Companies and Consumers Alike Change How They Do Business

Nearly every business, start up or establishment is facing a dilemma after decades of startling success, due the excessive expansion, misjudging economic opportunity, and surviving on borrowed capital; the bill has now become due.

In the recent past, businesses could fudge records, price gouge consumers, and literally expect that consumers would pay, and more often than not; they would. Consumers had no concept of shopping for value and quality, while expecting a decent return on investment for the money they shelled out.

But a funny thing happened between 2000-2008. Price increases did not work, companies could not continue to price gouge consumers primarily because the consumers could not control their own spending and credit habits. A economic summit is now underway by the average consumer to combat an ever decreasing cash flow Caused by their extravagant lifestyle.

The catch is just about all other Corporate 500 companies are in the same boat as consumers, and we are sinking fast. The holes can’t be plugged fast enough. Consumers and companies are looking for ways to cut expenses while raising more available cash each month. This trend will not stop in the near future.

Companies will need to show a profit for shareholders and consumers need to free up more money to live. Two opposite goals that are much like mixing oil and water.

No matter what economically things will never be quite the same. Change is more than guaranteed.

So its Tainted Tomatoes Or Is it Imported Food?

Now we can’t seem to figure out the source of the salmonella outbreak. Three weeks ago everyone was sure that the culprit was tomatoes. So you were hard pressed to find a decent BLT. But wait; the plot thickens, now they say the investigation is expanding to include imported foods, from where; perhaps Mars? The Food and Drug Administration seem to enjoy administrating, but dislikes finding ways to identify what is making so many Americans sick.

In the meantime tomato farmers across this great country of ours are stuck with tons of tomatoes that they can’t begin to sell. Perhaps this is some sort of diversion to distract us from the other crises; lack of low price gas syndrome. It looks like the standard prescription; one pill every four hours until symptoms disappear; want work. We need something stronger.

Perhaps this may even require a clinical trial of some sort. Wanted: 50 individuals who may or may not be sick. That how ridiculous this is. We can be sure that your meter is read correctly and the utility companies can continue to make a great living at our expense; but we cannot for the the life of us find out why we are getting sick from, tomatoes, or maybe; an imported food.

While we wait for the FDA to stop tripping over itself; I say go to your local health food store or lawn and garden center buy a pack of tomato seeds and plant them. Let’s hope you you live in the right climate. If so maybe you’ll have tomatoes by the fall. If you’re successful, then you’ll have a decent version of organic. At least there will not be a FDA investigation.

Nursing Home Are Just Hospices In Disguise

I am passionate about this subject because I went through this painful ordeal with the Death of my father at the end of the nursing home merry go round…. the hospice. This is America, where profits and wealth are top heavy. The top 1/5 of the America’s population’s is filthy rich, hoarding money and status and the ability to pay for health care, when their money can’t save them. When they are old and alone and near death, nothing can’t save them. The trapping of the world can’t. No one can but only a caring an loving God, who teaches us to not get caught up in the trapping of this world, but to rely on Him through every event. In this world we will have trouble, but he is with us always giving us hope and love to rise above our circumstance.

The nursing Home system is a travesty. It is intertwined with the America’s Health care system and the insurance system. Nursing homes in my opinion are there for the fortunate few who need them to receive care for a short time and then they are released. I believe there is a systematic effort to encourage a gradual decline of individuals who insurance companies target as high maintenance and money drains. Insurance companies do not wish to pay for long term care so that an extra bed will be released and not taken up by a dying elderly person.

It is sickening when we have to have discussions about everyone being insured in this country, but still everyone is not insured. Even when they are insured; the coverage is never enough and the co-pays are astronomical. We are the richest country in the world, yet we still cannot guarantee that everyone is insured. The sad thing is, no amount of money can save you, so instead of the medical community feeling compassionate toward the elderly, they systematically find ways to hasten their death.

This is what happened to my Father. Don’t get me wrong, He was in the worst of circumstances and he was hard pressed to come through his ordeal, but the medical community could have done more to help him to survive longer. Instead they took the low road and systematically found a way to subtly kill him. I can’ t prove this; because they are masters at this, but it is the truth.

My Father had a variety of ailments that made him a walking candidate for a nursing home. He had lousy insurance, because he negotiated his insurance alone and without all his faculties, and signed up for bogus coverage that was suspect to say the least. You see Insurance companies prey on the elderly. They find independent minded elderly people and prey upon them.

They take their homes and all their money when families pressure the nursing home to give their love ones the best care possible. After the private funds of the patient runs out, then there is absolutely no money at all. If you have money when you are elderly; my advice to you is to get rid of up it quickly before you get sick and need long tern care. If you have a house and your insurance coverage runs out. The government will take your house in order to pay your medical cost. It is a travesty when the elderly, the most deserving people in this country are treated this way.

Republicans could care less about the plights of the elderly who have no health insurance or have suspect coverage. They don’t care because of one simple reason, most have enough money to pay for the best of care no matter how long it takes. So this is not a concern to them and their families.

Perhaps this country will wake up and elect into office someone who really cares about the plight of the elderly and are actually therefor them and spearhead a drive to help them. In a word that would be Obama.

Time for Hillary To Quit

Hillary Clifton’s surrogates are throwing the Democratic party under the bus. They do not play by the rules and do not care anything about Party Unity. Hillary Clinton’s agenda has always been for herself and actions by surrogates on her behalf are in a word, shameful. Hillary’s surrogates have liken the yesterday’s rules committee finding as being like Al Gore’s 2002 Florida election fiasco. It is clear that Hillary Clinton is out for herself and could care less about the Democratic Party. They are not willing to get on board with the presumptive Democratic Nominee’s Barack Obama’s bid against John McCain.

Donna Brazile said she was threatened yesterday in Washington by Hillary Clinton supporters stated that she would give Clinton her delegate votes if she will get on board with Barack Obama. Brazile said she was threatened by Hillary supporters who said that would bolt to John McClain’s side if they did not get what they wanted from the rules committee. The Clinton Campaign is playing their usual games.

Terry McAuliffe has flipped flopped saying at one time a poll is good and later a poll is not good. Exist polls were used by the DNC to apportion votes for Michigan and Florida, since both were in my opinion bogus elections. Clinton has not accepted any responsibility for the debacle in Florida and Michigan. The question is do you want the issue, the complaint, whether than to win the restoration of voter recognition. Clinton wanted the issue, a cause in order to take it to the convention. They wanted a rallying cry to take to the Denver convention.

New Hampshire and Iowa’s had for years taked the lead in Democratic primaries and they are not willing to give up the first born status. This led to challenges from both Florida and Michigan and the confusion that maintained all the way through until two days before the end of the primary season.

Its time for Hillary Clinton to pack it in. To tender her resignation. Get behind Barack Obama and live to fight another day. Short of that she risks damaging her reputation, career and future aspirations in the Democratic party.

Do Your Homework When Purchasing A Product

If you are thinking about purchasing a product, perhaps an electronic device or equipment, think long and hard about where you decide to purchase the product. There are few hard and fast rules that you should employ before you decide to take the plunge and purchase the product.

Always consider the return policy- Never purchase a product from a store that only offers a two week return policy. You need at least one month to work out any kinks and to determine if the product is truly what you want or what you thought you wanted. A store must offer at least one month return policy and the assurance that you can return it undamaged with a receipt. If you don’t have that assurance, don’t purchase the product.

Many stores will allow you to purchase the product and give you a warranty, where they will actually send the product off for repair. That’s fine if you’re okay with the hassle involved and the time that you will spend away from your new toy. If there is a defect in the product I simply want to exchange the product for a new one, a different brand or I want my money back on the spot. If a store cannot make that promise, then don’t patronize the store or do business there.

As a general rule small mom and pop stores cannot afford to take back merchandise that you purchased two weeks ago. They can only send off your product to a contractor that they have as a referral and you are responsible for paying the charges that your warranty; if your purchased one, will not cover. Why put up with the hassle?

Solution- You can purchase high quality merchandise form Sams Club or BJ’s and you are able to return it in a reasonable amount of time with out hassle, certainly within 90 days. The products that they sell are far superior than what you would get at the mom and POP store that has been in business since the beginning of time. They probably provoked magnificent service back in the day, but times have changed. Large chains like Walmart and Target have offer generous return policies and you should not hesitate returning the product if you are not completely satisfied.

Whenever you purchase a product, make sure you keep the box it came in, with out the box, you are dead in the water in trying to return it; even if you have a receipt. Just because you have the money to pay for a product, don’t squander you money needlessly, by letting a company pass the service fulfillment onto you.

Obama/Edwards Could Be A Great Team

John Edward drops a bombshell on Wednesday, May 13; he endorsed Barrack Obama. One cannot help but think seriously about what this means. OBama has a problem with connecting with blue collar white voters in across the country. Edward could go a long way in sealing this voter leak. Edwards is an advocate for the poverty and has connected with voters in a big way in North Carolina, he and Barack Obama, could be a great team to bring the different factions of the Democratic Party together. What is your view on an Obama for President/Edward for Vice presidential ticket?

Edward said “There is one man who knows and understand that this is the time for Leadership”, Many say that Barack Obama can adopt the populism for John Edwards. Barack Obama is strategic by trotting out John Edwards’s endorsement on the heels of a landslide defeat in West Virginia by Hillary Rodham Clinton. What is your view of Obama’s strategy of dropping brilliant counter attacks such as announcing big endorsements at appropriate times?

Growing Up In A Time Of Change

My father was an African Methodist Minister and in 1960 he was assigned to pastor St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I was six years old when we moved to Chattanooga. We lived in Chattanooga from November 1960 to November of 1965. These were very volatile years. Historic years in terms of change and perhaps the most exciting time in 20th century if you were not only an African-American, but an American. In November 1965, My father was assigned as Pastor of Asbury Chapel AME Church in Louisville, Kentucky. I was able to see the world of segregation in Chattanooga and to see a totally different picture of open housing, white flight from neighborhoods, and open enrollment schooling in Louisville, Kentucky. Two contrasting situations. It was literally a tale of two cities.

I grew up as a child in the black church, specifically during the civil rights movement, I was born at the dawn of the freedom march movement in 1954. This enabled me to get a good view of the old; segregation, and the new; integration, open housing, the opening up of entertainment facilities that were at the time exclusively white. I remember when we were unable to go the the Martin Theater located in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. There was a black theater reserved for African- Americans in the black business district, called ninth street. My father being a local minister did not allow us to go to ninth street, because of the night clubs and unwholesome activity that took place there.

I remember seeing the effects of segregation and the restraints that it put on children like myself, but I also witness change and what could happen when doors were finally opened. I remember the church picnics we had and being confined to the “colored” parks; Lincoln Park and Booker T Washington State Park in Chattanooga. I also attended all black Howard Elementary school, which included on the same premises, Howard Junior High School and Howard High School. All African Americans who lived on the South side of Chattanooga were assigned to attend Howard High School. If you lived on the North side of Chattanooga and you were African- American you attended Orchard Park Elementary, Orchard Park Junior High and Riverside High School. If you lived on the east end of Chattanooga, you attended Booker T. Washington High School.

The city was totally segregated; school, entertainment facilities, parks and everything. During the time we lived in Chattanooga, much was happening nationally that influenced our lives in Chattanooga. Students at Howard High School and Riverside High School, planned a march in downtown Chattanooga to protest the segregation of entertainment facilities. My father was part of a ministerial alliance of other black ministers, who met with the mayor, police chief and other city officials to insure them that the student would be peaceful and cause no trouble and pleaded for their co-operation. The Chattanooga city officials were open to do whatever they could to insure that the students would not be harmed or arrested.

The Chattanooga experience was not a good one, because of substandard schools and deteriorating neighborhoods. The effects of segregation took its toll on the African- American community and neighborhoods were filled with derelicts and drunks, primarily because they had no hope of obtaining a good job, because of segregation laws. My father’s church and the parsonage was in the heart of this decadence. When we moved in November 1965 I was 11 years old. I had no white friends in Chattanooga. We lived in an African- American neighborhood and attended African American schools.

In November 1965, my father was assigned to pastor Asbury Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Louisville offered better opportunities for African Americans in terms of better schools and better neighborhoods. We lived in the West End of Louisville where neighborhoods were integrated , but they were rapidly becoming all black, as whites begin to move to the suburbs; classic white flight. For the first time in my life from the sixth grade to the 12th grade I attended school with white kids. As a matter of fact, my best friend was white. We played baseball and basketball together and we both attended Shawnee Junior High School and Shawnee High School. Louisville opened my eyes to a different world.

It also opened my eyes to the faults of both races, African- American and white. In 1967 while living in Louisville, riots took place in the west end of Louisville. We lived across the street from Shawnee Park in the church parsonage. There was a skating rink and an amusement park called Fountain Ferry Park, that was literally destroyed one summer evening by a riot, precipitated by African- Americans who lived in the West End. Fountain Ferry was great place to go to swim and to visit the amusement park. Then one summer day it was all destroyed by vandalism from African- Americans. There was already white flight in the neighborhood, but after this, the flight accelerated and in the a span of three years the west end of Louisville became virtually all black.

Louisville was sports town laced with excitement. I remember seeing Muhammad Ali one March day in 1966 on Grand Avenue. A large crowd was around Ali as he lived in the neighborhood. Ali was a Louisville legend and the stance he took by courageously refusing to be inducted into the US Army solidified his position during a time of change. Ali was banned from boxing for three years because of his stance. These were volatile times and much occurred in America. Not just the Civil Right Movement. The escalation of the Viet Nam War. The peace movement. The women’s liberation movement. All of this defined the sixties. It was a time when no one knew what they wanted to be. But we all knew we wanted change.

This was in fact the best time in my life It was a time that I learned about the changing face of America. It was a time when I literally saw the walls of segregation come tumbling down. It was a time when we saw Lyndon B. Johnson author and pass the Civil Right Legislation. It was a time when we saw great leaders assassinated. John F. Kennedy in 1963, Malcolm X in 1965, Martin Luther King in 1968 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968.

These were times of change and it opened doors for many African Americans, unprecedented in American history. My sisters were able to attend and graduate from a predominately white college. I attended and Graduated for East Tennessee State University in 1976, also predominately white. All of this would not have happened if it were not for the sacrifices of the many brave and courageous men and women that laid the foundation for what we now enjoy. I give tribute to the spirit which defines what the the American experience is all about. We live in the greatest country on earth and we should be proud of it.

How Far Have African Americans Come?

All we asked for 40 years ago was a seat at the table and the race was on…. for some African Americans. Obtaining goals is America is characterized by the energy one gives by the sweat of their brow and their willingness to reach for and grab hold of opportunities that are there if you are willing to pay the price. The class gap can be contributed to generational standards that take hold and never let go of families

This generational standard creates a bottleneck at the route of ascension that keeps families engulfed in poverty, addictions, and hopelessness, with no intention of individual within the family to seek a better way. Racism cannot be the culprit for this Gap, perhaps apathy can. The larger community simply does not care to educate those left behind. The larger community would rather turn a blind eye toward education and the teaching of socialization skills, crises management skills, and conflict resolution skills.

Some African Americans are somewhat their own worst enemy, spewing hate and attacking one anther with black on black crime. Robbing and killing one another for the looming prize of an I-Pod, when a college degree is there for the talking and learning how to invest in stock can give one the satisfaction of playing within the rules.

We are our own worst enemy and have no one else to blame when despite the presence of racism, we allow it to dictate the course of our lives. We can be better than that, we can overcome these things, it we only strive to be a thriving, caring part of a progressive society. No one is holding us back. Until we all buy into this fact, there will always be two classes of African Americans, the dream is near for us now. It is just a matter of “how much do we want it and how willing are we to get it? How willing are we to help our kids with homework? Turn off the video games? To teach our children to respect themselves and to respect others. To honor our women and not take advantage of them? To provide for our families?

Some of us have got it; we know the formula. Until we toss aside the narrow ways of thinking and the obsession that we have with things that do not matter, we will remain two classes of people the haves and the have nots? It’s a choice, just like everything in life.

Hillary’s Dirty Politics

The political season is showing a side of Hilary Clinton that we did not know. The intent of her political attacks on Obama has to be examined for what they are; tactical moves to bring him down. She had employed dirty political tactics that give politics a bad name. We all know by now that Hillary wants the presidential nomination badly. It has been her sole purpose for the last six years. In fact Hillary moved to New York and set up shop there for the purpose of building a political resume as a pre-requisite for her current run for the White House.

This was all pre-planned and orchestrated by Bill and Hillary. He would move to Harlem and she would become the Junior Senator from New York. The truth be told Hillary has been a good Senator in New York State. She has been attentive to her constituents and has served the office well. The not so pretty side of Hillary has only surfaced in this fight for the Democratic nomination for President.

One must also concur that the state of the economy and the county is so disjointed that either candidate; Barack or Hillary will do for the next four years. It is disheartening that a not so flattering side of Hillary has surfaced. If Hillary does not take both Texas and Ohio, it could be over for her. The stakes are high. The entire nation including John McClain will be watching.

So there we have it, Hillary Clinton up against the ropes in her only real fight for political office. Her only previous run was to become the Junior Senator from New York. That was a well orchestrated campaign in which she faced token opposition. Not at all a real test for her. But Obama is proving to be quite a formidable foe,whom Hillary underestimated from the start. This is unchartered land for Hillary, her political resume includes simply US Senator from New York.

The Influences of News Events

Is there really such a thing a real creative journalism? Yes there is. However most Journalism throughout history has been totally reactionary. Without news or events you have no stories. You have no features and you have no editorial expose. Our life and the chaos that surrounds it is news itself and we have so much of it that we will never, ever, have a shortage of reactionary news reporting and features.

Since the advent of Journalism editors , publisher, and reporters have reacted to the news to sell newspapers, increase ratings and increase impressions. It is a tenant of Journalism. Once the hard news story is reported, what follows is a steady stream of creatively done features. Take the erratic lifestyle of Brittany Spears. There have followed many features that have run the gamut. Will Brittany get help? What’s wrong with Brittany? You get the picture, with every news story there can be fashioned an up close and personal feature article.

Why is this the norm in Journalism? Because sizzle sells, sensationalism has always sold newspaper and magazines. It is the American way. Even on the Internet on the eve of the Super Tuesday primary the sensational stories abound; “Pro Clinton Push Poll Erupts in in California”, State Polls in California Shows Huge Gains By Obama- McClain, The sensationalism leading up to the primaries is in full force. Is this good for Journalism? Yes and No.

The trend toward reactionary creativity has always been in Vogue since the first newspapers were published. Newspaper have alway been a forum for journalist who had a mission to report in depth on issues of the day. War correspondents have followed armies to report on the life of soldiers abroad during war time situations. This was an important means of getting not only factual accounts, but the much needed human interest features that were so important to the folks back home eager to get any tidbits of what life was like on the war front.

Journalism has always been laced with sensationalism; as said before it sells. Real Creativity borders on creative expose, short stories and the like. This is too specialized to sell an audience so it’s place is in magazines, the Internet and books. As long as there is news there will always be opportunities for reactionary creativity.