jclewis's Xomblurbs

This might not come as a surprise, but most apartment leasing companies, house rental leasers, and new home builders don't usually put a whole lot of thought into buying appliances for the place you move into. Their only thought is usually how much the appliances initially cost. So, as one article from USA Today put it, "They pick the appliance, you pay the utility bills," and they don't really care how high the bills get as a result of the lower-end appliance. Many of the higher-end, higher priced appliances have most of the highest Energy Star ratings and save the consumer money in utility costs in the long run. That really isn't a concern for the landlord or new home builder though. Of course it wouldn't be, unless they have higher standards - - and the bottom line isn't the buck, but quality and integrity. None of this really comes as a surprise to me.
Many people are hoping the government will step in and require landlords and new home buyers to meet minimum energy standards. I wouldn't hold my breath. Instead, if you're fortunate enough to have the money to invest in your own appliances, I would say to go ahead and buy these yourselves. It really depends more upon which is the higher cost: buying the appliance and moving it from residence to residence or paying a higher energy bill. Then there's the cost to the environment. This is really where the prayers could come in handy. To pray that the government will make the right decisions as far as our environment is concerned, and in return also lowering our energy bills. It's more about saving energy than saving money, but both can be met by higher appliance standards. It's a lot to think about... We can do a lot by boycotting companies that don't think about our best interests - - both in reference to utility bills and the costs to the environment. We need to give more attention and positive feedback to those companies that already have enough integrity to worry more about quality and not the dollar as the bottom line. This would be a great thing to look into expanding upon, say researching the homebuilders and leasers who do offer higher energy ratings on their appliances. It's a lot to think about. If you would like to read the article that lead to this blurb, you can visit the site below.

I thought I would leave a link to this article. It is refreshing to hear something positive about Iraq, after turning on the news on close to a daily basis to hear that more troops were killed. This was a far more enjoyable article to read. I couldn't really do it justice by adding more. The link is below.

Okay, so I got a little too optimistic. I knew it might be a little too good to be true, but it was nice to see something a little more positive for a change. Here is an article in response to the earlier article that was covering McCain's visit to Iraq. It is still somewhat hopeful, just not as hopeful as McCain's people put it. There are some improvements, but this journalist is suggesting that we wait it out for 6 months before we say that everything is getting better.

This was a pretty interesting article about Spanish not really likely to threaten the existence of the English language in the United States. It shows studies done, reflecting whether or not third generation Spanish immigrants still speak Spanish - much less whether they use it as their dominant tongue. It seems to be true, so far, that most 3rd generation Spanish citizens tend to lose their Spanish language, adopting English as their only language. Some still speak Spanish proficiently, or even fluently, but choose to speak English more often. Of course, I don't really remember bilingual education being so prominent as it is today. I don't know if that will affect language choices or not.
Though I don't agree as harshly as Newt does, I do agree that Spanish immigrants - - along with all other immigrants - - need to learn English. I don't think it would be wise to let Spanish share as a dominant language in our country. If we did that, other people from different ethnicities would want their language included as well. I think English should remain the dominant language of the United States. It has been that way for just about all immigrants. Why should it change, and why should other immigrants, who spoke different languages other than Spanish and English be required to speak Spanish? We need to maintain one dominant tongue.
If we don't, what would our road signs look like? We can't have huge road signs with everyone's native tongue written on them. How many languages are out there, anyway? People can't stop along the road to look for their language on a road sign, they can only glance. That would be a nightmare! We would have to have very long road signs, reflecting every one's native language. It would be much easier to just have English road signs in a country that has mainly spoken English for so long. I hate to say that we need to impose English on immigrants from other countries, but it has been that way since most settlers came from England. It's already scary to see that some people can't read the road signs today. I don't know how much of that is due to the fact that they don't speak English, but I am willing to say that quite a few can't read our signs because they refuse to learn English as the dominant language in the United States. What else will happen if many refuse to adopt English as their main language in this country?

Imagine waking up in the very early hours of the morning, and finding feces on the hood of your car. Or maybe you went outside, getting ready to get in your car for work around 6 or 7 am, and you find that your mailbox has been flattened? Forget about toilet papered lawns, or somewhat battered mailboxes. Yesterday morning, some nearby neighbors of mine (not in my actual neighbhorhood, though), woke up to find just this. It wasn't your typical kids who had nothing to do the night before. It was a group of about 20 or 30 cattle! Check out the article, and there is even some video footage! It could only happen somewhere like Texas! Ha! Ha! At least, if you were going to buy some manure to fertilize your lawn - - you didn't have to go far if you lived here! Talk about direct delivery!

Imagine going to a PG showing of "The Last Mimzy," expecting to see an innocent story unfold from a magical toychest, when you and your child(ren)'s eyes are assaulted with the first scenes of the R-rated film, "The Hills Have Eyes". This is exactly what happened in one theater. Patrons were waiting for "The Last Mimzy" to start, and were surprised, disgusted and horrified to see the scene of a nude woman chained and giving birth to a mutnant. One child, a three year-old, is now having nightmares that his now pregnant mother is going to give birth to a mutnant. The Theater chain and local employees were apologizing profusely, and also giving out free tickets for future movies, but how do you really make up for a mistake like this? Having a child who is 11 months old -too restless to sit still long enough for a movie, I feel lucky, now, that I rarely have a chance to get out of the house to let my children see movies in the theater. Movies that our family sees have already been through the theater, and are viewed on DVD and VHS. What seemed like an inconvenience is now something I am very thankful for. At least my children aren't being traumatized by these images. It is one thing to be prepared to discuss what's seen on t.v. with a child, and yet a whole other issue to have to discuss things that came out of "left field".

A man is willing to give away his house, worth up to $150,000, if you are willing to move it! It sounds like a real deal, right? Maybe. It does boast almost 4,000 square feet. However, moving costs could be up to $80,000, depending on where you would be moving it too. One woman offered the man $200,000 if she could keep the house where it is. He declined on the offer. His whole reason for putting the house up for sale is for more parking space. He owns the supermarket and gas station just next door. Despite the costs of moving, are there any takers?

Over $300 billion is missing from taxes to the IRS, reflecting a huge "tax gap". If this gap were filled, it could pay for this year's deficit, or it could cover extra spending that Bush has proposed for the wars of both Iraq and Afghanistan. It might also be possible for this gap to pay for the federal commitment to Hurricane Katrina relief, with enough left over for 3 years of education programs. So why isn't something being done to collect this money from tax evaders? Find out by visiting this website. You might be surprised to find out that it isn't just your big corporate spenders, but a lot of everyday people who have small business incomes...Hmm...

This article is kind of a response to the earlier article I wrote a blurb about. It is suggesting that many of the "tax evaders" aren't aware that they are failing to report certain income, due to such complex tax codes that are so long-winded that they beat the Bible in page length! It questions how much of this gap is due to intentional tax evasion and how much of it is due to mistakes.

This retired couple needed to move out of New York City and, like most New York City residents, did not have a car to move in. So what do most residents do to get around? You probably guessed it! They take a cab, and that's just what this retired couple did. Find out why and how...