Yup. I’m convinced that the climbing prices of everything in the US is a good thing. Finally people are starting to realize that wasting money and buying bigger TVs, bigger cars, bigger houses is BAD. It is very unfortunate for those who are suffering, and in no way am I being insensitive to those that are, but look, everyday in life we faces challenges that require us to make choices, some right some bad. In the end we all face consequences, and this is just that. I hope that these lessons teach a lesson that will be learned and remembered for a long time, just as those bad decisions in my life have taught me.

It’s also finally allowing us to focus not only on those who have just recently started to feel the burden of increasing costs, but recognizing those that have been facing tough times for much longer than the current jump in costs. I have some ideas on how we can tackle the rising costs of everything, just like probably everyone else, in the meantime though, I hope everyone comes out a little better in the end.

So with the recent issue of the bridge falling in MN…US Dollars could have been spent on infrastructure or on “anti-terror.”  When you look at it from a “lives saved” perspective…how do you determine which would really have saved more?

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I’m deciding between ordering a medium or large “coffee” drink, and low and behold, a large is _just_ $0.40 more! Seems like everything being sold has an “upsell.” Might as well “go large” since it’s just a few cents more, right? Well, I was kind of curious as to who really wins when you upgrade, so I decided to break it down…sort of. Because the numbers used aren’t “real,” but hey…It’s a start.

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“Imagine for a second, you’ve lost your job. The economy is in a slump, no one is hiring, or so the media and rumors say. You’re sitting at home contemplating what to do next, and the thought of welfare comes up.”

I started off saying that in my post earlier about welfare. And it’s kind of something that deserves more though than I gave it originally–that’s a problem with being a sort of extrovert. I say before, I think. In this case, I write before I think.

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Imagine for a second, you’ve lost your job. The economy is in a slump, no one is hiring, or so the media and rumors say. You’re sitting at home contemplating what to do next, and the thought of welfare comes up.

In doing some research on welfare, I found this interesting discussion on it…In it, forbidnfruit_420 says, “i dont and thats because i wasnt a screw up and can provide for my family…and i know who my babys daddy is.” Blunt and harsh, but that really is the stigma that gets attached to collecting welfare isn’t it?

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Some of them anyway.  First take a look at this article posted on msnbc.com.  Then come back.

It’s a familiar story for me because, in Hawaii, the subject of homelessness is constantly on the news.  Homeless living on parks.  Homeless living on beaches.  Homeless living under freeways.

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I was living in the Bay Area.  Everything seemed normal before going to bed, but little did I realize how different things would be when I woke up.

It was probably around 6:00am when I “realized” what I’ve been hearing on my radio alarm for the last 20 minutes wasn’t a dream.  It was real.  I quickly grabbed my remote, switched on the TV, and my jaw dropped.  I ran out of bed, knocked on my roommates door, and said, “Holy Sh*t!  The World Trade Centers got attacked!”

He replied half awake, “What a robber or something?”

“No man!  This is serious…get up.  Hurry up.  Take a look.”

We both ran out to the living room and watched TV.  The first thing that ran through my mind was, “Do I know anybody in downtown New York???”  I was lucky…the answer was no.

“Can you believe this?” I asked my roommate.

“No…holy crap.  I can’t believe it…”

Images of people running out the Trade Centers and people falling from windows will ALWAYS be in my mind.  I couldn’t even fathom being trapped on the floors with no escape routes, helpless.  The decision of whether jumping xx number of stories would be a better than taking my chances waiting for help running through my mind.

I did end up going to work.  That drive to work was one of the oddest events of my life.  It was like I was on autopilot.  I don’t know why I was going, but I did.  Every single thought was about NY.  When I got into my office, I can’t remember one person actually working.  Everyone was in front of TVs, chatting with coworkers, crying, pondering.  It was a sad day, but the events that followed the following days after the event held just as much meaning for me.  Never had I seen such a demonstration of solidarity across our nation.  Suddenly all our differences seemed so small and meaningless.  I literally was ready to signup for military service that morning.  Screw everything else, raw emotions took over and I just wanted to fight back.  I can’t remember a single time I was as proud to be an American.  Even as I’m writing this, I feel some of the same emotions running through my body.  Five years later!

How I wish we could remember those days without the tragedy of 9/11.

God bless all the people in the world who stood by us and our great nation.

Jim over at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity posted up a great link to an article that is framed as a letter To Those Born After 1982.

I don’t know much about this blog, it’s brand new to me…but after reading Jim’s post and the original, I had to write about it.  A little off topic, but I think it’s interesting…I hope you do too.

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Just went down to get coffee, and on my way out, a woman in what looks to be her late 30’s asks me for a couple bucks because she wants to buy food.  A couple bucks?!?  I know inflation is the trend right now, but come on, what happened to asking for some “spare change”?

I ended up giving her my $0.29 cents of change I had in my hand.  I actually rarely give to panhandlers who ask for money.  I generally feel more inclined to give when they don’t come up to me.

And did you hear about the panhandlers/street performers-entertainers in places like the San Francisco can make around $40k–tax free!  Maybe I should consider a switch in profession.  Although I have to admit, I did see some pretty entertaining stuff in Santa Monica…One performing group must have took in about $150.00 considering the amount of people watching.  I’ll admit I gave him a dollar.

I realize that people have beliefs, I have them too, but when the potential exists to help millions of people, I might have to reconsider putting my beliefs aside, just for a second, for the greater good of humankind.

That being said, I really am dissappointed that President Bush has decided to veto expanding embryonic stem cell research. No matter what we decide, other countries will move forward, leaving America in the dark.

Sorry my fellow citizens, this is a blow to the future of health sciences in America. Looks like we’ll be on the sidelines as the next leap of health science occurs right before our eyes.

Those who stand with President Bush, are you not going to use the health advances discovered when cures tied to stem cell reasearch are found? What would you do if your father, mother, son, daugther, aunt, uncle’s terminal disease could be cured? Would you put your beliefs aside then?