I don't Care About Health

Image via WikipediaThey say it is but why? Who pays these people to tell us that good health and exercise are important? The health industry is a $500 billion dollar industry and growing. Think about it. You exercise and you exercise and what do you have to show for your results sore back, bad knees, messed up elbow. Then you go to doctors you make billions of dollars prescribing you drugs to make you feel better. Wait all those drugs have side effects. They can kill you, or cause heart damage of liver disease, etc, etc, etc. So then you go back for more pills and surgery. This is all done in the name of good health.

So is exercise and good health important? Doctors say it is. How do doctors make money? They need to treat sick people. If people did not get sick we would not need doctors. If people did not get hurt we would not need doctors. That would mean that we would not need drug companies or insurance companies. We would save so much money by not having gym memberships, dealing with doctors, insurance companies. That would then reduce or level of stress and we would live longer.

That sounds like a better deal to me then exercising. Just eat better reduce your stress and you will live longer. Some people may say I am crazy but it sure makes sense to me. We are to busy complicating life. We need to step back and realize that we are just animals that were put on this earth to procreate and eat. Why do we have to have a higher purpose then that?

Let’s discuss this more at 104health.com.

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Al-qaida is Winning the War and we are to blame!

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You don’t think so? Your stock portfolio is shrinking, your 401k is not worth anything, you have you’re your home plummet in value, and your bank is out of business. So do you still think we are winning this war against them?

Let us examine the situation. How do you do the most damage all western powers? Is it by killing their people? Is it by overthrowing a government? The answer is none. You destroy them by disrupting what they love most; Money, Power and Greed. The world trade center gets attacked. The world trade center represented the financial strength of this nation and a sign of stability. Things are not very stable now.

The governments of the world that are supported by the US rally to fight a war on terror. Our government is more focused on this war on terror then anything else in our country or around the world. Enter the greed and money. The wealthiest people in the world convince the government to deregulate a number of industries which opens up a faucet of riches to these people. These greedy people then manipulate the system to their advantage rape the world and walk away.

Let us now fast forward to October of 2008. We are no longer facing a US economic meltdown. We are actually facing a worldwide financial crisis, a destruction of our financial markets as we know it today. This crisis is going to destroy wealth around the world. It is going to create fear, hatred and destruction among countries and people. Why do you think the holocaust started? Hitler said that it was the fault of the Jews that their economy was so bad. He said if the people of Germany put him in charge he would get rid of the Jews and the German people would prosper with jobs.

Looks like history is repeating itself, we are on the verge of a worldwide great depression. We will then blame someone and World War III will be in affect. So let me ask you this question again. Is Al-Qaida winning the war and achieving their goals. I think so. They wanted chaos in our society and we let it happen. Shame on us.

Does this mean it is too late? Hell No! What is the solution? Not sure yet. Maybe this can be discussed at 104inc.com.

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You Should Vote None of the Above

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In 1985 a movie came out staring Richard Pryor and John Candy called “Brewster’s Millions.” The plot: A minor league baseball player has to waste $30m in 30 days in order to inherit $300m; however he's not allowed to tell anyone about the $300m deal. It sounds easy but it is not because he could not have any assets to show for his wasteful spending. They had limitations such as how much you could give to charity and lose gambling etc.

The movie illustrates how difficult it is to spend that amount of money and to not have anything to show for it. It is funny how our government can spend $700 Billion of our tax money and easily have nothing to show for it. The roads are not fixed. Traffic congestion is at an all time high. My health care costs are not paid for, the school districts waste our tax dollars on stuff that does not help educate my children, and the list goes on and on.

Getting back to the movie, one of the biggest ways to waste money is to run for public office. Richard Pryor’s character learned that and decided to run for Mayor of New York City. In that seen he made a very interesting observation. He pondered the question, “Why are the candidates spending millions of dollars to run for public office when the job itself pays about a fraction of what is being spent to run for office?”

Do any of you ever wonder that same question? I believe the President of the United States which is the highest paying job in our Federal Government which $400,000 per year as of 2000. The president also can get a pension that can pay him or her over $7M in paid benefits before they pass away. Also keep in mind that most of the people that run for office are already rich like George Bush and are Multi-Millionaires.

So why spend $500M - $1B for a presidential campaign for a job that only returns a fraction of that. The ROI there is not positive but negative. Not only that who are the people that are donating all this money and why is it so important that their candidate win? Because these are very rich people who want to get richer and stay rich. They are paying for their government. Your $5 donation to Barack Obama or John McCain is not going to get you good government. If these candidates want to be president so bad let them spend their own money.

They won’t because they are not stupid. The system was created to keep the powerful in power and the weak out of office. They do not want to do right by the American People. They only want to do right for their friends. Why aren’t more Americans standing up and asking these questions? Why aren’t more Americans upset about how things are going on Main Street and Wall Street? If you are so upset why do you only vote Republican or Democrat? How about None of the Above? Vote but make your vote count and show that you all have a lack of confidence in both candidates and you want and deserve more choices except for the same 2 people that they recycle every 4 years.

Join the revolution at 104inc.com and voice your opinion. VOTE NONE OF THE ABOVE this November.

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Got an extra $5,000 to spend?

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Got an extra $5,000 to spend?

Yep, that is how much you and every American will be paying for the government bailout. This does include your children. Luckily, it doesn’t include your cats, dogs, and fish. This year’s bailout includes the following items: $700 billion proposed Wall Street bailout; $85 billion for AIG; $200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; $150 billion stimulus package (your $600/person rebate check); $438 billion projected Federal deficit; and a small $29 billion bailout for Bear Stearns. Makes you glad you got that rebate check earlier this year, doesn’t it?

The scary part is that this number will probably grow. The Treasury Department is really just asking for a blank check and they won’t have any accountability to Congress or anyone else. There is the potential to include more than problem mortgages in this package. Car loans, student loans, and credit card debt could all be included in this package. This $700 billion Wall Street bailout could grow to over $2.5 trillion dollars.

Just in case you were curious, this won’t help only American banks - it will also help foreign banks. Pretty nice of the US taxpayer to help the world. Though, I guess we did help create the problem.

It was all about trying to take advantage of the system. The investment banks came up with inventive ways of repackaging debt. The rating agencies went along with something they obviously didn’t understand. Then, we didn’t think and went along with their greed. Why? Because we are just as bad as Wall Street is.

Some people bought houses with “neg am” loans. What a concept – you can make a payment, but it doesn’t have to even cover your interest payment - just go deeper in debt. The other cool idea was tapping into your new found “equity” in your home. Just refinance or take out a home equity loan, take out some cash, and go deeper in debt. Well, at least you got to buy a Gucci bag and a jet ski. Hope it was worth it.

Yell and scream at Wall Street and the government all you want, but we are just as much to blame.

Luckily, www.104inc.com isn’t going to be asking you to help them out. Go check out their website to get away from this mess.

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Things That Piss Me Off About the Financial Meltdown

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You say that is ok I will get into a money market fund because my money will be safe and liquid there. Well not anymore. The Wall Street Journal reported that a huge money-market fund, the Reserve Primary Fund, announced Tuesday that it lost money as its net asset value fell below the hallowed $1-per-share level, the first time one of these conservative funds has had a loss in 14 years. The reason is was debt securities it holds issued by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. This means that more losses may be in store for other money market funds. The S&P and Standard and Poor’s have placed several funds on credit watch for possible downgrades.

What does this mean for you the person living on Main Street? We are facing potentially the largest financial meltdown in history. This crisis will not only have ramifications in the United States but around the world.

The thing that pisses me off about all this is when those individuals in their Ivory Towers were looking down and seeing how much money they were making rather then seeing what the moral hazard is they wanted deregulation. They wanted the government to stay out of their business. Now that they are all strugiling and the businesses are collapsing they want the regulation and begging the government to bail them out.

As a community and as a country we are going to suffer. We need to stand up to all the politicians who make these laws and start voting them out. We need to make them understand that they are not in Washington to do the bidding of lobbyist but the bidding of the American People. What makes our country any better then any other country? Nothing because what we call bribery based on the activities of other nations we call here lobbying. We need to stop playing on words. If it looks like a bribe and it smells like a bribe then it is a bribe. Deep pockets buy good government for those who can afford it. The rest can all suffer based on that philosophy.

Stop the madness people. It is time for a financial revolution. The best way that we can affect change is by hitting where it hurts the most. Not by wars and fighting and killing but by hurting the deep pockets. Stop voting for the same people over and over again. Stop picking only Democrats and Republicans. Both parties have controlled this country for over 100 years. What is different from that and a dictator? Nothing!

Check out 104inc.com and join the revolution of people who want to break the monopoly on deep pocket businesses. 104inc will help the little guy unlike Yahoo and Google.

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You Must Vote Or Risk Death!

Image by comicbase via Flickr The time will shortly be upon us. Obama? McCain? None of the above? Let's face it, America. Every John Q. Taxpayer has been taking jab after jab from the government the last 8 years. It's time for a change, and that change is now! There are those strongly for McCain, and those strongly for Obama. Equally so, there are those who are still undecided, and some, sadly, who could care less. Let me implore you all that the country is in absolute turmoil. Need some help deciding, then you, family, and friends should visit 104Vote.com, a keen website with great articles and reviews of all things politics.

In the meantime, allow me to say the following: when former President Clinton was in office, there was a surplus. There were 22+ million new jobs, a booming economy, etc. Since "W" took the reigns, all that has faded, leaving a flurry of foreclosed homes, disgruntled unemployed workers, and a deficit that ten Bill Gates' couldn't get us out of.

Still need help voting democrat. OK. Here it is. Log on to 104Vote.com and after reading many articles, you'll see that you can only spell change O-B-A-M-A. The man is primed and ready to rock the nation and bring the United States of America back to the international supremacy we were globally known for. He's ready to bring the value of the dollar back, to lower taxes, and all that other good stuff. Sure, most politicians say the same thing, but after what Bush did to the country, aren't you ready for a change? And with McCain (Bush II) running, what would be the difference? He's agreed with Bush on over 90% of bills that crossed his desk over Bush's two terms. So, if he agreed with arguably the worst president in history, what would make him any different.

Nothing.

OBAMA 2008. Register to vote today! Vote in November, log on to 104Vote.com, and get ready for great years to come!

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Sarah Palin Attack Dog or Barracuda?

Image by bobster1985 via Flickr Another week, another political convention. This week kicks off the Republican National Convention that will see the nomination of John McCain for President and Sarah Palin for Vice-President, though the schedule is in flux with Hurricane Gustav that has landed in Louisiana.
McCain named Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate on August 29th. She was more or less a surprise pick. She is not well known on the national scene, at least from a media perspective.

The first day of the convention was greatly abbreviated. The only real speakers were Laura Bush and Cindy McCain putting out a call for help for the areas affected by Gustav. They also made announcements of some projects that the Republicans will be undertaking to help victims of Gustav. This fit with the theme for the day: Service.

The theme for Tuesday was Reform. The main speakers of the evening were Laura Bush, George Bush, Fred Thompson, and Joe Lieberman. President Bush gave a very short speech about McCain and didn’t really say too much. Fred Thompson followed and defended the choice of Sarah Palin for vice-president and helped define McCain a bit more. He was followed by Joe Lieberman, who was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee 8 years ago. Lieberman went between praising McCain, defending Palin, and hitting out at Barack Obama. The keynote speech to be given by Rudy Guiliani was moved to Wednesday.

Wednesday the theme is Prosperity. Palin gave her acceptance speech tonight and America got their first real chance to know her. Palin filled the vice-presidential role of attack dog. And she did a good job of attacking Barack Obama and Joe Biden. McCain is going to have a tough time topping her speech. Also speaking were Mitt Romney, Meg Whitman, Mike Huckabee, and Kay Bailey Hutchinson. The speeches once again seem to focus on John McCain, but not on any policy stances for the candidates.

Thursday will be John McCain’s day. The theme for the final day of the convention is Peace. The day is supposed to showcase McCain’s idea of American goodwill and our pursuit of peace in the world. McCain tops off the evening with his acceptance speech. Then the campaign can begin with 60 days until Election Day.

The convention schedule will be very flexible and may change on any day in response to the events of Gustav. One of the places you can keep up with the ever changing world is 104inc.com.

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Republicans Say Country First & Change Second!

Image by sloomis08 via FlickrAnother week, another political "country first" convention. This week kicks off the Republican National Convention that will see the nomination of John McCain for President and Sarah Palin for Vice-President, though the schedule is in flux with Hurricane Gustav that has landed in Louisiana.

McCain named Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate on August 29th. She was more or less a surprise pick. She is not well known on the national scene, at least from a media perspective.

The first day of the convention was greatly abbreviated. The only real speakers were Laura Bush and Cindy McCain putting out a call for help for the areas affected by Gustav. They also made announcements of some projects that the Republicans will be undertaking to help victims of Gustav. This fit with the theme for the day: Service.

The theme for Tuesday is Reform. The main speakers of the evening were Laura Bush, George Bush, Fred Thompson, and Joe Lieberman. President Bush gave a very short speech about McCain and didn’t really say too much. Fred Thompson followed and defended the choice of Sarah Palin for vice-president and helped define McCain a bit more. He was followed by Joe Lieberman, who was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee 8 years ago. Lieberman went between praising McCain, defending Palin, and hitting out at Barack Obama. The keynote speech to be given by Rudy Guiliani was moved to Wednesday.

Wednesday the theme will be Prosperity. Palin will be speaking that night and it will give her a chance to let America know her. Also speaking will be Mitt Romney, Meg Whitman, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and possibly Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. It is kind of odd though that the Republican website for the convention hasn’t been updated with Palin’s name.

Thursday will be John McCain’s day. The theme for the final day of the convention is Peace. The day is supposed to showcase McCain’s idea of American goodwill and our pursuit of peace in the world. McCain tops off the evening with his acceptance speech. Then the campaign can begin with 60 days until Election Day.

The convention schedule will be very flexible and may change on any day in response to the events of Gustav. One of the places you can keep up with the ever changing world is 104inc.com.

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Why I Think Michael Phelps Isn't The Greatest American Olympian Ever

Seems like a pretty easy question. He just set the record for the most gold medals and most medals won by an individual in one Olympics. He also has the most gold medals won by an athlete in multiple Olympics. However, Larissa Latynina has won the most individual medals in the Olympics with 18 to Phelps 16. (Latynina of Russia won her medals in gymnastics between 1956 and 1964.) Phelps was part of seven world records in his events this year. That ties Mark Spitz’s record of 7 world records in the 1972 Olympics. Phelps won 5 of his gold medals in individual events (Spitz’s won 4 in 1972) and the remaining 3 gold medals in the relays.

But what about Eric Heiden? He won five individual gold medals in speed skating in the 1980 winter Olympics. He won the medals in distances from 500 meters to 10,000 meters, which might be more impressive than Phelps’ medals. Phelps’ medals were all in shorter distances, while Heiden’s medals were in short and long distances. In addition, Heiden later crossed over into the world of professional bike racing, even competing in the 1986 Tour de France.

Carl Lewis was another impressive Olympian. He won 10 gold medals in the Olympics between 1984 and 1996. That included winning the long jump title in four straight Olympics. Lewis also qualified for the 1980 Olympics team that boycotted the Olympics held in Moscow.
Though for all of their greatness, these Olympians’ impact is probably less profound than that of Jesse Owens. Owens won four medals in the 1936 Medals held in Berlin. It wasn’t the numbers of medals that he won, but where and when. 104inc.com is a website that is trying to make a difference in the where and when of the Internet.

Who do you think is the best Olympian ever? Please leave your comments below and vote!

Current Home Buyers Beware!

I have been in Lending and Real Estate for about 12 years professionally. Before that I was always with my Grandfather watching and learning this business from him. He was in this business for over 50 years. What is happening today is unprecedented.

Nothing like this has happened in over 100 years and nothing like this may occur again. At this point all I can say is “Buyer Beware” and “Current Homeowner Beware.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two GSE’s that purchase all of the conventional mortgages in the United States, last week reported losses in the 2nd quarter which was 3 times less then what Wall Street estimated. After they reported there earnings they announced that home prices are expected to fall on average an additional 20% from their current levels. Some areas will not lose as much while other areas will be impacted a great deal. The hardest hit areas will be California, Nevada, Florida, and Arizona.

What does this mean to buyers?

What you buy today will be worth less in the next 12 months. Once home do start appreciating they will appreciate at a much slower pace then at anytime in our history.

What does this mean to current home owners?

As long as you have no plans to move for several years then you are fine. For those who cannot afford the house payment anymore you might as well just walk away because I do not see any relief in sight. Even though the government approved that Housing rescue bill we still do not know all the details. It is estimated that it will only help 400,000 families but it is estimated that a total of 2 million families will be hit with Foreclosures in 2008.

What can we do?

I do not have the answers. However you may be able to find the answers by speaking to a professional in your area that handles these types of issues. You may have to confer with an attorney, tax, or real estate professional to help you with a plan. And believe me a plan is what every person needs right now. Do not go into this blindly. Get as much information as you can and be ready for the biggest roller coaster ride ever.

To find a qualified person to talk to in your area just go to 104inc.com. This site allows me to search different firms by geo-targeting the area that I live in. Check out 104cpa.com, 104realestate.com or 104attorneys.com as a starting point. You can see reviews posted by other users and join a network of like people who may be in the same.

Should Lopez Lomong have been been the United States Olympics Flag Bearer?

The Olympics have started and one of the more interesting stories for the United States team has been who the athletes have chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremonies. They could have easily chosen someone like Michael Phelps or Kobe Bryant, but they chose Lopez Lomong. Lomong is a runner and is scheduled to run in the 1,500 meter race.
Lomong was born in Sudan and is one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan”. The Lost Boys are group of about 3,800 refugees from Sudan that were brought from Sudan to the United States in 2001. Only about 100 of the refugees were female. They were either separated from their parents or orphaned. The Lost Boys were spread out over 38 cities in U.S. The story was made into a documentary called “Lost Boys of Sudan” which follows the adjustment period of some of the refugees that came to America.

Lomong was relocated to Tully, NY when he was transferred to the U.S. from Sudan. He graduated from high school in Tully and went to college at Northern Arizona University. Lomong became an American citizen in 2007. Lomong is also part of Team Darfur, which is a group of athletes from various countries that want to bring attention to the crisis in Darfur.
The story of the Lost Boys isn’t quite the same as the current conflict in Darfur. The deaths occurred in different parts of Sudan and to different ethnic groups; however, both of the crises have resulted in the deaths of millions of people.

There are many facets to Lomong’s story. There is the sports side, the political side, and the charity aspect. 104inc.com is one of the places you can go on the internet to get all of the aspects of a story.

Do you think that Lopez Lomong should have been been the United States Olympics Flag Bearer even though he's only been a citizen since 2007? Comments?

http://www.articlesbase.com/track-and-field-articles/why-lopez-lomong-one-of-the-lost-boys-of-sudan-was-united-states-olympics-flag-bearer-during-the-opening-ceremonies-519164.html