Practical View

So, I was reading the New York Times online about a major problem facing banks.  Apparently new regulations being implemented by the Federal Government will destroy a major income source for them.  An income estimated to be over 20 billion dollars a year!  What could it be you ask?

Could it be income earned from loaning money to buy a home, invest in a business or buy a car?  All of these loans would be with credit approval and verification of ability to make the payments on time and without hardship? (Unlike the past approval process used by lending institutions which trashed our economy and slammed us into the crisis we find ourselves in now.)

HELL NO!!

The bank’s potential loss of income is the fees a debit card user is charged when he or she overdraws their account!!  These fees are as high as $35.00!!  EACH TIME!!! 

A major marketing campaign has been launched by the banks to get customers to allow the fees to continue.  Apparently they can’t charge you fees without your permission any more.  Of course, they aren’t going to cover your overdrawn amount unless you allow them to charge the fees!!

An excerpt from one mailing:

“Your debit card may not work the same way anymore, even if you just made a deposit. Unless we hear from you,” the message, emblazoned in large red type, warns. “If you don’t contact us, your everyday debit card transactions that overdraw your account will not be authorized after August 15, 2010 — even in an emergency,” with “even in an emergency” underlined for emphasis.

Consultants are leaping on this opportunity:

Given the billions at stake, consultants are urging banks and credit unions to hire them to help. “Your fee income will take a substantial ‘hit’ if you don’t start getting consumers to ‘opt-in’ for POS/ATM overdrafts NOW!” Mike Sobba, president of Strunk & Associates, a financial institution advisory service, warned banks in a pitch on the company’s Web site.

Some are even lobbying banks to focus their pitch on the minority of customers who are responsible for the vast majority of overdraft fees. According to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation study in 2008, 93 percent of overdraft fees come from the 14 percent of people who exceed their balances five times or more in a year.

Look people, STOP SPENDING MONEY THAT YOU DON’T HAVE!!   Good grief, 20 billion dollars profit because you’re irresponsible?  Okay, okay, there are emergencies that pop up occasionally.  But read the above again about the 14 percent of people who exceed their balances five or more times per year,  that’s crazy!  Five or more emergencies a year??  NO WAY!!

So, those of you who are dependant on this “service” provided by the banks need to be looking for that notice in the mail ”allowing” you to “opt-in” to behavior that costs you a fortune every year. 

Twenty BILLION dollars per year worth of irresponsible behavior.

DON’T DO IT!

The article referenced: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/23fee.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig

This poor creature overdrew her account and now lives in a towel!! Please send donations.

Obesity is the new elephant in the room that you’re supposed to ignore. 

It used to be smoking, but now you can comment on smoking and the majority of people find it okay to condemn it, complain about it and literally question why someone would indulge in such a filthy habit.  AND MAKE PEOPLE GO OUTSIDE TO DO IT.  (I’m not trying to be insulting, I used to smoke.)

Don’t get me wrong, I think it is bad for your health to smoke and am glad the issue has become one that can be discussed and described as a “bad thing to do”.  But, I have seen people go overboard with their revulsion and be down right nasty. 

The obesity issue is heading that way too.  Get ready for it.  

For the health of future generations, I am glad it is. Get ready for it, look at the signs, it is going to happen!

Some reasons why:

If 32 percent of U.S. citizens weren’t obese, our medicare expenses would be reduced by 35 percent.  Bingo, we could afford health care for every person in the United States.

Think about that.  (Remember when smoking was used as the health issue that drove up medical costs?)

Here is a picture of a person in economy class on an airplane.

There is no way that man is comfortable. 

Most times the oversize person isn’t that large and  just overflows onto their neighbors seat. The infringement into the neighbors space creates discomfort and resentment, after all, that person paid for that little bit of space the airlines allow, and they aren’t getting it.  That would piss off anybody!

How soon until obese people will be required to buy two seats?  Oh, it’s already happening you say? 

Remember smoking sections?  Remember ash trays on every table in restaurants?  Remember when most homes had ash trays somewhere?  Watch an old movie, most people smoked. (and you seldom saw an obese person for that matter.)

Is there a link between smoking being less common and overeating being more common?

Obesity discussions and comments are found on the front page of newspapers, in the speeches made by politicians and in daily conversations more and more.  We have lawsuits blaming fast food companies for obesity.  (even though, if it doesn’t go into your mouth, it certainly can’t go onto your butt!)

Remember the tobacco companies being sued?  (even though if you didn’t CHOOSE  to smoke you wouldn’t have health issues related to smoking?)

So, it’s coming!!  Start losing weight NOW, while it’s still mostly acceptable to be overweight!!  Don’t end up like these poor smokers hanging on after most people have quit!!

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Some other thoughts:

Many years ago, I knew a man who worked as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).  He and his partner (a small woman) were called out to a heart attack victim on the second story of a home.  The patient was obese.  They had to get this person, who barely fit through the doorway, down the stairs and to the hospital quickly.  The victim survived, but my friend quit that job because of the danger he was exposed to in the process of getting 350 pounds of dead weight down a staircase and to the hospital.  He said a great deal of calls involved people who were obese and he didn’t want to damage his physical well being to do the job anymore.  Being obese is not just the overweight person’s problem, it directly affects those whose job is to assist in an emergency situation.

So, you’re young and obese and not having any health issues?  Well, do the research, YOU WILL!

Food still tastes great when you aren’t overweight.  Maybe it tastes better.

Exercise causes your body to release endorphins which make you feel good for hours.

There are a great many things you can’t do or enjoy when you are overweight, BUT you can do all those things and sit down and enjoy a great meal too!

You know, each meal isn’t your last, you’re going to eat again. 

Be against obesity, NOT against obese people.

Some obesity is NOT a personal decision, it can be a medical condition (although this is very rare).

And finally, if religion has any place in your life, then think about the fact that God (or your personal supreme being) gave you life, He gave you a body, and He expects you to take care of it!

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What is the UPSIDE to OBESITY?

I didn’t find it…………. and there isn’t one for smoking either.

Received this email yesterday.   Now, being a fine upstanding citizen living in SC, and belonging to a political party, I will be registering posthaste!  Oh, could you loan me $5.00??

    Five-dollar registration fee for persons planning to overthrow US government

    Terrorists who want to overthrow the United States government must now register with South Carolina’s Secretary of State and declare their intentions — or face a $25,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison.

    There’s even a $5 filing fee.

    By “subversive organization,” the law means “every corporation, society, association, camp, group, bund, political party, assembly, body or organization, composed of two or more persons, which directly or indirectly advocates, advises, teaches or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States [or] of this State.”

“Or.” Not “and.”

Wouldn’t that require every Catholic priest and nun to register under the act, as a member of an “organization subject to foreign control”?

If memory serves, back in the 1850s there was an anti-Catholic theory (one amongst many) that held that the Jesuits were storing weapons in caves underneath a certain American city and planned to seize control and let the Pope move there and relocate the Vatican (to escape Italian politics post-1848). (Samuel Morse’s father was one of the believers, I think) The city was…Charleston. Maybe old fears in SC die hard…