Scores of fed up customers are ditching big banks

The nationwide "Move Your Money" and "Bank Transfer Day" are this Saturday, November 5. Since Bank of America and other big banks announced new debit card fees thousands of disgruntled customers across the nation started dumping their bank accounts in favor of not-for-profit community banks and credit unions which tend to have fewer and smaller fees. According to the Credit Union National Association over 650,000 new members have joined various credit unions in the last month alone and more than 4 out of 5 new credit union customers have stated the reason for the move being new bank fees and the "Bank Transfer Day". So far this amounts to a staggering $4.5 billion in new savings accounts that the big banks are not going to get their hands on. The Independent Community Bankers of America said they have seen an equally staggering increase of new inquiries and new customers. And all of this is happening even before the actual "Bank Transfer Day". With thousands more who have pledged to leave their big banks this Saturday we could see these numbers skyrocket by the end of the week. Imagine the possibilities...

In the meantime the Occupy Wall Street movement is holding its own "Dump Your Bank Day" on Tuesday, November 8. So it seems pretty likely that even more people will join this wave of defiance. Even though big banks decided not to introduce the new debit card fees after all the experts in the banking industry agree that more fees and higher existing fees will be rolling out soon as banks will need to look for other creative ways to make up for lost revenue. This may in turn push even more customers away. Is the commercial banking industry, as we know it today, heading for a speedy demise?

Here is what a few of our fellow citizens had to say about the whole situation, which really drives the point home:

"They take your deposits and use them to buy politicians to de-regulate, give them immunity, interest-free loans and bailouts. Then they turn around and charge you fees to make them even richer."

"Take your money to a credit union or a community bank that will use your money in your community and not to pervert the rule of law and fill their own pockets."

[CNN]

A record high 50% of Americans support legalization of marijuana

An all time record HIGH number of Americans now support legalization of marijuana according to the latest research from Gallup. The number of those in favor has now reached a respectable 50% or half of the population. This is up from 46% last year. Currently only 16 states allow medial use even though feds still consider any such use illegal. There appears to be a general trend - young and more open minded/Liberal people tend to be in favor. However, we expect this support to grow over time as the younger generations phase out the more conservative older folks.

To recap the main points:
- marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in US after alcohol and tobacco
- 50% now favor legalization compared to 46% last year
- Liberals are twice more likely to support than Conservatives
- Democrats and independents more likely to favor than Republicans
- 62% approval for ages 18 to 29
- last year 70% supported legalization for medical use
- only 31% over 65 are in favor
- more men than women are in support
- some states have decriminalized MJ while others made it legal for medical use only
- former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders supports lagalization
- 46% still think it should be illegal

[Gallup]

This is why Occupy Wall Street protesters are unhappy...

Still confused why Occupy Wall Street protesters are unhappy and what it is that they want? No worries this informative documentary should answer all your questions...

In short, people are fed up with the corporate America and the way most corporations have been conducting business. There is nothing wrong with making money responsibly in a way that makes this world a safer and better place for everyone, but this is hardly the case today. With their single focus been that of profiteering at any cost there is very little regard left for the environment or the people. Hiding behind hordes of scummy corporate lawyers most corporations have cut corners and engaged in unlawful activities in the name of profit alone. 'The Corporation' dwells into many different aspects of the corporate world and is perhaps one of the most important documentaries of our time. This should really be a part of the standard curriculum material taught in every school.

This is the one documentary that corporations like Nike, Monsanto, Bayer and many others do not want you to see! It is also a must see for any self-respecting citizen that likes to think on his own.

By the way, in case you were wondering, Wall Street is also a corporation that has one and only one goal in mind - to turn up a profit!



Memorable quotes from 'The Corporation':

Noam Chomsky: "Corporations were given the rights of immortal persons. But then special kinds of persons, persons who had no moral conscience. These are a special kind of persons, which are designed by law, to be concerned only for their stockholders. And not, say, what are sometimes called their stakeholders, like the community or the work force or whatever."

Michael Moore: "I believe the mistake that a lot of people make when they think about corporations, is they think you know, corporations are like us. They think they have feelings, they have politics, they have belief systems, they really only have one thing, the bottom line - how to make as much money as they can in any given quarter. That's it."

Dr. Robert Hare: "One of the questions that comes up periodically is to what extent could a corporation be considered to be psychopathic. And if we look at a corporation as a legal person, that it may not be that difficult to actually draw the transition between psychopathy in the individual to psychopathy in the corporation. We could go through the characteristics that define this disorder, one by one, to how they might apply to corporations. They would have all the characteristics, and, in fact, in many respects, the corporation of that sort is the proto-typical of a psychopath."

[IMDb]



If this is any indication of the Corporations's true intentions here is what the Bank of America's CEO Brian Moynihan had to say in defense of the new $5 monthly fee on debit card use:

"I have an inherent duty as a CEO of a publicly owned company to get a return for my shareholders" ... "they'll understand what we're doing - understand we have a right to make a profit."

What a feeble attempt to force people into a Credit Card trap! Here is how everyone can cast their vote on this issue - switch to a different bank that does not charge these fees.

[CNN Money]

Bush spender, Obama saver - which one would you rather have?

Need I say more?

One thing this diagram fails to depict is the fact that most Obama's changes are timed and will expire in a few years while most Bush's policy changes have no expiration date and can go on indefinitely. This means that as time goes by this gap will only widen.

[Washington Post]

Against gay marriage? Just remember straight people make gay babies!

This is so TRUE - straight people make gay babies!

Finally after much unnecessary deliberation the state of New York legalized gay marriage! And its about time. This is yet another rightful victory for the gay community which has been the cause of much celebration across the nation. The fact that this even had to come to a court hearing is insulting. Those of you who are against gay marriage should hold a 'come to Jesus meeting' and re-evaluate your moral convictions as well as your definition of what a 'good' person means. After all isn't that what the Bible teaches - love your neighbor as you would love yourself? And yes that teaching still applies even if your neighbor is gay or a lesbian.

I think its pretty clear what the gay people are fighting for here but what are their opponents trying to push? And why is it any of their business anyway? Here is a simple rule of thumb that everyone should adhere to in order to make this world a better place: "mind your own business and don't stick your long nose where it does not belong!" I have been hearing some really poor and sorry excuses from the so called 'good christians' as to why gay marriage should not be legalized and honestly there is not a single excuse that anyone can come up with that can justify taking away someone's freedom and choice. You should always put yourself in their shoes. How would you like to be told what religion you can believe in and when?


Lets just take a look at some of the lame excuses that people have come up with:

- Marriage originated from religion and it is against the teachings of the church!
  Sure, whatever, it might have originated there but this is the 21st century and we have come a long way and our definition of marriage has evolved as well. Also, just to remind everyone, the Constitution of the United States clearly states that there is a complete 'separation of church and state' - google it if you don't believe me. Also, in case you just awoke from a very very long sleep the state has its own legal definition of what marriage is and it has absolutely nothing to do with church or religion. Also, a lot of people around the world these days skip the antiquated ancient rituals and get simply married in court.

- It is just morally wrong!
  You are entitled to your own believes but you have no right to push it onto others as this violates their basic constitutional freedoms of religion, sex and speech. This is the same constitution that allows people to pursue whatever religious believes they hold. If you deny people the freedom of sexual expression that will also make it ok to attack religious freedoms.

- This is not how nature intended it!
  Perhaps you should watch more nature and animal shows instead of soap operas and reality tv. Animals exhibit plenty of gay behavior in nature.

- I am homophobic!
  A lot of men are. I am no exception but that does not stop me from doing the right thing and from respecting personal freedoms of others.

- It's dangerous for health and causes AIDS!
  It is no more dangerous then christian sex. There are many ways to contract STDs this is just another one of them. Contrary to popular belief gay people did not introduce AIDS. Instead AIDS was introduced into the gay community in the early days as an attempt to put an end to the movement. Instead the plan backfired and AIDS spread worldwide affecting all communities. I guess what comes around goes around.


And those of you that are still not convinced that it is ok and perfectly acceptable to be different in sexual orientation don't worry a day will come when your child or a close family member will come out of the closet and then you will have to face the music and to learn acceptance and open mindedness one way or another. Karma has a way of catching up to people and you are no different and won't be spared - feel free to pray all you want!

Osama bin Laden is dead... now what?

Osama bin Laden is dead:  3/10/1957 - 5/2/2011

Ok so by now we've all heard the news about Osama bin Laden's death. And now what? Clearly Osama was a scapegoat. Hey no surprise there - we all like to point fingers and blame others. After all he is just one man who would not have been able to accomplish much without his numerous accomplices and allies.

I am just not sure why people were so excited and what exactly were they celebrating? I mean his death doesn't really change anything in the grand schema of things. It does not bring back the victims of 9/11 and it may not stop future terrorist attacks either.

Some experts think that as a result US will finally withdraw troops from the Middle East but I'll believe it when I see it. Others are afraid of possible retaliation and more terrorist attacks against the West.

So I ask again. What exactly have we accomplished by killing this one guy? Can we stop living in fear? Are we safe now? Unfortunately the answer is - probably not. However, it does leave even more unanswered questions.

For example. Since bin Laden was not wealthy and instead leveraged his numerous influential connections to raise the capital needed by al Qaeda then who are the guys that sponsored this operation? Maybe, just maybe, we should be worried about those guys that are still at large!?

And also why does Mr. Bean look so much like bin Laden?

Mr. Bean's uncanny resemblance to Osama bin Laden

One thing is clear, there are still many unanswered questions out there...