Airline Rage over Seat Space

There has recently been a spate of air rage incidents on commercial airliners over the issue of personal space. These have all involved passengers easing their seats back into a semi-reclined position. However, doing so is increasingly impinging on the space of the passengers behind you. Why? Because air carriers are demanding putting more passengers within the same space, and are accomplishing this by reducing seat width (now a mere 16 inches), leg room (now just 20 inches from seat back to seat back), reducing restroom size (as if that's possible!) and decreasing the average width of the aisles.

In short, the airlines are greedy, and any way they can increase profit, they gladly do; in spite of growing discontent amongst rank and file passengers. As paying customers, the airlines demand more money, and give less and less in return. While airfares are currently midline, all the carriers are adding baggage fees, port fees, preferred seating fees, charging for pillows and blankets, eliminating food service on long flights (aside from the 1st Class passengers, of course), even charging you to have the audacity of using a check-in person at the airport (!) and pretty much anything else the pencil heads can think of to gouge the customers even more.

It's really nothing more than GREED. Last year the airlines had a collective net profit of some $7.00B dollars; largely due to the plethora of fees they impose on their cash strapped customers. So, with those kinds of profits, why exactly are passengers being treated like cattle on their way to slaughter?
It's disgusting what is happening in the name of 'profit.' You would think with $7B income that air carriers would give passengers a few perks back. Instead of looking at customers as bodies that fill seats, how about giving them some respect...and space?

That will never happen because airlines, like the oil companies, have become addicted to record profits and will fight their customers tooth and nail to keep those dollars rolling in; while passengers have less and less space to sit in, and are denied the most basic of services, as well as respect.

The only way this will change is if the paying public start writing airlines and demand a change towards customer service and comfort. If that doesn't work, start driving instead and deny the airlines your travel budget. After all, money speaks louder than words; and if enough people stop flying, I guarantee you that the airlines will listen.

From The Wall Builders: A Shield of Righteousness

This week represents the 75th Anniversary of the start of World War II. I received the following from The Wall Builders that contains yet another significant piece of forgotten history--or, purposely omitted by revisionists--that this country rallied around at the behest of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The article...

A Shield of Righteousness Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. (Ephesians 6:14)   This week, (September 1) marks the 75th anniversary of the official beginning of WWII. On September 3, 1939, President Roosevelt addressed the nation with one of his famous "Fireside Chats" stating his resolve to remain a neutral nation in the war, which culminated in an American Proclamation of Neutrality declared on September 5th. However, all of that changed with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. In his famous "date which will live in infamy" message to Congress requesting that the United States officially declare war on Japan, President Roosevelt stated, "With confidence in our armed forces -- with the unbounding determination of our people -- we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God." This confidence in God and our military (along with his concern for individual American soldiers) was later evident in what is now known as The Heart-Shield Bible. These Bibles (used during World War II) were designed to fit securely into the chest pocket of a soldier’s uniform. The metal plates were securely attached to the front cover of the Bible to stop a bullet from reaching the soldier's heart (which they did on several occasions). In our library at WallBuilders we have several of these World War II Bibles. In the back is a section of psalms and hymns, including “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,”  “America the Beautiful,” and “The Star Spangled Banner.”  In the front, there is a note to the soldiers directly from President Franklin D. Roosevelt.   "As Commander-in-Chief I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a foundation of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul." Well before America joined World War II, on the 400th anniversary of the English Bible in 1935, President Roosevelt reminded the nation of the Bible's importance in America's formation and continuance:     "We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a Nation without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic. . . . Where we have been truest and most consistent in obeying its precepts we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity; where it has been to us as the words of a book that is sealed, we have faltered in our way, lost our range finders, and found our progress checked. It is well that we observe this anniversary of the first publishing of our English Bible. The time is propitious to place a fresh emphasis upon its place and worth in the economy of our life as a people." Many other presidents encouraged Americans to read the Bible -- including President John Quincy Adams. Interestingly, before becoming president and while serving as a diplomat to Russia under President James Madison, Adams wrote his ten-year-old son nine letters on the importance of reading the Bible, how to read through the Bible once a year, and how to get the most application form what he read. Immediately after Adams' death in 1847, these letters were published as a book to make his wise counsel on the Bible available to all Americans. Called John Quincy Adams Letters to His Son, on the Bible and Its Teachings, WallBuilders recently reprinted this work in ebook format. Visit our website to get your copy and enjoy the remarkable spiritual insight of this great President of the United States.       The people who revise our history and seek to eliminate religion from our past, continue to ignore the very precepts that made The United States of America the great and shining example that it was. Instead, they tell us that religion is bad, and played no role in the creation of this country, and that anyone supporting religion is ignorant or uneducated. Never be afraid to stand up and voice your opinion on the matter. The less we say, the more the real history of this country is white washed from  religion--and its key role in our history-- to secularist interpretations that remove any references to Christianity and its influence over Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, Congress and everyday Americans.

Charles Thompson, Founding Father

The following is from The Wall Builders, and it highlights Founding Father Charles Thompson....

Charles Thomson 1729-1824 August 16th marks the 190th anniversary of the death of Charles Thomson. Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress and a strong Christian, was one of only two people who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th (John Hancock was the other; the rest signed weeks later).     Thomson is also responsible for the Great Seal of the United States, which he prepared -- and Congress approved -- in 1782.     Thomson served fifteen years in the Continental Congress, and his political career came to a close when he notified George Washington that he had been unanimously selected the President of the United States. But Thomson was not only a great patriot and supporter of the American cause, he was also a great supporter of the Word of God. In fact, his name is associated with some of America's greatest Biblical works. For example, his name, as Secretary of Congress, is found in the introduction to the Aitken Bible, also known as "The Bible of the Revolution," which was the first Bible printed in English in America. That Bible was printed by Robert Aitken, the official printer of the Continental Congress (Aitken described that Bible as "a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools"), and was reviewed and approved by a committee of the Continental Congress, with an official congressional endorsement published in the front of that Bible. (All of the original books pictured below that are associated with Charles Thomson are from our library at WallBuilders.)   Thomson was also responsible for the first American translation of the Greek Septuagint (the full Greek Bible) into English in 1808 – a task that consumed nearly two decades of his life.  Called Thomson’s Bible, it is a four volume-set that is considered one of the most scholarly of American Bible translations, and that translation is still available today.     Thomson also had an 8 volume set  in which every other page was blank, thus allowing scholars a place to write notes on Scriptures as they studied them. In 1815, Thomson published his famous Synopsis of the Four Evangelists, in which he took all the passages from the four Gospels and arranged them chronologically, thus producing something like one super long Gospel, with all Jesus’ words and acts arranged sequentially. Today, we call such a work a synoptic Gospel.                                                                                    Sadly today, Charles Thomson has become a forgotten Founding Father, but his contributions, both politically and spiritually, permanently shaped the course of America and blessed American life.   To learn more about Charles Thomson or the influence the Bible had on America's founding, be sure to check out these great products from WallBuilders:               *To see the footnoted version, visit our website.

B&M Restaurant Owners Object to Food Trucks

An article in the 02 July 2014 Provo Daily Herald highlights the Provo City Council's deliberations on the use and business of independently operated Food Trucks in the downtown area. Many local brick and mortar restaurant owners are objecting to the food trucks parking in the downtown area, and are, essentially, afraid of the competition [for consumer dollars] that these food trucks bring. The B&M owners are actually asking the city council to ban food trucks from the business district of Provo, thereby stifling completion for consumer dollars.

Here's my reply:
"As much as the local restaurant owners don't like the hits to their business, the consumers have the real say in this because they will always go to what sounds good at any given time. Restaurants, by nature of the business, go through many waves of customer use from day to day. Like any competition, if business opens close to a competitor, the original store will take a hit, with consumers sampling the new product. Over time, the original store will see its business rebound, while the new business will lose some customers, and back and forth. It's called Free Market, and as much as competition to a store sucks, it is the very nature any business.

If the owners of the brick and mortar restaurants are taking big, sustained losses, then maybe they need to step up their game and produce better offerings, or diversify their menus in order to compete. After all, how many consumers even want to eat the same foods day after day? Not many.

Consumers WANT variety in their meals. These owners need to stop telling other business owners that they can't make any money simply because the competition for consumer dollars to too challenging for the B&M owners to overcome. Stop whining and step up to the challenge; or, get out of the game."

In the days since my reply was made, not one single comment referred to my opinion on the matter. No one.
I get the concerns of these business owners; but edging out your completion through political maneuvering is just wrong...ethically and morally. I hope the Provo City Council simply stand their ground and tells the B&M owners, "No." Free Market practices will dictate the success or failure of these restaurants. Stifling any competition through legislation simply isn't the way to conduct business.

Three Billionaires Opine The Immigration Issue

The following Op-Ed piece appeared in the 11 July 2014 NY Times.

Break the Immigration Impasse

Sheldon Adelson, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on Immigration Reform

By SHELDON G. ADELSON, WARREN E. BUFFETT and BILL GATESJULY 10, 2014

 

"AMERICAN citizens are paying 535 people to take care of the legislative needs of the country. We are getting shortchanged. Here’s an example: On June 10, an incumbent congressman in Virginia lost a primary election in which his opponent garnered only 36,105 votes. Immediately, many Washington legislators threw up their hands and declared that this one event would produce paralysis in the United States Congress for at least five months. In particular, they are telling us that immigration reform — long overdue — is now hopeless.

Americans deserve better than this.

\

The three of us vary in our politics and would differ also in our preferences about the details of an immigration reform bill. But we could without doubt come together to draft a bill acceptable to each of us. We hope that fact holds a lesson: You don’t have to agree on everything in order to cooperate on matters about which you are reasonably close to agreement. It’s time that this brand of thinking finds its way to Washington.

 

Most Americans believe that our country has a clear and present interest in enacting immigration legislation that is both humane to immigrants living here and a contribution to the well-being of our citizens. Reaching these goals is possible. Our present policy, however, fails badly on both counts.

We believe it borders on insanity to train intelligent and motivated people in our universities — often subsidizing their education — and then to deport them when they graduate. Many of these people, of course, want to return to their home country — and that’s fine. But for those who wish to stay and work in computer science or technology, fields badly in need of their services, let’s roll out the welcome mat.

 

A “talented graduate” reform was included in a bill that the Senate approved last year by a 68-to-32 vote. It would remove the worldwide cap on the number of visas that could be awarded to legal immigrants who had earned a graduate degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics from an accredited institution of higher education in the United States, provided they had an offer of employment. The bill also included a sensible plan that would have allowed illegal residents to obtain citizenship, though only after they had earned the right to do so.

 

Americans are a forgiving and generous people, and who among us is not happy that their forebears — whatever their motivation or means of entry — made it to our soil?

For the future, the United States should take all steps to ensure that every prospective immigrant follows all rules and that people breaking these rules, including any facilitators, are severely punished. No one wants a replay of the present mess.

 

We also believe that America’s self-interest should be reflected in our immigration policy. For example, the EB-5 “immigrant investor program,” created by Congress in 1990, was intended to allow a limited number of foreigners with financial resources or unique abilities to move to our country, bringing with them substantial and enduring purchasing power. Reports of fraud have surfaced with this program, and we believe it should be reformed to prevent abuse but also expanded to become more effective. People willing to invest in America and create jobs deserve the opportunity to do so. 

 

Their citizenship could be provisional — dependent, for example, on their making investments of a certain size in new businesses or homes. Expanded investments of that kind would help us jolt the demand side of our economy. These immigrants would impose minimal social costs on the United States, compared with the resources they would contribute. New citizens like these would make hefty deposits in our economy, not withdrawals.

 

Whatever the precise provisions of a law, it’s time for the House to draft and pass a bill that reflects both our country’s humanity and its self-interest. Differences with the Senate should be hammered out by members of a conference committee, committed to a deal.

 

A Congress that does nothing about these problems is extending an irrational policy by default; that is, if lawmakers don’t act to change it, it stays the way it is, irrational. The current stalemate — in which greater pride is attached to thwarting the opposition than to advancing the nation’s interests — is depressing to most Americans and virtually all of its business managers. The impasse certainly depresses the three of us.

 

Signs of a more productive attitude in Washington — which passage of a well-designed immigration bill would provide — might well lift spirits and thereby stimulate the economy. It’s time for 535 of America’s citizens to remember what they owe to the 318 million who employ them."

 

 

(Sheldon G. Adelson is the chairman and chief executive of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Warren E. Buffett is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway. Bill Gates, former chairman and chief executive of Microsoft, is co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.)

Exporting US Oil?

An article in today's Yahoo.com on the likelihood of US oil being exported to other countries shows exactly how greedy oil companies have become, and how deaf the Obama Administration is to the well-being of Middle and Lower Class Americans. The article by Alison Sider and Nicole Friedman follows:

"The Obama administration cleared the way for the first exports of unrefined American oil in nearly four decades, allowing energy companies to start chipping away at the longtime ban on selling U.S. oil abroad.

In separate rulings that haven't been announced, the Commerce Department gave Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Enterprise Products Partners LP permission to ship a type of ultralight oil known as condensate to foreign buyers. The buyers could turn the oil into gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

The shipments could begin as soon as August and are likely to be small, people familiar with the matter said. It isn't clear how much oil the two companies are allowed to export under the rulings, which were issued since the start of this year. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security approved the moves using a process known as a private ruling.

For now, the rulings apply narrowly to the two companies, which said they sought permission to export processed condensate from south Texas' Eagle Ford Shale formation. The government's approval is likely to encourage similar requests from other companies, and the Commerce Department is working on industry-wide guidelines that could make it even easier for companies to sell U.S. oil abroad.

In a statement Tuesday night, the Commerce Department said there has been "no change in policy on crude oil exports."

Under rules imposed after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, U.S. companies can export refined fuel such as gasoline and diesel but not oil itself except in limited circumstances that require a special license. The embargo essentially excludes Canada, where U.S. oil can flow with a special permit.

Lawmakers enacted the ban after Arab countries declared an embargo on shipments to Western nations because of their support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. The embargo caused oil prices to quadruple and led to rationing at gas stations across the U.S.

                                                                            

 

But as drilling companies tap shale formations across the U.S., so much oil is flooding out of the ground that prices for ultralight oil have fallen as much as $10 or more below the price of traditional crude. As a result, producers have lobbied aggressively to relax the export ban, saying they could get a higher price from foreign buyers than from U.S. refiners.

For months, top Obama administration officials have signaled willingness to relax the export restrictions. The softened stance is likely to stir up opposition in Congress, where some lawmakers insist that Americans would benefit from lower fuel prices if the government maintains the longtime export ban.

The shift could be even more controversial because oil prices are stuck above $100 a barrel amid instability in Iraq, Libya and Ukraine. The benchmark U.S. oil price rose on the news, nearing its high for the year, as traders mulled the possibility of supplies leaving the country.

On Tuesday, Americans paid an average of $3.68 a gallon for gasoline at the retail pump, according to motor club AAA.

The private rulings by the Commerce Department define some ultralight oil as fuel after it has been minimally processed, making the oil eligible for sale outside the U.S. The Brookings Institution estimates that as much as 700,000 barrels of ultralight oil per day could be exported starting next year.

Eventually, the exemption could grow to a substantial portion of the three million barrels a day of oil that energy companies are pumping from shale, industry experts say. From 2011 to 2013, U.S. oil output soared by 1.8 million barrels a day, with 96% of new production in the form of light or ultralight oil, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Pioneer Chairman and Chief Executive Scott Sheffield has been one of the most outspoken advocates for oil exports. The Irving, Texas, company pumps most of its oil in Texas, including a joint venture with India's Reliance Industries Ltd. Mr. Sheffield has warned that refiners along the Gulf Coast could become oversaturated with too much oil from shale.

 

Enterprise, based in Houston, is an oil and gas logistics company that operates pipelines and storage terminals, as well as processing equipment for natural gas, condensate and refined fuels.

With few exceptions, U.S. crude oil gets transformed into fuel in plants scattered from California to New Jersey. Canada gets some U.S. oil that it can refine north of the border, but much of that gasoline and diesel flows back south to service stations in Michigan and Minnesota.

Under the private rulings, condensate can qualify as a refined product suitable for export so long as the liquid is stabilized and distilled, according to officials and industry executives.

Stabilization, a process that heats up oil to boil off some of the most volatile gases, has long been an early step in energy production, transportation and refining. Equipment to stabilize oil is common in energy states like Texas. Distillation is an increased step, industry sources said, but far short of refining or turning condensate into finished fuels.

If the volume of minimally processed condensate exports reaches a large scale, it could undermine investments by several companies in refineries and mini-refineries known as splitters that were made based on the companies' previous understanding of the law, said Rusty Braziel, an energy consultant.

Nearly 20 refining projects with capacity of more than 900,000 barrels a day have been proposed and are in various stages of development, according to Credit Suisse Group. This fall, Kinder Morgan Inc. plans to start a $360 million condensate splitter near the Houston Ship Channel that is supported by long-term contracts with BP PLC.

Earlier this year, the chief executive of Continental Resources Inc., the biggest driller in North Dakota, said he expected a wholesale lifting of the export ban so all types of U.S. crude could be sold internationally.

"They want a whole-hog liberalization of exports," said Kevin Book, managing director at political advisory firm ClearView Energy Partners LLC. "Condensate is kind of a baby step in the eyes of some of the producers."

My Reply:


"Wait...Didn't our current President run on a platform of Energy Independence? How is allowing OUR oil to be sold on foreign markets being Energy Independent? OUR oil is so abundant that we should all be paying far less for a gallon of gas; but instead, we're lining the pockets of Corporate America who have become addicted to record profits, quarter after quarter.
Again, how is this policy achieving the promised Energy Independence?
Is this merely ANOTHER lie King Obummer told us?"

In the hours since I penned my reply, not one single person commented on what I wrote; instead, opting to simply descry the decision and whine about the now all-too-familiar 'can't buy groceries, corporate thieves, poor me, blah, blah, blah.'
It seems to me that if people are so upset by this ruling that we would see some sort of grassroots movement to stop this decision from actual enaction. Instead, I bet we see a bunch of sheep following the herd as the oil exporting starts up and the sheep quietly whine to anyone who will listen, but actually do nothing to  prevent this from happening; feeling as if they have no power to stop this blatant grab for cash that only benefits a few corporations and their CEO's.

And ultimately, I think that is exactly what the Obama Administration wants.

Paul Harvey--Predictions from 1965

 

I came across this fascinating radio broadcast from longtime commentator, Paul Harvey.

For those of you who don't remember Paul Harvey--or are too young to have ever heard him--he was a no-holds-barred man who spoke directly, truthfully and insightfully. Millions of Americans listened to him every night, and we all turned off our radios having been entertained, enlightened and even a little smarter.



This radio clip from 1965 is somewhat prophetic in Mr. Harvey's analysis of where the United States was headed. Looking back, we can see that this transcript was dead on accurate. Take a listen...

 

 

 

D-Day Prayers By American Leaders

The following video from The WallBuilders, shows a side of our leaders that many secularist historians choose to ignore, but which played a vital part of that terrible day and was openly discussed on national radio and amongst our troops participating in the battle known as Operation Overlord. This is real history and further affirms the role of religion in the history of our great country.

Please take the time to watch this video.

70th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion Today, Friday, marks the 70th anniversary of the largest amphibious attack in history. Known as D-Day, June 6, 1944, was the day in which the Allied Forces stormed the beaches of Normandy to force the Germans inland and away from the bunkers they had prepared for their invasion of England. In this short video, Tim Barton remembers the historic significance of this event and the men that sacrificed so much for the sake of freedom, and he also recalls the faith that bonded America together. Join Tim on this quick look at some original D-Day related documents from our library.   (Click here to view the video.)     To learn more about the actual documents that Tim mentions in the video, be sure to visit WallBuilders.com, or click the links below.            President Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer            General Eisenhower's D-Day Message