James L. Paris's Blog, page 103
February 22, 2017
Poll Finds Americans Strongly Oppose Sanctuary Cities
So with all of this incessant blathering by grandstanding leftist politicians in some of America���s biggest cities about how they will do whatever it takes to fight efforts by the Trump administration to deport criminal illegals, you might think that there was a groundswell of support for their position among the American electorate.
Not even close.
The Hill is reporting on the results of a new survey conducted by Harvard-Harris Poll that found 80 percent of voters believe local police and government authorities should, in fact, be required to comply with existing law and notify federal authorities when they encounter illegal immigrants in their jurisdictions.
Beyond the singular issue of sanctuary cities, the poll also found clear majority support for comprehensive immigration reform, by a margin of 77 percent to 23 percent.
Speaking on the survey results, Mark Penn, co-director of Harvard-Harris, said, ���While there is broad support for comprehensive immigration reform, there is overwhelming opposition to sanctuary cities. The public wants honest immigrants treated fairly and those who commit crimes deported and that's very clear from the data.���
Interestingly, although several components of the effort to tighten immigration found favor with those polled, one issue that did not enjoy majority support was the border wall; according to the survey results, 53 percent of voters oppose its construction.
Even if one takes these poll results with a grain of salt (which is probably a good way to digest all such numbers), it hardly seems unusual that a preponderance of Americans would generally be approving of measures that seek to better secure the nation, despite the shrill voices of pandering politicians that appear to suggest otherwise.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
February 21, 2017
Writing Center at University of Washington: Proper English is Racist
And here���s ANOTHER news item that you can���t believe is serious���but, sadly, is.
The Daily Caller reports that at the Tacoma campus of the University of Washington, there hangs a sign - a poster, really - in the school���s Writing Center that both declares and ���explains��� that racism is an inherent part of society, including within the English language.
How about THAT?
Now, if you knew nothing else, you might likely assume that such a poster is the product of a group of dissatisfied social justice warrior students, perhaps even a student contingent of Black Lives Matter.
You���d be wrong.
This poster explaining how racist all of society and language is���is the ���brainchild��� of the director and staff of the Writing Center itself.
Dr. Asao Inoue, the Center���s director, appears to be the person most responsible for the curious emphasis on social justice over the traditional, competent expression of English.
The ideas expressed on the poster are something to behold, that���s for sure. Saying ���the racist conditions of our society are not simply a matter of bias or prejudice that some people hold,��� the poster flatly declares that ���racism is the normal condition of things,��� and that ���it is in the systems, structures, rules, languages, expectations, and guidelines that make up our classes, school, and society.���
Doesn���t leave much out, does it?
Have no fear, though; the staff of the Writing Center goes on to say that they are all set to combat the presence of racism in the English language:
���The writing center consultants and staff promise to listen and look carefully and compassionately for ways that we may unintentionally perpetuate racism or social injustice, actively engaging in antiracist practices.���
���We also realize that racism is connected to other forms of social injustice, such as classism, sexism, heteronormative assumptions, etc., in similar ways. We promise further to do our best to compassionately address these issues as they pertain to student writing as well.���
Good. This way, all of the students who pass through the Writing Center will be amply prepared to communicate with particular effectiveness should any find themselves working on the newsletter for the local loony bin.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Evangelist Annie Graham Lotz Publicly Thanks Melania Trump for Reciting the Lord���s Prayer
When President Donald Trump reverted back into campaign mode and hit the road this past weekend to fire up the faithful at a rally in Melbourne, Fla., that seemed like news enough, particularly for those who find it odd that a sitting president would do such a thing.
Well, it got better.
When is the last time you heard a presidential speech in such a setting open with the Lord���s Prayer?
That���s how it went down this past Saturday in Melbourne���and, what���s more, this invocation, of sorts, was offered up by none other than the First Lady, Melania Trump.
As great as many folks thought this was, it goes without saying (but we���ll say it, anyway) that Melania took a beating in a variety of public forums, especially social media, for having recited the prayer.
However, many were quick to heap acclaim upon the First Lady, including Annie Graham Lotz, evangelist and daughter of Billy Graham.
As reported by The Christian Post, Lotz praised and thanked Melania Trump for her prayer on a post at her own public Facebook Page:
���Praising God for FLOTUS��� bold and courageous, reverent and sincere leading in Lord���s Prayer. Well done,��� wrote Lotz.
���Thank you, Melania Trump, for your prayer tonight. My prayer for you is Numbers 6:24-26. ���The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.������
Amen.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
February 20, 2017
Bitcoin To Double Or Triple In Coming Months?
On this episode Jim discusses why he believes that Bitcoin it poised for a major spike in value, the coming Bitcoin ETF, and the surge of interest in the digital currency. Also, a new bank that has no fees, how to get free airfare to China, Snapchat's $22 billion dollar IPO valuation, and 11 more retailers reportedly on the brink of insolvency.
Bible Prophecy Expert Derek Gilbert Discusses New Book On Satan's Psyops
The Great Inception: Satan's Psyops from Eden to Armageddon - You stand on a battlefield, surrounded by an enemy that you ve been told doesn't exist. This is a classic example of a PSYOP a psychological operation, a mission to change what you believe by feeding you information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or an outright lie. This PSYOP is one of many by entities who ve been at war with God since the Garden of Eden. The Bible calls them gods. God Himself calls them gods. But we've been taught that they're imaginary, so we stumble around the battlefield completely unprepared to defend ourselves.
NYC Prep School Parents Engineer Cancellation of Student Skating Party���Because Trump
Apparently, Donald Trump has power over practically all things.
According to the New York Post, an elite New York City prep school, The Dalton School, was forced to cancel its annual ice skating party because of the rabid anti-Trump sentiment among parents.
What does one have to do with the other, you ask?
It seems that the party is held at Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park. Yes, that Trump, of course.
Wollman Rink had been around for a long time before it began bearing the name of our fearless leader. As for how that came about, the rink was closed in 1980 by the city for renovations. As is the case with lots of projects on which American cities embark, the effort became an out-and-out mess, and six years after the ���temporary��� closure ��� plus $13 million later - the rink was still out of service. In stepped Trump to finish the job, which, by all accounts, he did admirably. The facility is still operated, in part, by The Trump Organization.
So, of course, now that Trump is president, tolerant liberals won���t set foot���or allow their kids to set foot���on the ice there.
It was, in fact, the unwillingness of so many parents to permit their kids to attend this year���s party that forced the cancellation. Reportedly, the Parents Association of The Dalton School sent out a letter on Thursday saying the ���Dalton on Ice��� event was a no-go this year because ���it would not be financially prudent,��� and citing ���significantly lower attendance��� as the root cause of the money problem.
The New York Post article quotes one unidentified parent who expressed obvious disappointment with the way things played out.
���I think it is completely insane. Like him or not, it feels like a strange place for New Yorkers to protest. And sad that kids now have no skating party.���
Because Trump.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Expert: Transnational Criminal Gang MS-13 Recruiting in American Elementary Schools
Fearsome international criminal gang Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, is going someplace to recruit new members that suggests, more than ever, the group means business when it comes to gaining a menacing foothold throughout the 21st century American landscape:
American elementary schools.
Reporting by Washington, D.C.���s WUSA9 on the recent gang-related murder of 15-year-old Alexandra Reyes-Rivas of Montgomery County, Md. led the news outlet to Jay Lanham of the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, which is assisting in the investigation of the teen���s murder.
���Oh grade-school. They're recruiting in grade-school but generally 5th grade and on,��� said Lanham. According to Lanham the gangs ���lure��� the young kids ���through social media and parties where they offer them drugs, alcohol, and sex.���
At this writing, ten people in total have been arrested in connection with Reyes-Rivas brutal slaying, with five of those actually charged with her abduction and murder; three of the five are 17 years old.
According to WUSA9, the murdered girl���s mother, Maria Reyes, told the news station that there is gang activity inside of her daughter���s school, and that she believes her daughter���s involvement with gangs began when she was in middle school. Separately, she told FOX 5 that she is now receiving threats from gang members who are ���blaming her for the arrests.���
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
February 19, 2017
A Bank With No Fees - What?
Yes, you read the headline right, there really is a bank with no fees. A couple of interesting stories crossed my desk this week. First, as part of her research, a university professor went to work as a teller at a check cashing service. Yep, one of those services that charges you to cash checks. Services like this are used primarily by the so called 'unbanked' population. These folks that don't have a banking relationship are typically viewed as being exploited. As a result, there have been many campaigns to try and 'help' these people by bringing them into the banking system. Some have never had bank accounts, others simply choose to operate on a cash basis, others have black marks in their banking history that make it very difficult to get approved for an account.
The most interesting part of this story was that despite the reputation check cashing services have of being sleazy, expensive, and exploitative, the article points out that many people using such services are actually better off than they would be using a traditional bank. With the recent Wells Fargo scandal, which resulted in the bank paying a $185 million dollar fine, banks seemingly have no better reputation today than check cashing outfits. Banks have cleverly come up with more and more account fees, and if you make a mistake and overdraw your account, you could easily end up owing hundreds of dollars. So, as 'horrible' as check cashing services may actually be, we have reached a point where many banks today are actually worse! But, there may be an exception, a new kind of bank, a bank with no fees!
A second story that came to my attention this week was about a bank simply called Simple. Simple is an FDIC insured 100% online bank. Now, it is not the first online bank, but it may be the first to do something quite extraordinary: promise customers no fees. Yes, absolutely no fees. No fees for a checking account, savings accounts, overdrafts, and on and on. Well, this sounded more than a little too good to be true, so I had to investigate.
The first question I had was, 'How do they make money, if they have no fees?' The answer was not so elusive, and here it is from their FAQ -
Great question. There are two ways we make money at Simple.
Although we love technology, we don���t knock tradition. In the past, banks made most of their profits off interest margin���the difference between the amount of interest they make on loans, and the interest they pay customers on their deposits. Our partner banks split this interest margin with Simple.
When you swipe your debit card, the merchant pays a service fee (called interchange) to the issuing bank. Our partners split this with us.
That���s it, which means we only make money when our customers use and love their accounts.
Yes, I am old enough to remember a time when banks made money as, well, banks... when banks paid you for having money on deposit! Just as explained above, the original concept behind banking was that a bank would make money simply from the interest margin. Banks borrow money at wholesale rates and loan it out at retail rates, and that is historically what made the wheels go around. Now, we enter an era where bank management conspires to open up accounts without customer's permission, strategically decide what order to clear checks to generate the most overdraft charges, give people debit cards that can overdraw their checking account and trigger overdraft fees, and more. Oh, and then there are those monthly account fees. Just to have an account, you will be asked to pay your bank money. Bank Of America is charging $12 monthly for checking accounts and $5 monthly for saving accounts. You can avoid these fees if you keep certain minimum balances or make minimum required deposits, but if you don't, you will be assessed a fee just for having an account!
How Strange Would It Be To Have Your Accounts At A 100% Online Bank?
The Internet is changing everything, and the latest example of that appears to be banking. More and more research shows fewer and fewer people actually going into bank branches. Furthermore, with the availability of banking apps and websites, most people are ostensibly 'banking online' already. But, there is that comfort of knowing that if you run into a problem, you can always go into a branch to talk with someone, right? Well, try and do that sometime and you might be surprised. The last time I went inside my bank to deposit a check, I waited more than 30 minutes. I stood there looking at six teller windows, but only one window was open. I was inside only because the ATM was down and so was the drive- through.
The largest factor that is driving this massive change in banking are millennials. Millennials bank online, plain and simple. Not only have I seen the research on this, I have asked many millennials myself, and young people are now pretty much banking 100% online. Even if they have an account at a local bank, they never set foot inside, and do all of their banking online.
The 'digital envelopes' feature allows you to stash away money for specific goals
I am sure you have a lot of questions, like how do you make deposits, withdrawals, what about using ATMs if there are no physical locations? Well, it appears that Simple has answers to all of these.
Deposits are made with an app by simply taking a picture of a check
Pay your bills through their free online bill pay service
Your employer can automatically deposit your payroll in your Simple account
Simple is part of a network of 50,000 ATMs
Other great features, such as being able to link to your Paypal account and many more.
The only element that seems not quite perfect is dealing with cash. In order to deposit cash, you will have to buy a money order and then deposit it by taking a picture of it and then using the app (just like you do when depositing a check). Seems like it would be easy enough, but money orders are not free. So, if you deal with a lot of cash, Simple might not be for you.
For more details on Simple, check out their FAQ page. As for me, I think I am going to close out my local bank account and give Simple a try. Please use the comments section below and you can share your own thoughts on making the move to 100% online banking.
Helping you make the most of God���s money!
James L. Paris
Editor-In-Chief ChristianMoney.com
Follow Me on Twitter Twitter.com/jameslparis
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Working from Home is the Best Thing Ever���or IS It?
At first blush, working from home seems like the workplace ���gold standard��� to a lot of folks. But is that really the case?
According to Fox Business, a new, comprehensive study from the United Nations, of all places, is suggesting that while working from home clearly has its benefits, it also has the potential to wreak havoc with elements of a person���s health and wellness.
Researchers surveyed workers from 15 countries, including the United States, and found that 41 percent of ���highly-mobile��� employees declared they were suffering from stress in some quantity, while only 25 percent of employees who work in a traditional office environment said that stress was present in their lives.
Additionally, the survey found that 42 percent of those who work from home said they are afflicted with insomnia, while just 29 percent of office-based workers said insomnia was a problem for them.
Kate Lister of Global Workplace Analytics in Carlsbad, Calif. tells Fox Business that working from home, per se, is not the problem, but being unable or unwilling to stop working is.
���We love the ability to work everywhere and anywhere, but it has a dark side. Some employers are beginning to recognize this and enforce downtime,��� Lister said.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Marine Corps Shelves Iconic ���The Few, The Proud��� Slogan for New Commercials
The Marine Corps is rolling out some new television spots next month, but anyone who has ever paid attention to the Corps��� commercials in the past will notice something conspicuously absent: The iconic recruiting slogan ���The Few, The Proud.���
So, is this change a bow in the direction of those who take issue with the idea of exceptionalism, particularly American exceptionalism?
Not at all, says Lt. Col. John Caldwell of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, who told the Marine Corps Times that the decision was based on analyses of what is particularly effective when it comes to marketing nowadays.
���The Few, The Proud��� tagline that historically closes out recruiting commercials for the Corps will be replaced in the new commercials with the word ���Marines,��� as well as an image of the eagle, globe and anchor emblem. Caldwell briefly explained the advertising ���science��� behind the change:
���Nike, a lot of their advertisements now end with the swoosh ��� or the swoosh and the word ���Nike��� ��� but the tagline ���Just Do It��� or something like that isn���t there. A lot of advertisers ��� punctuate their advertising products with their brand. That���s effectively what these new TV ads you���re going to see do. They end with our brand.���
Still, as evidenced by the tenor of visitor comments made at new sites reporting on the change, many are suspicious about the real motive behind the Corps��� decision to leave behind one of the most recognizable slogans in the history of advertising.
Nevertheless, Caldwell emphasizes that not only was the decision made solely to serve the best interests of the Corps��� newest advertising efforts, but ���The Few, The Proud��� slogan will remain Corps property and may well be used again in the future.
������The Few, The Proud��� still belongs to the Marines, along with all previous taglines used,��� Caldwell said. ���It will be used when and where needed and most appropriate.���
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
