1) Radical Money Management
2) News Bits
a) Gas Gets More Expensive
b) Evangelicals Support Stewardship
3) Retraction of the Week: Do Plug-in Air Fresheners Cause Fires?
4) Feedback

1) Radical Money Management

Cut up and throw away every credit card you own. Throw away every invitation to get another one. Get a debit card. (Enterprise will rent a car on a debit card.) Throw away every invitation to mortgage your paid-for home. If you have substantial equity in a big house, sell it. Use the equity money to buy a smaller place for cash. Pay cash for your car. Buy it used, maybe from a government auction. NEVER borrow money if that involves signing something and paying interest. (Thank God for close friends and relatives!)
Pay cash, or do without.
Earn more money; spend less money. Keep a record of your spending habits so you can see where cuts can be made. A daily paper, candy bar, or coffee adds up over a month. Start a savings account and regularly put money into it. (Read The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason.) Buy made-in-America, or do without. Well, try. I don't want you going naked and shoeless... Carry health insurance with the biggest deductible you can get. Otherwise, an unexpected health crisis can ruin you.
Don't go to college on credit.
Don't get married on credit.
Don't buy a car on credit.

Keep in mind that Congress, pressured by deep-pocketed lobbyists for banks and credit card companies, is passing a law that makes declaring bankruptcy impossible for you. You will spend the rest of your life paying off these debts. So, don't run them up.

These days, the U.S. is number one in weaponry, public debt, and private debt. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve has warned Congress that the huge national debt is putting our economy in a dangerous situation. Other astute economists are warning that private debt (house mortgage, credit card) is putting the nation at even more risk. The biggest risk to the U.S. economy is coming from our growing habit of buying imported goods. The U.S. trade deficit is greater than our national debt, and growing.

Korea, Japan, and Taiwan have traditionally invested their extra dollars in U.S. Treasury bonds. China, which holds the biggest and fastest growing dollar surplus, is not playing the game that expected way. Chinese companies, one of which is the People's Liberation Army, are investing their dollars buying U.S. consumer debt, especially house mortgages. This gives them ever more dollars with which to buy ever more U.S. debt.

2) News Bits
a) Gas Price Will Rise
The Energy Information Administration said yesterday in its monthly energy forecast that gasoline prices would reach a record national average of $2.15 a gallon this summer. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/09/business/09place.html?th

b) Evangelicals Support Stewardship

A core group of influential evangelical leaders has put its considerable political power behind a cause that has barely registered on the evangelical agenda, fighting global warming. These church leaders, scientists, writers and heads of international aid agencies argue that global warming is an urgent threat, a cause of poverty and a Christian issue because the Bible mandates stewardship of God's creation.

The Rev. Rich Cizik, vice president of governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals and a significant voice in the debate, said, "I don't think God is going to ask us how he created the earth, but he will ask us what we did with what he created."

The association has scheduled two meetings on Capitol Hill and in the Washington suburbs on Thursday and Friday, where more than 100 leaders will discuss issuing a statement on global warming. The meetings are considered so pivotal that Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and officials of the Bush administration, who are on opposite sides on how to address global warming, will speak.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/10/national/10evangelical.html?th


3) Clarification of the Week: Do Plug-in Air Freshener Cause Fires

Good Morning,
This info is from www.truthorfiction.com. This email has been circulating for some time.

"House Destroyed by Glade Plug-in Air Freshener-- Fiction!

"Summary of the eRumor: The email tells the story of a house that burned to the ground and the cause was found to be a Glad Plug-in air freshener. The fire investigator is quoted as saying he's seen more home fires from plug-in type air fresheners than anything else.

"The Truth: The main problem with this eRumor is that it's a tragic story with no validating information. No names, no location, no identification of the fire department. Whether this particular fire ever took place is impossible to prove.

"There have been some rumbles about plug-in air fresheners, however. WABC-TV reporter Tappy Phillips in New York says he found a couple of house fires in which plug-in air fresheners were suspected, but none of them involved Glade products. He quotes fire investigator Richard Wolfson who was hired by the insurance company of a homeowner who had experienced a fire. Wolfson said his conclusion is that the plug-in air freshener was the most likely cause. Phillips also talked with a homeowner named Karen Myers who says she watched her plug-in air freshener go up in flames.

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced in April of 2002 that the SC Johnson company had voluntarily recalled about 2.5 million Glad Extra Outlet Scented Oil Air Fresheners. That particular model, according to the commission, had been misassembled at the factory and were regarded as a potential fire hazard. There have not been any reports of fires."

There are several great sources to verify 'news - and email rumors. I use the www.truthorfiction.com, as well as the google site to search titles, then research opinions there to distinguish truth from fiction. At www.whitehouse.gov you can go to the LEGISLATIVE links and look up facts on proposed bills that are before the Senate and House. There have been emails and news media items in the past about legislation supposedly being proposed that is not true.
www.worldnetdaily.com and www.newsmax.com are also good sites for opinions on the news.
Happy Spring!
Terri C.

4)Feedback:

Hi Carla,
Heard a good one the other day!!!
Chatting w/ the young man we buy our hay from, the topic of selling eggs came up. We both have layers that are pretty much free-range and fed whole grains and lay mash. He actually had an egg customer COMPLAIN that the yolks were too yellow and tasted strongly of egg!! hmmmmm........ is that not how a fresh egg is supposed to be?!?! Guess that one can go back to the super-market for the anemic type eggs.
Betty Ann

A: I've heard other people complain that naturally grown eggs are too brightly colored and don't have the right taste and texture. I've heard others complain that the heirloom tomatoes are too soft. People learn to prefer what they're used to.