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Credit card rates at record highs near 15%
In the above linked article from CNNMoney.com you'll be able to read the latest news about credit card companies, banks and how they've been up to their old tricks again. Can't say that I'm too surprised. Are you?
But here's my audio commentary on that issue and some other related and broader ones.
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Oh great..... this is nice news to know!
According to this video, not only is it super easy to break into a suitcase that opens and closes with a zipper, i.e. the zipper closure, even if locked, can still be 'hacked', but you're also legally responsible for anything found in your suitcase ....for example, if somebody wanted to 'set you up' by putting drugs or something in your suitcase.
Point?
Keep you eye on your suitcase at all time....if you can.
Of course, we both know that there's no way to really do that. Not...."all" the time, anyway.
Here's the video:
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Check out this upper left hand headline summary from Drudge Report:
Fighter jets swoop over Cairo in show of force...
Mubarak meets with military commanders...
Generals tell him to quit...
Troops move into Tahrir square as curfew passes...
ElBaradei joins protesters in square...
Says US 'losing credibility by the day'...
Clinton calls for 'orderly transition'...
'We're not advocating any specific outcome'...
Convicts pour out of prisons...
UPDATE: 100+ dead; 2,000 injured...
Flights out halted, tourists trapped...
But 19 private jets get out...
Egypt shuts down Al Jazeera bureau...
LIVE STREAM...
Those headlines....aren't that indicative of the typical reaction of most governmens to the will of the people? I think it is.
I will also comment that I don't know what the hell 'they' (i.e. the government) thinks a couple of jets flying around in the sky is supposed to do. It's like thinking that you're going to frighten away an ant colony by waving a can of Raid over a few ants crawling around on the surface.
Jeeeez! It's no wonder the Israelis kicked their ass several years ago!
But...you know what?
When I see stuff like this happening (especially lately) it always makes me suspicious of what the real cause is. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some other less obvious but more devious interests pulling the strings here.
I hope Jesus comes real soon because the world is just plain ol' fucked up. This movie you're looking at right could very well be playing at a theater near you sooner than you realize.
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Here's a website. I'm sure it's not the only such one. But it's the one that I just found. What's interesting and valuable about it is that it shows what some apartments cost in Manila.
More specifically, it shows that some one bedroom efficiencies go for around $550-600.
Wait!
I know that's a lot. I know it's more than, say........what the rates probably are in Houston (for example). But consider two things:
First....the units that advertise on sites like this always represent the upper segment of the market. These are the units that can afford to advertise. And second.....if this is what advertised units cost then you know there's other, cheaper, places to be had if you've got the time to look for them.
Plus.....for lots of people, i.e. people with a little cash....these prices wouldn't be out of line if they wanted to live in a really upscale area. Manila does have a lot to offer if you've got some money. A lot of people in the US could afford apartments like this and I'm sure they would enjoy living in Manila.
I just think it's really interesting to contemplate lifestyles and living costs in different areas of the world.
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I'll bet those of you who know that the Philippines has a lot of people living below the poverty level (according to this linked article....about 70%!)....I'll bet you didn't know that as recently as the 80'2 they were a net exporter of rice and some other stuff and that they were cosidered on of the most prosperous counties in SE Asia.
I didn't know that. But this article, linked by text below, squarely discusses the root cause of poverty in the Philippines. It's pure and simple political corruption.
Ya know....watching all the stuff going on over in Egypt lately...it makes one wonder why something like that couldn't happen in other countries. Like maybe the Philippines.
Maybe it could. I don't know.
I do remember reading some positive statistics about positive growth of the GDP, or GNP, in the Philippines lately. If so, that's a good thing because it seems to me the Philippines has so much potential for being a happy, prosperous, enjoyable and English speaking oasis in SE Asia. Maybe even moreso than Singapore.
Here's the article. It's short but good:
This video about kids in the Philippines that scavenge garbage reminds me of reading also how lots of teachers who teach in Cambodia develop a real appreciation for the positive attitude that most Cambodians have toward their life of relative poverty.
In the Philippines, everybody who lives there for any length of time comes to appreciate the incredibly positive attitude toward life that Philippinos have even if they don't have much material wealth. The strength they get from their family togetherness is really very impressive.
And I know something about that myself from involvement with some Filipino friends of mine here in S.Korea.
I still don't totally understand why a country that's so beautiful and has such industrious people, and where English is a second language.....why they have such poverty. I've heard that corruption has something to do with it. It just reminds me that corrupt politicians are the best justification for vigilantes.....and the best use for trees and rope.
My heart really goes out for little girls like in this video. Look and listen to how positive she stays in spite of how economically disadvantaged she is.
Anybody who reads this blog much at all knows I really like Simon Black's site, www.sovereignman.com. He's a traveler, an entrepreneur, a global patriot and a good writer. His recent post (currently on the 'top' at his site) is another one about one of his favorite countries, Chile.
This time he's talking about is geographical and climatological diversity. It's a good read.
He also makes some other comments that about Amerika and Obama. Of course people like me and people like Simon.....we don't like Mr. the Great Deceiver at all. But Simon had some literally creative and colorful words to describe Mr. Is-He-or-Isn't He's recent antics.
"The entire concept of today’s “career politician” is based on the idea that constituents exist to support them, not the other way around."
"politicians make things worse, not better. The sooner people take matters into their own hands and declare their economic independence, the better off they’ll be."
"The United States government is not the center of the universe that it thinks it is… and perhaps the most telling sign was the market’s next-day reaction: flat, dollar decline. They have no credibility with anyone but themselves."
Simon also comments on the life and work styles made possible by the internet and other tools. I totally agree with his opinion there. Simon is one of a growing number of people who are proving it's possible to enjoy life under 'multiple flags'. I'm all for it too.
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The Christian religion doesn't have a spotless past but I don't think anything 'we' did ever institutionalized and condoned violence, cruelty and brutality as much as the religon of Islam does. Anybody who calls Islam 'the religion of peace' is a fucking idiot.
Look at these videos if you think I'm wrong. And the 'religion' that condones this kind of thing, stoning, is the kind of religion that lots of Islamic leaders say should govern the whole world.
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One site that I like a lot is www.expatinterviews.com . It's full of real, boots-on-the-ground info about expat life in the Philippines and everywhere else. Here's an interesting insight on why one particular guy thinks the Philippines is full of opportunity.
On that same note (i.e. 'growth) I just today read that GNP growth in the Philippines was up around 7% last year. But that's not unusual for most SE Asian countries. Things are hot, hot, hot just about everywhere over there right now.
Sad to say, but about the only place where the economy sucks and everybody's all tense and got the economic 'mullygrumps' is the US.
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