The Silver Lining of Disasters

The year 2012 has definitely seen its share of disasters. Tornados, hail storms, and now wildfires reek havoc as they destroy thousands of homes. As horrible as these events seem, there is actually a silver lining in all of this damage.

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Americans as a whole pay millions of dollars per year into their auto and homeowners insurance policies with most never making a claim to get any tangible advantages to those dollars spent.

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The silver lining that I’m speaking of from these disastrous events is the inevitable boost to the economy that the needed repairs and replacements will cause. Auto body repair shops, builders, roofers, siding contractors, and the list goes on for those that will benefit from the multitude of work that is needed because of these disasters.

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Not only will those companies and laborers feel the benefits but so will others as they spend that extra money that they are making. The reaped benefits is a full circle process.

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The best part of this boost is that for most, the insurance companies are picking up the tab. So, for all of those years of paying what seemed like wasted money in insurance premiums the benefit is upon you and the economy.

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So, the next time you are feeling blue about the many disasters that surround us, remember there is silver lining.

Everyone Is Praying And No One Is Doing Anything

How many times have you been reading a posted news story on facebook only to see the comment section loaded with how everyone is “praying” for the victim, their family or anyone else that they can dream up to include.

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I think it’s fine and dandy that people find comfort in prayer. If that’s how you deal with things then so be it but stop cramming it down everyone else’s throat.

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The online posts of praying on everything is becoming so frequent that people are slinging it around without thought as to what they are even praying for or about. If some of these people are doing that much praying, how in the world are they finding the time to be on facebook to post that they are praying on every event of everyday?

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Someone please tell me, is there an online game or has God issued a challenge as to how many times you can post that you’re praying on facebook? Whatever the prize is, I hope that it out weighs the fact that you never lift a finger to ever do anything for anyone but yet feel completely justified because you’re “praying” on facebook.

Are You Judged By The Company That You Keep?

Growing up, my parents always taught me that you can tell a lot about a person by the friends that they keep. I remember my grandfather always saying, “If you hang out with garbage, you start smelling like trash’. Through the years I have found this to be mostly true. It is no secret that people tend to judge you by the company that you keep.

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That being said, I can’t help but equate these statements to the people on our facebook friends list. The people that you allow on your facebook friends list can and do say more about you than you realize.

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If the comments left by friends on your posts reflect a particular type of personality or image be it good or bad, it is most likely thought that your own personal character or image mirrors the same.

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I will be the first to say that there is nothing wrong with having a diverse friend base but I would also have to question one’s personal character when it comes to the comments and posts that they tolerate and allow to grace their facebook for all to see.

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Thus, if there’s even the slightest opportunity for another person to make a decision on you based on those you engage with via social media platforms isn’t it perhaps wise to look at those you engage with and decide as to whether they serve a purpose or are likely to impact on you without your knowledge, either positively or negatively?

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Here are ten personality types that could affect your popularity or otherwise online

see how many you can identify and whether it’s time for a little spring cleaning?

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The Creator

his person creates content and shares information and ideas in a positive way. They’re happy to share their experience and you can learn from them, or make valuable contacts through them. These are great people to have in your network as they’re warmly received by others too and tend to create for themselves a virtual community with common interests or ideals.

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The Activist 

Always ready to fight the cause, no matter how near or far away or how relevant or otherwise it is to their everyday life. Social media has given them a voice and they intend to use it. While you may be entertained, or even agree with their sentiments on occasion, do you think you’d like your fans or followers to believe that because you’re friendly online that you share their views?
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The Joker

They can be entertaining at first, but a stream of jokes that range from funny to daft to offensive with little of substance in-between will eventually bore or offend you enough to remove yourself. The trick with this one is to decide if the occasional giggle is worthy of the more usual humorous updates of their taste.
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The Friend

This is the person who makes the effort to get to know those who’ve followed, connected with, circled or liked them – and not just for whatever’s in it for them. They take an interest in people and are great for building networks. These people are great connections to have, as undoubtedly they’ll go to great lengths to introduce you to other likeminded souls and they’re quite likely to take the community offline too developing real-world friendships too.
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The Spammer

They auto-tweet on the hour and share every single update from their favorite website with you, even if that particular website boasts hundreds of thousands of followers for a reason and they’ve got ten! They rarely create any original content of their own, but are quite happy to chat about anything and everything in between sharing the work of others.

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The Know-all

Think of a topic and they know all about it. Doesn’t matter that their professional expertise is in one area, they know all about everybody else’s business too – and they make sure that everybody knows just how great they are.
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The Nice Guy
They enjoy some light banter but never try to sell you anything or force their opinion on you. They’re not caught up in growing their numbers, preferring to log on occasionally and have a chat before heading back to their offline world again. These are nice connections to make, never controversial and enjoyable company online when they appear.
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The Guru

The term “guru” in somebody’s bio or info section should send out alarm bells in itself, but if they’re a social media guru with 20,000 tweets and 54 followers there’s something seriously wrong. Same goes if they’re a “guru” in one given topic yet updates cover almost anything except their area.

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The Complainer

Big fans of naming and shaming, they complain openly about customers when a deal falls through or about another business who don’t want to air their dirty linen in public and have expressed a preference to professionally take the complaint offline. Then they try and encourage all their social media “friends” to join in the chat too!

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The Follower -

They follow everybody they come across and when they’re not followed back, they unfollow – even follow a second or third time, in an attempt to make sure that they’ve been noticed. They also go to the trouble of telling you on your facebook page that they’ve liked you – and just where they can find your page so you can return the favor!

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The very nature of social media lends itself to research on businesses and individuals with so much more information available in the public domain than ever before. If you are therefore going to consider forging a connection with another, is it reasonable to assume that you’ll be judged not just by what you say but by your interactions with others too? And more so than the mere interactions, will you be judged by the types of people you interact with?

Aerial Photos - Not Just For Large Real-Estate, or is it?

I’m sure most of you have seen aerial shots used for photographing large pieces of real-estate such as large tracts of commercial property or housing developments. Apparently this particular camera angle has also become the popular choice for personal photos.

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Click through any social networking page such as facebook and you will see the aerial shot being used by many females as their choice of photographs. I started noticing this trend a few years back but I never really thought much about it, until recently.

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The more I started seeing it, the more I wanted to find out about this growing trend. I started doing internet searches regarding this trend and what I found is, it seems that this particular camera angle is widely used by the larger set gals and those interested in showing off their breasts.

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In the case of the larger set gals, this particular camera angle tends to not show the extra real-estate being carried which some gals feel creates a more flattering photograph. On the flip side of the coin, this shot tends to accentuate the real-estate being carried on one’s chest.

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Whatever the case, it appears that this camera angle continues to remain the preferred angle for large pieces of real-estate. That being said, perhaps some of us more fortunate guys should start using this angle for photographing the real-estate carried below our belts.

Knowing Too Much Can Be As Bad As Knowing Nothing

Well now that the issue of Pink Slime in beef has come to light and all of the sudden everyone is just sickened by the use. Many retailers and fast food establishments have vowed to not use products containing the Pink Slime.

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I hope everyone will be ultimately satisfied when the price of beef doubles or even triples due to your need to Know-it-all. My point is that this Pink Slime has been in beef for years and it hasn’t killed any of us or even made us ill. All of the sudden because it made it to main stream media, everyone is just sickened by it.

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Come on people, how about you get over yourselves? If we knew of EVERYTHING that went into the preparation of our food we would all stop eating completely. You could go to any restaurant, including your highest end establishments and be appalled at the processes in the very kitchen that your meal is being prepared.

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Due to the Pink slime being taken out of ground beef it is reported that 1.5 million more cattle will have to be slaughtered to make up for it. If you think that beef prices aren’t going to skyrocket, then you need to get your head out of Wonderland, Alice.
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The American People as a whole, in my opinion is making their need for know-it-all a total detriment to the very society that they think that they are protecting. It’s so sad that so much effort isn’t being put into job performance, parenting skills and unity.



Related Story:

Could banning “pink slime” be bad for the planet?

Housing Projects - The Rule Rather Than The Exception

The Housing Project concept has overstayed its welcome. It's time they were all dismantled and made a thing of the past. For many of the residents they have become the rule rather than the exception.

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What started out as an admirable government program has turned into a way of life for generations of families. Public Housing Projects has been around since 1935. Originally built to house the poor, Public housing in its earliest decades was usually much more working-class and middle-class and white than it was by the 1970s.

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Through the years Public housing has become synonymous with crime and drugs. Although there are still those that use public housing as nothing more than a stepping stone until they can afford to support themselves and their families. Many manage to make it a way of life for generations.

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You can go to Anytown, USA and find the local public housing projects riddled with crime and drug traffic. That is why I say that this program is more of a black eye and a hindrance to the communities at large than any positives that they can contribute.

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The City of Louisville is on the right track with the elimination of such housing projects as Park Duvalle, Iroquois housing, Clarksdale and now the Sheppard Square Housing. These areas are being revitalized with more viable and appealing [non-slum] residences.

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It's a sad situation to have to eliminate housing just to give someone that extra push to better themselves but I say let’s keep the ball rolling and make them all a thing of the past. This is a small piece of the puzzle when it comes to controlling crime but in my opinion a major stride.

Some People Give Primates A Bad Name

News Link: A 78-year-old Ohio man was severely beaten by group of youths -- who during the attack shouted, "this is for Trayvon,"
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News Link: Dozens of teens rampage through a Walgreens store, destroying property and shoplifting as part of a Trayvon Martin demonstration.
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Since when did it become acceptable to commit a crime in the name of justice? Oh yes, I guess when it’s a particular oppressed group of individuals it’s okay. This is nothing more than giving a handful of criminal minded individuals a reason to justify their less than human tendencies and need to act like animals.

There are no doubt good and bad in every group.  It's horrible that it only takes the actions of few to cast such a shadow on an entire group.
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I could go on for days about this but I will just leave it as the title says,--

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 “Some people give primates a bad name“.- and that's all I have to say about that.