James L. Paris's Blog, page 52

The Return of Romney? Mitt a Possibility to Replace Hatch in Utah

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is reportedly giving strong consideration to retiring at the end of his current term. Hatch, now 83, has served Utah as a U.S. Senator since 1977, and looks to be ready to finally hang it up.

Hatch���s age and length of time in the Senate are perfectly understandable justifications as to why he would want to step down. That said, it���s also a distinct possibility that Hatch is eager to avoid the growing movement of populist conservatives within his own party, a movement that has managed to drive out other mainstream Republican legislators, including Jeff Flake and Bob Corker.

So none of this is really a surprise, except for maybe one part of it: Hatch is also reportedly making it clear to select persons behind the scenes that he would like Mitt Romney to succeed him. Indeed, according to a recent article in The Atlantic, Romney has already been planning to make a bid for Hatch���s seat.

The title of the article is pretty straightforward: ���Orrin Hatch Tells Friends He Plans to Retire.��� Staff writer McKay Coppins notes in the piece that Hatch ���has privately told allies in Utah that he is planning to retire at the end of his term next year.���

Coppins goes on to validate that claim, but perhaps even more interesting than the prospect of Hatch stepping down is the likelihood of Mitt Romney going after the seat, something on which Coppins also solidly reports.

Writing that ���Mitt Romney intends to run for his seat��� if Hatch retires, Coppins goes on to say, ���Sources close to both men said plans have already been set in motion for Hatch to retire and for Romney to run, but they cautioned that the timing of the announcements has not yet been finalized, and that either man could still change his mind. They spoke on condition of anonymity, because the plans are not yet public, and the subject is sensitive to Hatch.���
RINO Mitt ��� still very much alive and well.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

And ANOTHER NFL Player Who Serves as a Great Example of Financial Prudence

Is it that we���re so impressed with professional athletes who have such a good financial head on their shoulders because those folks just seem so rare?

That assessment of their relative numbers may not be accurate, but it does seem that whenever we do hear about pro athletes and money ��� outside of when they sign their enormous contracts ��� it���s not good.

Those that do ���get it��� are absolutely out there, however. We wrote about one, Ryan Broyles, not terribly long ago, and are pleased to highlight another: Nnamdi Asomugha.

Asomugha is actually a former player in the league, having decided to hang up his cleats back in 2013 after 11 seasons. However, his solid financial acumen has been on display both since���and long before���he made the decision to retire.

In a piece over at CNBC, Asomugha talks about the perspective that has kept him balanced, and financially prosperous.

���I was never a big spender. We didn't have much growing up, so I guess I got used it. Even when I was a Pro Bowl player in the NFL, I lived the same way because that's what I knew.���

Simple; but highly effective.

As a matter of fact, Asomugha still has the 1997 Nissan Maxima he received from his brother in high school, and he still drives it.

���That car is the one thing that everyone makes fun of me for. Even after I started earning good money, I was still in the mentality of ���I know this is all I need so I'm doing fine.������

A mentality more of us would do well to embrace.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Walmart Adds More Robots to In-Store Workforce

The march of the robots continues.

The retail robots, that is. As automation continues to make inroads in replacing human workers outright in many retail settings, Walmart has decided to expand its use of robots in stores.

According to Business Insider, Walmart has been using robots at a small number of stores in Arkansas and California. Apparently, things have been going especially well in those locations, because the company has decided to expand use of the machines. Reportedly, Walmart will deploy robots in 50 stores by the end of January.

The robots are actually very talented. Their job, right now, is to patrol store aisles to look for items that are out-of-stock, not priced correctly, missing labels, and even put back in the wrong spot by customers. From there, the robots notify human employees of the corrections that need to be made.

Jeremy King, Walmart CTO, says that the robots are 50 percent more efficient than their human counterparts when it comes to performing the same tasks. The process of scanning shelves? The robots do it three times faster than people, and their accuracy is much higher.

Walmart has gone on the record elsewhere to say that replacement of human workers by the robots isn���t in the cards���but is that really true? At what point will the reality of ���faster��� and ���more efficient��� become impossible to ignore, leading to the installation of robots at Walmart to perform many more tasks currently done by humans?

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

VA Church Removes Plaques Memorializing George Washington & Robert E. Lee to Be ���Welcoming���

Because who doesn���t want to be welcoming?

Legendary American historical figures George Washington and Robert E. Lee were once parishioners at Christ Church in Alexandria. Now, however, the plaques memorializing that very fact are to be torn out, because , in the Revisionist United States of America, the historical existence of these two men is apparently so odious that any trace of them should be wiped from the earth.

Scared yet? If not, you should be.

According to The Republican Standard website, here���s what the church vestry had to say about the decision in a letter to today���s parishioners:
���Hebrews 13:2 says, ���Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.��� Christ Church lives into this call, feeding the hungry with our Lazarus ministry, welcoming the stranger in our refugee ministry, and inviting all to worship with us. The plaques in our sanctuary make some in our presence feel unsafe or unwelcome. Some visitors and guests who worship with us choose not to return because they receive an unintended message from the prominent presence of the plaques.

���Many in our congregation feel a strong need for the church to stand clearly on the side of ���All are welcome ��� no exceptions.������

The explanation continued:

���We understand that both Washington and Lee lived in times much different than our own and that each man, in addition to his public persona, was a complicated human being, and like all of us, a child of God. Today, the legacy of slavery and of the Confederacy is understood differently than it was in 1870. For some, Lee symbolizes the attempt to overthrow the Union and to preserve slavery. Today our country is trying once again to come to grips with the history of slavery and the subsequent disenfranchisement of people of color.

���Many in our congregation feel a strong need for the church to stand clearly on the side of ���All are welcome ��� no exceptions.��� Because the sanctuary is a worship space, not a museum, there is no appropriate way to inform visitors about the history of the plaques or to provide additional context except for the in-person tours provided by our docents.���

Ridiculously, church officials justify removal of the Washington plaque on the basis that because it sits at an area opposite to where the Lee plaque sits, removing only the Lee plaque would upset the aesthetic visual balance of the church.

Right. Note that they could, of course, simply move the Washington plaque to another spot in the church where it would not upset said aesthetic balance.

But they���re not doing that. They���re removing it completely.

Are you paying attention yet?

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

���Fair-Wage��� Pizza Shop Can���t Make Enough Money to Pay Fair Wages, Closes

And, once again, the cruel reality of math crushes another social justice dream.

According to IJR.com, reporting on an article that appeared in The Boston Globe, Dudley Dough, a pizza parlor in Boston that was opened, in part, to provide higher-than-average area wages to employees as a means to help realize ���economic justice,��� is closing its doors after just two years because���it cannot stay solvent.

We know ��� you���re stunned.

Bing Broderick, executive director for the nonprofit Haley House, which oversees the shop, issued maybe the least surprising assessment of the situation, saying, ���The challenge for Dudley Dough was to support itself.���

No kidding.

As noted in IJR.com, The Boston Globe details that ���three other restaurants opened in the area around the same time as Dudley Dough and are still operating.��� The three are reportedly paying market wages, rather than contrived, higher wages in accordance with a false economic reality, and thus are still here. IJR.com notes the distinct irony of how things played out for Dudley Dough, something that opponents of higher minimum wages have been pointing out for years: that with the closing of the restaurant in the face of stark economic reality, not only is the business no longer able to pay a ���fair wage,��� it is now, of course, no longer paying any wages at all, and its employees are now out of work.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

San Francisco 49ers Pledge $500,000 to Gun Control

It has been said that the anthem protests are just the tip of a social justice iceberg that could well end up sinking the NFL. Beyond the on-field protest acts of the players, a great deal of attention has been paid to the indulgence of the protests by NFL team management as well as the league���s front office.

Many observers are beginning to see it as a sign that there���s a significant disconnect between the game as it is and the game as it was, in terms of national political tenor. Add in the sports media cheering section for increased rebelliousness and more progressive stances by the NFL, and ���regular Americans��� who reflect traditional values are increasingly left with a game culture they simply do not recognize.

Well, according to a report by ESPN, one team, the San Francisco 49ers, has decided to double down on its now-progressive values, pledging half a million bucks to see certain gun control measures passed. Here is the brief item on the team���s effort published over at ESPN.com, and reported by staff writer Nick Wagoner:

���The 49ers announced today that they are joining local and national law enforcement in signing a pledge for a ���more understanding and safer America.��� The Niners have pledged $500,000 toward the campaign, which will advocate for legislation banning ���bump stocks��� and other mechanisms that allow semi automatic weapons to become automatic weapons, as well as silencers and armor piercing bullets. The parties are also pledging to join with others to forge a public awareness campaign centered on improving police and community relations.���

Noticeably, nothing is mentioned anywhere in the item about doing anything to play better football, which, of course, is what fans are paying those exorbitant ticket and merchandise prices to actually see teams do.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Free Tool Helps You To Raise Your Credit Score

*** Find Out If You Are Affected By The Equifax Data Breach - Click Here

Credit Sesame is a fantastic and free online service that provides consumers with a host of tools to manage and improve their finances. Unlike many similar sites, they do not offer a free trial which is followed up by a $10 per month charge - it is free and continues to be free without any strings attached. There is one feature, in particular, that I want draw your attention to, their credit scoring module. Not only do you gain access to your credit score, but they provide a great amount of detail which explains your score, and offers suggestions on how to raise it.

I also really like how the site provides a complete overview of all of your debts. It can be easy to accumulate individual debts not truly appreciating how much overall debt you have. This debt spreadsheet feature will be helpful for both formulating budgets and making plans to consolidate and eliminate your debt. There is also a feature that allows users to list their assets as well (allowing you to get a real picture of your overall net worth).

There are too many other resources to list them all in this article, but one more that I want to mention are the credit alerts. Although this is not a replacement for an identity theft plan, it is a great supplement. The way this works is that any time your credit report from TransUnion is accessed you will receive a notification. If you are also interested in taking a look at what is on your Equifax credit report (and related score), you can do that through another free service called Credit Karma.

Helping you make the most of God���s money!

James L. Paris 
Editor-In-Chief ChristianMoney.com 
Follow Me on Twitter Twitter.com/jameslparis
Christian Financial Advice 
Jim Paris 24 Hour Radio

Florida Teacher Fired for Throwing X-Rated Classroom Party that Included Sex Toys

Seriously, what in the world is going on with so many teachers today?

According to the New York Post, a dance teacher at Mater Lakes Academy, a school for students in grades six through 12 in Hialeah, Florida, gave what can only be described as an X-rated party for a former student last week.

The festive get-together, which was (at least) held after the regular school day ended, featured sex toys as party favors, including ���dildos, penis candles and lollipop vaginas.���

Videos were, of course, taken by many during the party, and one anonymous parent, speaking to WSVN News (Miami), said, ���In the videos, we see how they were preparing for the surprise party. And as the boy walked in, they surprised him with a hat that had a penis attached to the top and a string to be able to pull it so it can get erected.���

The teacher has been fired, and there is now a police investigation into the affair. The school issued a statement to WSVN, saying, ���The number one priority is the safety and well-being of our students and faculty. Once we became aware of the situation, we addressed it immediately and have taken the appropriate measures and the individual has been dismissed.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

More Bad News for Sears, as Retailer and Appliance Giant Whirlpool Party Company

So if you���ve been paying attention to the so-called ���death of retail,��� or, more specifically, the death of retail bricks-and-mortar storefronts, you know that one of the higher-profile ���patients��� that���s looked to be terminal for a while now is none other than the iconic Sears brand.

Well, you can add to all of their troubles the news this week that Sears shoppers will no longer be able to purchase Whirlpool appliances. Sears and Whirlpool ended their 101-year relationship after they could not come to terms on pricing. The split means that neither KitchenAid nor Maytag appliances will be available at Sears, either, as both of those brands are owned by Whirlpool.

It has been said that Sears��� problems are rooted, in part, in the company���s ham-fisted way it dealt with the advent of online shopping. While other retailers saw the Internet as the mall for the next generation, Sears remained convinced that shoppers would still want available a ���classic��� department store through which they could walk on their own two feet, and therefore looked at the physical store as being a sort of immutable truth. The reality has been much different, however, as Sears continues to fall out of favor with consumers less interested in the shopping experience than in simply getting their stuff.

Sears has also engaged in some odd financial moves, including a curious buyback of shares years ago that seemed to accomplish little more than burning through a ton of cash. And something else that Sears has become notoriously and shockingly bad at over the recent years is customer service, for so long the company���s greatest competitive advantage. While banking on the big-box department store to remain in fashion was a longshot to begin with, Sears basically doomed itself for sure by mystifyingly allowing its level of service to fall into the abyss. I saw this first-hand recently, when I needed to purchase several new kitchen appliances. Taking advantage of a holiday sales special, I bought a dishwasher, refrigerator, and range from Sears. Unfortunately, the process of actually receiving the merchandise turned into a nightmare, with the refrigerator delivery repeatedly postponed by Sears and positively no information provided as to when it would actually take place. Eventually, I canceled the order, and have vowed to be forever done with Sears.

For their part, the folks at Business Insider visited a New Jersey Sears earlier this year to see if they could gather any ���average shopper��� type clues as to why the company is falling apart. The video they shot goes a long way in explaining just why there seems little point for any consumer to waste time trying to buy anything from Sears any longer.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

JFK Assassination Files Release Imminent

Today could well be a big day in conspiracy history, as President Trump is leaning heavily toward permitting the remaining documents associated with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to be made public.

As reported by ABC News, while roughly 88 percent of the records have been fully accessible to the public for about 30 years, and another 11 percent have been available in a redacted form, it is expected that all remaining files will be made available in full today, in compliance with a 1992 law.

According to the law, all classified government documents related to the 1963 assassination are to be released by October 26, 2017. The one qualifier is that the president, at his discretion, may decide to delay their release if he is informed by relevant agencies that making them public could jeopardize national security in some way.

Last Saturday, Trump tweeted his expectation that he would authorize full release of the documents, saying, ���Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long-blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened.���

Ironically, some in the national intelligence community think release of the files may actually stoke conspiracy claims rather than put any to rest. ���The president is releasing the documents even though the intelligence community would rather he not,��� said Richard Clarke, a former advisor on counterterrorism to George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. ���This will definitely stir up nationwide controversy.��� The concern, notes Clark, is that some of the information contained in the files may be misinterpreted, and end up fueling the wild imaginations of some in the conspiracy theory community.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large