the family. In essence, because of that, he was raised “white.” On another note – there has been a lot of controversy about white people adopting black children because some black advocates are concerned about black children being raised “white” and how that would lead to some kind of identity crisis and ruin their lives. Doesn’t seem to have ruined Barack Obama’s life too much!
I was reading a story on Grist.org today that the US Senate had the opportunity to do something good for the environment, and they blew it. There were two bills up for vote today, the Consumer First Energy Act and the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 that would have supported efforts to find clean sources of energy to replace our dependence on foreign oil. Both bills failed to pass, thanks to Republicans voting against the bills.
Shame on you, Senate, Shame on you!
If you are interested in reading the story that I just read, you can click here.
I listened to Hillary Clinton’s speech last night, and I thought that she was gracious and showed a lot of class. I have been really upset over how many people have been saying such negative things about her in the past. I think that she would have been a wonderful President. I hope Obama chooses her as his Vice Presidential running mate.