A Fresh Take on the World's Biggest LiesWritten by Terry Mitchell
We have all heard jokes about world's biggest lies being stuff like "the check is in mail" and "I'll respect you in morning." I'm now going to take this opportunity to refute some common, everyday fallacies by adding a few of my own to list along with a brief explanation of each. (1) That stock can't possibly drop any further. Yes, it can. When a stock is free-falling, it can (and often will) continue to drop, sometimes all way to zero. For example, take a stock that has dropped from $25 a share to $2.50 a share. Because stock has already lost 90% of its value, some investors will "reason" that most that can be left to lose by buying it is 10%. However, if someone buys stock at $2.50 and then it continues its drop down to $0.25, they've lost 90% of their investment. Countless numbers of individuals have lost most or all of their investment, using foolish strategy of believing a given stock just had to have already bottomed out. (2) 9/11 changed everything. Actually, not much has really changed since that fateful and dreadful day. Except for tighter security at airports, subway/train stations, bus terminals, nuclear plants, etc. and an eagerness on part of our government to fight pre-emptive wars, little has changed. Most of us are still doing pretty much what were doing on September 10, 2001. The ironic thing is that many of things that should have changed didn't, while many of things that should not have changed did. (3) Non-denominational. There's no such thing as a non-denominational church. So-called non-denominational churches have distinct sets of beliefs just like all other churches. Perhaps because they are too lazy to think of a name or intentionally choose to fool themselves and others, members of those churches decide to call them non-denominational. But that doesn't make it so. I could call myself Elvis Presley until I turn blue in face, but that wouldn't make me Elvis Presley. (4) Fair and balanced. No matter what Fox News says, that concept does not exist in this world. All persons, groups, and organizations are biased to a certain extent. Liberals are biased, but so are moderates and conservatives. It's just part of being human. There's nothing wrong with it. Now, granted, some persons/groups/organizations are more biased than others and are a lot more conspicuous about it. In contract, others actually make an effort to appear as fair and balanced as possible. (5) Equal protection under law. That concept may be encoded into our Constitution, but it's hardly something that occurs in real world. Those with money, power, status, and/or influence usually get a better deal from our justice system than those who do not have those things at their disposal. Also, people are still legally discriminated against, based on race, gender, military status, age, marital status, and other factors. In addition, crimes committed against certain demographic groups (ex., children) are punished more harshly than those committed against other groups. (6) A speedy trial. Another concept encoded in our Constitution that doesn't exist in modern society. The average felony case doesn't go to trail until at least six months after defendant is arrested or indicted. Scott Peterson didn't get his day in court until a year and a half after he allegedly murdered his wife and unborn child. When he finally did, his "day" lasted for nearly six months! That is not kind of thing our Founding Fathers had in mind when they framed Constitution.
| | PEARL HARBOR DAYWritten by Irvin L. Rozier
Pearl Harbor Day From 1982 to 1985, I lived in Aloha state To serve in 25th Infantry Division was my fate Oahu was beautiful with rainbows galore Peaceful and fragrant from shore to shore I went down to Pearl Harbor bay It was hard to imagine chaos of that day When suddenly island was exploding with sound Noises of airplanes, bombs and gunfire all around I rode boat to memorial site Saw engraved names of those who did fight And lost their lives in that deadly attack Some, I suppose, never had a chance to fight back
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