James L. Paris's Blog, page 119

The Russians Gave The Election To Trump?

On this episode, the mainstream media goes into overdrive with the narrative that the Russians gave Trump the presidency. A new Republican proposal calls for Social Security cuts, Dallas Police and Firefighters pension fund running out of money, the nationwide pension crisis with a present $5 trillion dollar deficit, Americans overpaid by auto insurance by $101 billion dollars over the last five years, gender fluid actor being considered for both male and female Oscar categories, and a new Amazon phishing scam.

 

Only Half of 30-Year-Olds Likely to Earn More than Their Parents

Is the American Dream really a thing of the past?

According to a research team under the guidance of professors from no less than Harvard and Stanford, even if it is not truly dead, it appears as though it will be much tougher to realize, going forward.

Part of what they learned: Children born in 1980 have no more than a 50 percent chance of earning more money than their parents, while kids born in 1940 had a 92 percent chance of making more than their folks.

The research uncovered that the trend downward has been exactly that, a trend. People born in 1950 had a 79 percent chance of making more than their parents, and those born in 1960 had a 62 percent chance of doing so.

According to CNBC.com, David Leonhardt of The New York Times sees the rise in income inequality, even more than a persistently stagnant economy, as the principal culprit, saying, ���The rise of inequality has damaged the American dream more than the growth slowdown.���
In Leonhardt���s opinion, helping ���more middle- and low-income children acquire the skills that lead to good-paying jobs��� is the answer to turning things around.

Not everyone sees the American Dream as living on borrowed time, however, with many suggesting that the ability to start a business in the U.S. nowadays with little hassle and expense provides to everyone the fertile ground for cultivating great success.

As millionaire-entrepreneur Steve Siebold puts it, ���It's not going to die anytime soon,��� referring to said American Dream. ���If you want it, it's there for the taking.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

VA Staff Left Body of Dead Vet in Shower Room for 9 Hours���Then Lied About It

Apparently, outrageous news items about patient mistreatment at the hands of VA staff are going to be regular features in this space.

The latest, unfortunate revelation: According to FOX 13 News in Tampa, Fl., the Department of Veterans Affairs Administrative Investigative Board has released a report detailing a bizarre incident that occurred at Bay Pines (Fl.) VA Healthcare System.

According to the report, staff members at the hospital simply left the body of a deceased veteran in a shower room for nine hours.

That���s not all. The report also says, essentially, that staff lied about it.

The body was first deposited in the hallway of the hospital���s hospice unit for an undetermined period. From there, it was moved into the shower room, where it was abandoned by staff for over nine hours.

The report goes on to say, as well, that an unidentified (to the public) staff member assigned to the hospice unit ���falsely documented post mortem care for the decedent.���

After reading the report, Gus Bilirakis, a Republican congressman serving Florida���s 12th District, released the following statement:

���I am deeply disturbed by the incident that occurred at the Bay Pines VA hospital, and even more distressed to learn that staff attempted to cover it up. The report details a total failure on the part of the Department of Veterans' Affairs and an urgent need for greater accountability. Unsurprisingly, not a single VA employee has been fired following this incident, despite a clear lack of concern and respect for the Veteran. The men and women who sacrificed on behalf of our nation deserve better.���

���Not a single VA employee has been fired over this.���

What a shock.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Americans Overpay For Auto Insurance By More Than $100 Billion Dollars

Wow, a new report by insurance analytics firm ValChoice concluded that over the past five years Americans overpaid for auto insurance by a whopping $101 billion dollars! The report also provided the simple reason why: some auto insurers have more profit built into their premiums than others. Specifically, auto insurers that operate as mutual insurance companies came out on top. A mutual insurance company can be compared to the business model of a credit union, and exists to serve its members, not to earn a profit for shareholders. 

Consumer Reports lists USAA and Amica Insurance as their two top picks. It is no surprise that both are mutual insurance companies. Be careful, however, not to assume that a company that uses the word 'mutual' in its name is automatically your best option. A mutual insurance company can be poorly managed and not ultimately deliver the best value to its customers. Likewise, a 'for profit' insurance company may go against the grain and end up offering what turns out to be the best deal for you. 

Other Factors That Will Affect Your Auto Insurance

Your Credit Score 

A low credit score can cause a significant increase in your premiums. There are only three states that prohibit the use of credit scores in formulating auto premiums (CA, HI, NH). It is interesting to note that an individual with a DUI conviction and good credit may end up paying less someone with a good driving record but a low credit score!

Deductibles 

Ask about higher deductibles. Agreeing to be responsible for the first $1,000 of damage to your vehicle can save you 25 percent or more.

Limiting Coverage On Older Vehicles

You may want to consider dropping collision and comprehensive coverage on your older vehicle (value of $5,000 or less). Remember, you should always have liability coverage in place no matter the age of the vehicle. Dropping collision and comprehensive makes you responsible for the damages to your own car. This can make a lot of sense with an older vehicle, as the cost vs. possible benefit does not usually represent a good value. Employing this strategy of self insurance also means that you should have adequate financial reserves to replace your vehicle without the financial assistance of insurance.

Ask About Other Discounts

Inquire about other discounts you might be eligible for, and be sure to mention any factors that might make you a superior risk. This would include such things as being a low mileage driver (living near your workplace, work from home, car pooling, etc...).

How Often Should You Shop Out Your Coverage?

The Paris family shops out our auto insurance coverage every single year. After all, this is an expense that involves thousands of dollars annually, and even a small percentage savings is meaningful. 

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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Intermittent Fasting: Your Silver Bullet for Improved Health and Increased Weight Loss?

One of the nice things about the aging process is that the older you get, the less you tend to want to eat. When we���re all younger, we typically eat more ��� a lot more ��� and don���t have much regard for what we���re ingesting, either. If it happens to be healthy, fine, but we don���t usually go out of our way to make sure that it is. If it���s delicious, we devoured it.

Thankfully, that changes as we age.

Something else that comes into play, as we get older, is that we���re more in tune to how what we eat, and how much of it we consume, affects not just our weight, but our health.

One of the diet-based methods of dropping pounds and improving health that���s gaining real traction nowadays is something called intermittent fasting (IF). With intermittent fasting, known by some as ���strategic starvation,��� you adopt a pattern of eating in intervals, wherein you rotate between periods of eating and fasting, but do neither for significantly extended periods.

The benefits of IF, in addition to weight loss, can include:
Preventing resistance to insulin.
Improving cardiovascular health.
Boosting human growth hormone (HGH).
Reducing inflammation.
Improving the health of your ���gut.���

Additionally, this article over at CNN.com touts the potential, significant health benefits of fasting that go above and beyond ���mere��� weight loss.

If any ��� or all ��� of this sounds intriguing to you, and you���re thinking you���d like to give IF a try, you might want to consider invoking the help of a comprehensive, step-by-step guide that drills down to the important details and tells you everything you need to know in order to properly embark on an intermittent fasting regimen: Eat Stop Eat.

With Eat Stop Eat, you will be exposed to the ���A to Z��� of intermittent fasting. The topics covered are both plentiful and wide in scope, and include:

Fasting and Your Metabolism
Fasting and Hunger
Misconceptions about Fasting
Health Benefits of Fasting
The Eat Stop Eat Way of Life
How to Fast Eat Stop Eat Style
What to Do While Fasting

And this is just a small sample of the information to be found in Eat Stop Eat.

Another benefit that���s almost as good as access to the information itself���is what it costs. Right now, the complete Eat Stop Eat program, including the bonus Eat Stop Eat Quick Start Guide, is yours for just $10.

What���s more, Eat Stop Eat comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee. Go crazy with the information, and if you decide within the first two months after purchase that it���s just not for you, you can get your money back.
How great is that?

In the end, losing weight and improving health will typically be at, or close to, the top of just about everyone���s list of ongoing priorities. Different programs and disciplines work better for different people. Fasting is just one of those options, but a growing body of research is affirming the complete benefits of that particular strategy for so many. To learn more about the Eat Stop Eat program or to purchase it straight away, Click Here.

(Note: Before embarking on a fasting diet, you should always consult with a qualified health professional. Those who suffer from hypoglycemia or diabetes, or who are pregnant or breastfeeding, will typically be poor candidates for a fasting diet. Even if you believe to have none of these conditions and think yourself to be in excellent health, you should always consult a physician or other appropriate medical professional before proceeding with an actual fasting diet.)

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large 

GOP Makes First Big Move to Cut Social Security

Apparently, the election of Donald Trump, as well as a Republican-controlled Congress, is the GOP���s cue that it���s time to make real inroads on rolling back so-called entitlements.

Yahoo is reporting that Rep. Sam Johnson of Texas, the Republican chair of the all-powerful Ways and Means Committee, has introduced legislation that would drastically cut Social Security.

The key ���bullet points��� of Johnson���s bill are that it significantly curtails benefits, introduces means testing, and raises the retirement age from 67 to 69.

Were the bill to become law, the effects would be very broad, with every income bracket, except for the absolute lowest, experiencing a reduction in benefits. The cuts would be significant, too; according to the Office of the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration, workers earning around $50,000 per year ��� by no means a princely sum any longer ��� could expect benefit checks go down anywhere from 11 percent to as much as 35 percent.

As one would expect, the most draconian consequences would be felt by higher earners. For example, retirees making over $85,000 per year would have to go without cost of living adjustments (COLA) altogether.

As ominous as all of this appears, more troublesome is the knowledge that without any significant changes, Social Security would begin to lose its ability to pay full benefits at some point in the 2030���s.

It is expected that Congress will begin discussions in earnest on Johnson���s proposal sometime next year.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Ohio Lawmakers Pass ���Heartbeat��� Abortion Bill

In what many see as the first wave of legislation in a new era in the battle over abortion rights, Ohio lawmakers have passed the so-called ���heartbeat��� abortion bill that represents one of the strongest restrictions on the procedure since the Supreme Court���s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

In simplest terms, the bill makes it illegal for an abortion to be performed once it is possible for a fetal heartbeat to be detected. That can occur as early as just six weeks after conception.

While abortion rights advocates are typically against any restrictions on the procedure, many are particularly up in arms over the prospect of this bill becoming law. Beyond their standard philosophical objections to any diminishment of abortion rights, they see very specific problems with a law that prevents an abortion from being performed as soon as a heartbeat is discerned. For one thing, they claim, some women may not come to realize they are actually pregnant until sometime after the first six weeks following conception have passed. Moreover, say abortion rights supporters, even those women who learn they are pregnant before the time the heartbeat is found may have a difficult time arranging for an abortion during the relatively brief period between when the embryo implants, which occurs around the fourth week, and when the heartbeat is detected.
Indeed, there is real concern on the part of even those who are firmly in the anti-abortion camp about whether such legislation could withstand challenges on the basis of constitutionality. According to Yahoo News, Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich, a staunch abortion opponent, has previously expressed his distaste for the bill precisely because he sees no way it would survive the legal challenges that would obviously come.

Additionally, a panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ��� predominantly conservative jurists, by the way ��� shot down a similar North Dakota law in 2015 because they ruled it to be unconstitutional.

That said, Ohio Senate President Keith Faber, in discussing the bill with the Columbus Dispatch, said, ���A new president, new Supreme Court appointees change the dynamic, and there was consensus in our caucus to move forward.���

���It has a better chance than it did before,��� added Faber, referring to previous attempts by the Ohio legislature to see the ���heartbeat��� abortion bill become law.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Los Angeles Sues Four Major Retailers for Alleged Deceptive Advertising Practices

We���ve all seen them: The ads from retail stores that shout about massive savings off of ���regular��� prices, and that typically display graphics of the higher, regular prices crossed out, with the lower sale prices underneath in bright, bold font.

While many of us tend to take such declarations with a grain of salt, there���s still a strong tendency to believe that there is a great deal to be had if we run out and buy right away at the sale price being touted.

It turns out that, however, that much of this advertising is not truthful, and Los Angeles prosecutors have decided they aren���t having any of it. According to WSBT 22, attorneys for the city have decided to sue four of the nation���s largest retailers ��� J.C. Penney, Sears, Kohl���s, and Macy���s - for deceptive advertising in connection with the alleged practice of falsely claiming higher ���regular��� merchandise prices so that customers would believe they were scoring bigger deals on what were supposed to be bargain purchases.

Per California law, a retailer may not legally reference a higher regular or ���original��� price in advertising unless the merchandise had actually been sold at that price within three months of the ad.

According to one of the lawsuits, it is alleged that J.C. Penney was selling a bathing suit top back in February for $31.99, saying it was marked down from an ���original��� price of $46, when the retailer had never actually sold the merchandise for $46.

Prosecutors allege that the total number of sale items subject to false reference pricing by these retailers is in the thousands. In addition to penalties of up to $2,500 for each violation, they are seeking injunctions to bring the deceptive pricing practices to a permanent end.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Michael Moore: Protesters Should ���Disrupt��� Trump���s Inauguration

Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore is doing his part to facilitate protests that act, at the very least, as a distraction on the day of Donald Trump���s inauguration, if not serve to be an outright disruption.

In fact, it is a disruption that Moore is hoping for on January 20. On Wednesday, the controversial figure left no doubt as to his feelings on the matter, tweeting, ���Disrupt the Inauguration. The Majority have spoken ��� by nearly 2.7 million votes &counting! Silence is not an option.���

As reported by Fox News, Moore is encouraging people to visit the website for #DisruptJ20, which was set up as a centerpiece of mobilization for citizens inclined to protest on the day of the presidential inauguration. Those behind the organization of these protests are, first and foremost, seeking to cause havoc in the direct vicinity of the inauguration proceedings, but they are also encouraging anyone who cannot make it to the nation���s capital to do what they can to create all kinds of trouble from wherever they are that day.

From the #DisruptJ20 website:

���If you can���t make it to Washington, DC on January 20, take to the streets wherever you are. We call on our comrades to organize demonstrations and other actions for the night of January 20. There is also a call for a general strike to take place. Organize a walkout at your school now. Workers: call out sick and take the day off. No work, no school, no shopping, no housework.��� 

In other words, it is not enough for the protest organizers to attempt to interfere with the inauguration. They are also, quite apparently, interested in seeing the entire country essentially shut down that day.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

China to U.S.: Do NOT Let Taiwan President ���Transit��� Through Your Country Next Month

In the wake of what many cite as a troublesome breach of protocol realized when President-elect Donald Trump recently accepted a phone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, another prospective ���incident��� that stands to further strain relations between the U.S. and China could (literally) be visited on America���s doorstep next month, when Tsai plans to use America as a stopping point on her way to a visit to Guatemala.

China has requested that the U.S. officials refuse to allow Tsai to stop off in America as a part of her trip. In a statement delivered to Reuters, China���s Foreign Ministry indicated that it hopes the U.S. ���does not allow her transit, and does not send any wrong signals to ���Taiwan independence��� forces.���

Tsai is scheduled to visit Guatemala on Jan. 11 and 12, and it has been revealed that she plans to briefly visit New York City on her way to the Central

American nation. Guatemala is one of a handful of nations that maintain official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).

It does not appear, however, that the U.S. State Department is inclined to accommodate the request made by the People���s Republic. According to State, such ���transits��� are in keeping with ���long-standing U.S. practice, consistent with the unofficial nature of (U.S.) relations with Taiwan.���

It is possible that China���s hackles are raised just a bit more than they might otherwise be over Tsai���s anticipated stopover in the U.S., precisely because it is coming so soon after the now-infamous telephone call, as well as because the Taiwan president would be in the country just a handful of days before Trump���s inauguration. In fact, according to reporting by Taiwan���s Liberty Times, Tsai is expected to try to arrange a meeting with members of Trump���s team, including Reince Priebus, the incoming White House chief of staff, while she is in the United States.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large