DISAPPEARING ACT

9 Things That Will Probably Disappear In Our Lifetime...

Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come 1. The  Post Office.  Get ready to imagine a world without the post office.  They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term.  Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive.  Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.  2. The Cheque.   Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018.  It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks.  Plastic cards and  online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check.  This plays right into the death of the post office.  If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business. 3. The  Newspaper.  The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper.  They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition.  That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man.  As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it.  The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance.  They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services. 4. The Book.  You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages.  I said the same thing about downloading music fromiTunes.  I wanted my hard copy CD.  But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music.  The same thing will happen with books.  You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy.  And the price is less than half that of a real book.  And think of the  convenience!  Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book. 5. The Land Line Telephone.  Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore.  Most people keep it simply because they've always had it.  But you are paying double charges for that extra  service.  All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes 6. Music.  This is one of the saddest parts of the change story.  The music industry is dying a slow death.  Not just because of illegal downloading.  It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it.  Greed and  corruption is the problem.  The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing.  Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with.  Older established artists.  This is also true on the live concert circuit.  To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book,  "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies.."  7. Television.  Revenues to the networks are down dramatically.  Not just because of the economy.  People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers.  And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV.  Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator.  Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds.  I say good riddance to most of it.  It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery..  Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.  8. The "Things" That You Own.  Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future.  They may simply reside in "the cloud."  Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents.  Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be.  But all of that is changing.  Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services."  That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system.  So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet.  If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud.  If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud.  And you may pay a monthly  subscription fee to the cloud provider.  In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld  device.  That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?"  Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical?  It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.  9. Privacy.  If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone.  It's been gone for a long time anyway.  There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone.  But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View.  If you buy something, your habit is put into a  zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits.  And "They" will try to get you to buy something else.  Again and again.  All we will have that can't be changed are Memories. ( In my case, even these are fading).

HOME SECURITY SYSTEM

HOW TO INSTALL A SOUTHERN HOME SECURITY SYSTEM

1. Go to a secondhand store and buy a pair of men's used size 14-16 work boots.

2. Place them on your front porch, along with a copy of Guns & Ammo Magazine.

3. Put four giant dog dishes next to the boots and magazines.

4. Leave a note on your door that reads:


Bubba,

Bertha, Duke, Slim, & I went for more ammo and beer.  Be back in an hour.
Don't mess with the pit bulls; they attacked the mailman this morning and
messed him up bad.  I don't think Killer took part, but it was hard to tell
from all the blood.  Anyway, I locked all four of 'em in the house.

Better wait outside.  Be right back.

“Cooter"

WRONG ANSWER

A Negro fellow by he name of Tyrone applied for a fork lift operator job at a famous firm based in Detroit . A white man by the name of George applied for the same job and since both applicants had  similar qualifications, they were asked to take a test and led to a quiet  room by the manager where there would be no interruptions. 

When the results were in, both men had scored 19 out of 20.  The manager went to Tyrone and said, "Thank you for coming to the interview, but we’ve decided to give George the job." 

Tyrone came unglued.  "And why would you be doing that?  Are you a racist? We both got 9 questions right! This being Detroit and and me being black surely I should get the job." 

With composure, the manager replied, "We have made our decision not on the correct answers, but on  the question you got wrong." 

Tyrone said, "Tell me now, how would one incorrect answer be better than  another?" 

Manager: "Simple. On question number 7 the white guy wrote down, 'I  don’t know.'  You put down, ‘Neither do I.’

OSAMA RETURNS TO NEW YORK

OSAMA'S DEATH COULD BE BAD NEWS FOR U.S.

The successful killing of Osama is probably the only single possible event that might guarantee Obama's reelection. 

SOCIAL SECURITY REALITY CHECK

History Lesson on Your Social Security Card
   
Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn't know this.  It's easy to check out, if you don't believe it.  Be sure and show it to your family
and friends. They need a little history lesson on what's what and it doesn't matter
whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are Facts.

Social Security Cards up until the 1980s expressly stated the number and
card were not to be used for identification purposes. Since nearly everyone in the
United States now has a number, it became convenient to use it anyway and the
message, NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION, was removed.
 
An old Social Security card with the "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION" message.
Our Social Security

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:

1.) That participation in the Program would be
Completely voluntary,

No longer Voluntary


2.) That the participants would only have to pay
1% of the first $1,400 of their annual
Incomes into the Program,

Now 7.65%
on the first $90,000


3.) That the money the participants elected to put
into the Program would be deductible from
their income for tax purposes each year,

No longer tax deductible


4.) That the money the participants put into the
independent 'Trust Fund' rather than into the
general operating fund, and therefore, would
only be used to fund the Social Security
Retirement Program, and no other
Government program, and,

Under Johnson the money was moved to
The General Fund and Spent


5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed
as income.

Under Clinton & Gore
Up to 85% of your Social Security can be Taxed

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are
now receiving a Social Security check every month --
and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of
the money we paid to the Federal government to 'put
away' -- you may be interested in the following:

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ----

Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the
independent 'Trust Fund' and put it into the
general fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically
controlled House and Senate.

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --

Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax
deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -----

Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social
Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the
'tie-breaking' deciding vote as President of the
Senate, while he was Vice President of the  US

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

Q: Which Political Party decided to start
giving annuity payments to immigrants?

AND MY FAVORITE:

A: That's right!

Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party.  
Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65,
began to receive Social Security payments! The
Democratic Party gave these payments to them,
even though they never paid a dime into it!

------------ -- ------------ --------- ----- ------------ --------- ---------

Then, after violating the original contract (FICA),
the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want
to take your Social Security away!

And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it!
If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of
awareness will be planted and maybe changes will
evolve. But it's worth a try.

How many people can YOU send this to?

Actions speak louder than bumper stickers

HORSING AROUND

Two race horses were walking back to the paddock after a tough day on the track.  One says to the other, "I just don't understand it, Zephyr.  We both come from good stock and have great trainers.  Our parents were always at the lead of the pack.  Why is it that we always come in last?"

About this time, a dog is passing the two and pops off with his two-cents worth.  "I know what your problem is.  You both come out of the gate like there's no tomorrow and charge down the track at full bore.  Then, you get tired and slow down and all of the other horses get past you.  You should take it easy coming out of the gate, a more leisurely pace.  When the others have tired themselves out, then you can pour on the steam in a spurt of energy and you're sure to win.  What do you think about that?"

Zephyr looks at Flealegs and says, "Wow, a talking dog!"