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	<title>allaboutus-greetingcards.com Oh My Blog! &#187; Debt</title>
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	<description>What's News at All About Us</description>
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		<title>Any &#8220;Bailout Plan&#8221; should benefit taxpayers first</title>
		<link>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/10/01/any-bailout-plan-should-benefit-taxpayers-first/</link>
		<comments>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/10/01/any-bailout-plan-should-benefit-taxpayers-first/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:34:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Current Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kimya's View]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Press Releases]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/10/01/any-bailout-plan-should-benefit-taxpayers-first/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What?  That&#8217;s unheard of.  Why give taxpayer&#8217;s large sums of money?  They wouldn&#8217;t know what to do with it. They&#8217;d just go out and spend it on &#8220;personal&#8221; stuff and Not re-invest it in the national interest, right?
Except&#8230;that is what the initiative is all about, to spark the economy so that spending [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What?  That&#8217;s unheard of.  Why give taxpayer&#8217;s large sums of money?  They wouldn&#8217;t know what to do with it. They&#8217;d just go out and spend it on &#8220;personal&#8221; stuff and Not re-invest it in the national interest, right?</p>
<p>Except&#8230;that is what the initiative is all about, to spark the economy so that spending will continue.  Except &#8230; if U.S. citizens are burdened with new debt, by bailing out rich people, they will not be in a position to spend. And why is it so important for US citizens to worry about not being able to ge tloans?  Isn&#8217;t that just more indebtedness?  Mmmmm.</p>
<p>Debt is an ugly, ugly, <em>ugly</em> cycle.  Ain&#8217;t nuttin&#8217; nice &#8217;bout it.  It is the manifestation of negative energy, aka evil, which is the definition of &#8220;causing or threatening distress or harm; a source of sorrow; calamity&#8221;.  </p>
<p>Debt is a cosmic black hole created to maintain control of and eventually, swallow up it&#8217;s victims, in this case, the masses. Because once you&#8217;re in the &#8220;credit&#8221; hole, it was conceived that you will always be in the &#8220;credit&#8221; hole, good or bad.  No matter how much money you have, you will always be seduced to need more &#8212; and that will invite credit.</p>
<p>And someone(s) established this euchred system as the foundation for our economic survival. It&#8217;s sort of like a curse, you know, &#8220;A Pox upon your house!&#8221;, or a plague, a serpent, a spider web, an addiction.  Was there no other way?  </p>
<p><strong>Read next article</strong></p>
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		<title>RUSSELL CROWE NAILED IT ON TONIGHT SHOW</title>
		<link>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/10/01/russell-crowe-nailed-it-on-tonight-show/</link>
		<comments>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/10/01/russell-crowe-nailed-it-on-tonight-show/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:32:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Current Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kimya's View]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/10/01/russell-crowe-nailed-it-on-tonight-show/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[CROWE made a stunning proposal, half-jokingly, as a possible resolution for our economic crisis. He said: &#8220;that there are relatively *300 million Americans.  And the bail out was asking for $700 billion.  Why not give 3 billion of that to taxpayers, averaging out to about one mill per person?&#8221;  
There was a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>CROWE made a stunning proposal, half-jokingly, as a possible resolution for our economic crisis. He said: &#8220;that there are relatively *300 million Americans.  And the bail out was asking for $700 billion.  Why not give 3 billion of that to taxpayers, averaging out to about one mill per person?&#8221;  </p>
<p>There was a small applause, but mostly shock. We, the people, are not accustomed to concepts that would actually level the playing field. The idea made too much sense, something else we are not accustomed to.  </p>
<p>First, it would allow Americans to be in a position to invest as a whole, remove large sums of personal debt, and an opportunity to start over.  Really start over.  For all economic levels.  There would be no more poverty.  At least for a while in this country.  But think of the possibilities worldwide.  We really are do-gooders.<br />
<span id="more-125"></span><br />
Second, since it is possible that the money for the bail out will come from taxpayers in the long term, and taxpayers are already struggling, there is no guarantee that the debt will be repaid. Unless We, the people, are forced to pay more and more taxes, oppressed under more debt and rising costs and inflation.  Recession and a Depression is inevitable this route. Especially if they are just &#8220;printing up new money&#8221;.</p>
<p>Third, the majority of Americans are responsible for the money being available in the first place, and not just the rich.  It&#8217;s the rich (or rather a good number of them) who have misused, mismanaged, greedied it away, living large and in charge.  Now, it&#8217;s our turn, the 99 percent, to stop giving and start receiving and living large.  The rich will<br />
always be rich.  </p>
<p>There&#8217;s a responsible way to allot these monies to avert waste.  Damage control.  </p>
<p>We wouldn&#8217;t receive the money all at once.  Think about it.  Junkies would OD on a massive scale.  And large numbers of people would spend it so fast, it would truly be a waste.  </p>
<p>Of course, there are minds more advanced and capable to construct a better plan, but here&#8217;s a plausible start:</p>
<p>Every person would have to invest $100 grand towards Wall St. investments.  Let&#8217;s add that up. 300 million people investing $100 grand.  Uh, duh, let&#8217;s see&#8230;that would be&#8230;uh&#8230;you have calculators.  Anyway, they wouldn&#8217;t see that money because it would go straight to the source, like taxes.  </p>
<p>After that, each allotment would be a certain amount annually per person, like the lottery.  Probably starting around $25,000 per person.  The rest would be placed in<br />
various government bonds, trusts, estates, bank accounts, etc., which no one could actually touch.  It would earn interest, while banks use it to do what they usually do,<br />
invest it, loan it, whatever.  </p>
<p>Would that cause millions of people to walk off of their jobs?  Or millions more to simply live off the allotment, tax free? (It&#8217;s the Australian way.)  And, it&#8217;s probably more than a lot of current salaries.</p>
<p>Or, would it ignite more spending?  More qualifications for loans, small businesses, college educations, purchase homes and afford them, pursue dreams, shopping?  If spending is what they want consumers to do, then this would allow<br />
spending as well as investing.  For the first time in history, the 99 percent would not just be giving to the rich, excluded from the American Dream, but in charge of<br />
their lives.</p>
<p>Too idealistic you say?  It&#8217;s what is being done, has always been done, and will probably continue to be done for the truly wealthy among us.  Make no mistake, we&#8217;ve been duped throughout history by the policies and procedures that maintain a permanent underclass, in order for the wealthy to remain so.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a shocking and daring proposal.  But so is giving $700 billion dollars without American citizens being able to vote on that plan.</p>
<p>Which comes to another proposal.  Voters get to vote on most legislation. Why are they not getting a vote on the biggest economic proposition in history?  A proposition that they will pay for.</p>
<p>Therefore, instead of putting a &#8220;rush&#8221; on this plan, like the Iraq War, let&#8217;s slow this thing down.  Ask a few more questions instead of panicking and feeling helpless and hopeless.</p>
<p>For instance, how many of &#8220;us&#8221; have had an opportunity to go over this plan?  Probably none.  We&#8217;re just being &#8220;told&#8221; about it.</p>
<p>So, here&#8217;s the deal:  <strong>No Deal until we say it&#8217;s a deal.</strong></p>
<p>It&#8217;s easy.  It&#8217;s honest.  And it&#8217;s fair.  </p>
<p>Present the plan to American citizens.  Place the full material in the Sunday newspaper, make copies available online, at libraries, at post offices, etc.  Give American&#8217;s a few days to read it, investigate it, talk it over.  Then, hold a special televised program, like the debates, or presidential speeches, where Bush, McCain, Obama, the treasury guy, especially Pelosi, and some top financial expert &#8212; and have them explain everything, line by line to the American people.</p>
<p>Then, <em>and only then</em>, set a date for <strong>a special election where WE get to vote on this bail out. </strong> Yea or Nay.  And the final results will speak for themselves, unless chads get stuck and ballots get lost, and we have to start recounts, etc. etc. etc.</p>
<p>What a concept, huh?  It&#8217;s scary and most American&#8217;s will be hesitant because we are not use to taking responsibility for our own lives.  We have been trained, programmed, and conditioned to look to our leaders to deceive us, lie to us, cheat us, and keep us in our place.  </p>
<p>We look to them like they are our parents. We think of them as our &#8220;deadbeat&#8221; dads (and moms). We expect them to disappoint us, make us promises so that we can keep hope alive. We like living on a hope and a prayer.  It&#8217;s what<br />
we are accustomed to.  </p>
<p>And then, let us down, so they we can complain and bicker amongst ourselves. Blame one another.  That always works.  That almighty divide.   It works everytime, has worked for all time, and unless we change it, it will continue to work forever.</p>
<p>We have poverty because we accept poverty.  The wealthy are rich, because they demand it.  We like having idols, and people to look up to, and we need to have people to look down on, to look up to us.  It&#8217;s ego. We like feeling special and better than others.  And we like having something to aspire to.  </p>
<p>With that said.  The balls in your court.</p>
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		<title>They are waiting on us to say NO WAY JOSE!</title>
		<link>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/09/26/they-are-waiting-on-us-to-say-no-way-jose/</link>
		<comments>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/09/26/they-are-waiting-on-us-to-say-no-way-jose/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:22:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kimya's View]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/09/26/they-are-waiting-on-us-to-say-no-way-jose/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Politicians are dilly dallying on this bail out &#8220;crime&#8221; because they are waiting to see if we are asleep, and if they can get away with it.  
If we don&#8217;t say anything, you know, like demonstrate some sign of righteous outrage, some semblance that we are paying attention, then &#8230;.WATCH!  They will steal [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Politicians are dilly dallying on this bail out &#8220;crime&#8221; because they are waiting to see if we are asleep, and if they can get away with it.  </p>
<p>If we don&#8217;t say anything, you know, like demonstrate some sign of righteous outrage, some semblance that we are paying attention, then &#8230;.WATCH!  They will steal 700 BILLION DOLLARS from us and give it to themselves before the week is up.  </p>
<p>That is why they are playing the rush game on us, like cheezy salesmen, &#8220;Buy now or it will be gone!&#8221;  </p>
<p>Intimidation, scare tactics, &#8220;Great Depression&#8221; Oh No!  Take the money, take the money. Please TAKE THE MONEY and RUN back to your mansions and yachts and send your offspring to Ivy League campuses this fall without a financial worry.  And send our offspring to war to steal and kill for you.  That&#8217;s the ticket.</p>
<p>Back in the 70&#8217;s Teddy Pendagrass crooned: </p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Wake up everybody, no more sleeping in bed. It&#8217;s time for thinking instead&#8230; No more war and poverty&#8230;And they don&#8217;t have so very long before their Judgement Day.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Sing it again Teddy.  Louder this time.  Because the more things change, the more they stay the same.</p>
<p>Maybe one day, we will wake up.  Sooner than later.  Because these guys are out of control.  And why not?  We are just standing back watching like casual observers.  But what can we do really?</p>
<p>Mmmmm.  Any ideas?  </p>
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		<title>Thanks for the Support and Encouragement!</title>
		<link>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/08/15/thanks-for-the-support-and-encouragement/</link>
		<comments>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/08/15/thanks-for-the-support-and-encouragement/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:04:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Issues]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/08/15/thanks-for-the-support-and-encouragement/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I want to take time out and thank a few people for their persistence, determination, lookin&#8217; out, you know, supporting me.  Apparently, these ingenious fellows have found a way to &#8220;capitalize&#8221; on my blog, the articles, the press releases, etc., which is extremely flattering.
So thank you to the sites that borrow my articles and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I want to take <em>time</em> out and thank a few people for their persistence, determination, lookin&#8217; out, you know, supporting me.  Apparently, these ingenious fellows have found a way to &#8220;capitalize&#8221; on my blog, the articles, the press releases, etc., which is extremely flattering.</p>
<p>So thank you to the sites that borrow my articles and releases to promote <em>other greeting card companies</em>, I&#8217;m flattered!  Especially <strong>greetinggallery.com, jh183.com, and davickservices.com</strong>&#8230;there are probably more out there, but you get the spotlight here.  I will share your handy work later on in this article.</p>
<p>They are certainly not lazy. I can&#8217;t imagine taking the time to &#8220;borrow&#8221; someone elses work, create a website based on that work, and ask the competitors to my work to <strong>pay </strong>to advertise on that site.  </p>
<p>It would seem to me that if a person is that creative and industrious, they could spend their <em>precious time</em>, not stealing, but developing something amazing, <em>legitimately</em>.  Because they are obviously very capable.  </p>
<p>I use the term &#8220;stealing&#8221; because my articles are being reprinted, sometimes re-titled, sometimes left wholly in tact, <em>without</em> my permission. And without my knowledge.  You could always <em>ask </em>someone if you could reprint their work without payment &#8212; as added publicity.  You know?  I was never asked or paid for them.  Of course, if I were paid, then they could re-print them as they see fit.  I think it&#8217;s called copyright infringement, which has to do with intellectual property laws&#8230;blah blah blah.  Anyway&#8230;<br />
<span id="more-111"></span><br />
I am always stunned by the amount of time and effort people take to create chaos. If only we could find a way to help these creative minds to channel that energy into something good.  The possibilities!</p>
<p><strong>First</strong>, I want to give acknowledgement to the concentrated and determined &#8220;spam&#8221; that keeps recurring, in an attempt to destroy my site using you know what&#8230; <em>you are persistent!</em></p>
<p>Name: \&#8217;)/* | URI: ekibastos | IP: 87.118.116.150 | Date: July 17, 2008<br />
ekibastos…<br />
ekibastos…</p>
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<p>d47s_test137@hotmail.com | URI: urlser.com/?IQpnn#0 | IP: 90.153.128.13 | Date: June 29, 2008</p>
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<p><strong>Second</strong>, again, thank you to <strong>greetinggallery.com, jh183.com, and davickservices.com</strong>&#8230;  Here&#8217;s your official debut on my blog (please don&#8217;t take this to mean it&#8217;s okay to continue &#8220;borrowing&#8221; my work without permission):</p>
<p>Greeting Gallery &#8211; Greeting Cards | All About Postcards<br />
All About Us Greeting Cards has recruited former Wide Receiver, Charles &#8220;Jabari&#8221; McKee to write a new greeting card line. The selection entitled, &#8220;Word by..<br />
www.greetinggallery.com/all-about-postcards.php · Cached page</p>
<p>Show more results from www.greetinggallery.com<br />
Greeting Cards &#8211; Shopping and Services &#8211; Web Directory &#8211; JH183  All About Us Greeting Cards partnered with Powell&#8217;s Books to introduce &#8220;A Good Book&#8221; Summer Reading Series. Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:13:09 GMT You As A Pop Up Greeting<br />
- Stand-Up Doll &#8230; </p>
<p>jh183.com/shopping_and_services/Greeting_Cards · Cached page  Mom&#8217;s Card Saves Foreclosure Victim&#8217;s Life<br />
When All About Us Greeting Cards introduced their new line of cards this past Spring, the goal was to generate consumer interest; saving a young &#8230; </p>
<p>www.davickservices.com/moms_greeting_card_saves_.htm · Cached page<br />
All Regions (Including International) Press Releases and News &#8211; PR.com  All About Us Greeting Cards partnered with Powell&#8217;s Books to introduce &#8220;A Good Book&#8221; Summer Reading Series. &#8211; July 31, 2008 &#8211; All About Us Greeting Cards for the 21st Century<br />
www.greetinggallery.com/all-about-holiday-cards.php<br />
http://jh183.com/shopping_and_services/Greeting_Cards/</p>
<p>admin(AT)greetinggallery.com</p>
<p><strong>Third</strong>, and finally, kudos to the &#8220;collections&#8221; or whoever you are, who apparently want me to know that you&#8217;re <em>on to me</em>&#8230;I don&#8217;t know your motives or agenda as far as what response you are seeking from me. Paranoia? Intimidation?  Run and get that trunk of gold under my bed and send it to ya?  Heh?  Or I&#8217;ll bet you think I&#8217;m gonna run and get my passport and try to sneak out of the country.  Maybe if I really owed you anything, who knows.  But since I don&#8217;t, it isn&#8217;t working. </p>
<p>The power of suggestion to intimidate and manipulate only works if the person is guilty of something, or weak and stupid.  Nada here.</p>
<p>So, unfortunately, all I got is that I &#8220;get it&#8221;  when you plant 100&#8217;s of 1000&#8217;s of Debt Collection ads all over my site and blog, the constant emails, the relentless links around my press releases, and the debt relief marketing calls, really?&#8230; </p>
<p>Kinda got that stalker thing going on, huh? </p>
<p>Here&#8217;s an example of one&#8230;<br />
Eliminate My Debt Consolidate My Debt Call MY Debt Relief&#8230;it goes on and on and on and on and on and on, every link, every ad, every email spam.  Obviously, its your full time job, but really dude.  </p>
<p><strong>Suggestion: </strong> read my article &#8220;The Debt Thing&#8221;.  Take the advice there because I believe in the legal way of doing things.  Anything else is just insanity. And I&#8217;m gonna let you do that all by yourself.</p>
<p>Now, that I&#8217;ve finally aknowledged all of your presence and you succeeded in getting my attention and response, <em>my little children</em>, let&#8217;s try and find something positive and productive to do to keep us busy.  I&#8217;ve found something worthwhile to pursue that isn&#8217;t bothering anyone.  Now you try. <em>Use those brains for good, okay?</em></p>
<p><strong>Let&#8217;s get out there and create and mind our own businesses! YEAH!!!</strong></p>
<p>In conclusion, my only real wish is that you would stop hiding in the shadows, and if anyone has a beef with me, I&#8217;m a nice person.  Easy to talk to. If you like my work so much and want to be a part of it, Let&#8217;s talk it out.  If you don&#8217;t and it&#8217;s annoying, what about not coming to the site anymore? But I guess that wouldn&#8217;t be any fun would it? </p>
<p>It&#8217;s only fun for demented people if they are bringing people into their dark world.</p>
<p>Whats that saying?  With friends like these, who needs enemies?  Glad you got my back fellow human beings.  And how does a person acquire enemies if they don&#8217;t reveal they are your enemy?  Was it your childhood dream to grow up and be creepy?  Congratulations!  You are a success!</p>
<p>Have a nice day!</p>
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		<title>The &#8220;Debt&#8221; Thing</title>
		<link>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/08/15/the-debt-thing/</link>
		<comments>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/08/15/the-debt-thing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:24:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[That can&#8217;t cry over you.  Word by Jabari Cards Available Now!
Debt is becoming an ugly, ugly, ugly word.   It has opened the door for some very nasty people to take advantage of people at their lowest.  Let&#8217;s take a poll.  
How many people do you think go into debt planning [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href='http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/08/15/the-debt-thing/never-cry-over-debt/' rel='attachment wp-att-109' title='Never Cry Over Debt'><img src='http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/cry.jpg' alt='Never Cry Over Debt' /></a>That can&#8217;t cry over you.  <a href="http://store.allaboutus-greetingcards.com/index.html">Word by Jabari Cards Available Now!</a></p>
<p>Debt is becoming an ugly, <em>ugly</em>, <strong>ugly</strong> word.   It has opened the door for some very nasty people to take advantage of people at their lowest.  Let&#8217;s take a poll.  </p>
<p>How many people do you think go into debt planning NOT to pay their bills?</p>
<p>Logically, people go into debt because they want to live better, they want more of what they see and a lot of the time, cannot afford, but really do need.  Such as medical expenses, not even major ones.  But everyday things, like dental emergencies, eyeglasses, appendix removal, car repairs.  Utility company,  cable company, phone company prices exceed your salary.  Voila!  You&#8217;re in debt!</p>
<p>How do you avoid debt?  Get a better job with a higher paying salary.  Easier said than done for most people.  Go to college.  We&#8217;ll come back to that one. Sell drugs.  Prostitute.  Those are options for the not so faint of heart.  No one in debt plans on not being able to pay their bills anymore than they plan on not being on this planet the next day. They are in debt primarily because of predators.</p>
<p>Credit is BIG BUSINESS.  It&#8217;s everywhere you look.  Banks, PayDay Loans &#8230; and Credit Cards are being offered by everyone from stores, gas stations, schools .. you name it and they probably offer credit cards.</p>
<p>We are made to believe if you get credit, it will make your life better.  Your credit score will go up.  You will have access to just about anything you need and want.  Yet, there is all that small print.  What&#8217;s that all about?</p>
<p>It&#8217;s about chain yanking.  Loop holes you will eventually have to jump through.  Surprise tactics and strategies that will put a strangle hold on your finances.  Think foreclosure crisis.</p>
<p><em>And then the devil invented Collections. </em> The collections industry is just a legitimate form of loan sharking.  Few people realize that most collection agencies are law offices.  Yeah.  Attorneys.  Ambulance chasing didn&#8217;t exactly dry up.  They just found a new prey.  And it&#8217;s a racket!<br />
<span id="more-108"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>These collection firms often hire <strong><em>ex-cons </em></strong>as field workers (and sometimes, <em>ex-cops</em>, especially the corrupt ones).  They get them through probation officers.  These &#8220;ex-con field workers&#8221; are permitted to break the law, specifically, the Fair Debt Collections Act, by violating your rights, harass you, stalk you, slander you, terrorize you, &#8230; and obtain as much valuable personal information about you as possible. (Fringe benefits)  </p>
<p>They can do whatever they want with that personal information, like use it to re-establish their own personal identity.  Yeah.   Since attorney&#8217;s have gotten into the collections business, identity theft is at an all time high.  These <em>field workers</em>  who like to refer to themselves as &#8220;Operatives&#8221; can run up all kinds of debts in your name and you are responsible for it.  And no one can ever trace these people to the law firms that employ them.  They are already criminals.  They work on commission, paid under the table, and those fringe benefits.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Credit is Big Business</strong> because of the added incentive &#8230;the interest rates.  That becomes the money maker.  There is even more of an incentive if you default on your debt.  It becomes a write off for tax purposes.  Huge money maker!  At the taxpayer&#8217;s expense!  </p>
<p><em>It is in their best interest that you will default on your debt.</em>  </p>
<p>Now, back to student loans.  One of the biggest rackets around.  Here&#8217;s a nightmare story for you:</p>
<p>I returned to school in my early 30&#8217;s, after losing my long time job.  I thought I would be a teacher.  The word &#8212; was that teacher&#8217;s were needed.  It was a noble profession that I could do well into my retirement years.  And the pay was far and above my previous office support employment.  I couldn&#8217;t lose, right?</p>
<p>I bought into the dream.  Although <em>I understood</em> that nothing is guaranteed, I jumped in, made the sacrifices, worked <em>very</em> hard.  A higher education is promoted as the ticket to better employment, better salaries, better life.   I now know that is false advertisement.  </p>
<p>There are only so many people who will benefit from a college degree.  It&#8217;s like they are the chosen ones.  The rest of us are just in it to support the institutions, unbeknownst to us. There are many PhD and MBA recipients bagging groceries at your local supermarket.</p>
<p>I am not the only person disappointed by that fact.  Doctors and lawyers are prime examples of that disappointment. They became the ultimate professional&#8217;s believing that life would be golden.  It wasn&#8217;t. </p>
<p>They glutted the market because of <em>the promise</em>.  Especially lawyers.  Finding and securing a high paying, prestigious position as a doctor or lawyer turned out to be just as difficult, and competitive, as becoming a supermodel.  </p>
<p>It&#8217;s critical when you think they come out of law school and medical school owing $100&#8217;s of thousands of dollars.  This explains a lot of corruption, especially relating to lawyers.  Desparate times calls for desparate actions.</p>
<p>When I finished all of my requirements, the school, my university, suddenly <em>lost </em>my last semester of grades and informed me that I would have to repeat the courses.  However, I was informed that I no longer qualified for student loans and that I would have to re-apply for admissions, <em>only they were no longer accepting new applications.</em>  Hmmm.  </p>
<p>I was not alone.  There were approximately 100 students standing around in the admin building being forced to jump through these fantasy loops.  </p>
<p>The catch here, is that all of the other students were freshmen, low-income minority students from ghetto communities across town.  They had been lured to sign on the dotted line for loans, which the bulk of the money went primarily to the school.  </p>
<p>And now, they were being systematically &#8220;forced out&#8221;.  It&#8217;s called &#8220;sifting&#8221;.  The Carter Administration caught many schools committing this offense and had to forgive large sums of money  &#8211;<em> at taxpayer&#8217;s expense</em>.</p>
<p>The game is played like this:  The kids sign for government loans, the school receives 90% of the money, the school fills an affirmative action &#8220;quota&#8221; for the term, and when the students are &#8220;sifted out&#8221; through this scam and &#8220;drop out&#8221;, they have no choice but to default on their loans.  </p>
<p>Q:  What kind of legal employment can an 18 &#8211; 22 year old low-income, minority dropout find that will pay for today&#8217;s living expenses and loan debts? </p>
<p>Collection Agency&#8217;s (mostly law firms) are then contracted by the Department of Education.  They are <em>given </em>government (taxpayer&#8217;s) money to buy off these debts for low costs, and then they can pursue the loans incurring huge commission fees.  </p>
<p>But you see, the school has secured thousands of dollars for admissions and other fees, which they are not accountable for.  The dream, <em>the promise</em>, was to <em>include</em> the less fortunate, to give them a leg up, to <em>level the playing fields</em>.  We all bought into it.</p>
<p>The reality was for colleges and universities to find a &#8220;scapegoat&#8221; to sign on the dotted line for those loans.  After they default, collection law firms were enlisted to snatch as much money as they could &#8212; (Desperate times call for desperate actions, remember?)  to make it <em>look </em>like it was all serious business, and they were given <em>carte blanche by our government to do this</em>, by any means necessary, for as long as necessary &#8212; for the life of the individual in many cases.  Because these were people who would most likely be unable to ever pay off those loans.  They could collect every penny these poor unfortunate souls ever made &#8212; forever!  </p>
<p>And the kicker, is that the rest of society is encouraged to look at the <em>defaulted borrower</em> as mince meat to be devoured.  As if they chose to borrow money they had no means of repaying, only to default on it on purpose!  As though they were never serious about attending school &#8212; to achieve the dream, but, instead just to steal money from taxpayers. Most of these unsuspecting souls have no idea they are being scammed.  Victimized.  They have no background that would prepare them how to fight this battle.  </p>
<p>And yes, there are many success stories.  Determined young men and women who for whatever reason, <em>know how</em> to play the game, and accomplish their goals.  But for those large numbers of victims (preyed upon) that do not know how, it adds up to a lot of taxpayer money that is misused and abused by a corrupt system.  </p>
<p>If the system had been fair, and just, there is no telling what those young victims could have contributed to society. Or what I may have contributed to some student&#8217;s life.  I&#8217;m great with kids.  </p>
<p>Q:  If the majority of student loan borrowers are not qualified for regular bank loans without collateral, how is it that they were able to qualify for student loans without collateral, credit, and no means to repay those loans &#8212; with only the promise of a degree and better career opportunities?  </p>
<p>That&#8217;s the hype.  The program is a farce.  </p>
<p>No one ever really says, &#8220;there are no guarantees&#8221;. It&#8217;s never even implied, that when, or <em>if </em>you obtain your degree, there most probably<em> will not be better opportunities available.</em>  </p>
<p>They never offer small business loans that easily.  Which would make more sense.  At least, with an SBA loan, there is the possibility of success <em>and an income.</em>  </p>
<p>This scam unfolded completely after I realized I would not receive my degree. I applied and received a six month deferment to pay my loans.  <em>Two months </em>later, not six, my deferment was cancelled and I was demanded to pay the loans in full.  </p>
<p>I owed a total of $10,000 (4% rate) for three years of study. I had worked three jobs and reduced my living expenses to almost nothing.  I was unemployed.  Obviously, I could not afford to pay a balance of $10,000 or the 4 percent interest on that balance.</p>
<p>Plus, Dept. Ed policy <em>promised</em> affordable payment plan options.  I was denied those options.</p>
<p><em>My loans went into default immediately.</em>  $26,000 was added to the principal, and another $23,000 added for commission fees.  A grand total of $59,000 was being demanded for payment in full.  </p>
<p>I was hounded unmercifully.  Telephone calls all day and <em>throughout the night</em>.  My credit was destroyed.  It was difficult obtaining a place to live.  And some jobs would not consider me because of my credit.  The collections reported over 10 pages of defaulted student loans, which was false.  Some of the loans dated back to 1964, when I was a little kid.  It gets worse.  </p>
<p>People (ex-con and ex-cop fieldworkers) <em>impersonating federal agents </em>were going to my neighbors, local stores, my chuch, my banks, <em>my doctor</em>, saying that I was under investigation by the government for fraud, in order to get information about me and my finances. People believed them!  I was humiliated and embarassed &#8212; and angry.  </p>
<p>I found an entry level administrative job eight months after leaving school and wrote and called repeatedly, attempting to get a payment plan, based on my income, but was refused.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, a few years later, I acquired a chronic illness and was placed on disability.  These collection agents <em>pretended </em>to be IRS Treasury Agents and offset $5000 of my disability.  They never obtained a legal court order for this offset, but used blatantly fake Treasury stationary. </p>
<p>The $5000 disappeared into a black hole never to be seen again.  None of it was applied to my loans or the interest fees.  I still owed $59.000.</p>
<p>Eventually, I wrote enough letters to government officials and they were able to stop the offset.  But not the harassment.  I never obtained my degree, although I completed all my requirements.  Obviously, I never became a teacher.  My loan status made it impossible to afford school without assistance, so I have never been able to attend another school to repeat those classes (all A&#8217;s and B&#8217;s by the way).</p>
<p>The Moral of this story?</p>
<p>I learned a lot anyway.  Mostly about myself and about the system of things.  Despite the corruption, going to college was worth it.  I understand so much more about being <em>alert and observant.</em>  About predators.  About reading the small print.  About fighting and standing up.  About never giving up or giving in.  About a corrupt, broken system that needs to be changed, and how it is hurting everyone in our nation. </p>
<p>Corruption is just the cowards way out, preying upon vulnerable people to make a living or rather a killing, instead of looking for meaningful ways to improve society.</p>
<p>My disability did not cause me to sit at home and collect a check.  Or, to pursue criminal tactics.  Or to cheat the government or other people.  It allowed me an opportunity to establish my own business, which would have been more difficult if I had been working for someone else.  It certainly hasn&#8217;t been easy, and the business is not close to what I hope it will be. </p>
<p>But the key is to find something that you love and care about, that will be of <em>use to others</em>, and find a way to make it happen.  </p>
<p>More importantly, debt is just a four letter word that small, petty, greedy people are making into a bad word.  All that should ever be done is take a person to court or arbitration, and work out an affordable plan.  If they still do not pay, go back into court and see why. The court fees are under $100.  Which explains the corruption.  Why pay $100 to resolve a problem when so much more can be stolen?  After all, no one is watching.  Taxpayer&#8217;s are too busy and too easily misled.</p>
<p>The bottom line is there is generally a logical, <em>human</em> reason a person is not paying their debt.  Therefore, there should always be a logical, <em>human </em>way to resolve the debt. Ultimately, there are options like hardship or forgiveness of debt.  </p>
<p>The current collections and foreclosure crisis shows that debtor&#8217;s prison was more civil.  </p>
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		<title>College Bound Posters!</title>
		<link>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/07/29/college-bound-posters/</link>
		<comments>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/07/29/college-bound-posters/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:35:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Issues]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Express yourself.  Make your dorm room a topic of discussion with politically conscious posters.  Advanced thinkers know it&#8217;s okay to be funny, but smart, have an opinion without being crass.  You don&#8217;t have to be RED or BLUE to know that the U.S. is in economic hot water.
The &#8220;Truth&#8221; will set us [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Express yourself.  Make your dorm room a topic of discussion with politically conscious posters.  Advanced thinkers know it&#8217;s okay to be funny, but smart, have an opinion without being crass.  You don&#8217;t have to be RED or BLUE to know that the U.S. is in economic hot water.</p>
<p>The &#8220;Truth&#8221; will set us free from fear breeders, war mongers, and price gougers.  A change is gonna come when <em>we</em> make the change.  No <em>one </em>person is gonna do it for us. </p>
<p>Make a statement, check out our <a href="http://store.allaboutus-greetingcards.com/index.html">POSTERS ON THE EDGE</a>.<br />
CLICK IT, GET IT, SHOW IT!</p>
<p><a href='http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/07/29/college-bound-posters/true-state-of-the-nation-poster/' rel='attachment wp-att-86' title='True State of the Nation Poster'><img src='http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/pohouse1.JPG' alt='True State of the Nation Poster' /></a> The True State of Our Nation Poster</p>
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		<title>Idle Hands&#8230;the Devil&#8217;s Workshop?</title>
		<link>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/07/17/idle-handsthe-devils-workshop/</link>
		<comments>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/07/17/idle-handsthe-devils-workshop/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:23:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[ 
What do you think is the number one reason that causes people to be unhappy?  Money Problems? Relationships? Work?  
None of the above.  Why?  Because rich people can be unhappy.  Couples that are very much in love can still be unhappy.  A person with the greatest job in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href='http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/07/17/idle-handsthe-devils-workshop/listen-to-the-soul/' rel='attachment wp-att-64' title='Listen to the Soul'><img src='http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/soul-blog.jpg' alt='Listen to the Soul' /></a> <a href='http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/07/17/idle-handsthe-devils-workshop/listen-to-the-soul-inside/' rel='attachment wp-att-67' title='Listen to the Soul Inside'><img src='http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/soul_inside.jpg' alt='Listen to the Soul Inside' /></a></p>
<p>What do you think is the number one reason that causes people to be unhappy?  Money Problems? Relationships? Work?  </p>
<p>None of the above.  Why?  Because rich people can be unhappy.  Couples that are very much in love can still be unhappy.  A person with the greatest job in the world can still be frustrated and <em>unhappy</em>.</p>
<p>The number one reason for unhappiness is a lack of personal fulfillment.  When we are not fulfilling our purpose on this planet, we may not realize it, but it leaves us adrift &#8212; idle.  Sort of in a state of &#8220;waiting&#8221; for &#8220;it&#8221; to happen.  That thing that makes it all come together, makes life worth living, centers us, calms us, motivates us to get up every morning with a spring in our step.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s the hardest thing in life to find.</p>
<p>And very few people on this planet ever find it.  There are a number of reasons why.<br />
<span id="more-62"></span><br />
Of course, we cannot go into the full discourse here in a blog, that&#8217;s best left for a longer version, perhaps a book later on.</p>
<p>Basically, we tend to get caught up early on with the basics of life.  Finding a &#8220;job&#8221;, marriage, children.  And we never take the time to find out what we&#8217;re supposed to be doing.  And that is the vital ingredient for being here on this planet.</p>
<p>No one tells us that.  College is an opportunity to search for that perfect career, to earn a good salary, and create a solid foundation.  But most of the time, graduates end up taking jobs that have nothing to do with their major, or minor.  They are not much better off than the high school graduate who accepts the first full time job. Only more in debt.</p>
<p>Personal fulfillment requires something most people are too impatient to try:  Stopping everything, Sitting down quietly, <em>alone</em>, and brainstorming.  That&#8217;s because we live in an instant gratification, now now now faster faster faster world.</p>
<p>We don&#8217;t believe we can afford to stop and sit down and listen to our hearts.  The truth is, we can&#8217;t afford not to.  The consequences already prove how disastrous our lives and the world at large have become.</p>
<p>Idle hands are the devil&#8217;s workshop.  Ever hear that before?  We take that to mean laziness, or slackers.  What it means is what most people are &#8212; miserable souls.  Souls in misery are souls unfulfilled.  </p>
<p>You may be busy, but busy doing things you don&#8217;t really want to do.  Or, you may not be busy enough. Both cause frustration.  And frustration causes all kinds of trouble.  Meddling, pettiness, vindictiveness, controlling, manipulation, jealousy, excessive behaviours like addictions or eating disorders, crime and violence, and the list goes on.  It&#8217;s on the News every day.</p>
<blockquote><p>Unfulfilled Souls are yearning for what they came here to do. And we mistake that to mean we&#8217;re all supposed to be Brad Pitt&#8217;s or George Clooney&#8217;s, or Jay-Z&#8217;s, or Obama&#8217;s. Or Oprah&#8217;s.  Famous, rich, beautiful, and powerful.</p></blockquote>
<p>If fame, wealth, beauty, and power were the answer, Princess Diana would never have had a moment of unhappiness in her short life.  Neither would John F. Kennedy, Jr.  Yet, we all know they had many dark days.  Just like the rest of us.</p>
<p>And if you achieve that perfect career, that dream relationship, and have all the creature comforts, and still find something missing&#8230;it&#8217;s because there&#8217;s something else you&#8217;re <em>supposed to be doing</em>.</p>
<p>Yes, we have to do things we don&#8217;t want to do a lot of the time, but the key is finding that <em>one thing you&#8217;re supposed to be doing </em>and try to find a way to get to do it, at least some of the time.</p>
<p>How do we find it?  It&#8217;s easy and it&#8217;s hard.  We look inside and we look outside of ourselves.  We observe the things we do easiest, without thought, that perhaps we&#8217;ve sort of been doing all of our lives.  We pray about it, we meditate on it, and the mystery will start to unfold. </p>
<p>Your purpose will reveal itself.  Most probably, you&#8217;ll ask, &#8220;that&#8217;s it?&#8221;  But you&#8217;ll also discover, &#8220;yeah, that&#8217;s it.&#8221;</p>
<p>And your world will forever be changed.</p>
<p>There is a scripture in the Chrisian NIV Bible, which reads:<br />
&#8220;Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me <em>with all your heart</em>.  <strong>I will be found by you.&#8221;</strong>  Jeremiah 29:12-14</p>
<p>And the verse right before that states:<br />
<em>&#8220;For I know the plans I have for you,&#8221; <strong>declares</strong> the Lord, &#8220;plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.&#8221; </em>Jer.29:11</p>
<p>That was a declaration!  Which means to &#8220;make known formally, or explicity!&#8221;  I am sure all other religious texts possess something similarly.  Search for it.  Ask your spiritual advisers about it.  It&#8217;s there, somewhere.</p>
<p>Our Spirit Souls may be invisible to us, but they are real.  As real as our thoughts.  And we know our thoughts are invisible, but just as real because we have them 24/7, even while asleep. <em>They never leave us</em>. </p>
<p>Our Spirit Souls <em>know</em> something that perhaps we once knew, but forgot on the journey here.  Therefore, it&#8217;s not really a secret.  It&#8217;s just buried, lost in the harddrives of our memory banks by the recesses of time.  It&#8217;s there. Your purpose.</p>
<p>Find <em>it</em>, and you&#8217;ll find happiness.  And all true happiness comes down to is <em>personal fulfillment</em>. </p>
<p>Boredom, frustration, anger, fear, loss and lack and all the negative things we encounter in our lives and our thought world, <em>all</em> come from an idle Soul yearning for peace.  That peace will come when the Soul knows it has found it&#8217;s true purpose.</p>
<p><a href="http://store.allaboutus-greetingcards.com/index.html">&#8220;Listen to the Soul&#8221; Card &#8211; Available at &#8220;Word by Jabari&#8221;</a></p>
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		<title>&#8220;The Customer is Always Right&#8221; has left the building</title>
		<link>http://allaboutus-greetingcards.com/blog/2008/07/14/the-customer-is-always-right-has-left-the-building/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:03:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m not happy with my Internet Service, Earthlink.  I&#8217;m not happy with my banks, US Bank and Wells Fargo.  I&#8217;m not happy with the services (and fraudulent billing) I received from my former phone company,Verizon, or with Comcast, my former cable company.  I&#8217;m not happy with the management (HSC) of my apartment [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m not happy with my Internet Service, Earthlink.  I&#8217;m not happy with my banks, US Bank and Wells Fargo.  I&#8217;m not happy with the services (and fraudulent billing) I received from my former phone company,Verizon, or with Comcast, my former cable company.  I&#8217;m not happy with the management (HSC) of my apartment complex.  I&#8217;m not happy with government workers in many of the government departments I have to deal with.</p>
<p>I am not alone.  Many many <strong>many</strong> customers are frustrated, not just with the service, but with the communication with the companies we have to do business with.  Why?</p>
<p>They don&#8217;t care.  They don&#8217;t care because they believe that if they lose my business, or <strong>your</strong> business, they will get millions of other customers, or tenants, or whomever, and you and I will just have to suffer.  We will be considered &#8220;whiners&#8221; or &#8220;anti-american anarchists&#8221;.  Or worse, &#8220;whistleblowers&#8221;.  We will be labeled &#8220;disgruntled&#8221;, &#8220;irate&#8221;,  &#8220;unstable&#8221; and become &#8220;outcasts&#8221;, and &#8220;homeless!&#8221;  Simply because we <em>expected</em> to get what we paid for.</p>
<p><em>And then</em> boys and girls, the CEO&#8217;s will move their companies to third world countries and pay their new employees far far less than they paid their U.S. employees; OR, rob the pension plans and retire to Costa Rica, leaving those poor <em>pompous</em> U.S. employees, who believed they were &#8220;just doing their jobs&#8221;, <em>unemployed</em>.  The consequences of their once smug little dismissal of their former customer&#8217;s needs and concerns, that we were paying for, that <em>paid their salaries</em> will start to haunt them.<br />
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They will remember how they cheated us, lied to us, lied <em>about</em> us, caused us such grief and <em>unneccesary hardship</em>, and&#8230;they will be frustrated when those new third world employees, who replaced them, dismiss their concerns <em>and them</em>!  Turnabout is fair play, I say.</p>
<p>The next time, if they are lucky to get back on their feet again, they will think twice about hurting other human beings, <em>just because they can</em>.  They will choose to do the right thing by people, <em>their customers</em>, who pay their salaries, even for a brief time.  Because any customer, even the ones who are paying for the smallest and most affordable services, are <em>contributing to their salaries</em>.  Allowing them the comforts of their way of life.</p>
<p>Cheat me, steal from me, lie to me, lie about me, if you will.  As for me and my company, the customer will always be right.  It&#8217;s how I make my living.  They deserve to get what they are paying for and they deserve for me to treat them with respect, kindness, professionalism, and never, never, never, a thousand times never, force them to go somewhere else.</p>
<p>Because you know what?  Nothing is guaranteed.  And the person you are abusing today, could be your boss tomorrow.  We think we have control today, but we have no control over what happens tomorrow.</p>
<p>And a <strong>warning</strong> to all the clueless, third world workers: As quick as your new found &#8220;work&#8221; arrived to your country, please be aware that you&#8217;re dealing with people who do not care about you, either.  There is always a less fortunate country somewhere willing to work for even less than you are.  So, my advice, take the time to learn your craft, be kind, do the right thing by your customers to the best of your ability, and expect the unexpected.</p>
<p>And finally, this is simple advice to everyone:  Treat others as YOU wish to be treated.  Unless you are a masochist.  </p>
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