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Fed-up consumer done with credit card use
To all those who, like me, would like to see credit card companies reap the whirlwind, here’s the story. I am 38. I have had credit cards since I was 18. I usually carried a total balance of $3,000 to $5,000 at any given time.
I was never late and had rates of zero to 14 percent. I got my credit report two months ago and it is pristine. Citi recently raised my rate to 29.9 percent for no other reason other than they are greedy you-know-whats. So, here’s the plan. After I told them where they could shove their rate hike, I got a personal loan from a local bank.
I then paid off all my credit cards and never intend to carry a balance again. So, bankers, do this math: 14 percent on $5,000 or 29.9 percent on zero dollars.
Writer puts no faith in intent of Wal-Mart
Can Wal-Mart be trusted?
To provide the lowest prices on foreign-made junk, probably. But with the welfare of our community? I’ll let you make the decision. The Parini brothers, in their Dec. 16 letter, paint a rosy picture. Yet, if I stood to make several millions of dollars from Wal-Mart buying up my property, I’m sure I’d be pretty positive, too.
Although I’ve recently finished college out of the area, I have proudly carried our small-town, working-class values with me wherever I’ve gone. (People always ask about my ‘coal-miner’ accent.) I would love nothing more than to settle down and raise a family in the Greater Pittston community I hold so dear.
When purchasing my first home, I will certainly take the following under serious consideration:
(A) I will avoid anything near the Hicks Creek flood plain. The ravages of recent floods and the state’s inability to assure residents that they can prevent it from happening again is of note. If another tropical storm finds its way to the Wyoming Valley, the acres upon acres of blacktop surrounding the potential Wal-Mart will allow little water to seep into the soil. Instead, the thousands upon thousands of gallons will rocket into Hicks Creek, and into basements across Exeter.
(B) I will avoid any home on Wyoming Avenue, Schooley Avenue, 6th Street or 8th Street. Wal-Marts are always constructed on the outskirts of boroughs for a reason.
The traffic will become unbearable — especially in the form of snarling 18-wheelers.
What were once two-lane roads will become four. This would make any father cringe.
Houses on upper 6th Street sit literally on the edge of the road. I can’t imagine being able to sleep while countless trucks blow past my front door each day.
(C) I will avoid any location where crime is on the rise. If the recent shootings on Schooley Avenue have taught us anything, it’s that criminals will lunge at every opportunity. And if the recent shootings in the parking lots of Wal-Marts throughout the Poconos have taught us anything, it’s that an after-hours Wal-Mart parking lot is a great place to conduct a drug deal or hold my wife and children at gunpoint while they steal her purse.
(D) I will avoid any location where quality, living-wage jobs were hard to come by. If the recent economic collapse has taught us anything, it’s that big corporations will stop at nothing to make a buck and eliminate their competitors — no matter what effect it has on the average person. What will happen to the small, locally-owned-and-operated businesses that cling to Wyoming Avenue? Quite possibly, like the Sunshine Market in Plains Township, those employees will find themselves working 38-hour-a-week shifts, with no benefits for minimum wage at Wal-Mart. Could you make ends meet working this type of job?
Can Wal-Mart be trusted to safeguard against this? Across the country, time and time again, the answer has proven to be “no.”
It’s easy to worry about money around the holiday season. And, sure, you might find a dozen of eggs 15-cents cheaper at Wal-Mart. But is it really necessary to cram one into 25 mph Exeter?
Global warming is a real threat, reader says
There are those among us who believe global warming does not exist. “ In a Dec. 12 letter, a writer called global warming a “charade.”
To get the point: When George Washington was president, he ordered the lighthouse to be built along the coasts. In 1878, the “great point” of Nantucket, Mass., was 80 yards from high tide.
About 20 years ago, it was blown over by a storm and the foundation washed away by the high tide. For more than 40 years, I have spent most of every October fishing on Ack Island, Mass. I have fond memories under that old light surf casting with friends for stripe bass when there were some, but now they’re gone.
It’s only time before Wall Street of the New York Stock Exchange and Central Park will be under four feet of clear salt water and that sirs will be at low tide.
Residents’ help needed to protect neighborhoods
Edmund Burke, is quoted as saying, “All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.”
In 2010, the Wilkes-Barre Crime Watch Coalition and the Wilkes-Barre Chapter of the Guardian Angels would like to encourage the good men and women in the city to do something to improve their neighborhood and city, whether it be attending the crime watch meeting once a month or dedicating a few hours a week to patrolling our neighborhoods with the Guardian Angels safety patrol.
We have seen the evil of crime and drugs destroying our neighborhoods. Together we can make a difference. For information or to get involved call 570-208-8900.
and
Jason Weston
Wilkes- Barre Guardian Angels
Political corruption continues to spread
The sickness of political corruption is spreading. The Baltimore mayor who resigned last week, made a deal with prosecutors to settle a perjury charge.
She was allowed to enter an “Alford plea,” meaning she admits there is enough evidence to convict her but does not acknowledge guilt, according to newspaper accounts. She has to make donations to charity, perform community service, but she’s allowed to keep her pension with other minor restrictions.
Why didn’t federal officials offer such a plea to some of those individuals involved in Luzerne County’s corruption scandal? Justice is supposed to be equal under the law but it all depends who you are. Justice is now determined by race, gender and religion.
Political corruption is nationwide; it’s like the swine flu.
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