inquiringminds

I have been shocked to watch the news lately. On Friday, there was the trampled Walmart worker, killed by Walmart shoppers. There was a shooting at a Toys R Us in California. A teenager killed herself because of an adult and teenagers making up lies on Myspace. There was a person who killed themselves on the Internet while others watched and did nothing. There was a huge terror attack in Mumbai, India. A woman went to a Brooklyn hospital for gallstones, ended up with sepsis because of improper care and lost part of her eyesight, her hands, and her feet. Casey Anthony likely murdered her two year old daughter and reported her abducted. A news anchor, Anne Pressly was brutally attacked in her home, and died a few days later. I mean the news has become so dark and depressing. I mean what is the world coming to?It really shocks me that we are now numb to these types of news stories. Were you surprised that Walmart shoppers killed a man and couldn’t even be bothered to sop shopping or help the man? I was not, how as humans can we act this way? It really upsets  and saddens me.

Black Friday sales are up three percent. This really shocked me because I did not think that many people would be spending a lot of money this year for Christmas. One cause for the increased spending is the fact that stores are offering huge discounts in order to move their inventory and try to boost their sales and turn a sizable profit. I did not go shopping on Black Friday because it is a madhouse at the shopping malls right now. Many people are shopping online to avoid the long lines. You can get good discounts but the shipping rates can be killer. You need to find items that offer free shipping. This is a good sign though. Consumers need to spend money in order to help the failing economy get back on its feet. I would tell consumers just to budget their holiday purchases. You don’t need to get deep in hock. Most people do not use all of their Christmas purchases, especially children. Did everyone go shopping on Black Friday?

Today, in New York a Walmart employee was killed because a crowd of shoppers trampled on him. The shoppers physically broke down the Walmart doors. I mean come on people, how can you do this? There were at least four people injured, a pregnant woman was knocked down, some said she had a miscarriage but that has not been confirmed or denied yet. More than two thousand people were outside of the Long Island New York Walmart waiting to shop. Employees tried to help the man but they were also being trampled. People were then asked to leave because the Walmart employee had to be killed, they were disrespectful  and just wanted to keep shopping. I could not believe this story. Peoples lives are more valuable than some bargains for Christmas. This man lost his life and still people were selfish and incredibly disrespectful. They even stepped over the man as he lay dying. I hope that these shoppers who are responsible get indicted. They killed this man and they deserve to be punished for their actions. This is not what Christmas is supposed to be about.

As we all know, tomorrow is the day after Thanksgiving, that means that it is Black Friday. I never go out to the mall on Black Friday. I mean you cannot get a parking space and people push and shove on the escalators. It just is not my scene at all. The stores need a good turn out tomorrow because they need to make a good profit. However, I think most people are opting for online purchases instead of heading out to the mall to buy items on Black Friday. Walmart now has shipping site to store which helps eliminate shipping fees and allows you to avoid having to go shopping in a large store during the holiday season shopping time. It is a great feature that I have used a few times with larger items that are only available online. Many people do go to those 5 am-11 am sales. I cannot imagine getting up that early just to shop. Now, do they take down the signs after 11 am? Or do the sales prices last all day long? I don’t understand how that works. Will you go shopping on Black Friday?

I had recently read a story about a mom who was in legal trouble for cyberbullying. The case involved an Internet hoax that caused a thirteen year old girl to ultimately commit suicide. The mother and two others created a fake Myspace account. They said that they were a sixteen year old boy. They sent messages that were flirtatious to their neighbor who was named Meghan Meier. The girl obviously thought this boy really liked her a lot. Subsequently these cruel people decided to dump Meghan and it hurt her emotionally. They even said that the world would be better without her in it. I mean a mother should not have done this. I was appalled when I read this story. I mean these people hurt this girl emotionally which ultimately led to her committing suicide. I mean as a parents how can you take part in such cruelty? I mean your job as a parent is to guide your children and help them make good,positive choices and you do something like this? This news story really struck a chord with me because parents should look out for other children, not torment them. What do you all think?

The price of oil has continued to fall. The price of gas is now at levels that it was in 2004. This is great news for consumers because we are already pinching pennies just trying to make it financially. Oil prices fell seven percent today, that is amazing. I am suspicious though as to why the prices are falling right now. I mean it is winter time and the holiday season is upon us. I think that the oil industry is scared of facing competition from alternative energy automobiles. The thing we have to remember is that we do not have enough oil to supply the world forever. We need alternative fueled  automobiles to help our pocketbooks and our environment. Nothing can last forever unless you find ways to keep mass producing it. There have been few new oil sites found in the United States of America. We need to invest in alternative forms of energy as soon as possible to keep the world commuting. If we could not get where we need to be then we would all be affected financially. What do you think?

The Dow Industrial Average went up four hundred points today. This comes because of news that Citigroup will be getting a bailout by the United States Government. I am not a fan of this particular bailout. Citigroup will get all of our tax dollars and then if you have a Citibank credit card then they will increase your interest rates and finance charges as a thank you. I mean allof our tax dollars just go to failing companies. Can you imagine doing that in real life if you were an investor? When you buy a business you need to make sure that it is profitable and will give you a decent rate of return on your overall starting investment. The government is buying up stock and giving bailout assistance to companies that are not being handled properly and are going broke. How is that a good investment for our tax-dollars? It really stuns me how this occurs.If you or I went broke at our small business, the government would consider us a credit risk as would banks and would not lend us all a dime. I am always stunned by the way the government operates.

What can we expect from the economy a year from now? We have seen the economy failing for the last few years. In a little over a year President Elect Barack Obama will have finished his first year as president of the United States. Will we have started to dig ourselves out of this huge black hole that the government has dug for us? Hopefully, people will be able to avoid foreclosure. I have seen so many foreclosures listed in the newspaper and online. Many people have listed their pre-foreclosures on craigslist and asked for people to take on their monthly mortgage payments to avoid having a foreclosure on their credit. Hopefully, the alternative energy jobs that were discussed by President Elect Obama during the election and primary will come to fruition. The economy is so bad and many people are struggling just to survive every month. What do you think the economy will be like at the end of 2009? Will we still be in a recession or will we be on the road to financial prosperity and success?

Christmas, which is everyone’s favorite holiday is coming in a little over a month. Are you all excited? I am but, my wallet is very nervous. It is very hard to find the right gifts for people. I mean everything is so expensive in today’s economy. Shipping and handling is ridiculous. You can use coupon codes and try to save some money but still I spend at least a few hundred dollars at Christmas time. I try to avoid charging any credit cards because of the very high interest rates. I think after the holidays that credit card companies will increase the interest rates again because they know that people go deep into debt during the holiday season. It is hard to even list shop because everything seems like you could find something better or cheaper somewhere else. It is very hard for me to go shopping. I think they turn up the heat or something because I always feel like I am going to die of overheating a half hour after I enter the mall. What are your plans for holiday shopping, will you go online?

The Nebraska Safe Haven Law has changed. The Safe haven Law now has been amended so that the loophole involving teenagers has closed. This means that you can only abandon children who are thirty days old and younger. This action needed to be taken because parents were abandoning their teens which is not what the law was intended to allow. I never could understand why parents would wait until their children were teenagers to decide that they no longer wanted to be their parents.I mean it is such a sad issue for these children to face. The law was intended to protect babies from being abandoned in dumpsters and other places. Many people have abandoned babies in places and the babies have died due to exposure or starvation so it was important for Nebraska to give people a better option to ensure that babies are safe and healthy. The Safe Haven Law is a good law. What do you think about this issue?