Stop that check!!

I found it very interesting to read about how the country of Great Britain is considering stopping the use of checks. It seems that boards of bankers think they are too expensive to clear and they favor cheaper ways of paying bills. They have set a preliminary date of 2018 for the complete stoppage of check clearing. There are some who are concerned though.

The elderly people tend to write more checks than any other age group. They are not always computer savvy and are set in their ways. Some businesses also want to continue their customer’s use of checks. Whatever happens, I am sure that sooner or later, the checks will be stopped.

French Fried

It seems that the country of France is looking for ways to save money on its public finances. They have a very large deficit and are planning ways to combat the red ink. One thing they are doing is raising their retirement age from 60 to 62. They hope to save a lot of money by doing this.

Of course, there are many people who are not happy with the decision. But, many believe it is the only responsible thing to do in light of the deficit. The plan will be implemented over a number of years and has some loopholes for those who need it. I think France is doing the right thing by keeping their deficit in check!

Protect yourself

Being as that the economic times are so uncertain, I decided to look into ways to ensure my economic prosperity. After doing some research, I decided that I needed to purchase gold. There are many benefits for doing so and I will explain some of them to you. For example, if you purchase gold coins, you can rest easy at night knowing that you have made a safe investment.

It seems that gold usually goes up in value whenever the world’s economic scene goes bad. If there is a disaster or a war, gold’s value tends to go up. This makes it an excellent investment. When you purchase gold coin, you put your money into an investment that is safe. You can always have access to your money and you become free to withdraw your money at any time.

One of the best things to do is to purchase gold bullion. An investment like this has a proven track record of going up in value. I wish I had done so many years ago as I would be very well off by now. When you purchase bullion, you are telling the ones you love that you care. I am sure that no one would argue that is a bad thing. I hope you will be able to look into the matter further when you get a chance.

Happy 4th of July!!

Well, another year has rolled around and in a few days it will be time again to celebrate the 4th of July. This has always been one of my favorite holidays as I love to see the fireworks go off and explode in the sky! It’s also a great day to cookout and spend time with the family.

This year we plan to go watch the big fireworks display given at a local park. My only worry is that traffic will be bad and parking is always a problem. I hope we can find a good spot not to far away from the park. Anyway, I am sure we will have a good time as usual. I hope everyone else has a great time as well and remember to be safe!

Dead Money

I was shocked to read today that the U.S. government has been sending out checks to those who are deceased. It was found out that over the last three or four years; more than 20,000 checks were sent to dead people. This is the kind of waste that makes Americans angry. That’s not all of the news. Some checks were sent to convicted felons as well as deadbeat contractors.

The Obama administration is vowing to rectify the situation by creating a database that list the dead as well as felons and contractors that owe the government money. I hope this new system will save the poor taxpayers some of their hard earned money!

Indian Elephants

The land of India is home to many endangered species. While the tiger is probably the most famous, the elephant is high on the list. Male Indian elephants have valuable ivory tusks. This has caused poachers to target them instead of females that don’t have them. The ratio of male elephants to female is in some cases as much as 100-1.

Another problem the elephants are facing is the growing loss of habitat. Development has interfered with their traditional traveling corridors. Efforts are under way to help the elephants through a variety of methods by the Indian government. I hope these efforts will work and these wonderful animals can be saved.

Food safety

There has been some debate lately over whether or not farmers should need licenses to sell small amounts of food. Vendors at farmers markets are pushing for deregulating strict laws that put an unfair burden on them they say. Selling a few of mom’s apple pies takes a lot of government red tape that makes it almost impossible for mom to make a few extra dollars.

Those in the food safety industry are saying that controls need to remain in place. They say food borne illnesses are a threat to the public and not having the ability to inspect where food is produced will hamper their ability to maintain public safety. Small food processors also say that they could lose thousands in sells to those who don’t have to pay for inspections.

Too Cool to be a Cop Car!

This is way too cool to be a cop car. I cannot believe they have these. The police where I live don’t have any cars this awesome. This had to come from confiscated cars or something like that. There is no way that the police department would spend this kind of money on a car like this for their cops. I like it though.

Ugh

I normally don’t write about politics, but these election campaigns are on my last nerve. I cannot understand why they insist on running smear campaigns against each other. Don’t they realize that people really don’t want to see that kind of stuff? People want to hear about the issues, not about one candidate blaming the other for one thing after another, or putting them down for lifestyle etcetera. I cannot wait until this is over already.

The times ahead

With the next presidential election getting closer all the time, many eyes are on the economy. The health of the economy will play a large roll in who gets elected to the top office in the land. So the question is how the economy is doing.

Experts all agree on one thing. They are not quite sure. Some believe the economy is growing and will be better than expected in the near future. Others believe that the economy will be dragged down by the Euro that is having issues of its own. I guess only time will tell.