Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary!

PODCAST "Is Osama Bin Laden Living Comfortably in Iran?"

2010-06-09T15:22:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Is Osama Bin Laden Living Comfortably in Iran!.wma

Osama Bin Laden Living Comfortably in Iran?

2010-06-09T15:02:00.001-04:00

Are they good friends?

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Osama Bin Laden, hanging out together in Iran for the last five years or so? That's what rumors from Kuwait and Israel are saying. They even said the town that Bin Laden and his top terrorist leaders are living in is Savzevar, Iran, and that they are supposedly under the protection of the Iranian Intelligence Service.

If it's true, then what? Should President Obama command our special forces to go after them in that town? Would our president even care about such a matter, in light of all the other problems in our world? Would our Military Special Forces be able to kill or capture the Bin Laden Gang if they knew where they were? Or would they simply have to blow up the entire town and everyone in it, in the hopes of getting the terrorists. Would it set off World War Three at the same time?

If it is found that the Iranian President has allowed Bin Laden to live in Iran, should the United States eliminate the Iran President as well? Would Iran, as a country, then be declared to be a threat then to our national security?

Is the war on terrorism meaningful to Americans? Did Osama Bin Laden orchestrate and sponsor the attacks on America on September 11th, 2001? Many conspiracy theories question the actual events as well as our government's explanations.

If Osama Bin Laden is really hiding in Iran, should the United States ~~Nuke the shit out of the entire town of Savzevar~~ to be sure of getting rid of Osama Bin Laden? That would probably get the job done.......

Realistically, using nuclear missles on that town would kill many innocent people, but how about some more civilized, small, tactical nukes, just enough to toast the bad guys? I like that idea!

I do hope that the United States Government and the Pentagon follow up on this matter and let's get some respect back for America on the world stage!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "It's Not About What You Did in the Past!"

2010-06-06T09:32:00.001-04:00

PODCAST It's Not About What You Did in the Past!.wma

"It's Not About What You Did in the Past!"

2010-06-06T09:10:00.000-04:00

We were so great back then weren't we!
Seems like only "yesterday" to us, so recent that we're still somewhat tightly connected to our past accomplishments. (When we were so amazing?)

It's over, it's gone! No one else gives a damn, they don't even listen when we talk about about what we did "back then".
It's all about right now. What are we doing now?

Things do go wrong, our paths suddenly take a different turn, and it's necessary to have a back-up plan. One thing that we can do is continue our forward momentum if we experience a setback, whether it's a work-environment reversal, or detour, or whether it's something more personal, like your fitness program.
It just happened to me on May 7th, this year, almost a month ago. I'll tell you what happened to me.

You know I have been a runner for 32 years, and have quite a track record of endurance tests, like 100-mile bicycle rides, marathons, a 105-mile running week, and a 23 mile beach run, entirely in the sand. Stuff like that; sounds like a lot, but it's not anything that's out of the realm of possibility for long distance runners, bikers, or people who are known for perseverance and strongness of will. All of this year I have been on a pretty decent running pace, looking to achieve perhaps 1500 miles for the year, a year when I will become 61 years old.

On May 7th, in the evening I was hurrying into the bedroom carrying a big cup of hot tea, trying not to miss the beginning of some TV show that was starting at 9pm. Somehow, in my haste, I slammed my left foot into the bottom of my dresser, which pulled my little toe back in a severe manner. The pain was like a lightening bolt, and my whole foot began to swell up. When I ran out of curse words, I took time to examine the damage, and I noticed that my little toe was much farther away from the fourth toe than it normally is, in fact there was almost enough room for an additional toe between them! The pain seemed to glow inside my foot, as the foot swelled, and I was unable to see the tendons and veins of my foot any longer. The toe may have been broken, but there is not much, if anything that doctors can do for broken little toes. Knowing that, I tried to treat the injury myself. Ibuprofen, ice, stretching, and rest---I thought that should do it. What made me the maddest was the effect that the injury would have on my physical training (running, and swimming in particular). It even hurt to put a sock on it, especially when the toenail snagged the sock material, pulling on the toe. So what then, just sit on my ass for a month while it healed?

I can't do that, I'm too stubborn, so I had to improvise my fitness training. Like I said, it's necessary to have a back-up plan when things go wrong!

May 8th, a Saturday, the day after I hurt my foot and toe, I did no exercise, it was just too painful. The next day, Sunday, I tried to put on some running shoes to at least take a walk, but the pain in the left foot was awful, so I re-laced the left sneaker, using only the top 2 eyelets, in an attempt to widen the running sneaker enough to make it comfortable to my injured, wider-than-ever-before foot. It did make wearing the running shoe more comfortable, and I managed to walk about 30 minutes, with some pain and discomfort, but I did not walk with my usual foot plant. That means my step was not normal, I was compensation for the pain in the little toe area. Never the less I was determined to get in some exercise so I kept it up. The next day it hurt so much I decided not to walk like that, and I skipped the day after too. Like my wife said to do, I rested it a few days, but I was very unhappy about it. I thought it was a good time to add some alternate exercises to my routine, so I started doing a few pushups each day. That week I did 329 pushups, and I was pretty sore in the chest, and arm areas, but at least I did something.

Well, the pushups hurt, but they gave me some encouragement anyway, I could see and feel some neglected muscles again. How quickly we lose what we do not use! Trouble was waiting for me the very next week................

I was making only slight recovery from the foot/toe injury, and I only felt like running one day, a meager 3 miles, it had me worried!
I started going to the gym here at our condominium clubhouse, and I took up using one of the exercise bikes that was available. It was a TruFitness, model PS900.

This is a wonderful exercise machine, you can't wear it out, I know because I tried. The second week I developed a bad backache from the way I was walking, and from the start of a pushup routine. Why do I always overdue things, I asked myself? Because of the backache I could only do 146 pushups that week, but I swam 6 days in a row, which felt OK and it gave me some alternative strength building.

By the third week I was sufficiently recovered to run 3 days, for a total of 13 miles. I also used the exercise bike relentlessly for 350 minutes, and as far as the pushups, I grunted out 860 of them, over a 6-day period, doing 75, 125, 135, 155, 168, and 202 in that order.

I swam 5 days that week, doing 30 lengths in our olympic size pool, on my best day. I was feeling much better, but my foot was a little swollen, the toe still hurt, I still needed 800 m. of Ibuprofen daily, flexibiliy was returning to my little toe gradually, but new aches and pains from the pushups were occurring all through my body, from the feet and ankles to the back of my neck. Even so, the results of the pushups were obvious, and the exercise bike was wearing away some fat too. Optimistic describes my mood!

Oh yeah, I used my hand grippers almost every day too.

Week four just ended, and it was a good one!

Daily swimming for strength and endurance, 20 miles of running, 264 minutes on the grueling exercise bike, and one thousand fifty pushups (220, 250, 125, 150, 305) I took off two days from the pushups for needed rest to my muscles, but I averaged 210 pushups a day for 5 days.

Today is Sunday, the beginning of week 5, since the injury. My toe is still a little bigger than normal, and I still need Ibuprofen some, but a lot of flexibilty has returned to the little toe, and I feel like I'm on the mend.

I ran 4 miles at 5:30 am today to kick off the week, and the temperature was a sweltering 82 degrees at that early hour! I was drowned in sweat. Now I'm heading to the pool and later I'll be in the gym at the exercise bike. But I'm resting today from the pushups, no sense hurting myself....

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "NAKED TRUTHS and Fun-House Mirrors!"

2010-06-02T10:45:00.001-04:00

PODCAST NAKED TRUTHS and Fun-House Mirrors!.wma

"NAKED TRUTHS and Fun-House Mirrors"

2010-06-02T10:11:00.001-04:00

Maybe you'd actually look better naked in front of a fun-house mirror! You know, the kind of mirror that distorts your image, making you much taller, or wider, shrinking your torso, or lengthening your legs, arms, or neck. If you are carrying in your mind a distorted self image already, it is probably the time to do something about your body.

Go ahead and get started today.....as soon as you get home from work, get naked, weigh yourself, take a bunch of pictures of your body from all angles. Then you can study what you really look like right now. What you look like right now, that's who you are, that's who you ARE! That's the way it is with all of us....
Maybe we got too used to thinking of ourselves as the person we were in high school. When we played some sport, or when we were more active. It is fun to talk about how we were always "able to eat anything we wanted without gaining any weight", and things like that. But what about NOW?

Now it's a lot different, a lot different. Now maybe we are not active at all. We watch tennis on TV, but we don't play it anymore. Used to be on the football team, or the swimming team, went to practice every afternoon after school, but that was long ago... But we do have a gym membership! Means nothing, unless you go to the gym and workout. Hey remember, that going to the gym is not the same thing as working out! Just like going to the pool is not the same thing as swimming. Also, being in the pool is not the same thing as swimming, either.

Calisthentics? What are calisthentics exactly, did we do them in phys ed class in high school, I think? They are the performance of physical exercises to promote flexibility, strength, and fitness. Like squats, stretches, bending, situps, crunches, pushups, leg lifts, movements like that. How many adults could do any such exercises at all, or without hurting themselves? I know, you used to do all of them, no problem, but what you could do is Not what you can do!
So, what can you do now? What do you do now? How about some endurance exercises too! Biking, walking, or running.

Those are embarrassing questions. Get naked, stand in front of your bathroom mirror, ask yourself the same questions. While naked, in the privacy of your bedroom, try some of those calisthentics. Now what are you going to do? How old are you right now? Late 20's? Already in your thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, older than that? It doesn't matter what your age is, it's what you do!

How much did you weigh when you were 19 years old? You were probably at your full height by then weren't you? Doesn't matter if you are woman or man, you were a grown up person by then, weren't you? Then you began to "fill out", spread out, thicken up, started to forget about your health, become complacent about your body shape? Got married, started thinking about responsibilities, and the future? Stopped thinking about your appearance, bought age-appropriate clothing, bigger sizes every couple of years? Started showing less skin, covering up the bulges, dressing to impress others, but not trying to impress yourself? Yes you did, all of that.
Get out all of your old pictures, it's time to find out what the lifestyle changes did to you. Let's see what everyone but You sees! SHOCKING, isn't it? What happened to you, what about your youthful looks, your younger shape? Gray hair is OK, that's not the problem....

You want to look better, you want to eat better, and that's pretty easy to do. But if you want to look good, look much younger, much sexier, and reinvigorate yourself, then you have to incorporate daily exercise into your life. Daily exercise, like children do, like you did when you were a child. We look at kids running around, and we usually remark that kids have so much energy, and say that we wish we had that kind of energy, right? Well, you can have that energy again, but you must earn it by doing something physical, or several physical things, as a way of life.

Some people are intimidated by the idea of beginning an exercise lifestyle. I see many people who feel that way. They think people will stare at them, see them trying to change their bodies. They are afraid of being talked about, criticised, laughed at. They're right about one thing, and that is that people will talk, they will make fun of you, and they will criticise your efforts.....
In the beginning they will. But eventually all that negative commentary will turn into respect and positive compliments. Your physical activity will cause others to examine themselves in the mirror, nakedly, and some of them will reach the same conclusion that you reached, "It's time to do something good for themselves, before the sedate lifestyle kills them."

Ten years younger! How would your husband react if you looked and acted 10 years younger? Men, how do you think your wife would enjoy being married to a much-younger you?

Why don't you just find out the answer yourself!

Front Closet vs. Back Closet?
All those old clothes of yours, some of them you hardly got to wear. The ones you bought that were too small for you when you bought them, but you wanted to fit into them, and you convinced yourself that you would..... But you never yet convinced yourself to get your body in shape, because of laziness. Laziness, or a complacency that took control of you, perhaps as a result of living with your mate, someone who also doesn't do enough for their own body. (Like, "I won't complain about you gaining weight, if you don't say anything about my big belly!") Know what I'm saying?

Let's review things, Go home, get naked, take a look at yourself for real! Then get started, fix your body, fix your mind, and start getting younger today. You Want To!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater
"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"
copyright 2010 John DeFlumeri Jr.

PODCAST "Will We Nuke the Oil Leak in the Gulf?"

2010-05-31T10:17:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Will We Nuke the Oil Leak in the Gulf!.wma

Will the US Military NUKE the Oil Leak?

2010-05-31T09:52:00.000-04:00

The Russians used nuclear bombs to stop and seal 5 of their uncontrollable oil leaks so far! They are encouraging us to do it now.

Wonder why we never heard of it before!

What a scary concept that is, but it may be the only thing that will work. Of course BP doesn't have nukes, so our military would have to help them with that solution.

Do you know what the smallest nuclear weapon the United States ever made was? It weighed only 51 pounds and was designed to be shot from a large recoil-less rifle, called the Davey Crockett. Yields between 10 to 20 tons of TNT.

Our smallest nuke!

We'll probably need a lot more power than that on a project this huge. I think it will happen that we'll have to use nuclear devices to seal up this oil volcano!

That idea frightens me right out of the idea of eating seafood at all! Radioactive, oil soaked, contaminated with every frigging thing, fish can't be healthy for you, can it? By the way, did you see that the wholesale and retail price of shrimp just went up 35%!

How much Time is left?

Nukes are very cheap right now, that's the good news. You can buy "last year's model" at deeply discounted prices, get a never-before-offered rebate, and take advantage of zero-percent financing for a limited time (if you qualify) and if you live long enough to make the payments, that's great too!

That's a deal that will Blow You Away, won't it?

What if the government decides not to try the nuke solution? Will they ever stop the leak then?

It's a Devilish Idea...

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Will You Quit Your Job When WW III Starts?"

2010-05-27T21:10:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Will You Quit Your Job When WW III Starts!.wma

If World War III Begins, Will You Quit Working?

2010-05-27T20:52:00.000-04:00

For the last nine years, ever since 9/11/2001, I have said that if our country experiences one nuclear detonation I would stay home and never work again. One more attack, one that is bigger than those of September 11th, 2001, would put me into a "shell". Make me stay close to home, in front of the television, or listening to the radio 24 hours a day. Praying, freaking out, eating and drinking with no regard to the consequences. I was that upset, after we were attacked on 9/11/2001.

During the tough years I worked since 2001, I relaxed my fears about terrorism some, but I always told people that I would be quitting my job the next time the United States suffered mass casualties at home from terrorist acts. Call me an alarmist if you want to, but that's how I felt. I always said, if the worst thing happens, then I want it to happen on my day off, so I could already be with my family. I don't want anything like that to occur, but logically, I think it will happen eventually. The CIA, the FBI, Homeland Security, they all say it will happen, so why should I think otherwise? Millions of undocumented aliens other than Mexicans, enter this country every year, many with the intent to do harm to our homeland! Either they are not stoppable, or the government is not really trying to stop them?

Our American borders are porous, full of holes, easy to cross undetected. I do not excuse our government for their failure to protect our borders! They certainly could stop all illegal immigrants with our military if they decided to do so, couldn't they?
What do you have to say about that, President Obama?

If World War III starts this year, as predicted by Nostradamus, will you stay home? You'll probably be laid off from your job anyway, the place you work may just close it's doors....
I'm already retired, so I know I'll be home.

We may see WW III begin as a Korean War. If that happens, Iran may decide that's the best time to attack Israel, or Israel may hit Iran first. China could take the opportunity to invade Taiwan. Russia may elect to "take care of business" with it's old renegade republics. Terrorists might attack the US homeland with everything they have. Other countries, who are economically dependent on countries who are at war with others, may be so affected by financial problems, that they will retaliate against some of the warring countries, even though they, themselves have not been attacked. That's how fighting turns into a world war. No large conflicts can stay as isolated incidents!

Nations around the world are moving their armies, their navies, and their special forces into place right now. They recognize the need to be ready when the action starts, ready to assist their friends, and pressure their enemies into stopping the aggression. The greatest fear is that any regional conflict will spread like the flu, and turn into World War III.

Let us remember those who have served our country this Memorial Day, and pray for peace in our time.

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "You Have to Be Nice to Whoever Lends You Money!"

2010-05-25T12:30:00.001-04:00

PODCAST You Have to Be Nice to Whoever Lends You Money!.wma

"You Have To Be Nice To Whoever Lends You Money, Don't You?"

2010-05-25T12:12:00.000-04:00

When I was a boy, I looked forward to receiving my allowance each Saturday morning. That was a long time ago, probably around 1957 or 1958, and I didn't get much money each week, something like 15 or 25 cents, I think it was. Still, it was a lot of money to me then, and I had no other source of money, except an occasional bottle return prize of two cents; they refilled soda bottles at the time, and finding one meant a guaranteed trip to the candy store. I also kept an eye to the ground anywhere I walked, looking for lost pennies. Back then I learned to be on my *best behavior* the day before and all during the day that my allowance was paid to me. I couldn't afford to miss collecting this money, or have the amount reduced or the payment delayed. Money was important to me then, I had my needs-candy, popsicles, soda, marbles, comic books, things little boys wanted, etc.

In those days I never owed any money to banks, so whatever I "earned" was mine to spend. I didn't have to pay any interest to lenders, but I would have gladly borrowed money from anyone if the opportunity presented itself--it never did, fortunately. My reputation as a trustworthy kid was already questionable, too! Of course, I didn't realize how different things would be when I grew up. As a young adult I amassed debt at a frantic pace, until I was buried in installment obligations like great numbers of other Americans. But, that's another story altogether.

"My Country 'tis of Thee"
Remember these words? They remind us that America belongs to each one of us, and to all of us at the same time. "Sweet Land of Liberty" (from the same song) If liberty refers to freedom, it's not freedom from debt, that is for sure. "My Country" owes about 13 trillion dollars, which is the amount of the National Debt.
Just click right here to see the National Debt Clock "live". It will show you how much we owe, right up to the minute. It's probably one of the most enlightening things you'll ever lay eyes upon!

Do you ever wonder how America came to owe this thirteen trillion dollars, and to whom the money is owed? Wonder how we borrowed most of the money? I will explain some of it to you!

The United States Treasury sells bonds, which are debt obligations, to anyone who wants to buy them. The treasury bonds, notes, or bills,whatever you want to call them pay very low interest, but they are generally regarded as the safest loans that can be made. So investors (lenders, really) are inclined to buy them, when they have a lot of cash to invest (lend). They'll never get rich lending money to the US Government this way, but they do it....

OK now, so the United States owes thirteen trillion dollars, and a lot of it is from borrowing money from big investors, other countries specifically, countries which have purchased heavy amounts of Treasury Notes from the US Government. Here are the top 5 holders of US Treasury Notes:

1. China holds $895 Billion Dollars worth.
2. Japan holds $785 Billion Dollars worth.
3. United Kingdom $279 Billion Dollars worth.
4. OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, holds $230 Billion Dollars worth!
5. Brazil holds $164 Billion Dollars worth.

"You have to be nice to whoever lends you money, don't you?"

Don't forget, I bought a lot of those

Treasury Notes from you!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "How Many Oil Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico?"

2010-05-24T09:43:00.001-04:00

You almost can't believe it!

PODCAST How Many Oil Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico!.wma

How Many Oil Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico?

2010-05-24T09:26:00.001-04:00

There are currently more than 3850 oil rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico!

Worldwide there are over 3.5 million oil rigs.

How much do oil rig workers earn?
Want to know?
Just click this link to see the salary survey of oil rig workers!

Oil rig disasters are not a new thing at all.
There have been many since oil drilling first began.
I'm providing all information with photographs on the most tragic, the deadliest, the most expensive oil rig spills/disasters that have occurred prior to the current environmental oil spill.

Click this link to see the records, and the pictures of most of the world's worst oil spill messes!

What about Oil Dispersants? What are they and what do they do? Oil dispersants are toxic chemicals, in fact some of them are a lot more toxic than the oil that they are sprayed onto! Anyway, the oil dispersants do not remove the spilled oil, they do not clean it up, like a mop does. What the dispersants do is break the oil into tiny globs and allow it to mix with the water column, so that it mixes with the seawater and gets washed away with the tides. "Away where?" "Everywhere" is a good answer....
Dispersants act to dissolve the oil in the oceans where some of the oil residue can be attacked by natural organisms, but most of it just falls to the ocean bottom, where it continues to ruin marine life for centuries.

Stopping the flow of oil,

That is the priority!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Unstoppable Disaster-the Oil Spill Crisis!"

2010-05-23T20:19:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Unstoppable Disaster, the Oil Spill Crisis!.wma

Unstoppable Disaster? Oil Spill From Hell!

2010-05-23T19:54:00.001-04:00

How did this oil spill disaster really happen?
Was it a buildup of some kind of gas, like methane, that exploded under the rig? Or could it have been a deliberate act of war or terrorism, as some rumors have it? Did you hear the theory that a North Korean submarine fired two torpedoes into the rig, and that there is a huge coverup? Who can say if it's true or not?

Regardless of the cause of this terrible tragedy, one thing seems certain---That the efforts to stop the uncontrolled flow of this toxic oil are ineffective, they are not working!

I am troubled by something I saw on television today...The White House said that if the BP Oil Company doesn't do everything they are "supposed to do" to solve this runaway oil fountain, then the government would step in and take control of the situation!!!
Something is VERY WRONG with that statement*
Is the White House implying that they know what to do to fix this mess? How could politicians know what to do about this? Can they know more than the oil company? I don't think so. But they must know some terrible secrets about the situation!

So, the story is that by Tuesday, BP will try pumping a heavy "mud" mixture down the well, then fill it up with concrete cement, and see if that works, but experts (and there are really no experts in this exact procedure at such a deep depth) can only say that it might work!

If it doesn't work they will try something "else", but they said on TV today that the oil company won't be able to try the next "fix" until some time in August! AUGUST???? We are 33 days into this mess now, a mess that all scientists now say is not able to be cleaned up! Not able to be cleaned up! What will be the SIZE of the horrible spill seventy-five days from now? 75 more days!!??

The problem is MUCH BIGGER than the public has been told. They are telling us hundreds of lies about the problem, and they are concealing the extent of the oil spreading all over the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean. You could almost say that everything is a big lie!

The oil is poisoning the world's food supply of seafood. Nothing can prevent the cancer-causing oil from infecting the world's fisheries. Maybe you don't eat seafood, so you're not that concerned with that? Have you heard that the people who are trying to clean up this oil are getting their lungs filled with black soot and poisonous chemicals from breathing in the fumes that are being constantly released by the flowing oil? A lot of the fishermen who were contracted to help clean up the oil are now deathly sick, and can't stop coughing---so you can visualize what is happening to all of the affected fish and marine life!

These "smoker lungs" are what doctors are seeing right now among the non-smoking oil clean-up workers.

Feels like a plague of Biblical Proportions---a plague that might eradicate a large chunk of humanity.....

Researching rumors on the internet, I found that many people are saying that FEMA has evacuation plans working for areas that are surrounded by toxic oil. If that's true, then they would not be the type of evacuations that occur when people are fleeing a hurricane or tornado, because those evacuees are able to go home after the disaster ends, usually in a few days. If the oil spill causes evacuations, I think that the people evacuated will be gone from their homes for a very long time! I say that because they really don't know how to get rid of the oil and the fumes, in an effective manner--remember they announced that there is no way to clean the filthy, deadly oil out of the marshes, the tidal wetlands, the canals, etc! No way? That's what they said!

This mess is not reversible, the toothpaste never goes back into the tube once it comes out! The oil company can't fix it, the government can't fix it. Who is left to fix it? Can our military nuke the well or something? Would that fix it?

As you read this, maybe you are thinking that I am some kind of an idiot for asking that, about the nukes. It's OK, I understand why it's so upsetting to hear about it. Don't you think that scientists are thinking of every crazy idea, trying to come up with any solution that works? Of course they are, because there is no rule book, no standard fix for the problem. They will try everything for as long as they can!

If the flow of oil continues, unrestricted, until the oil runs out, then what will become of our world? The oil spill has become a weapon of mass destruction.

Go to the beach while you can!

"May God Save America's Environment"

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

coyright 2010 John DeFlumeri Jr

PODCAST "I Believe Everything I hear in This Crazy World!"

2010-05-20T13:56:00.001-04:00

PODCAST I Believe Everything I Hear in This Crazy World!.wma

It's A Crazy World, So I Believe Everything I Hear!

2010-05-20T13:27:00.001-04:00

For me, it's easiest to believe everything I hear! Most of what I hear is bad news, too. Or it's "false good news".

Or it's something that sounds ridiculous---Like the theft of 5 paintings from the museum in Paris, 5 paintings that are supposedly worth about $631 million dollars? That is ridiculous! That can't be real, but I believe everything, so I believe that some people would pay millions for a damn painting. I've visited many museums, looked at wonderful paintings, some by master artists, but I can't remember any of the ones I saw. Hanging on my living room wall is a wonderful desert landscape, beautifully done, and showcased in a beautiful wooden frame. Whenever we have people over, they always compliment the painting, and we tell them it cost us thirty dollars at the Salvation Army store, tax free. We could buy more than twenty-one million such paintings for the price of the 5 ones stolen from the Paris museum! So let's get REAL now, those stupid paintings are not worth the money!

For sale, One Million Dollars!

(or best offer)

I'd rather pay $20 dollars for 2 Tylenols if I was in the hospital-at least I could get rid of my headache, now that would be worth the money! But still, it's smarter to buy them on sale in the drug store, where I can get a bottle of 40 for ten dollars.

You know what pises me off a lot? The price of cold cuts at the deli counter; they are all overpriced. Yesterday I was in Publix, and my wife bought ham @ $8.89 a pound! At the same counter they were selling sliced chicken or turkey for $8.29/lb. That is nonsense, I just got boneless, skinless, more healthy chicken cutlets for $1.99 a pound! Where is the value in this shopping trip? Even at those crazy prices, people were lined up to buy cold cuts along with tiny jars of spicy mustard for $4.69-holy ripoff!

Can you believe the furor in the United States over illegal immigrants? I can, these illegals suck down millions of our tax dollars every day. We have to get a grip on it. But I hope we do without plunging the country into civil war! Imagine Arizona threatening the city of Los Angeles with cutting off their electricity! Well, the city of Los Angeles said it is boycotting all companies that are from Arizona, too. I hope we don't get to the point that Thailand is in right now, where unhappy government protesters set fire to the Stock Market, banks, one of the largest shopping malls in Asia, and many other businesses, as well as getting over 75 people killed in the local rioting since late March. The financial markets and banks are closed for 4 days or more over there right now due to the mayhem. The protesters didn't need guns, bombs, or tanks, only matches! Could shit like that happen in the US? I believe everything, so I think "Yes".

South Korea proved that North Korea torpedoed their warship and killed almost 50 sailors. Everybody saw the proof. But North Korea says they didn't do it, and if they get any kind of punishment because of it, they will go to all-out war with South Korea, and other enemies. I believe everything, so I think that it will happen; I read that the United States is preparing for this eventual war, and that we have 3 aircraft carriers standing by in the vicinity. I believe that too.

That damn oil spill disaster! Every time they mention it in the news, they say that the size of it is more than previously claimed! EVERY TIME? Does it keep spilling more and more at a time, is the pace of the leaking oil increasing continuously? I believe everything, so I do think it keeps getting worse and worse!
Is it going to ruin the economy of the entire country even more? I believe everything, so YES it is! Will it kill many generations of marine live and destroy the wetlands and beaches too? I believe that it will. Are special interest groups profiting from the massive cleanup process? I believe they are. Pass it all on to the working people any way you can! Will it take 20 years to make it go away? MAYBE IT WILL.....I didn't hear that one yet, but if I do, I'll believe that too.

New, tougher sanctions against Iran---so what, I believe that there will be, but I believe that it won't accomplish what they want, will not stop Iran from pursuing the nuclear weapons. They want to use weapons of mass destruction on all of their enemies. I believe that they are scheming to use cyber attacks against the United States the minute they possibly can, or explode a nuclear device above North America to cause an "electromagnetic pulse" which would plunge the largest part of this continent into the dark ages, no electricity for 5 to 10 years, plus all the havoc that goes with that. I heard that so many times already over the last few years, that I believe it's possible.

It's fashionable these days to blame social netwoking sites, like "Facebook" for all the problems in the world. Some countries, like Pakistan, are blocking internet users from accessing these sites, as they believe that freedom of speech, and freedom of expression is a bad thing, something which underminds their style of government. Can you believe that? I believe that they believe it.

Does it seem to you that all of the economies around the world are connected? It certainly does to me. Why else would everyone in the finance sector be buzzing like they are over other country's fiscal problems? Everyone gets a bailout? Every country, every industry, every special interest group? I think I believe it, but where does all the money come from, anyway?

People are still trying to get on commercial airliners with weapons of all types, like that guy in Puerto Rico yesterday, who had 4 boxcutters and a stun gun in his carryon. I have to fly out of Tampa International in July, and I just read that this airport will be employing the new full body scanners, so fine, I'll make sure I wear my newest underwear that day, have to look my best!
They said they won't be taking pictures of my genitals, I read that in the newspaper, so I believe it. What does TSA stand for again? Ha ha, I'm not going to tell you what I think it means. What do You think?
You can always email me.... findingcash@gmail.com

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater, Fla.
"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"
copyright 2010 John DeFlumeri Jr.

PODCAST "Don't Have Time to Get Into Shape?"

2010-05-18T11:43:00.001-04:00

That's BULLSHIT!

PODCAST Don't Have Time to Get into Shape!.wma

Don't Have Time to Get in Shape?

2010-05-18T11:00:00.000-04:00

That's Bullshit!
There is time, and you know you're just using that as a pitiful excuse to hide your laziness.

Get up earlier, watch less TV in the evenings, use your lunch hour. Those are three time slots that are always available for you to get in some exercise.

You still insist that you "don't have time?"
I still say that's bullshit! There is time, but you haven't used it, and it's most likely because you don't want to do the physical work that defines exercise.

I'm speaking from my own experience. What kind of experience do I have? Here are a couple of examples: I never had a job that required me to work any less than 50 hours a week. Lots of weeks I worked 55 to 60 hours; commission jobs are like that. During some of those weeks I was able to squeeze in 30 to 100 miles of running, without taking any time off from work. How did I do it? By maintaining my focus on the need to exercise...I always kept workout clothes and sneakers in my car, even if I already exercised or ran that day--having extra clothes immediately available allowed me to utilize free time for working out--time that became available at the spur of the moment--unplanned recreational time. If I had to put something off until later, I didn't make it my exercising. Think about it.

Besides working out before or after work, or on lunch hours, there are a number of exercises that can be done almost anywhere, and by that I mean at work, or while working. Pushups, deep knee bends, toe raises, hand grips, stationary resistance movements, and seated abdominal exercises that you can do while working at a desk, those are a few of them.

"These are a few of my favorite things"

Call them what you like, grippers or hand squeezers. They are available in over 20 different "strengths". They are incredibly useful for developing flexibility in the hands and wrists. They take up no space in your desk drawer or glove compartment, and can be used quietly almost anywhere. Just start squeezing over and over until you can't do any more, then switch to the other hand, keep repeating the exercise. You'll notice a quick increase in the strength of your fingers, hands, wrists, and forearms. Keep it up, and the affected parts of your body will include your biceps, triceps, all the muscles of your shoulders, upper and middle back, chest, even your abdominals! If you don't believe me, see for yourself. I discovered the benefits of hand-squeezing grippers 20 years ago, and I have never stopped building strength from these wonderful little devices. My son John started using them when he was 10 years old, he always carried them in his school backpack too, used them on the school bus, and during breaks. He developed massive muscles from using them. I did too. They cost very little, and are durable--although I have personally worn out (broken) at least 18 squeezers from overuse. That should demonstrate to you the strength that can be gained from their use. I keep squeezers in the bedroom night table; it's handy to squeeze them while watching TV, both of my cars have a squeezer in the glove box, it's safe to squeeze while driving as well as when you're parked, waiting in the car. You don't have to look at the thing to use it...

Pushups!

The most incredible, total-body exercise. One that can be performed any place. No equipment or special clothing required!

Most adults who don't exercise already can't do any pushups. Did you know that? The military considers pushups to be one of the most important exercises, highly valued for their overall strength building effects. You can do these at work even if you only have two minutes to spare! Get over any embarrassment you may have and try it. You'll surprise yourself, and your coworkers. The gains in strength you'll experience will be all the motivation you need to keep you going, and since pushups work all the muscles in the body, you'll notice the toning effects on your "core", that is your stomach, back, and chest within a few days of beginning this challenging physical exercise. Impress yourself, it's a supreme confidence builder!

How do I make such a claim? Because I have done it, and I do it now. Here's an extreme example--When I was working as a finance manager in a car dealership in 1999, I started doing pushups at work, sets of 10 to 20 at a time, did them all throughout the day, as time permitted. One Saturday, when the dealership wasn't very busy, I did 610 pushups at work, right on the showroom floor, in between handling customers, I was wearing my usual business clothes, and there were no problems in doing all those pushups except that I had to wash my hands many times that day! I'm not exaggerating at all, and in fact I had over 20 witnesses to my exertions, including the owner of the dealership, who told me that from then on he wanted me to do the pushups in the back office, so the customers could not see me doing them. Don't try to convince me that you don't have time to exercise!

Walking shoes, a great thing to wear to work as your everyday shoes, if you are allowed to, that is. If not, then keep a pair available to change into for your lunch hour and get in as much brisk walking as time permits every day, at work! Walk everywhere you can, walk as often as you can, and walk as fast as possible. Take the stairs, up and down, not the elevator-every step means more fitness!

If you decide to get in shape, then do it! Just do it.

Stop fooling yourself....

No one else has been fooled, by the way, only You...

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Want To Sell Something? Then Look the Part!"

2010-05-16T17:03:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Want to Sell Something, Then Look the Part!.wma

"Want to Sell Something? Then Look the Part!"

2010-05-16T16:43:00.001-04:00

Selling is a challenging profession.
I know hundreds of salespeople, mostly in the automobile business, and in the real estate business. But I have also encountered many other salespeople who sell appliances, insurance, windows and doors, mortgages, loans, gym memberships, electronics, everything that needs to be sold. So have you, and that means we have all seen the same thing....unimpressive-looking salespeople. When we meet a salesperson, we form a subconscious opinion of them instantly. If we decide in the first minute of talking to them that we want to buy from them, then that salesperson will probably make the sale, assuming that she or he has the product available and that a price can be agreed upon.

There are many situations in which a potential sale is lost before the selling atempt ever begins. This occurs when a buyer forms a negative opinion of the seller right from the start. It can happen when the first eye contact occurs, like if the seller doesn't have her/his "game face on" or doesn't greet the customer enthusiastically. I've seen it happen so many times when I was in the car sales business. Our auto salespeople usually sold vehicles to about 20 to 25 percent of the people they waited on, but not all the people purchased during their first visit to the dealership. Also it frequently happened that a salesperson would help dozens of people over a couple week's time without making a sale--closing ratios were a long-term indicator of sales success, rather than a strict short-term measurement. So what we experienced all the time was rejection by up to 80 customers out of every 100! That was normal, but it is hard to deal with when you're trying to make a paycheck. Too much rejection makes anyone feel lousy, and when we feel like crap, we often look like someone just beat the hell out of us. You know how different we all look in the mirror when we're upset, unhappy, disappointed or boiling mad. Meeting a new prospect, or client when we're in that kind of a mental state is a tough thing to do. The problem is that a lot of times we don't know when we'll see a customer, and so there's no warning that a prospective buyer will appear in front of us. When we are surprised like that, it's vital for us to be able to flip the switch, the one that turns on our brightest smile, lights up our personality, makes us glow with accommodation and welcome. That switch has to be in readiness and in perfect working order in a single moment's notice. Our customers will react positively to us when they encounter us looking good, sounding good, and feeling good. That relaxes them, and makes them believe that we are the person they want to do business with!

Naturally, it's impossible for us to be in such a good mood all day, every day. That's why we must practice our professional personality, our stage performance, so that it becomes automatic for us to be in our best form whenever we meet with or work with a client. The customer doesn't need to know anything about our personal stress, and we don't have to reveal personal problems or distractions at all-we never should. Focus is a good word to describe our need when we are trying to make a sale. If you're showing a house to a buyer, block out everything else that's on your mind and focus your every thought into the presentation of the property. It took me years to master this technique when I was selling cars for a living....planes and helicopters flying overhead, (we were near a busy airport) cars driving through the parking lots, ambulances or fire trucks racing by with sirens screeching, stuff like that. As well as phone calls, pages, problems with other deals, the schools calling about the kids, the wife calling me, the manager looking for me, etc. Focus, and concentrating on the customer, that was so important. Give the customer ALL of your attention.

Keep checking your appearance in the mirror. The prettiest woman, or the handsomest man can still look uninviting to a customer if she or he isn't friendly and smiling when they meet. A worried or distracted salesperson is seen by the client as uncaring, unhelpful, unworthy of the buyer's time. It's a giant factor in your success as a salesperson, but it is the single thing over which you, the salesperson, has the most control. This is the part of the selling process that can be 100% perfect, just the way you want it to be, always! It's completely in your hands...

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Once a Year, That Should Do it!"

2010-05-14T11:32:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Once a Year, That Should Do It!.wma

"Once A Year" Should Do It!

2010-05-14T11:07:00.000-04:00

Once a year........

That should be enough to make a really big difference.

Every year I try a new food plan, a better diet, you might call it.
One year I even gave up so many food items that I estimated I would only have to go to the grocery store once a month. It didn't work out like I wanted it to. There was one year, 1983 I think it was, that I gave up adding salt to food--that was the first diet success I ever remember, I never went back to using the salt shaker. Salt-free I am not, but at least I don't pour salt on everything like I did in my younger days. I remember what eating was like before that--I would start out by completely salting almost every plate of food, before I even tasted it. After the first mouthful, I always felt that it needed more salt, so I re-salted the whole plate again, and I repeated the salting process after each bite, so that the last mouthful of food was 10 to 15 times saltier than the first bite was! Totally unhealthy, for sure. In those days I salted every piece of bread or toast too. People who observed me eating were horrified by the amount of salt I consumed, it was a horrible obsession, and my desire for salt was increasing all the time. One day I just stopped adding salt to foods-27 years ago, and I never went back to it. I still like foods that are naturally salty, but I don't add salt-ever.

In 2005 I was enjoying a buffet lunch with my wife at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. Those places are well known for rich, high quality food, and I was being a food-vacuum that day. When I finally reached my limit of gluttony for the afternoon, I announced that I was going to give up eating all beef and pork forever, which at the time my wife, Little Sweetie, assumed was only a reaction to the suffocating amount of roast beef and pork chops I just finished consuming, along with the copious amounts of shrimp, oysters, salmon, and chicken breasts that were offered at the buffet. To her surprise, and to my own, I never ate beef or pork again since that day-five years ago. Did it help me health-wise? Maybe it did.

Once a year I used to think about trading in my car, until I did the math, of course. Once a year I would get our vehicles safety inspected, and hope that they didn't need any repairs or maintenance. Once a year I would look at the tires, and say that they looked good enough for another year's driving.

Once a year we did our taxes, lamenting that we didn't let them take out enough income tax, and we promised that "next year" will be different. Different is the operative word there, not better...

I like to look at old photographs of myself, once a year, that's often enough, because it hurts to see how much different (worse) I look every year. I started to dye my hair gray when I was 40 years old, about the same time I realized that my arms were not long enough for me to read any more without reading glasses. Those old photos of me revealed that I had a much smaller forehead when I was younger. Maybe I'm just gaining face. It's important to shave everyday, to avoid looking at white hairs growing out of my beard.
Once a year I think about a new hair style, just think about it is all. It's more convenient to keep my hair cut short, so there is no style, no need for a comb. I noticed there was a comb in one of the vanity drawers yesterday, so I tried using it to comb my hair after I took my shower, and when I came out of the bathroom Little Sweetie asked "Did you use that new conditioner in your hair today?"
She didn't know that I only comb my hair once a year.

Some people have all the money they'll ever need, they are rich. Others have only the means to survive. Me, I've had some bad years and some good ones, but I learned one very important thing, and that is that whether you're rich or poor, once a year it's a good idea to get all new underwear! Nothing else will make you feel as good as this! It's your opportunity to get a size that makes you feel the most comfortable too, and you don't have to explain any stains-hahahahahah, those aren't bacon strips either.

Once a year most people do a self analysis of their job situation, their compensation plan, the salary they earn. They try to imagine what their future will be like in their present jobs. Once a year we might ask ourselves where we expect to be in 5 years, in 10, or in 20?

Once a year we call our distant relatives, our old friends. Or we send them a holiday card, or an email.

Once a year we look for our bathroom scale, to see if we had a weight change? Because the tightness of our clothing is not a reliable indicator, what with the way clothes shrink as they wear. It seems like I always need a new belt every year. Once a year I shined my shoes, but I always thought I shined them monthly, until I admitted finally that I couldn't think of where we kept the shoe polish anymore, then remembered that I was looking for the shoe polish several months ago too.

Once a year I raked and fertilized the lawn, trimmed the trees in the yard, cleaned out the shed, fixed the fence, weeded the walkways and the driveway. Once a year I washed the outside of the house-what an awful chore that was. Once a year I cleaned and scrubbed the deck, and maybe sealed it too. Once a year I got a bee sting while mowing the lawn, and once a year I thought about getting new garbage cans.

Once a year I decided to get in better shape, to build some muscles, to lose some fat. Once a year I vowed to save more money, to stop my foolish spending. Once a year I decided to read more, to watch less TV. Once a year I decided to get a physical, to get my vision checked, to take better care of my teeth. Once a year I thought about taking a multivitamin. Once a year I wondered about all the stress I had in my life. Once a year I decided to work harder, to work smarter. Once a year I thought about doing something different with my life. Once a year I wondered what might have been......

Once a year I realized I was grateful for what I had, for what I didn't have, and for what I would never have. Once a year I was sad for what I'd lost, and for the losses of those whom I cared about. Once a year I saw myself getting older, getting closer to the exit...

More than once a day I'm happy now. Once a day I wake up, and smile, because I can sleep as long as I want to now. Once a day I laugh because I don't have an alarm clock, don't wear a watch any more. Once a day I have to look to see what day of the week it is, what day of the month. Once in a while I talk about how fast the time goes, the week goes, the months. Last night we spoke about the rapid passage of time, and I recognized something significant--that in the years I was working, I had always counted the hours rather than the days or the weeks and months. I counted the hours until each workday concluded. Counted the hours until my day off began, counted the hours until I had to return to work. Counted the months, the weeks, and finally the days until my next vacation. But some years there was no vacation, because we couldn't afford one, so those were the years we counted only the minutes, the minutes until we could take a little break.

Once a year it's my birthday, but so what? Once a year it's everyone's birthday too. Once a year it's New Years Eve or New Years Day, but once a day it's a new day for all of us. A new day, possibly the best day of our lives. Feel this new day!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater
"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"
copyright 2010 John DeFlumeri Jr.

PODCAST "Accidents, Injuries, and Other Mishaps"

2010-05-13T10:37:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Accidents, Injuries, and Other Mishaps!.wma

"Surviving Accidents, Injuries, and Other Mishaps"

2010-05-13T10:11:00.001-04:00

Another miracle story, a plane crashes, and all are killed, except one single child. Incredible!

I think everyone is happy to hear a survivor's story, I know I am.
For years, probably since around 1968, when I took my first airplane flight, I was always worried about being on an airplane that crashed. I had read many stories about people who were on board planes that crashed in the Everglades, in the mountains, (like the Andes survivors) in the ocean, or any other place. Was fascinated by their tales of survival, horrified by the accounts of their deaths.

I was never in a plane crash, but everytime I fly I rehearse in my mind what I think I should do if the plane crashes. I know it sounds neurotic, but I can't "not think about it". Last year I was on a flight that experienced severe turbulence and bouncing, it scared me much, but my wife said it was normal for flights to encounter such conditions. When the pilot apologized to the passengers, I still didn't feel good about the whole thing. After landing the passengers applauded, like they sometimes do when conditions are rough during a flight. Of course I always think about how pilots say that taking off is the second best feeling in the world, landing being the BEST feeling there is!

There are lots of other, more likely ways to become injured, not just plane crashes. Automobile accidents are the most frequent causes of injuries I think. I have been in a lot of auto crashes in my years, enough so that I think I had a lifetime's worth. Some of my injuries from car crashes put me in the hospital, others to the chiropractor's office for a year's worth of visits. The majority of the auto accidents I was involved in did not result in my being injured, fortunately. But I still fear a car accident, and I drive more defensively than I ever did before. Driving slowly, and non-aggressively, that's my style now! But it wasn't always that way.... All young drivers seem to want to drive fast! I know that I used to race around in my 1961 Ford, which was my first car, one that I bought used in 1965, 3 days before my 16th birthday. I got my driver's license 3 days after my birthday, because I had to take the road test 3 times to pass it. That should have been an indicator to my parents that I wasn't ready to drive alone yet, but maybe they knew that and maybe they didn't, because my mother and father had no interest in being in any car that I was operating! Parents are smarter than we give them credit for, you know what I mean?

I was a shitty driver for many years, and I couldn't park a car without doing some body damage, running over a sprinkler, scraping a tree, ruining some flowers, or destroying part of the lawn. I had a habit of parking in places that weren't really appropriate parking spaces too, like sidewalks or yards, even on the beach. I am much better these days, thank you! Now my wife complains that I drive too slowly, allow other drivers to cut in front of me too much, never make the light, am always in the wrong lane, and don't remember where I'm going most of the time. But, I always get us there safely, and on time. Another thing, she suggested that I cancel the collision insurance on my car, a 2004 Explorer, to save some money, but I told her no way, not with my track record!

Planes-Trains-Automobiles, Do you remember that movie?
I did have one near accident with a train when I was 19. It was an accident actually involving a train and my car (which was a 1963 Pontiac Tempest) but I did not get hit by the train. I was driving home from a college that I attended in Fort Lauderdale one afternoon, hurrying to get to work at my night job. I remember that I was in a very good mood that day for some reason and I was singing along with the radio. My car had no airconditioning and so the windows were all rolled down. I heard a deafeningly loud blast from the train's horn (it seemed like it was right in the car with me) and almost simultaneously I realized that boards were breaking over the hood and windshield of my car! I had just smashed through the railroad crossing gates and I saw in my rearview mirror that the train was rushing past me, a train of about 150 railcars in length.
It wasn't my day to die....

Elevators that drop suddenly have always worried me, but I know that if it happens I should time my jump, so that as the elevator crashes into the basement, I would be "airborne" for a second, and my body would not absorb the force of the impact. That never happened to me yet, but I saw it in a movie, so I'm ready!

Escalators are a different story, however. As a child I was often getting my pants legs snagged in their treads, which would trip me and make me fall down, or up sometimes. Untied shoe or sneaker laces did it to me also, so as a child I was afraid to use the escalators--I prayed for the day I would ride the escalator wearing loafers and shorts... I didn't want to be pulled down into the floor with the revolving stairway!

Ever slam your fingers in a car door? It really hurts, and it's amazing that a person's fingers can fit into the car's door jam with the door closed. You can't be too careful, I always say. Hey, listen to this; one day I was walking in the neighborhood and my wife was driving by, she stopped to talk to me and offer me a ride, and I remember that it was a 95-degree day. She had lowered the passenger window a few inches to talk and I had my right hand slightly inside the window while speaking. I declined the ride and she said she'd see me at home. Before I could move my fingers, the power window closed suddenly, trapping my fingers inside-wow did that hurt, but I was more concerned that she would drive away quickly with my fingers! So I screamed and pounded on the roof of the car with my other hand, while she tried one power window switch after the other until I was freed. "OK, ok, I said, I'll take the ride home now, there's no need to drag me!"

I'll just keep my hands to myself from now on.

Watch Your Step! That's a good motto, one I try to follow. But I have had many a misstep in all of my 32 years running. Some slips and falls are inevitable. Occasional falls are a major source of injuries for all people, and for older people especially. Stairs are a major danger, and so when we moved to Florida, it was a pleasure to buy a ground floor condominium. I lived with going up and down stairs for 40 years-enough is enough. I remember falling down the icy, slippery outside stairs a few times in winter when I lived on Long Island, those days are gone forever.

What's the best advice about all this? I think it's Be Careful, and I listen to my father in law, John Rahtes, who is 94 years young. He says it right, "Take it slow!"

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Every Time I Lost My Job!"

2010-05-11T11:57:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Every Time I Lost My Job!.wma

Every Time I lost My Job!

2010-05-11T11:25:00.001-04:00

More Jobs Lost!

Factory closings, business bankruptcies, economic downturns, reshuffling of workers, cutbacks of all kinds. Replacement of skilled workers with lower-paid trainees, reassignments, elimination or reductions of benefits, wage concessions, firings, and layoffs.

Sometimes we can lose our jobs through no fault of our own!

I just read that the New York State legislature voted to furlough 100,000 state workers one day a week. That means all those workers went from 5 day's work (full time) to 4 day's work per week, averaging a $267.00 a week pay cut per worker. The move saves the state over 30 million dollars a week, and the state doesn't have to pay any unemployment because the one hundred thousand workers didn't lose their jobs! They all got screwed financially even so....Was it better than getting fired? Probably it was, they still keep their health insurance, and they don't have to seek a full time job, although I think a lot of them will look for part time employment; good luck in finding any!

That's just one state, NY, but it could happen anywhere. The amount of the employees' pay cuts at $267/week is equal to $13884 a year, or $1157 a month. Those families are in full panic mode now, and these are cases in which the workers took a huge reduction in salary, not due to any fault of their own. Serious stuff!

Every time I got fired in my working life, I know I deserved it! I was never laid off, never the victim of a place going out of business. It was always for cause. Most of the time when I "got the ax" it was justified, because I was either not doing the job they way it was supposed to be done, or I had repeatedly displayed a hostile attitude towards the managers, become hard to handle, and unpleasant to deal with.

Or in some cases, I had shown that I was a chronic complainer and caused dissent among the other employees. All in my younger days, of course! By the time I was in my late 20's I had figured out that I needed to stop alienating my employers, and start making myself more of a valued employee. It was a lot more comfortable at work for me when I wasn't bitching all day long, or goofing off instead of working. Having been fired 3 or 4 times was finally enough to wake me up and make me think about my own behavior on the job.

For all the years I worked in restaurant management and automobile sales management jobs, I lived with the ever-present threat of being "let go" whenever anything made the level of sales go down. It was always the first question, "Is it the fault of management?" Owners of businesses are quite naturally looking for a fast solution to reverse any downturn in business, so they look at management first. I knew that and so I worked hard to protect my position, demonstrating that I was the best person for the job, and as a result I was therefore always in a high-pressure work environment. I became an aggressive type manager, able to make bold, fast decisions and think on my feet, working in the front line of fire all the time. To add to the pressure, there were always people who wanted my job! Challengers to my management positions, people who would say that they could do a much better job than the one that I was doing..... I learned to recognize those ~~assholes~~ other applicants when they arrived at my place of employment. Whenever I saw them waiting to speak to my boss I would be giving them my most serious "evil eye", and once I even told one of them to get the hell out of here, because there were no jobs available! It worked, too, and he left, but later called my employer to complain that I had intimidated him. True story!

It's a cruel place today, the working world. If you don't have the skills to do your job perfectly, you might get replaced. Maintaining a friendly attitude to your bosses and coworkers has never been more important than it is now-if one more person has to be cut loose, let it not be you, don't leave the decision to a coin toss, make them want to keep you. I think it's smart to give the employer more than they expected, always be doing something extra, stack the deck in your own favor, by making sure they see how valuable you are. No one has a "right" to a job, everyone has to earn their position. So earn yours!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Can I Still Say HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, Mom?"

2010-05-08T16:09:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Can I Still Say Happy Mothers Day, Mom!.wma

Can I Still Say "Thanks", Mom, on this MOTHERS DAY?

2010-05-08T15:53:00.001-04:00

Mom, it's been so long......

You've been gone a long time now, but even when you were here for me, I was too far away from you. You brought me into this world, kept me warm, kept me fed, kept me safe. For as long as I needed it. You dressed me, you bathed me, you held me. You helped me sit up, helped me to crawl, helped me walk, and you wouldn't let me fall.

But when I still, somehow managed to fall on my own, you picked me up, you cleaned me off, you tended to my hurts, and then you comforted me some more, and tried to teach me to be careful. You always wanted me to feel good, to look good. You were so good yourself, Mom, and you wanted me to be at least as good as you!

Every day you taught me, and you loved me, more than I expected, more than I deserved. You cared for me, you worked for me, you prayed for me, you helped me in every way. At night you made me brush my teeth, tucked me in bed, between my sheets, assured me you would be there all night if I needed you. Told me you would dream of me, and I knew I would dream of you, too. You said that tomorrow would be a very special day for me, that something really good was going to happen, that it would be a nice surprise for me, and you were right, Mom, it was! You made that day special, every day was special when You were there for me.

As I grew older, your work became more complicated, your work of being my mother, that is. I was not an easy child to bring up, I'm sorry I made you work so hard, Mom. At the time, I didn't know I was such a chore for you, or I would have made it easier for you to be my Mother. When I did good, you praised me, and when I did bad, you forgave me...
You stuck by me all the time, never stopped helping me, or loving me; you made me into a grownup. You're a big part of what I am today (the good part) and I thank you for that, Mom.

I tried to be a good parent like you were, but I never had the kind of success that you did. My own children never knew you, because you died so young, but I know they would have loved you as I did.
It's 42 years now, you're gone, Mom, but I still want to say "I love you, Mom".

Happy Mothers Day to Mothers Everywhere!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Minus 68 Banks So Far!"

2010-05-08T10:36:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Minus 68 Banks So Far!.wma

Minus 68 Banks So Far!

2010-05-08T10:07:00.001-04:00

Bank Failures across the United States, 68 so far this year, and the pace is accelerating. Now we're on pace for 196 failed banks for 2010!

How long can it go on? How much can the FDIC afford?
What is killing all of these banks? Foreclosures? Bad auto loans? Credit card defaulters? Yes, yes, and yes. Everyday expenses (I doubt it)? Risk taking in all of it's forms? I think that is it! Borrowing money and betting it in the stock market, that's what many banks do with our deposits. The promise of wild, high profits in the short term is too attractive for them to ignore. They don't want to "waste time" being involved in community banking, like in the old days.....
*There are over 700 banks right now on the FDIC's Troubled Bank List*

Financial chaos and public rioting with unpredictable results...That's what is happening in Greece, after the government passed strict austerity measures, including higher taxes, government employee pay cuts, elimination of many public services, reductions of retirement programs and slashed pensions. The general population of Greece is in a real panic over the country's debt and bankruptcy crisis. Citizens are threatening a general strike-countrywide, meaning almost everything can come to a halt, transportation, law enforcement, communications, military, postal services, stores, factories, hospitals, everything! The people mean that they no longer believe in their government! They have lost all faith and no longer accept the rule of law.
Can it happen in other countries too? What about in the United States? What if people in the United States just stopped going to work, until further notice?

The biggest concern right now is that several other European countries will follow the path that Greece has traveled, almost go bankrupt, cut all government services drastically, cause civil war-almost. If they do it, then it can happen in any country-in any country!

We Americans are not immune from these possibilities. Pentagon officials just stated that we are spending too much money on our troops! They want to cut military pay, military health care and housing costs, and also chop military retirement benefits!
In the United States, our government has already begun reducing government services, and taxing the working class people excessively. Hopefully there will be no rioting in America.

So, would you agree with me that there is a world-wide financial crisis? World-wide means that no place is saved from burgeoning, uncollectable debt. World stock markets are bloated with inflated share values, pretend values, you might call them, as the stock prices don't really represent any significant portion of a company's worth. For example if a company's stock is worth $48 a share on Monday, and after some bad news becomes public, it falls to $12 a share on Friday, what was it really worth? The company may be out of business on the following Monday!
"Pretend Money", Monopoly Money, Bogus Bucks?

Will the world's economy ever be reset? Do we have to lose everything before things can be normal again? If a country goes bankrupt, what happens to all of the people and their assets?

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater
"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"
Copyright 2010 John DeFlumeri Jr.

PODCAST "Slash Calories and Expenses"

2010-05-06T09:16:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Slash Calories and Expenses!.wma

Slash Calories and Expenses Too!

2010-05-06T09:00:00.001-04:00

Would you like to slash calories and expenses at the same time?

Does it sound like an impossible duo of good things? Do you believe that "eating right" is more expensive than eating your usual crap? Have you ever blamed your budget, your low amount of spendable pocket money, for your inability to eat the right lunch or breakfast? Could you admit that you ever considered a special nutrition program, but did not not do it because of the expense?
There is some very good news for you about all that!
Eating healthy breakfasts and lunches can be extremely economical, if you allow yourself to think non-traditionally!
OK, it will make you save a lot of money every week too.

Non-Traditional Meals, foods which contain low fat, low calories, and provide nutritious ingredients. Those type of meals are low in cost, and they are more boring than the usual take-out food meals that people like to purchase for their breakfasts and lunches. I ate that way, non-traditionally, for years and I know I saved more than ten dollars a day compared to what my co-workers spent, and the fact is I was a lot healthier than most of them. But, I almost always ate More than they did!

Bad breakfasts include bacon and eggs! That stuff will cause heart disease if you keep eating it. Cream cheese-same thing! My usual breakfast was a large bowl of cereal with skim milk. I said LARGE! Along with that I always drank as much coffee as I wanted, a lot of coffee. Sometimes, however, my non-traditional breakfast would be a whole can of tuna in water-plain, and a whole grapefruit---non-traditional? Sure, but it was healthy, and gave me enough protein to last the day, along with the benefits of citrus fruit. Washed it all down with lots of coffee. Some mornings I just ate a banana and another piece of fruit-low cost, and it was low calorie and healthy.

FACT--- Don't be bullshitted by the dollar-value-menu breakfast deals, they are delicious, a good deal financially, but bad for your cholesterol and high in calories-they will make you FAT!

LUNCH TIME can really cost you! Big, fat greasy lunches from the take-out menu. Better have a lot of cash available, and don't forget the tip, too, plus you have to wait for it, and you might not get what you ordered either. An easy 8 to 13 dollars wasted, when you could bring something simple to eat from home, like a sandwich, fruit, pretzels, or crisp, healthy veggies to snack on throughout the day. If you have time off mid-day, then use it for brisk walking, instead of snorkeling down senseless calories. Bring sneakers to work to change into and get your ass out there, get moving. Do this 5 days a week, and you'll burn a lot of calories, lose weight, and have much more energy all afternoon. The money you save will be about Fifty Dollars a week, in many cases. Use the money for something better!

For the last 15 years I worked, I always had items like these available for myself to eat. Available at my desk, in my drawers and filing cabinets, so I could have food or beverages any time I wanted them, which saved me from being hungry or thirsty to the point where I would pay any stupid amount to become satisfied, or eat any damn thing, regardless of how bad it was for me, just to keep away those uneasy feelings of being hungry.
I kept a can opener in my drawer, various canned vegetables, flavored tea bags, 2-liter bottles of diet soda, pretzels, and occasional hard candies, as well as a bag of store-brand mentholyptus mints. Brought bread or rolls almost every day, fruit, and fresh veggies. Stuff like that. People laughed if I ate a can of water chestnuts (almost no calories, and 50 cents a can), they cracked up to see me eating pretzels, a cucumber, and an apple for lunch, etc. They spent $12 for lunch, mostly crappy food, and ate up over 1000 calories, still wanting more to eat. I was much fuller, spent about a dollar fifty, and had as much as I wanted to eat every time, all the while taking in far less calories and getting the best of the needed nutrients most days.

Don't get me wrong now, if there was "free pizza" available for some reason, I ate several slices! I admit I would eat donuts too, if someone gave me some......

It's Spring, the weather is nice now, summer and fall mean a lot of outdoor fun, and we all want to look good. And of course we want to have more spending money, so I suggest that it's time to utilize the simple meal plan that I used so many years, save a lot of money, burn a lot more caloties, enjoy how much better you'll look and feel!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater
"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"
Copyright 2010 John DeFlumeri Jr.

PODCAST "A Traveler's Notes!"

2010-05-05T11:47:00.001-04:00

PODCAST A Traveler's Notes!.wma

A Traveler's Notes

2010-05-05T11:18:00.002-04:00

Six days away on a trip to New York's Long Island, and I think about how it all was. It was great to see family and some friends again, as well as to visit my old job at Sayville Ford. The place looked great and everyone was still there working 13 months after I retired.

To make a morning flight at 7am in Tampa, on the first day of our trip, we awoke at 3:45 am, too early to make rational decisions-like how to make the coffee with our eyes closed. Wait for the Super Shuttle to arrive at 4:40. These people have an interesting job, riding around 24 hours a day picking up fares-mostly to and from airports-they are about the same price for two people as paying for parking at the airport for 6 days, and it was so easy to just ride. They are a very organized and professional outfit, and you prepay with a credit card (including gratuity if you want), they call your cell phone 10 minutes before they pick you up, it's great. Upon returning, after you land, just go to the Super Shuttle desk at the airport and tell them you've arrived, then they give you a confirmation ticket and have you picked up in 10 to 15 minutes.

However, when we arrived at JFK airport in NYC, it was a different story getting to our destination in Huntington, Long Island. We took the AirTrain, which is a shuttle-like short distance train from the airport to Jamaica Station, in Queens, NY. Then we took the Long Island Railroad to Huntington Station, Long Island. Cold winds on the railroad platforms! Cold to us, that is, it was actually in the 60's, but we are warm-blooded Floridians now. When we got off the train in Huntington, my wife pointed out a sign for a pack of cigarettes on sale for $9.50, we were shocked, even though we don't smoke, as the same cigarettes in Florida are $4.25 a pack (it's all local taxes I suppose).

Even the hot water was cold in New York, and it seemed like the cold water had ice in it! We had reserved the cheapest car from Enterprise Rent a Car, and that's what we got, a 2008 Kia Rio, bright orange, crank windows, no power locks, the drivers seat sat so low to the floor that if I put my elbow out the window, it pointed at the sky, and I am over 6-feet tall. But it drove ok and was good on gas, and it had satellite radio that was not activated. I like listening to the two New York City AM news stations, wish we had something like them in Florida, I love having the news on.

Centerport, Long Island was very beautiful, and spring greenery was bountiful everywhere, with lots of beautiful flowers all around. Some tree's leaves were just opening, others were fully displayed. That part of Long Island is extremely hilly, many neighborhoods have almost no flat areas, which makes walking, running, and car parking a challenge. I ran 3 runs of 6, 4, and 4 miles in the hills on 3 different days, and my feet, leg, and ass muscles are still hurting, I'll give them today off to rest and think it over, before tomorrow's long run......

7-11 Coffee, what a delight it is! I had almost forgotten the many delicious flavors available in the northern states. Down south, people don't drink much coffee, not like New York, where 7-11 stores enjoy a thriving business all day and night from the coffee-hungry population. And those coffee hounds gladly pay $1.80 for a 24-ounce cup of this wonderful coffee. But that was the first cup of "convenience-store" coffee I purchased in over a year. In Florida, they only offer powdered creamer, and old, stale coffee, of limited flavors.

Gasoline is anywhere from 20 to 40 cents a gallon higher in NY than it is in Fla, but it didn't make a difference to me for my short visit. What did make a difference was the amount of vehicular traffic on the roads, there were ten times as many trucks and cars than we are used to everywhere we went on Long Island. Also, I was surprised by the amount of potholes and ruts in the roads-all of the roads. Not only that, but there were many fewer sidewalks than there are in Florida, probably because it is an area with quite a lot less pedestrians than where we live. People in New York drive very fast, it seemed! I did notice, from being out running at 6am most mornings how many people are racing to commute to work early in the morning--very unlike Clearwater, Fla, where so many of the population are retired or work close to home, so they don't have to leave the house as early.

Food prices in the grocery store seem cheaper in New York than at home, but restaurant prices are definitely higher than in Florida. Don't show up hungry at a NY airport---a packaged, 10-ounce sandwich of turkey and swiss cheese is $8.39 !

We stayed with our children and grandchildren in their houses all the time we visited. I can appreciate what the parents go thru getting their kids ready for school, taking them to activities, feeding and dressing them, disciplining them, and just being parents. I wonder why I can hardly remember going through all that when my children were young? I guess the "pain" of it all has faded away a long time ago.

It was a good time spent in our old home town, we looked at our old house that we sold 13 months ago, it looked exactly the same, but none of our old neighbors were home, guess they were all out working... It was nice to get home again last night, our pets were happy that we returned, we walked our dogs, showered and went to bed, slept late the next morning. I think I'll spend the whole day eating and resting now-hey, I'm retired, you know!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Debt Panels, the DEATH PANELS of Spending!"

2010-04-28T10:21:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Debt Panels, the Death Panels of Spending!.wma

Debt Panels, the DEATH PANELS of Spending!

2010-04-28T10:03:00.000-04:00

So, Is everything the government tells us just a Big Fat Lie now? Is it true that the new health care reform legislation will actually cost a lot more than the present system?
That's what I heard!

Why did President Obama, Joe the Vice President, and Nancy Pelosi ~~shove it up our~~ force the massive reform bill on this country? Was it because special interest groups that contribute to political parties wanted it to happen that way? So they could make a lot more profit? Now we will spend even more money for questionable health care, but the profits will be distributed to different people....that's what I think!

Did you hear that President Obama says that "nothing is off the table" when it comes to spending cuts? I heard that the administration wants to ~~tax the shit out of everyone~~ put a tax on every sale of everything! I also read that they are discussing chopping up Social Security benefits! That is the worst idea I ever heard of.

Big-Ass politicians don't care about Social Security one bit. They have so much money that they will never need it.
But they get to make decisions that ruin the lives of people who worked all their lives. To be fair, I admit that the politicians have the opportunity to improve the lives of our citizens if they want to.
But reality dictates that they will do whatever they are pressured to do, pressured by "big business" and "special interests groups".

Government announcements are basically just propaganda, similar to sales pitches used to sell insurance or any other product. Money-saving ideas, as presented by politicians, sound great, and are the easiest ones to get people to agree to, but as soon as they are found to be lies, then why believe the next idea?

The Bottom Line------> The President is admitting that the way his administration is spending money is terrible, excessive, irresponsible, and cannot continue. I think that the administration fears a national bankruptcy if they don't use drastic measures, and so they are in full panic mode, the time for illusions is over....

Watch for more stupid policies to be announced as the White House tries to fix our economic mess.

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

I Wouldn't Visit Chicago Right Now!

2010-04-25T14:57:00.000-04:00

Thirteen thousand members of the Chicago Police Department are evidently not enough to control the crime in that city. Two local lawmakers have publicly asked both the Governor and the Mayor to bring in the Illinois Army National Guard to help the police with this situation! They say that an almost unlimited supply of illegal guns, 113 deaths due to crime in Chicago so far this year, and activities by the city's criminals are more than their police force can handle.

It has been noted that the Illinois Army National Guard, about 10,000 men and women strong, have been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan along with our regular military for a while now. The Chicago local lawmakers want them to protect Chicago residents from the spiraling crime at home. They note that 113 deaths due to crime in Chicago for 2010 is the same number (113) as the number of US solders killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for 2010. It is an interesting coincidence that the two numbers of deaths are the same.

President Obama, please take note

of our domestic issues, and help Chicago

to get things under control!

See where it says "Insure domestic tranquility?"

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Banking in Illinois? Don't Bank On It!"

2010-04-24T08:58:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Banking in Illinois, Don't Bank On It!.wma

Banking in Illinois? Don't Bank On It!

2010-04-24T08:40:00.000-04:00

"Sorry, we're closed!"

At the beginning of this year, when I reported that the FDIC had leased a huge new office space in the Chicago area, a space big enough to employ 500 people, I knew that they expected BIG bank problems in the Chicago area. Boy, did that turn out to be true!

Seven banks were shut down yesterday by the FDIC.

All of them were in Illinois! Is that the center of the bad-banking crisis? Is the Chicago area the "Hell of Banks?"

Here are the 7 banks that busted yesterday:

Wheatland Bank-Naperville, Illinois

Peotone Bank and Trust-Peotone, Illinois

Lincoln Park Savings Bank-Chicago, Illinois

New Century Bank-Chicago, Illinois

Citizens Bank & Trust Company of Chicago

Broadway Bank-Chicago, Illinois

Amcore Bank NA-Rockford, Illinois

What's going on in Illinois banking?

50 Banks Gone Broke in 2010!

Still on pace for 161 bank failures for this year!

Too Many, too many.....

What causes so many bank failures these days?

Not enough free gifts for opening new accounts?

The banks all saved significant labor costs from the use of electronic banking, debit cards instead of manual check processing, automatic payments, ATM's etc. So it's not that their Normal Payroll Expenses were too high.... It can't be that the banks are paying out too much interest to us on our savings-they hardly pay us anything! Did the banks get robbed by Bonnie and Clyde a lot? I know that some banks here in Florida keep their front doors locked at all times, and they only let you in after they take a good look at you; the first time I experienced that I was a little bit nervous about entering the bank at all, but they reassurred me with a cold bottle of water and a platter of "fresh-baked cookies". I am not kidding about this, it really happened at Superior Bank in Clearwater, Fla! Good cookies too, but the interest rates they offered on savings were very low.

I have read that the main reasons banks go broke these days is because of bad "investments". Investments like having approved ridiculous inflated mortgages, and investments like gambling in the stock market with borrowed funds! But not investments like paying the CEO's millions of dollars in over-compensation...of course not!

How long can the banks stay afloat?

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Iran's War Games in the Dire Strait of Hormuz!"

2010-04-22T09:24:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Iran's War Games in the Dire Strait of Hormuz!.wma

War Games and Dire Straits (of Hormuz)

2010-04-22T06:24:00.000-04:00

Strait of Hormuz

The number one choke point in the world for cutting off the flow of oil is the Strait of Hormuz.

This is the area of Iran's current war games, which are a 3 to 5 day exercise in blocking this 21-mile wide waterway through which 40% of all the oil produced in the world passes everyday.

Oil-producing countries like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, United Arab Emirates, and others, all ship the bulk of their oil from the Persian Gulf, through the Strait of Hormuz. Very troubling is the fact that if the Iran military does block the Strait, it would stop this flow of almost half the world's oil and may provoke a military confrontation involving the United States.

Should the Strait of Hormuz become blocked, the oil producing countries can still use existing pipelines to transport oil, but it is much slower.

In January of 2008 during Iranian war games, the Iran Navy used 5 armed speedboats to annoy the captains of American warships who were patrolling these international waters. The US Navy came within minutes of firing on these Iranian gunboats after the Iran military officers verbally announced that they would execute suicide maneuvers against the US warships. At the last moment the Iranians reversed course away from our naval vessels.

This is all relevant to the events happening over there right now, because the Iranian military has announced that at least 313 armed speedboats will be used in this war games-exercise.

They better get out of the way of this guy!

United States Navy

Will ~~work~~ fight for ~~food~~ Oil !

Dangerous confrontations between

Iran and the United States are likely.

With all the recent tough talk about war with Iran lately, this represents a potential flash point for World War III.

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Waist Products-Too Fat for Our Military?"

2010-04-20T09:01:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Waist Products and Too Fat for Our Military!.wma

Waist Products-America's Military Rejects?

2010-04-20T08:39:00.001-04:00

Too fat to enlist in our military?
27% of the people who tried to enlist in our military have been rejected because they are too overweight!
Too fat to fight now?

We don't have a military draft anymore. But I think that if we did, they wouldn't reject those overweight draftees, not at all. I believe that they would keep them in boot camp until they got them into shape, then send them overseas somewhere.

If 27% of our young people can't join the military because of their weight, another high percent have drug use issues, then what is the future like for our society?

During the late 60's and early 70's when I was of draft age, avoiding unwanted military service was the biggest issue for us young people. Every 17 year old boy knew his draft status and was aware of every possible classification that had been established. Kids I knew were studying ways to avoid military service, including starving themselves and becoming too underweight to be drafted. Common belief was that the Army needed big, strong men to fight.
I had one close friend who moved to Canada after receiving his draft notice, so he wouldn't have to go to Vietnam. Kids we both knew had met their deaths there....

Back then it was almost unheard of for a young man or young woman to be too fat to go in the army. Today's standard for US Army enlistments for males age 17-20, six-foot tall is a weight not over 190 pounds. For complete information on enlistment into the Army click this link!

How did we become a nation of overweight citizens? If more than a quarter of our young people ages 17 to 24 are all too fat to serve their country, I can only guess as to the percentage of Americans who are too out of shape to even defend themselves from a street criminal! It's probably over half of the population...
We, as a nation are eating too much crap.
And we are not exercising enough.
Our dogs are in much better shape than their owners!
Strangely we ARE concerned with our dogs' nutrition much more so than our own, and we try to allow our dogs to get enough exercise....

True, we do feed our beloved pets the same old, boring dog food every single day. and we only let them drink water, but that's not punishing the dogs at all, it's proper nutrition. And when we purchase dog food for them, I think we all read the front and back of the dog food package to see what the ingredients are, to make sure that it is the right food for our animal!
Why do we do that, anyway? The dog will eat almost anything that we put in it's dish, won't it?
If we change it's food from something that it likes to something quite different, in a day's time it will adapt it's "taste" and eat the new food (or starve to death). I predict it will eat the new food!
The healthy food.
Let me ask you, then, "Isn't that simple?"

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Volcanic Ass and Other Reasons to Call in Sick!"

2010-04-19T09:16:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Volcanic ASS and Other Reasons to Call In Sick!.wma

"Volcanic Ass" and Other Reasons to Call In Sick!

2010-04-19T08:59:00.001-04:00

"I am sick and I won't be in to work today!"

We want to make the call, and at the same time,we don't want to make the call. It would be nice if someone else could make the call for us. If we call early enough, say 5 or 6 am maybe we can leave the message on the boss's voicemail!

That would be a good idea, we won't have to speak to anyone in person, we won't have to try to sound as sick as possible, even worse than we really feel.....We could even try to email our sick call to someone, and hope they read it "in time", in time that is so they don't call our house, because we certainly don't want to talk to anyone on the phone about this delicate matter.

When I was a little boy and I didn't want to go to school. I told my mother than I was feeling sick. She told me to stay home, and don't get out of bed except to go to the bathroom. "Mom, what about my breakfast?" I asked. "What about watching my cartoons on TV?" and "Can I at least go out and ride my bike? I think it would make me feel much better!" She answered that if I was feeling that good, I could go to school. Oh-Oh! I went back to sleep for a little while.

In high school we would go to class with our bathing suits on under our clothes and start acting sluggish around lunch time, then try to get excused from afternoon classes without having the school call our parents. Right to the beach we went (it was just too tempting, living in Fort Lauderdale).

Being a grownup, it's a lot different, but in some ways almost the same. We call in sick if and when we can afford to, sick or not. Most of my life I went to work when I was sick, unless I had stomach troubles, like VOLCANIC ASS. Damn, that special-recipe chili can kill you, know what I mean? Too many jalopeno peppers, too much chili powder, too many beans..

Sick days? The places I worked, they either never had sick days, or they had an unspecified number of sick days. As a worker or a salesman I always had sick days available to me; I could take one of them and lose a day's pay, or lose the possible commissions I would have made that day. But once I got into management, sick days were pretty much unavailable, not-to-be-believed, disrespected, frowned upon, or generally scorned. When you're the manager and you don't show up at work, then everyone says that "you weren't really sick, you just said that to get the day off". There was even a bigger problem calling in sick when I was a manager--they might decide they can work without you! That little fact made me go to work every day I was sick for over 10 years.

Headache, body aches, toothache, earache, sprained ankle, car accident, cough, head cold, dizziness, it didn't really matter, I went to work anyway. I didn't want to lose the job because I wasn't there. Hey, it was never safe to take two weeks vacation all at once either, that long a period of absence was too long for safety. There was always someone who wanted my management job! One week was enough to worry me to death. In fact, the first day back after a vacation was usually so nerve-wracking that I felt like going home sick!

In my 44 years of working I did see countless instances of people calling in sick, or going home sick, and about half the time I actually believed that the people were really sick! Well, maybe it was a third of the time! I think that just being tired is the main reason people phone in and say they won't be attending work on any particular day. Or job boredom may have something to do with it!
Maybe it has mostly to do with whether the person gets paid when they are "out sick". I think if there were fewer paid sick days, there would be a hell of a lot more work attendance and people would seem a lot healthier overall.

Years ago people had more excuses available for missing work. One old excuse was picking somebody up at the airport. It was a very big deal to fly and almost as big a deal to drive to the airport and watch the planes take off or land. My father used to use the excuse that he was "waiting for the TV repair man" or that he was expecting a "long-distance phone call". Either one of those two bullshit reasons could get him half a day off from work. Sometimes he would say that he "had a fever" which sounded dangerously contagious.

Do you think that employee absenteeism is probably much less in these days of high unemployment? Do people call in sick about as frequently as they always did? Did you feel like going to work today? How mad do you get when someone at your job calls in sick? Are you envious that they didn't have to work today? Even though they might be sick? Would you be willing to trade a headache all morning for the whole day off? If you weren't getting a paid sick day, would you call in sick so you could just catch up on your sleep, say on a Monday morning after a wild weekend? You know that in some occupations, when you call in sick, your employer spot checks you by calling your home phone number in the afternoon? If you are not there, you could be in trouble...

How are you feeling this Monday morning, did you wish that you could "call in sick" today?

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Six Broken Banks and Old Man Runs 406 Miles"

2010-04-16T21:14:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Six Broken Banks and Old Man Runs 406 Miles!.wma

6 Banks Go Broke & Old Man Runs 406 Miles!

2010-04-16T21:00:00.000-04:00

Six more banks were closed today, Friday April 16, 2010. The FDIC has been very busy this year.
That makes 48 banks shut down so far this year which puts the bank yearly failure rate at a pace of 163 failed banks!

These banks closed today:
Innovative Bank in California
Butler Bank in Massachusetts
Riverside National Bank of Florida
AmericanFirst Bank in Florida
First Federal Bank of North Florida
Lakeside Community Bank in Michigan

I worry that the FDIC will run out of money to rescue all the banks that go under! The reason I worry is because I compare the situation to families who keep borrowing money on credit cards, and home equity loans just to keep up, to rescue themselves, somehow thinking that eventually they will catch up on things. We all know how it turns out most of the time, those families do not catch up, but eventually go bankrupt. When they run out of money and can't get rescued temporarily by borrowing more money.
Why should I think that the government won't run out of money?
********************************************
In happier news, a sixty-year old man in Clearwater, Florida completed a six-mile run today, which gave him a total of 406 running miles for the year 2010 so far. The old man, John DeFlumeri Jr (me), is attempting to complete 1500 miles of running this year. Right now I am on a pace of 1392/miles/per year, so I have to step it up!

I want that 1500 miles!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

~When Everything Pisses You Off~

2010-04-15T08:24:00.000-04:00

Ever feel this way?

Like you want to kill someone?

Like you want to throw things away?

Break things?

Blow it all up?

Everything Pisses You off!

Maybe you are the problem......

Probably you have too much stress.

Work problems, money troubles, not enough sleep. Parenting issues, marital issues, health issues. Pants too tight, failing diet program, lack of exercise. Too much drinking, smoking a lot, other bad habits. Eyestrain and fatigue. Taking on too many tasks, completing none of them, too much television, not enough family time. Yelling all the time. Listening too little. No time for others.

No schedule, no order, no plans. Last second decisions, alarm clocks, missed connections, phone calls, emails, letters, bills in the mail. Appointments, intentions, commitments, and accidents.

Not-enoughs, too-muches, too many lunches.

~~~~slow~down~~~~

When you were a child you layed on the ground and looked at the clouds for a long while. Your imagination floated upward to be with them. You were free, relaxed. Then you sat on a swing and swished your troubles away.......

It's time for you to get the pressure off of yourself.

Start relaxing, get your priorities straight.

Start doing it today!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Small Alligators!"

2010-04-14T12:00:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Small Alligators!.wma

"Small" Alligators!

2010-04-14T09:32:00.000-04:00

"I was minding my own business!"

I saw four alligators in the last two days!

My dog seemed like he wanted to go for a long walk the other day, so after he had his food we went about a half mile away past the lake to the long pond. It has been about 9 months since I have seen any alligators at the long pond, although I always look for them. But this particular day I saw what I thought was a long stick floating by the water's edge. My dog stopped to rest and I stared at the stick for a minute; it had two very large eyebrows, then I saw it's nose slowly appear, and of course that awful toothy grin that define's an alligators smile! Well, "they're back" I thought.....

That is not a stick!

***

We were in no danger and so we kept walking, the dog and I, until we reached the other side of the pond. Then we saw another one, and this one was small in size too, small for an alligator, that is!

I like to look at alligators, but I don't want to make close eye contact with them!

By the time we got done with our walk I had forgotten to mention the 2 alligator sightings to my wife.

OK it's the next day and I decided to go for a nice 7-mile nature run in a wetlands park in Clearwater.

Can you guess what I ran into this day?

More alligators. I didn't see any in the park itself, although that is what I thought would be the perfect place for them. At the beginning of my run, I ran out of the park, through a neighborhood, across a main roadway, and down through the parking lot of a large theater group, the Ruth Eckerd Hall property. The theater property borders on another wetlands area, and I started running through the grassy areas that were surrounded by water, keeping an eye out for snakes, which are quite numerous around here. No snakes that I could see, but a few feet from where I was running a bigger alligator was floating peacefully in a pond. I didn't want to disturb him, he looked nice and relaxed. But, in my mind I was wondering if there were any more alligators on land, where I was, ones who would be disturbed by my running through their yard?

Realizing that I needed to be aware of the alligator that was in the water nearby, and at the same time watch for land-based alligators I was also trying to be careful of my footing, as this would have been one of the worst times to slip and fall....

Then I saw it, a medium sized alligator (medium for an alligator is big for Me!) It was about 20 feet away, sunning itself on the bank of another small pond. So now there was one alligator behind me in the water, and another one close by on the land. Good sense indicated I should reverse course and leave those nice animals alone. I did run back out the way I went in and ran to the park where I had parked my truck. That little adventure was perfect for my morning, and had used up 5 miles of my run. So then I ran 2 more miles in the park and called it a nice day!

I love those nature-lovers! GRRRRRR!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Still Getting Ripped Off at the Pump!"

2010-04-13T09:39:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Still Getting Ripped Off at the Pump!.wma

Still Getting Ripped Off at the Pump!

2010-04-13T09:19:00.000-04:00

When I was a boy, there was a national fixation with driving an automobile. Adults talked about going out to buy gas. It was an exciting event at the time. Nobody hated the oil companies then, in fact they were appreciated and respected.

The oil companies had a lot of pride in their product then, and different companies produced and sold different kinds of gasoline.

They even bragged about where the oil came from that they refined to produce their gasoline brands, much like the way that coffee companies boast of the origin of the beans they roast!

Not like the old days, not a bit. No one believes anymore that one gasoline brand is any different than any other. It's just a matter of price, and whether the station charges more if you purchase the gas on your credit card vs. paying cash.

What year were these prices from?

Nobody is happy with the price of gas today. We only tolerate it because we remember when it was over four dollars a gallon! That was such a national ripoff wasn't it! Today's price of around three bucks a gallon is a national ripoff too. Realistically we should be paying about $1.65/gallon. If our President wants to use his power to influence the fat-cat oil traders to get the oil prices under fifty dollars a barrel, then this country would experience an uplifting boost of confidence in the economy.

That's my opinion! I believe that the morale of the citizens in the United States is tied to the price of gasoline. When the price is reasonably low (under $1.99 a gallon) everybody is in a good mood and talking excitedly about it. Then people feel that they can afford other things. Right now, almost no one pays cash when filling up their gas tank, it's just way too much money. Many vehicles take $75 or more to fill the tank. Credit cards, here we go!

Then all the way home we are thinking of when the bill comes in and feeling bad that we had to charge the gas. We dwell on the severity of gas prices and reflect on how the economy is hard on us.

It sets the stage for all of our buying decisions.

So I just read that oil fell in trading for 5 days in a row. Good, keep falling you bullshit, highly-manipulated, product-of-the-devil, you oily necessity! Get down there where you belong!!

The price of a barrel of oil is nothing but a false number, having little to do with the supply of oil. It is just a ruining factor of our economy. Why can't our government do something about the immoral pricing of oil futures?

Let's tell President Obama and our politicians to turn oil prices Upside Down!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "All About Those Raises I Asked For!"

2010-04-11T15:47:00.001-04:00

PODCAST All About Those Raises I Asked For!.wma

About All Those Times I Asked For A Raise...

2010-04-11T15:24:00.001-04:00

More Money.
Today that would be more Obama dollars.

The first job I had was as a busboy, clearing tables in an IHOP in Fort Lauderdale, I remember that the pay was 75 cents an hour, plus tips. I had just turned 14 at the time and I wanted to save up money to buy a car. Any kind of car would do, as long as there was enough room in it to make out with girls. Anyhow, the 75 cents/hr was a little below my goal of making the large sum of a dollar an hour, which was quite a rate of pay for a kid to earn in 1963.

My father had recently gotten a big promotion on his job and was now earning one hundred dollars a week, which seemed like it really made him and my mother happy. They were, however, much happier to know that I had a job of my own, and they could therefore cut off my 50-cents-a-week "allowance". I didn't need those 2 quarters of theirs any more, so OK.

I remembered when they hired me at that job, and they said 75 cents/hr plus tips. I thought they were joking, like a customer might give me a tip or something, so I had basically disregarded that part of the salary question. At the end of my first busboy shift, which was 8 hours long, the headwaitress told me to "Come over here for a minute". I thought I was going to be fired for a few seconds, and I knew I had worked really hard to impress them, so I was nervous when she called me over. Then she told me that all the waitresses thought I was the best busboy they ever worked with and she gave me $3.40. I asked her what this money was for and she said, "Well it's your tips, you Dummy, and it would have been twice as much but we had to split it with the other busboy who was here training you." She said, "If you always work that well, you'll always make good tips like that." That meant my tips that day would have been $6.80 which is 85 cents an hour, making my effective hourly rate $1.60 an hour. My pulse jumped up to about 195 beats a minute and I mumbled my thanks to the waitresses.

I immediately decided to ~~drop out of school~~ ask for as many working hours as I could get, then I got on my bike and pedaled home as fast as I could to tell my parents and my friends how rich I was going to be.

And that was the best job I ever had. Not really, but it was an important lesson about working hard and getting paid for your work. In the year or so that I worked there, my tips kept getting better and better until they leveled off.

Jump ahead 9 years, I was 23 and working in New York City as a manager for a hamburger chain. The salary to start was $200/week. Long hours, long commute, tough working conditions, overworked, and all the other managers agreed, underpaid. I asked for a raise. My supervisor said, "You will be considered for an increase at your one-year anniversary." When the date arrived I was reviewed and given a raise of 10% (which was an amount of twenty dollars a week) and they shook my hand in congratulations and said "But we expect you to work a whole lot harder, and put in more time!" and I assured them I would.

Those greedy bastards. We already worked 6 long shifts a week, mostly nights, getting home at 2am! But, somehow I stayed on that job another 3 years.

My next job was managing a large gas station that had a big 10-bay repair shop, also my responsibility. They hired me at $200 a week plus commissions based on profit-sharing. Told me that as the company made a profit each month, I would get paid bonus dollars.

I asked them when I was hired, when I would be considered for a raise?

"Never" was their answer. They said that I was in charge of my own raise by making money for them on gasoline, accessory sales, and shop auto repairs. For a minute or so during that interview I thought that maybe they were going to eject me from the premises and revoke my hiring, so I apologized profusely and humbly thanked them for the job.

I started work a few days later, and after the first month I was expecting a sizeable commission check. But I was disappointed to see that after a month's hard work my bonus earnings were only about $170 dollars. When I complained and questioned this figure with the main office, they just said "What did you expect? That's what your percentage of the profits comes to." After expenses the station had only reached a net profit of about $1700.00 in the entire month, due to the competitiveness of gasoline price wars at the time. I asked them how could I make much more money and they said "We'll pay you what you're worth, that's how you'll get a raise, and for last month, that's all you're worth!"

I always think it's better to get mad than be sad about a situation. That way I can probably do something about changing things. I set about to increase the repair business and the accessory sales to ten times the current level. Every one of my employees threatened to quit, most of them did, and throughout this crisis I did increase the shop's profit to almost fifteen times the prior level. The next two months the mechanics, the gas pumpers, who sold accessories at the pumps, and I, the manager made huge increases in our pay. It actually caused a big audit from the major oil company who owned the station. They sent two accountants out from NYC to go over my business records. The audit showed that I was legitimately earning a tremendous profit by selling accessories at a big markup and by working on 15 to 20 cars a day in the shop, instead of the previous 3 to 6 vehicles daily. The gravy train lasted almost a year until the major oil company told me to lower my prices on everything and concentrate on the number of gallons of gasoline sold instead.

After that the station's monthly earnings dropped off to what they had been in the beginning.

Soon thereafter, I secured a position in automobile sales, where the salary was minimal, but the earnings potential very substantial.

The word from management in the automobile business was always "Sure, you can have a raise! Whenever you want a raise, just sell another car, we'll pay you as much as you're worth!

The rest is history, I spent 25 years in the automobile business, giving myself raises all the time.....

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "If You Can't Get Drunk at Work, Then Quit!"

2010-04-09T17:59:00.001-04:00

PODCAST If You Can't Get Drunk at Work, Then Quit!.wma

If You Can't Get Drunk at Work, Then Quit!

2010-04-09T17:39:00.001-04:00

How about those employees at the Carlsberg Brewery in Denmark? The ones who went on strike because the company won't let them drink beer all morning and afternoon any longer, while they are working? But let me clarify something first, they are allowed to drink as nuch beer as they want on their lunch hour! "Are the hiring?" you ask.

There must be some stupid lawyers in that country. They let their employees drink alcohol during the work day?
To be fair though, the company really did cut back on employee alcohol consumption while they are on the clock, by prohibiting the workers from bringing coolers full of ice cold beer to their work stations finally. "No Coolers Allowed, you people, wait until noon!"

That's not the whole story: The drivers who operate the company's beer trucks did not go on strike, because their employment agreement allows them to take three beers in the truck with them each morning, to drink whenever the mood hits them!
That's quite reasonable, I think, isn't it?

Let's not be naive about people drinking alcohol in the workplace. It happens worldwide, but it definitely contributes to mistakes, poor productivity, sloppiness, and on-the-job accidents, as well as the workers' alcoholism. But it is a fact of life, against the work rules in most companies.

I'll share a nice little story that really happened in a place that I owned in the late seventies and early eighties.
I owned and operated a franchised restaurant in Southeast Florida in 1979-1980. I'll not mention the name of the chain in this story. Anyway, at the time it was almost impossible to find and retain good help during the fall and winter, which was the busy tourist season then. I desperately needed a skilled breakfast/lunch short order cook and I couldn't get one for a long 7 or 8 days. One of my waitresses eventually told me she knew of a capable cook who was familiar with the menu we served, but she said he had 2 problems. He commanded a high hourly rate, and he needed to drink beer while working, and so, if I could agree to that she would have him come in to see me that day. I thought it over for two seconds and told her OK.

"George" somebody showed up, we made the deal, and he started work that afternoon. He had a strong odor of beer on his breath during the interview, and I had laughed to myself, about the crazy thing i was doing, as I eagerly nodded my head to his requests. Turned out he was exactly as my waitress said, totally qualified, and he drank at least 9 beers during his shift.

"George" worked for me about 2 1/2 months, I even gave him a raise after one week, I was so happy to have him working there.
Then one day, another franchise owner, who had his restaurant about 10 miles away from me, hired "George" away from me for an additional $2.00 per hour and provided him with 2 six packs of beer per day worked.

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Just Signed A Forty-Year Lease!"

2010-04-08T18:49:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Just Signed A Forty-Year Lease!.wma

Just Signed A Forty-Year Lease!

2010-04-08T18:33:00.001-04:00

I just signed a forty-year lease

On my sixty-year-old body!

"Am I crazy? you ask"

Could be...

It does have kinda high mileage,

And it has been driven hard,

On quite a few occasions,

Missed a few oil changes,

Has overheated a number of times,

Known to have gone backwards,

Been in quite a few scrapes,

Several major accidents, resulting

In cosmetic body work only.

But it's fair to say that it has

All original parts.

One owner, unclear title.

Condition at contract date is

"As is, no guarantees..."

Service history as follows:

Has worked hard for 44 years,

Been left out in all kinds of weather,

Put away wet many times.

Gets ass in gear when required,

Runs strong on flat or downhill,

Ability to operate off road, or

In mountainous terrain.

Caveats: needs regular maintenance,

Must be used daily,

Consumes large amounts of fuel,

Improper fuel type may cause

Erratic performance or

Possible noxious emissions.

May suddenly accelerate or

Brake without warning,

Autonomous navigation system

Has pre-programmed sites

Of interest, such as beaches.

Parks, buffet restaurants,

Casinos, wet T-shirt contests.

My hesitation was short-lived,

After all, I knew this body

Intimately, having seen the

Results of many of life's tests.

I jumped at the price,

Although it was staggeringly

Steep, and so I promised to

Pay "all that I'll ever have"

For another 40 years...

Make it a cannoli cake!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "National Sales Tax, it's an ASSinine Idea!"

2010-04-07T18:08:00.001-04:00

PODCAST National Sales Tax, it's an ASSinine Idea!.wma

~New National Sales Tax? It's ASSinine!~

2010-04-07T17:49:00.000-04:00

Asinine, is defined as stupid, unintelligent, or silly.

ASSinine is what a National Sales Tax would be!

European countries have a tax like that now, a very-expensive governmental tax levy on goods purchased! Rates are in the 11% to 25% range. Click here to see the current European tax rate chart; it'll make you use curse words, I am sure.

They use the acronym of VAT meaning "value added tax" instead of the more threatening name of "national sales tax".

So, this is a fresh, dangerous, new Obama Administration idea, another way of raising a lot of money for the federal government.
I think it's a shitty idea! A $30,000 automobile would have perhaps $7500 in national sales tax, as well as $2600 in state sales tax! Over ten thousand dollars in sales taxes. one-third the price of the car itself!

Do we want a national sales tax?
I do not want a National Sales Tax. It's a shitty idea!

Consider the impact of a surcharged national sales tax on most of our everyday purchases.
It's a devastating idea for national morale.
But, like so many other ideas that the politicians want to ~~jam up our noses~~, I meant ~~shove up our noses~~ this is an ASSinine idea that might somehow become a reality.......

I would like to offer a compromise to the Washington ~~donkeys~~ lawmakers, an alternate plan. If they have to make an additional tax on consumer items then let them tax ASSinine items only!
Just put this ASSinine Tax on products we use on our ASSES.
Go ahead and add a value tax to toilet paper, hemorrhoid creams, anti-itching powders, rectal thermometers, baby wipes, selected adult products, and toilet seats. That's where an ASSinine national sales tax belongs.

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "I Hope Our Politicians Are Lying to Us!"

2010-04-06T14:00:00.001-04:00

PODCAST I Hope Our Politicians Are Lying to Us!.wma

We Hope the Politicians Lie to Us Sometimes!

2010-04-06T13:41:00.000-04:00

Is it true that President Obama wants to assure our enemies that we would not retaliate with nuclear weapons even if they attacked us with chemical or biological weapons first?

I hope he's lying about that one!
So if some country nukes us first, then we'll get them back?
But if they poison the whole city of Boston, they'll be allowed to exist afterwards, is that it? I hope that's a lie!

The United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country except Russia, supposedly? Fine, so what. Why do we need that many? Don't you want too obliterate an enemy who wants to kill you? No, it's better just to threaten them......

It all makes no sense to me. Especially when I hear our politicians say that they want to eliminate nuclear weapons. That will never happen ever. Our military goes to battle with all types of tactical nuclear weapons at the ready. Why is that do you think? RIGHT, it's so that if a major defeat of our forces seems imminent, that they can vaporize the enemy.

In 1986 there were said to be about 70,000 (seventy thousand) nuclear weapons in the world!
In 2009 that number is SAID to be reduced to about 23000 (twenty three thousand) nuclear weapons. Lies lies lies lies lies...
So, do you think the politicians around the world are lying about that? Of course they are, they just want the people to believe that kind of bullshit! Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies.

I don't think that anything other than the destruction of this planet would ever rid us of the stockpiled nukes.
Some day, somewhere, some country, or some extremist group is going to detonate a nuclear weapon....do you believe it? I think you do. What will be the next thing that happens following that?

In the meantime, I wonder how the United States might retaliate if some country or some group attacks us with a non-nuclear weapon of mass destruction...but I hope I never find out!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater
"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"
copyright 2010 John DeFlumeri Jr.

PODCAST "Defending Our Citizens!"

2010-04-05T07:56:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Defending Our Citizens!.wma

Defending Our Citizens!

2010-04-05T07:30:00.000-04:00

What happened to these ideals?

"Insure domestic tranquility"

"Provide for the common defence"

Have you heard what's happening along the Texas-Mexico border? Local sheriff's departments are advising United States citizens to arm themselves before they go outside!

It's because of the tremendous amount of killing and violence from the drug gangs in Mexico, and it's spilling over into Texas.

The Mexican Government is unable to contain the actions of the drug cartels in their own country. Americans are being hurt and killed by the extensive violence and our Federal Government, that is the United States government is not protecting our own citizens!

I call upon President Obama to immediately use our military to defend our country's borders from these foreign criminals! We waste our resources fighting other people's battles around the world, so how about we take care of our own people Right Now!

And while you are fixing this emergency situation, Mr. President, this would be a great time to STOP the flow of illegal immigrants from invading our country.

We have a big enough, strong enough army to do that, don't we?

Where is the National Guard?

How can it be that you and past Presidents have allowed this ridiculous situation to exist? Millions of illegals are present in the United States, some of whom are no doubt terrorists. All those illegal immigrants are sucking up our resources and contributing to the economic problems we have. The government doesn't even know how many of these illegals there are! Why, oh why have we let it get to this point?

President Obama, will you please get busy and stop this insanity, PLEASE!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Job Losses, Job Offers, Job Findings!"

2010-04-02T10:03:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Job Losses, Job Offers, Job Findings!.wma

Job Losses, Job Offers, Job Findings

2010-04-02T09:38:00.001-04:00

New job loss numbers out today?
Were more jobs actually lost or fewer jobs lost, or has anyone really found a job?

I was walking down the street one day, minding my own business, enjoying the nice weather. Lately I had been down on my luck, my unemployment benefits had run out and I no longer had health insurance because I couldn't afford the premiums and I had to let it lapse. I was listening to some music on my headset FM radio, one that I purchased in Radio Shack 2 years ago for $21.95.
Hold it, the news is coming on! Wow, they just said that 162,000 new jobs were added in the month of March, and that the unemployment rate is about 9.7%, based on the flawed data that the government uses. FLAWED, because we all believe that the number of unemployed is a lot higher than stated.

Anyway, I am walking along the roadside, still in a pretty good mood, in spite of my unemployment and I start to think this whole thing over...No one I know who was out out of work found a job in March. What does it mean to find a job anyhow? As I contemplate this I see myself looking at the objects of trash that line the sides of the road, and I wonder why the government does not employ thousands of people to clean it up? I would take a job doing that! I like working outside, I like the fresh air, the physical work, and the walking all day; hey, I would be the perfect candidate for the position. The position? What position? There isn't one.

What makes a job, where do jobs come from, where do they "go" when they disappear? I wonder what the first job was? Really now, have you ever thought of that, what was the first job on this earth?

In the beginning of the world there weren't many people in the first 30 years, so everybody took care of their own needs. They gathered food for themselves, cooked it, bathed themselves and their children, provided their own shelter and clothing. There was no need for "money". Hey, what was there to buy? How did it happen that some people needed other people to make things for them and do things they couldn't do or wouldn't do for themselves? It wasn't that they were too busy working to be able to do basic things for themselves. (because there was no work).

There was no work! There was no work? Right, no work except the most needed tasks to maintain each person's shelter, food, and clothing. So then, what happened? What was the first job?
If no one had accepted compensation for helping another person, if they had simply helped the other person as a gesture of good will, of friendship, or in the spirit of cooperation, then would there have ever been a first job? No first job would have meant no second or third jobs, no work ever! Would that have made it a better world? A world in which people just helped each other as a normal way of living?

"No jobs" would mean "no money". No money to spend, no money to steal, no money to save, nothing to buy.

We'll never solve those questions, but what about today's many questions? What makes a job today? Jobs are the result of needs that must be satisfied. An employer is someone, or some company, that has needs that must be satisfied.

If you're looking for a job, then you must be capable of providing the means to satisfy the needs of others. Your physical and mental abilities must meet the requirements of the task to be completed. You must be immediately available. You absolutely have to have a positive, friendly attitude on display to everyone you will encounter on your job, and you have to get to work on time each day. Then do your work exactly as your employer wants you to. Do not waste time while you are at work, make sure you are doing everything right, and work until your duties are sufficiently completed. Come to work every day as scheduled. Be loyal to your employer.

Looking to find a job right now? Then be prepared to show a prospective employer what you can do for them. What are you prepared to do, really? What are you prepared to do?

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Oil Drilling, Oil Spilling, Ocean Killing!"

2010-04-01T17:29:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Oil Drilling, Oil Spilling, Ocean killing!.wma

Oil Drilling, Oil Spilling, Ocean Killing!

2010-04-01T17:01:00.001-04:00

Is this what it's going to look like at the beach from now on?

We we be looking at oil rigs and sailboats together?

Drilling off the west coast of Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Drilling off the east coast of Virginia.

Drilling in the water off the coast of Alaska.

What's next, drilling in the Great Lakes?

What about drilling in the Mississippi River?

Do you want them drilling in all of our freshwater lakes and streams too? Suddenly there is no more concern for the environment?

Didn't they recently say there was plenty of oil to go around? Do we have to drill all over the United States in new places for some other reason? Is it that other countries are going to stop selling us their oil, or that that they are going to cut off our credit?

Maybe the other oil producing countries don't want us to buy any more of their oil because we don't "pay cash" or they don't like American dollars any longer? Could that be the reason?

Is there going to be another oil shortage crisis soon? Will it be due to other nations waging economic war with us by turning off the pump? Are they expecting a war with Iran soon, a scenario in which Iran has threatened to shut off 40% of the world's oil supply by blockading the Gulf over there and sinking ships to make maritime passage impossible? Rumors, fears, speculations, predictions, possibilities....

Our government changed position on this drilling issue, didn't they! They said they wouldn't drill on public land, and now they will.

Big oil companies rule the earth.

Powerful people rule the big oil companies.

They will get away with whatever they want!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "The Day They Take All of Our Dollars Away!"

2010-03-31T17:34:00.001-04:00

PODCAST The Day They Take All of Our Dollars Away!.wma

"The Day They Take All of Our Dollars Away"

2010-03-31T17:17:00.001-04:00

Are Amero Dollars coming soon?

Amero Dollars

Have you ever heard of them before? Ameros are a theoretical new currency that would replace the American dollar, the Canadian dollar, and the Mexican peso. It is speculated that the Amero used by North American countries (USA, Canada, and Mexico) would work like the Euro does for the unified countries of Europe (16 countries) where they are known as the European Union. In theory, we would be known as the North American Union. Today's dollars=GONE!

Rumors have been flying around since 2001 about the new Amero. Like why would we, the United States consider giving up our own currency? Because it is so devalued? To make it easier to do business with Canada and Mexico? Why did they go to the Euro over in Europe? Don't think it couldn't happen here!

My wife and I had dinner with a family member who was visiting from Germany this week. This guy works in the financial industry in Germany, and he says there is a great deal of discussion over there about the coming of the Amero. The coins and the currency shown above are said to be non-authentic currency, minted and printed by private, commercial mints in the United States. They are being sold on the internet right now, and have been for several years!

So what if they (the government) take away all of our dollars? What will it be like? When other countries, like North Korea changed their currencies, they made almost penniless many people who had hoarded cash, in a lot of cases reducing a person's net worth by 98%! I don't think our federal government would do that to us, do you?

Another issue is that the whole country would be unable to distinguish real from counterfeit Amero bills...

Maybe our government sees no way to ever reduce the insane national debt without blending our debt in with Mexico's and Canada's? Could the idea of the Amero be to rescue the American economy? And would it really work at all?

The whole idea seems terrible to me!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Life is a Reality Show, Just Like on TV!"

2010-03-30T09:58:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Life is a Reality Show, Just Like on TV!.wma

Life is a Reality Show Just Like on TV

2010-03-30T09:45:00.001-04:00

Is it really real?

Everything I see on TV seems to be really happening now... Militias in the United States being hunted by FBI and other governmental agencies-Just watched that scenario on NCIS twice this year. Nuclear materials smuggled into the country, dirty bombs, suicide bombers. It all makes for good television.

Shows like "24", CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and most of all the NEWS Channels-all too real.

As soon as something slightly new happens, they make a TV show about it a week later! Right now I'm waiting for a mini-series about the health care reform. Or a new Foreclosure Channel! Then I expect to be watching 13 weeks of the suicide-bombing show. Not that funny is it? Movie after movie keeps being made that shows mass poisonings, biological weapons, cyber-terrorism, and nuclear devastation. Does it all glorify and romanticize these things, does it excite the minds of our domestic terrorism factions? In my opinion it does!

This morning on Fox News I watched a former CIA operative talking about the Moscow train station suicide bombers. He said he thought it would eventually start happening in the US. By next week I expect to watch an episode of Law and Order that depicts the exact same thing happening in New York City. Mark my words, it will be on TV soon.

If somebody writes a book about a particular crime, it's either based on a true crime or it becomes the basis for a criminal act to actually happen. Whichever occurs first, a movie is sure to follow.

Five years before the attacks on September 11th, 2001, I read a Tom Clancy novel of an airline pilot flying a jumbo jet into a big building in a crowded city, then it really happened...

Everything really happens! That is the scary thing.

It's about time for some Happy Reality Shows! I'd love to see a television series that shows the United States experiencing Full Employment, non-violence, and economic prosperity! What about it, Hollywood, get to work and make it happen!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Fat Magic, We Are What We Eat"

2010-03-28T13:41:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Fat Magic, We Are What We Eat!.wma

FAT MAGIC, "We Are What We Eat?"

2010-03-28T10:56:00.001-04:00

I swear, I ate all of these foods in one day!

We are what we eat! I think we all heard that before, didn't we? Could it be true, that's what I wonder about. I just don't understand a few things, then, if it is true...

If I eat mostly sugar, will I be "sweet?"

When the cows eat grass they turn into meat.

A baby chick eats nothing but corn and it grows up to be an oven stuffer roaster--all meat. But if I eat corn I just get fatter and fatter.

I tried to eat a lot of vegetables, but it didn't turn me into one, I didn't feel like a vegetable either. When I eat fat I become fat, so I know that works! But I want to know how come if I don't eat fat I still get fat? Fat Magic, that's it! Fat Magic is working against me. Someone put a spell on me when I was little, and little was a long time ago! Fat Magic! Aren't you glad that I identified the culprit? Fat Magic, it's good that we can finally acknowledge your presence! You bloated my body so many times in this life. I want you to stop with this awful magic. Fat Magic, you are a cruel trick player...

Fat Magic, will you explain to me how those skinny people eat whatever they want, the greasiest, sloppiest, most high-calorie things and never put on any fat! Do you not want to be around those people? Oh, Fat Magic, do you know that I haven't eaten beef or pork in over 4 years, and it hasn't seem to made any difference to my weight? Aren't you paying attention to me?

Doesn't it matter that I haven't eaten bacon, ham, or sausage all that time? Makes no difference that I haven't eaten any hamburgers, porkchops, steaks, or corned beef? Your magic worked on me anyway? Damn You, Fat Magic! Why should I deprive myself of all that delicious cholesterol and greasy good stuff for no reward!

I have 2 dogs and a cat. They only get their dog and cat foods. Those animals eat a simple diet, kind of like if we ate the same bowl of dry cereal every day, never varying it and not adding any milk. Just the same bowl of boring dry stuff. "Nutritionally complete" it says. How can that be? I don't think I could get all of the food pyramid into a simple bowl of food like that--but if I could do it, would I want to eat it? Would you? Sure we would, but only if giant beings of another species controlled our every movement with a choker collar around our necks. And if we didn't have the ability to open the cupboards, the refrigerator and freezer, or operate a can opener. In other words, if we were treated and fed like our pets, instead of being free to roam around the world and forage for every kind of edible substance, every type of beverage.

It wouldn't be bad for us to run out the door three or four times a day and play in the yard for a half hour at a clip either. My cat can jump amazingly high even though he's old, and my big dog has unusual strength. The puppy, way too much energy to believe.

All three of them just eat the food we give them, if it's less than they want, they don't complain, they just wait until the next feeding---why can't we do that? If we see that they are gaining weight, of course we reduce the amount of food they get, it's so easy to over-feed animals, and it never seems like a lot of food we give them anyway---that sound's familiar. They never eat at the Doggy/Kitty Buffet in the manner of their owners! Does that mean anything?

Second helpings? Third helpings? Desserts? Leftovers?

Never happens, never happens, no way, no way!

What are these beasts drinking? Not sugary sodas, not beer and wine. Nope, they only drink Plain Water! Never anything but.

Know what else, they appreciate it, they desire only water, it's got no calories, it cost almost nothing, it rinses their bodies out and it satisfies their thirst. It's good for them, and it's always available.

Fat Magic, thanks for not bothering my animals!

John DeFlumeri Jr. in Clearwater

"Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary"

PODCAST "Stay Unemployed and Don't Pay the Mortgage?"

2010-03-26T11:35:00.001-04:00

PODCAST Stay Unemployed and Don't Pay the Mortgage!.wma

Decisions About Money and Controversial Commentary!

PODCAST "Is Osama Bin Laden Living Comfortably in Iran?"

Osama Bin Laden Living Comfortably in Iran?

PODCAST "It's Not About What You Did in the Past!"

"It's Not About What You Did in the Past!"

PODCAST "NAKED TRUTHS and Fun-House Mirrors!"

"NAKED TRUTHS and Fun-House Mirrors"

PODCAST "Will We Nuke the Oil Leak in the Gulf?"

Will the US Military NUKE the Oil Leak?

PODCAST "Will You Quit Your Job When WW III Starts?"

If World War III Begins, Will You Quit Working?

PODCAST "You Have to Be Nice to Whoever Lends You Money!"

"You Have To Be Nice To Whoever Lends You Money, Don't You?"

PODCAST "How Many Oil Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico?"

How Many Oil Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico?

PODCAST "Unstoppable Disaster-the Oil Spill Crisis!"

Unstoppable Disaster? Oil Spill From Hell!

PODCAST "I Believe Everything I hear in This Crazy World!"

It's A Crazy World, So I Believe Everything I Hear!

PODCAST "Don't Have Time to Get Into Shape?"

Don't Have Time to Get in Shape?

PODCAST "Want To Sell Something? Then Look the Part!"

"Want to Sell Something? Then Look the Part!"

PODCAST "Once a Year, That Should Do it!"

"Once A Year" Should Do It!

PODCAST "Accidents, Injuries, and Other Mishaps"

"Surviving Accidents, Injuries, and Other Mishaps"

PODCAST "Every Time I Lost My Job!"

Every Time I lost My Job!

PODCAST "Can I Still Say HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, Mom?"

Can I Still Say "Thanks", Mom, on this MOTHERS DAY?

PODCAST "Minus 68 Banks So Far!"

Minus 68 Banks So Far!

PODCAST "Slash Calories and Expenses"

Slash Calories and Expenses Too!

PODCAST "A Traveler's Notes!"

A Traveler's Notes

PODCAST "Debt Panels, the DEATH PANELS of Spending!"

Debt Panels, the DEATH PANELS of Spending!

I Wouldn't Visit Chicago Right Now!

PODCAST "Banking in Illinois? Don't Bank On It!"

Banking in Illinois? Don't Bank On It!

PODCAST "Iran's War Games in the Dire Strait of Hormuz!"

War Games and Dire Straits (of Hormuz)

PODCAST "Waist Products-Too Fat for Our Military?"

Waist Products-America's Military Rejects?

PODCAST "Volcanic Ass and Other Reasons to Call in Sick!"

"Volcanic Ass" and Other Reasons to Call In Sick!

PODCAST "Six Broken Banks and Old Man Runs 406 Miles"

6 Banks Go Broke & Old Man Runs 406 Miles!

~When Everything Pisses You Off~

PODCAST "Small Alligators!"

"Small" Alligators!

PODCAST "Still Getting Ripped Off at the Pump!"

Still Getting Ripped Off at the Pump!

PODCAST "All About Those Raises I Asked For!"

About All Those Times I Asked For A Raise...

PODCAST "If You Can't Get Drunk at Work, Then Quit!"

If You Can't Get Drunk at Work, Then Quit!

PODCAST "Just Signed A Forty-Year Lease!"

Just Signed A Forty-Year Lease!

PODCAST "National Sales Tax, it's an ASSinine Idea!"

~New National Sales Tax? It's ASSinine!~

PODCAST "I Hope Our Politicians Are Lying to Us!"

We Hope the Politicians Lie to Us Sometimes!

PODCAST "Defending Our Citizens!"

Defending Our Citizens!

PODCAST "Job Losses, Job Offers, Job Findings!"

*Job Losses, Job Offers, Job Findings*

PODCAST "Oil Drilling, Oil Spilling, Ocean Killing!"

Oil Drilling, Oil Spilling, Ocean Killing!

PODCAST "The Day They Take All of Our Dollars Away!"

"The Day They Take All of Our Dollars Away"

PODCAST "Life is a Reality Show, Just Like on TV!"

*Life is a Reality Show Just Like on TV*

PODCAST "Fat Magic, We Are What We Eat"

FAT MAGIC, "We Are What We Eat?"

PODCAST "Stay Unemployed and Don't Pay the Mortgage?"

Job Losses, Job Offers, Job Findings

Life is a Reality Show Just Like on TV