Archive for October, 2010
Vote Responsibly
During the next few days, leading up to Tuesday, you are going to hear a lot of things from a lot of people about a lot of candidates. No matter what they say, or what you hear, make sure you do one thing on election day.
Vote your conscience.
Too many times people think they have no choice but to vote for the lesser of two evils when they could, in fact, vote for the best candidate, if they just take the time to review each candidates record and then make an informed decision.
To function properly, conscience requires formation and information. Conscience is not just a “gut feeling.” Formation of conscience involves the following for all people:
- understanding basic norms that distinguish right from wrong
- having sufficient factual knowledge of the issues at hand
- prudently and deliberately considering our actions
- recognizing that a good end never justifies morally unacceptable means
Take a few moments this weekend to research the candidates on your ballot and don’t just show up to vote because you have to, show up to vote so you can make a difference.
This Sounds Familiar
A friend on Facebook sent me the link to this story the other day.
Oops We Lost Your Docs So You’re Going To Foreclosure
The headline alone tells the whole story. Heck, it tells my story. Other than the location and the name of the mortgage company, this is pretty much exactly what we just went through.
She did some research into my account and discovered that the person who was assigned to handle my closing had discovered on October 5th that she/he could not find my signed and notarized documents and that my loan has been marked as me not paying as agreed on and that was why I started receiving these letters.
The only difference with my experience is that the mortgage never contacted me. Other than the two letters, on August 8 and 12, informing me they were calling the note and/or wanted everything but my first born child to make things right, I haven’t heard a word from my mortgage company. Nothing. Nada.
I’ve heard so-called “experts” talking about the foreclosure crisis on the news. Many of them say that no one who is making payments is losing their home. That is a bold-faced lie. Whether or not someone was making payments on their mortgage, if they were in a refinance or modification when the foreclosure crap hit the fan, they got screwed. Period.
Keeping A Watchful Eye
Ahh, I feel much better now. Through the Georgia birding grapevine we heard there were some Franklin’s Gulls at West Point Lake today. We couldn’t resist the temptation to drive down and check them out.
We spotted them almost immediately, but the star of our day was a beautiful Bald Eagle that flew in and landed just 30-40 feet from where we were standing.
I never get tired of seeing Bald Eagles. Today was just the day I needed to get back into a “normal” birding routine.
Out Of Control
Here I thought that basing your decision to hire employees on their credit scores was a bad idea, it seems the city of New York wants to place restrictions on their residents’ constitutional rights.
New York City residents who want to own a gun may soon be denied permits if they are litterbugs, if they are bad drivers, or if they have fallen behind on a few bills.
Under proposed revisions to the police department’s handgun, rifle and shotgun permit procedures, the NYPD can reject gun license applicants for a number of reasons, including:
If they have been arrested or convicted of almost any “violation,” in any state; having a “poor driving history”; having been fired for “circumstances that demonstrate lack of good judgment”; having “failed to pay legally required debts”; being deemed to lack “good moral character”; or if any other information demonstrates “other good cause for the denial of the permit.”
This my friends is the reason we have so many problems in our country. Federal, state, county, and local governments are out of control.
I Miss The Photographic Groove
It’s been a while since I have been able to get outside with the camera, but here are some photos from the last trip we took to the E.L. Huie ponds in August.
Now that we’re moved in, and mostly settled, I hope to get back into the photographic groove.
Bad Credit Leads To Dishonest Employees
In my personal opinion, as someone who was laid off in January of 2009 and has had 101 crappy financial things happen to him since then, this is a stupid, stupid idea.
Checking the credit histories of job applicants—a common practice among employers—is coming under fire.
Four states have passed laws in the past three years that limit the practice, and similar bills have been introduced in 20 other states and Congress. The issue has surfaced in the wake of the recession, which has left many unemployed workers with tattered credit.
How many people, today, have spotless credit? Seriously? With “reportable” unemployment numbers floating around 10% and the real unemployment numbers being as high as 20%, that means one in five people have had “a rough spot” in this economic crisis.
How many of those people are like me? How many of those people had spotless credit until they lost their job? How many of those people focused on their house, utility, car, and food bills to stay afloat and let everything else go until they got back on their feet? How many of those people are still trying to get back on their feet?
The underlying concern is that poor credit could become a barrier to landing a job. Employers contend credit checks help them evaluate candidates and protect against fraud.
Credit checks do not reveal the real danger for employers. To use credit scores as a tool to “protect against fraud” is pointless because those committing fraud and bilking the companies out of their precious bottom line are doing while no one is looking. When making a loan, a lender may inquire about information on the credit standing, credit worthiness, credit capacity, or general standing of consumers. More information on LexisNexis Credit risk management, check out solutions.
The argument is that people who have bad credit are more likely to steal from your company. To say those with bad credit are dishonest is just asinine. In some cases, that might be true, but for the majority, those with bad credit would probably be thankful for the opportunity to keep putting food on the table for their kids.
Just sayin’.
It’s Time To Boogie!
Our middle son has been wanting a puppy for a while. His brothers have their own dog or cat, and he wanted a little buddy to take care of, so we decided to start watching the animal shelter and local rescue groups.
That’s how we found Boogie, a Shitzu/Poodle mix.
We took a drive up to Chattanooga, Tennessee today to meet Boogie. He had a pretty hard life, like most rescues, but we felt it was worth the drive to see if he wanted to make our home his forever home.
We arrived late, but we still got there before Boogie. His rescuer had a lot of dogs to transport today, and we were willing to wait. When Boogie arrived he met our son first, so we could see if they bonded, and sure enough, within moments he was sitting in our son’s lap making sure he (our son) was taken.
He travelled well in the truck on the way home, sleeping part of the trip and when we got home he had the luxury of meeting the other dogs. Funny thing, he’s not too interested in them, he does however, have a fetish for the cat and the cat is none to pleased with him.
He’s housebroken (for the most part), although he seems to be attempting to mark his territory, and he doesn’t leave our son’s side if he doesn’t have to.
It’s going to be an interesting few days while all the animals, and humans, adjust, but it should all work out just fine. I just hope I still have my sanity when all is said and done.
Looking Ahead With A Positive Outlook
Good evening. Before you ask, yes, I voted today.
Chuck Donovan, John Monds, Kira Willis, and many more Libertarians received my vote today. I will be honest though, as I did vote for a couple Republican candidates as well because I felt they were qualified to hold (or keep) the office they are running for.
I won’t run through each office line by line, but but I will say that it was quite refreshing to vote this year. This is the first time, in a very long time, that I was able to vote for the best candidate in each race, rather than the lesser of two evils in each race.
That’s how it should always be. We should always vote for the best person for the job, rather than following some party line and selecting all the D’s or R’s on the ticket. I’m thinking of getting a bumper sticker made that says “Don’t blame me, I voted for the best candidate this time around!” I bet those would sell.
Whenever I take political polls on the internet, I always end up right-of-center, in the Libertarian end of the arena. This is the first time my vote will actually represent that same result.
I call that progress! I can hardly wait to see what else the Libertarian Party in Georgia has planned for the future.