In celebration of Labor Day [The History of Labor Day], I thought a discussion on labor unions was in order.

Labor Unions have a long and interesting history. They still play a huge role in American labor and they are here to stay.

Union reputation varies and opinions are very strong for both the pro-union and anti-union camps. I’ll paste one of each below and then would love to hear your opinion.

Slavenomore from the Truckingboards Truck Driver Forums says,

“If GM did not have union workers and they ended up broke as they were..Do you think that the Gov’t would have helped them stay open and help them workers to keep their jobs?

Other things I’d say without links to back it up…
I would think the unions are the reason for weekends (and most probably a lot of other holidays also)
And vacation time paid.
And paid sick time
And paid personal days
Company supplied retirement plans
Company supplied health care/insurance

I’ve worked at nonunion places which have had some of the above..And some probably have none of the above.
Maybe they always gave that stuff to the educated or management but I doubt that a lot of companies gave them to laborers before the unions were strong. I personally think a lot of bennies and pay rates are given to nonunion just to keep their people happy enough to not want us [Unions]…in other words, to keep us [Unions] out.

and…

Sheryl from The Internet Marketers Guild and about a million other websites says,

“I’m trying to think of something nice to say about any Union workers I have had to deal with…..*24 hours pass*. I am still trying to come up with something nice…..

Oh, I know. Union workers ALWAYS know when it’s break time. They also know exactly what is in their job description *Calling 911 if you cut your arm off is not likely in their job description and they will need to call their rep to see if a vote can be conducted at the next meeting to allow for 911 calls*.
Sorry that is the best I can do off the top of my head.

Do you know which shovel belongs to a Government employee?
The one with the flattened tip from hours of a fat a$$ leaning on it!“

Your thoughts? Pro Union or Anti-Union? What do you see for the future of labor unions? Are unions keeping big business at bay? The Government? Your opinion matters here so Just Say It!

I have intentionally omitted my opinion to be fair.
If you are that interested you can see how I feel on this Facebook discussion.

Now I’m not a mean spirited person but sometimes I just have to speak my mind.

Jesse Jackson’s Cadillac Escalade was stolen in Detroit. The expensive SUV was taken to the 4400 block of Lawton in Detroit. [I am very familiar with that area. I once reported a stripped 48 foot semi trailer there once.] Thieves had removed the tires and rims from the Escalade used to cart Jackson around. Here’s where the funny part comes in…

Ironically, Jesse Jackson’s gas-guzzling Escalade was stolen after a “Green Jobs” rally where he was promoting government-funded green jobs. At least JJ’s doing his part to help the environment. The march and rally was called “Rebuild America: Jobs, Justice and Peace.”

I understand many feel Jesse Jackson has done a lot for civil rights and I’m not equipped to argue that point right this minute. To this blogger this is yet another example of a loud mouth big shot talking the talk and not walking the walk.

We little insignificant people need to buckle down and live cleaner, greener lives while the Jesse Jackson’s of the World get shoffered, flown and treated like royalty everywhere they go. Do you think Jesse Jackson has his handlers call ahead and reserve a hybrid? Funny, isn’t it?

Ok, now I know this has to pinch some nerves. Have an opinion? Don’t be shy, comment below.

I am not an atheist nor am I religious. I believe things of the universe are far too complicated for us to even comprehend. Apparently I share this view with Stephen Hawking. In an interview with Diane Sawyer of ABC News, Hawking said, “They [Religious people] made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship. When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant an accidental human life is in it, that seems most impossible.”

There is a difference between seeking science and disputing religion. The difference is intent.

Religion should be left at belief, not stated as fact. Science is fact once theory is proven, until then it’s just theory. Theory is a very important part of science. Once scientific theory is used as a weapon or tool to disprove beliefs of others it ceases to become science – if my Mother were still alive she would say it is just being hateful.

Stephen Hawking – 1, Atheists – 0

There is no room in science for anything other than facts and the search for facts to advance our knowledge and understandings. Attacking religion in the name of science is no different than attacking a fat man simply because he is fat. It might be true, that he is fat, but going out of the way to point that out is a step backward, not forward. Science is about moving forward. As brilliant as Stephen Hawking is, he is still just an infant in a universe beyond human comprehension. With that said, I do believe Stephen Hawking’s statements that the media has paraphrased as ‘God Did Not Create the Universe’ are legitimate disputes in seeking the truth in science. It’s all about his intent. Atheists using these statements to disprove organized religion is, well, just hateful.

Your thoughts?

Image Credit: Barack Obama speaks to Stephen Hawking – Wikipedia
This image is a work of an employee of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, taken or made during the course of the person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

Sometimes the best pranks take a little effort. This one is funny as hell. I wish I had time for cool things like this. What’s your best prank? Feel free to link to it.

Image Credit: imageTXT.com

Winding down for the weekend I thought I’d check the weather on Weather.com and while there I noticed a local ad ‘Acai Berry EXPOSED (Van Buren Twp Report)‘. I clicked the link and at first glance Channel5healthNews.net looked like an actual news site. These scammers went out of their way to deceive consumers.

Check the site out Channel5healthNews.net, it’s loaded with repeated affiliate links. Hell, even the weather links [Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar] are disguised affiliate links. I’d be very surprised if that wasn’t in violation of someone’s TOS. Unbelievable!

Speaking of violations, the site appears to be in blatant violation of the FTC’s Guides Governing Endorsements and Testimonials. They have plenty of fine print at the bottom of the page but I see no acknowledgment of affiliate links. I’m not an attorney but it looks pretty plain to me.

I found these sites, all identical or very similar:

1. http://channel5healthnews.com/
2. http://www.channel5healthnews.net/
3. http://www.news6report.org/
4. http://healthybegins.com/acaiberrydiet/
5. http://www.consumerbuzzweekly.com/
6. http://www.healthnews6.tv/
7. http://consumershealthtips.com/
8. http://www.healthybegins.com/acaiberrydiet/

What’s the big deal? Here’s what unsuspecting buyer’s are in store for:

• Acai Berry Plus – You must cancel within 10 DAYS to avoid a membership fee of $169.95 and charges of $22.95 per month.
• Vita Cleanse – Your free bottle will actually cost you $69.95 plus $4.95 s&h immediately and then a month later you pay another $74.90! Where’s your free bottle? After you have dropped almost $150, IF you qualify for their Mail-In Rebate Program you can receive a rebate of $69.95. That’s your FREE bottle of Vita Cleanse.

Your thoughts? Should these people be shut down? Is the whole Acai Berry weight loss fad a scam? Know of any other low life Acai Berry scams taking advantage of the unsuspecting consumers with deceptive tactics?

Other Resources:
Ripoff Report
Consumer Complaints Board

I’m very reluctant to post on this issue because I cannot find a single legitimate news report about it. There are tons of blog and forum posts but is this even real? There are reports on sites like AuctionBytes.com and ReveNews but where are the main stream media reports?

Basically, the story is that eBay sued [allegedly] three of its top affiliates, including Shawn Hogan of Digital Point, for cookie stuffing fraud. The suit is on hold while federal charges take their course. After a FBI investigation, Shawn Hogan and Brian Dunning were [allegedly] indicted by a California grand jury for various accounts of wire fraud.

I just finished reading Shawn Hogan’s blog post on DigitalPoint. First of all, I can’t believe his attorneys let him post that, if indeed he was the actual author. It seems like it could eventually backfire, or maybe it just doesn’t matter anymore.

Click To Read: Shawn Hogan’s Post On DigitalPoint

Anyway, the entire story smells wrong. Shawn would have everyone believe he was an innocent pawn of eBays and was trying to do the right thing. Little things like him paying $50,000 for an eBay employee’s car to get them to ‘stop complaining about a car’ seem a little ridiculous. And why would someone earning a million dollars a month need to point out they had ‘a crappy TV and crappy laptop‘? Everything doesn’t seem to add up. How does a grown man say he kept saying ‘no‘ and eBay wouldn’t accept no for an answer [paraphrased]. No one was forcing him to be an affiliate. I mean, unless eBay works like the mafia of something. I suspect it would be very difficult for anyone to turn away from that kind of money.

This is all speculation on my part and I’m in the dark as much as anyone but it seems like someone smart enough to build that much money would cover their own ass. If I’m being asked to break someone’s own terms, I’m getting that request in writing. Otherwise you’re jeopardizing future earnings when they suspend or revoke your affiliate status later. If they ask me to violate the law or illegally hurt another person/company, I’m walking away, period!

If you have found any legitimate news report on this issue please share it in a comment. Feel free to link to it.

What do you think? Is the story real? Does the post on DigitalPoint ring true? Who do you believe? Go ahead and have your say.

Special Thanks to Yan Susanto and Mitch Mitchell for their Facebook conversation that led to this post.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/people/28288673@N07/
CC BY-SA 2.0

I have totally enjoyed my vacation this week. I spent nearly the entire week sitting on my front porch. (photo)

I’m fortunate to get three weeks’ vacation a year. It took ten years at one job to qualify for that. I’m not sure how many days the average working Americans gets for vacation each year but it couldn’t possibly compare to those in office.

President Barack Obama is on his 6th Vacation of the Year. Admittedly, his vacations have been short with a total of just 20 for the first five. That’s a total of 70 days since he took office.

In comparison President George W. Bush spent a total of 225 days of vacation at this point of his first term. In fact, George W. spent a total of 879 days on vacation or holiday in his eight years in office.

Our Soldiers get thirty days a year and they deserve every minute of it. I believe the President, Congress and everyone in public office paid with tax payer’s money should be limited to thirty days a year.

I’ve heard the arguments before as far as congress. Washington isn’t their home and their family lives elsewhere. Too bad, they fought tooth and nail to get the job and spent a ton of money as well. If they need to spend months a year off they should shut the hell up and retire. Soldiers spend tour after tour overseas in the worst conditions possible and they don’t get to whine about home time.

“Enjoy Your Vacation, Mr. President. This puts you at your thirty day maximum for the year so once you get back get your ass to work.”

How much time off do you get? Do you think politicians should work a little more? Go ahead, speak your mind!

Photo Credits:
http://www.flickr.com/people/turtlemom_nancy/
http://www.flickr.com/people/vox_efx/
http://www.flickr.com/people/egansnow/
CC BY-SA 2.0
Video:
CNBC.com

My mother always said, “Never talk about politics or religion“. So in the true spirit of my questionable upbringing, let’s get this thing started. I fully expect to strike a nerve in many and look forward to the backlash. That is if I can get people to read this blog. Don’t hold back, go ahead and say it!

The tithing debate, at least on TRISI, shouldn’t be confused as an attack on religion or churches. Personally, I’m referring to required tithing or high pressure tactics by the Church or its management.

Many churches require mandatory tithing by Christians (giving 10% of their gross income to the Church) in order to become Church members. This is where I have a problem with tithing. Voluntary tithing or twentything (joking) is fine as long as it’s not required to become a member of the Church. And I’m not talking about some lame ass ‘exceptions’ for certain situations such as laid off or unemployed members. No one should be forced to donate to become a member.

Voluntary offerings to support their Church, house of worship or religious institutions is an admirable thing to do. If you attend, you should contribute in my opinion. That’s not the issue. As far as I’m concerned, even mandatory tithing isn’t a problem; as long as the Church operates as a business and pays the appropriate taxes.

Once donations or offerings become mandatory, they are no longer donations. They are membership dues. They should not be tax deductible and the Church should pay tax on the proceeds. Fair is fair. Either you want tax free status or you want a business. It’s simple math. Service provided for cost equals business.

And while I’m on the subject, stop saying it’s for God. That’s bullshit; God isn’t asking for money, the Church is. Nothing wrong with that but at least be honest about it. It’s to run the lights and pay the bills. To keep the Pastor/Minister/Reverend/Priest or whatever else they call themselves in decent cloths and housed properly. All good things if done with the right heart and for the right reason. Fear of hell or rejection is great business but not very Godly… Well, Ok, you got me there. lol

BTW, Send donations to my PayPal account or you are going to hell. Joking, I’m a very funny guy.

Just for your personal interpretation. I just want to be fair:

Malachi 3:10 (New International Version)
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

Malachi 3:10 (New Living Translation)

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

Malachi 3:10 (King James Version)
10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Source: BibleGateway.com Very cool site!

Post inspired by a Facebook discussion started by Scotty Reid of the Black Talk Radio Network.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/people/mcgraths/
CC BY-SA 2.0