Manns Medium

To many the words according to Ken Clark, a debt/credit expert and certified financial planner, are all but true.   He is quoted as saying that quite simply, your credit score summarizes your credit risk based on a snapshot of your credit standing at a particular point in time. It’s an overall assessment of your financial responsibility (Rate Nerd).   Then there are those who take on the view of the Manhattan Financial Group who states “t ypically, a person with a bad credit score is in this position because they lack structure in their life. There are, of course, cases where unplanned health or employment complications are to blame, but for the most part, these are individuals who lack the discipline to pay their bills on time or curb their spending.”   So who’s right or are they both correct? Origin To begin to understand the importance of this article we must first review. “ Equifax is the oldest of the three bureaus, having been founded in 1899 as Retail Credit Com...

As a former US Marine, I recall the song and stories of the “Battle of Tripoli” that was told and sung in basic training.   The words spoke about the Marines taking the city and yesterday this city falls again except it was taken back by its citizens instead of by an outside occupier. Some time ago, I wrote an article for my blog Manns Medium where I said that this conflict would be over in less than six months.   I did not hear many experts even guess at the time frame but I did hear them express negative reaction to this decision by President Barack Obama.   I only wonder if they had their crow baked, roasted or fried?   There were also some who questioned if the Republicans would care enough to give this president any credit but more than that, I question whether any reporter, commentator or journalist will do the same.   I did not expect the White House and this president to take a victory lap because he suffers from a deep sense of humility but wouldn’t i...

According to an article written by Caren Bihan and Tabassun Zakaria of Reuters titled Al Qaeda number two killed in Pakistan this week, they reported that “Al Qaeda's new second-in-command was killed earlier this week in Pakistan, U.S. officials said Saturday, in a major blow to the group still reeling from the death of Osama bin Laden.   Atiyah abd al-Rahman, a Libyan national, rose to the number two spot when Ayman al-Zawahri took the reins of al Qaeda after bin Laden was killed in May in a U.S. raid in Pakistan.” They say that this is not confirmed but if it is then while many may have forgotten about the reason given for the Afghanistan War, there are many who have not.   It appears that soon wars will be fought similar to video games so those who demean those who are quite good at those war games may want to re-think their position.   The best quote found in this article was that from a top US Official saying "Dialing back on al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, especi...

Finally we are getting to the point where reporters are demanding to get a sense of the policies these potential presidential nominees in the GOP.   So much has been made of their past stances and so far not many have stood firm on any of those of the past.   This election is vital to the nation and the late thing we need to hear about is trivial matters like headaches.   Brendan Farrington of the Associated Press in his article titled Bachmann says she'd consider minimum wage changes gives us our first real view on what kind of president Michelle Bachman might be when she was asked about the minimum wage.   It was reported that she was quoted saying "I'm not married to anything. I'm not saying that's where I'm going to go," she said.   She did say she wants to look at all aspects of doing business, from regulations to tax codes, and will consider anything that will help create jobs. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.   "I want to bring advis...

One of the most recognizable factors which attributed to the recent economic failure was the gambling on Wall Street by those who were suppose to be of a higher standard morally than many.   This failure was more about speculation and the absence of regulation than anything else.   This trend seems to be occurring again with a little help from our news media. It was reported by one reporter that America should prepare itself for high gas prices because of the approaching Irene even though an article by Selam Gebrekidan and David Sheapard of Reuters titled Irene cuts power, oil operations along East Coast reports that even though many energy producers were cutting back the “Trade group National Petrochemical and Refiners Association said on Friday the region's oil terminals held 23 days of gasoline supply and 46 days supply of diesel and heating oil.”   While that may not sound like much too some, it is not cause for rising gas prices.   What it appears to be more ab...

For many people, like me, who have so many excellent ideas to not only improve existing products but solve some of this nation’s biggest problems, very few avenues, if any, are available.   Especially if you do not have access to capital or that earth-shattering credit score that many traditional lending institutions would drool over you for. What’s left is the possibility that you will be able to find an angel investor or be able to enter a joint venture with someone who could provide you with the funding you need.   The main issue with that is now you have to prepare a proposal that get’s their attention and to get that you have to pay some company who promises to put together a plan that will deliver only to learn later that this same company prepares their proposal the same for you as they do for everyone else who can afford their services. My solution, do it yourself and take your time with it.   Proof your proposal several times before finding a place to submit it...

Move over Jon Stewart, there’s another show which should soon come to Comedy Central and it is titled “Democrats Folly”.   It’s a story about Progressive, Liberal and Moderate Democrats who travel the country addressing the same problems that’s been plaguing the African-American, Hispanic, Middle Class, seniors and Veteran Communities for years. This story begins in 2009, where all hopes were laid at the feet of one man and each time this one man did not perform as many wanted him to, these democrats would gather together and rant about his inability to fix their problems.   Some will demand that he become as stubborn as his opposition and fight, fight, fight.   They will insist that he stand his ground and never compromise because that’s what they would do.   Of course none of them are under the same intense pressure that this one man is nor are they privy to all of the information and head winds he face each day from several different directions at the same time, ...

Is it just me or has others noticed that quite a few military members are choosing to skip out of the military using the birther issue?   Just ran into this article by Josh Funk of the Associated Press titled Air Force discharging sergeant who doubts Obama where he reports that “t he Air Force said Wednesday it is discharging a hero of the so-called birther movement who refused to report to duty in Germany for a few days earlier this month because he doubts President Barack Obama's citizenship. Staff Sgt. Daryn Moran expects to be discharged within the next week. Although the 41-year-old Nebraska man refused to report to duty and had called for Obama's arrest in statements on websites, several other things contributed to his discharge, including his opposition to Obama's decision to allow gays to serve openly in the military.” It was reported that Mr. Moran obtained his information through the internet and of course we all are very much aware that anything found on the in...

If you listen to all the cable news channels, you may be hyped to think that this encounter was similar to a huge battle between two titans and should have been on pay-per-view.   That was no where near the case and leave it to cable news to build drama like TNT whose motto is “We know Drama’.   The AFP reports in their article titled Obama spars with Tea Party activist that “US President Barack Obama went head-to-head with a prominent conservative Tea Party activist, Ryan Rhodes, a leader of the group in Iowa, took on Obama during an open-air town hall meeting, which marked a moment of new intensity in the president's campaign for a second term.   Rhodes shouted out that the president's calls for more civility in politics had little chance of coming to pass after "your vice president is calling people like me, a Tea Party member, and a ‘terrorist”.   Obama reportedly responded by saying "In fairness, since I have been called a socialist who wasn't born in this c...

Some years ago, many such as myself, felt that Carlos Zambrano was not being treated fairly when he was allowed to disrespect himself, his teammates, the fans and the game of baseball when he was allowed to keep playing while others were dealt away or traded.   He wasn’t being treated fairly because he was led to believe that he was above the law and could do whatever he wanted to do, say whatever he wanted to say and act any way he wanted to ask. Some of us remember, some years ago when he had an altercation with Michael Barrett.   Michael Barrett was gone from the team while Zambrano stayed.   Many of us remember his tantrums on the mound and in the dugout but while others were not allowed to step foot back upon the field as a Cub, Zambrano was given fifty lashes with a wet noodle and was even promoted to “ACE” of the staff.   I can recall the disagreement he had with Derrick Lee, a World Champion and surely one of the best first basemen of the game.   Derric...

For those of us who wish that we could all come together one day and unite to finally solve all of the issue plaguing this nation, there will always be a few willing to sabotage any efforts to do so.   We sometimes ask ourselves just what is he advantage to seeing this country go off a cliff and now I think I have the answer. The extremist, on both sides, of any issue do not really fear this country going back to the dark ages of man mainly because they know for a fact that the majority will never let that happen.   Thye can rant and rave about extreme views and attempt to plug in their operatives in key position to push this agenda but inside of their hearts of hearts, they know that before they do too much damage to this country, they will be stopped. They also know that the majority will always do what is best for this nation as a whole and being a part of this nation, they will also benefit from these choices.   On one will be able to take away their citizenship or ...

Sometimes the hype is not worth the cost and nothing showed it more than the coverage of this Wisconsin recall election.   Many envisioned too much and placed to high a cost on the results.   What it ended up being was another reason why temperance must be weighted with enthusiasm.   While I was as much as excited about the possibility of Wisconsin voters taking back their state from outside forces manipulating those in power, I was always a little reserved about what the outcome would mean.   There is a lesson here and it is quite simple. The lesson is simply put by a backer of Sen. Alberta Darling, whom I believe could have been easily swayed to vote for her opponent, Democratic state Rep. Sandy Pasch and increased her victory by even more.   This one voter could have also reached others just like him and maybe even swayed them to help remove any of the other incumbents in the Wisconsin legislature.   According to Scott Bauer of the Associated Press in h...

Those who took Mitch McConnell’s admission that the primary goal was to insure that President Barack Obama was limited to one term as idle or of no substance now have to re-think.   His party, having campaigned on limited government and jobs, are now well on the road to keeping anything good from happening and holding firm to the goal Mitch McConnell set out for them.   As if the assault on union rights were not enough and the damage inflicted on women rights were only a starting point, the GOP and Tea Party are well on their way to accomplishing their mission of the Obama Administration being one term only. If you have been paying attention to the latest occurrences in Washington, you too should have come away with this same interpretation unless you choose to ignore all the signs or even think that any American, especially those elected to serve the people, would do anything and everything that they could to achieve their objective even if it means driving this nation to th...