Is Blackberry the New Pager?

Blackberry users around the world were nothing short of pissed when they noticed reoccurring issues with their handsets and the inability to send messages and email.

Even though users in the United States were immune to most of the issues, the blackout left millions of users without email, web browsing and Blackberry Messaging (BBM) services following the crash.  Blackberry services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa experienced complete blackouts and now the problem has spread to Latin America.

According to the company RIM, the makers of the Blackberry, "the messaging and browsing delays... in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina were caused by a core switch failure within RIM's infrastructure," a company statement said.

Surprisingly enough many of those complaining about the crash said on Twitter that they could not live without access to BBM.

Customer loyalty to Blackberry in the midst of lack of innovation and multiplying problems should not be surprising.

As a reformed Crackberry addict, I thought that someone would have to pry the Blackberry from my cold, dead hands.  I loved the Qwerty keyboard, the battery lasted forever, and the Blackberry was extremely easy to use. 

Well, at least I thought until, I got my hands on an Android!   The best two features that I love about Android and more specifically my HTC EVO, is that I can customize the hell out of the phone, read kindle books, and browse like a superstar.

Also, imagine changing your Blackberry theme by touching the icons rather than loading an entirely new theme.  Oh yeah by the way, the Media apps are a lot better. 

Plus, there is a new Blackberry Messenger app available for Androids.

So, this blackout leads me to ask, “Is Blackberry the new Pager?”

Live Positive!

Joveline

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of Holland Turner Media Group, or any employee thereof. Holland Turner Media Group reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter content in any manner it sees fit or deems unacceptable.

Part II: President Obama Helps with Student Loan Repayment

The bad news: to date, President Obama will not be able to offer any type of bailout relief for student loans unless he wins the 2012 election.  Why?  Any worth while legislation to save the middle class has been and will be denied by Congress. 

However, there is a glimmer of good news:  All student loan borrowers must thank President Obama for the “Pay As You Earn” proposal that will reduce student loans repayments for 1.6 million people!  In short, his proposal will cut student loan payments from 15 percent to 10 percent of their discretionary income starting (hopefully) in 2012.   

The “Pay As You Earn” proposal includes an “Income Based Repayment” (IBR) plan that will currently reduce your standard repayments to 15% of your discretionary income.   The amount you pay is based on your previous year’s Federal Tax Return. 

According to Whitehouse.gov, “the program lowers monthly payments for borrowers who have high loan debt and modest incomes, but it may increase the length of the loan repayment period, accruing more interest over the life of the loan.”

The Whitehouse provided an example Standard Repayment plan vs. the Income Based Repayment (IBR) plan.

“…take for example a nurse who is earning $45,000 and has $60,000 in federal student loans. Under the standard repayment plan, her monthly repayment amount is $690. The currently available IBR plan would reduce her payment by $332, to $358.  President Obama’s improved “Pay As You Earn” plan -- reducing the cap from 15 percent to 10 percent -- will reduce her payment by an additional $119, to a more manageable $239 -- a total reduction of $451 a month.”

Another example:

“A teacher who is earning $30,000 a year and has $25,000 in Federal student loans.  Under the standard repayment plan, this borrower’s monthly repayment amount is $287 .  The currently available IBR plan would reduce this borrower’s payment by $116, to $171.  Under the improved ‘P ay As You Earn’ plan, his monthly payment amount would be even more manageable at only $114.   And, if this borrower remained a teacher or was employed in another public service occupation, he would be eligible for forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program after 10 years of payments.”

This plan is not a student loan bailout plan but it is an excellent plan.  If student loan borrowers are not able to catch up on their student loan repayments with this plan, they simply just don’t want to repay.

For more information to determine if the Income-Based Repayment plan is right for you visit:  http://studentaid.ed.gov/ibr 

Live Positive!

Joveline 

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of Holland Turner Media Group, or any employee thereof. Holland Turner Media Group reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter content in any manner it sees fit or deems unacceptable.

Part I: Student loans have risen by 511% in 10 years!

The first question I have to ask, “Is it wrong to offer college graduates who have student loans a government bailout?”  

If your first instinct is to say “no,” this is understandable.

However, if you believe that students should not be offered a bail out, then you must ask yourself: what about the massive packages that were offered to banks?  Should the U.S. government bail out banks?

The truth is that both groups are vital to the growth of the American economy and student loan debt is another drag on the middle class of whom the American economy depends on.

The Atlantic Magazine, reported that student loans have risen over 511% over the past decade to a total of $550 billion, while USA Today reports that student loan debt may be as high as $1 trillion this year. 

Along with the rise of student loan debt, there is student loan default.  According to the New York Fed, student loan defaults have risen from 5% to 10.6%, nationally.   Throughout the country, some defaults are as high as 20%.  

To put this default number in perspective with the current recession, according to Business Week, “8.8% of federally guaranteed student loans that entered repayment in 2009, were in default by the end of 2010. To put that in perspective, keep in mind that in this case “default” means nine months of missed payments.”

This is terrible news.  Most people do not realize that making consistent, on-time, monthly payments to their student loan does not improve their credit score but going into default will make your credit score complete road kill. 

So what does all this mean? 

The Bottom line: Borrowers of student loan debt are not and will not contribute to the American economy?  Why? Simply because there is and will be less money to spend on housing, large electronics, supporting small businesses, investments, and the list goes on. 

Stay Tuned for Part II of the Student Loan series:  President Obama Helps with Student Loan Repayment

Live Positive!

Joveline

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of Holland Turner Media Group, or any employee thereof. Holland Turner Media Group reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter content in any manner it sees fit or deems unacceptable.

Is the “Positive Thinking” Craze Worth The Hype?

If you are like me, you own a few positive and motivational books that may include: “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Rhonda Bryan’s “The Secret,” Joel Olsteen’s “Become A Better You,” and the list goes on.

One positive theory has to do with The Law of Attraction, which is heavily discussed in the book, “The Secret.”  This theory basically, says that whatever you focus your energy and attention towards, you will attract into your life, rather good or bad.

So, if I think that my job is crappy and continue to feel negative about it, more than likely I will be stuck with the same crappy job for eons with no other opportunities.

However, if I think about how wonderful my job is or how wonderful my job can be, then more positive opportunities will come my way.

But what if those positive opportunities never happen?

This leads me to ask, “Does positive thinking set us up for a false hope?”

Self-help gurus and their books tell us that if we create a “dream board” and put everything that we everwanted on it such as: a Mercedes Benz SLR 722 or a fabulous $30 million dollar residence, with 10,000 square feet sitting on over 2 acres, on Miami’s star island; this will come true?

Ummm..…probably not.

And what about the negative consequences or flip side of, “Positive Thinking?”  For example, if a person is rear ended in a fatal car crash or dies from a terrible disease did that person bring that action on his/herself?  Of course not.

It irritates my soul whenever Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong says that he survived cancer because he was positive in his thinking.  Really Lance?  What about the dozen other cancer victims who remained positive who didn’t survive?  Were they not positive enough?

 B*tch Please...

And yes, I understand that negative thinking is not the way to go.  Small minded, negative thinking that occurs among certain family members, in our political system, and throughout society has lead to so many people being locked in to certain situations and lifestyles that are not good for society or their well being.

So, how should we balance positivity thinking?

1. The first and most difficult step is that we must be 100% truthful about our reality and authentic in accepting the facts as they stand.  Simply put, “Stop Making Excused and Just Keep It Real.”  Sometimes we put up so many facades, we are afraid to deal with who we really are.
   
2. Forget material things, focus on your emotional self.  For example, “Are you so focused on everyone else, that you don’t take care of yourself?”  “Do you hide behind name brand clothes and makeup to hide the real you?” “Why do you think that everyone is stupid except you?”  “Are you in a relationship because you are afraid of being alone?”These are difficult questions and hard pills to swallow once the truth is accepted.
   
3. The next step is to take concrete steps to start chipping away at the problem or towards the goal without overwhelming yourself.
   
4. The last step is to always have faith and use the positive thinking to take you through each step.   Remember, positive actions and change takes time.

The steps are more simple than what most of our reality dictates but in order to overcome life’s challenges without going insane, positive thinking is the best alternative when dealing with life’s challenges.

Live Positive!

Joveline

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of Holland Turner Media Group, or any employee thereof. Holland Turner Media Group reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter content in any manner it sees fit or deems unacceptable.

Republicans. You Are Put On Notice.

Recently, President Barack Obama challenged Congress to act on a $447 billion job creation bill called, “American Jobs Act,” that consists of tax cuts and new government spending, designed to revive a stalled economy.

The politically moderate plan cuts payroll taxes that pay for Social Security but also adds spending for teachers and school construction as well as, provides an extension of jobless benefits.

Here is how President Obama plans to pay for the bill without adding to the nation's deficit:

1)   Limiting the itemized deductions for charitable contributions and other deductions that can be taken by individuals making over $200,000 a year and families making over $250,000 (estimated $400 billion)

2)   Closing loopholes for oil and gas companies ($40 billion)

3)   Requiring fund managers to pay higher taxes on certain income ($18 billion)

4)   Changing the tax treatment of corporate jets. ($3 billion)

Even though this plan is politically moderate and is needed to revive the economy, do not expect any cooperation from the other side of the aisle.  The above-mentioned series of tax hikes have been previously proposed by the White House and rejected by Republicans. 

So it was unlikely that the White House will win Congressional approval for many elements of the package, which is badly needed to keep the unemployment rate of 9.1%, from rising. 

For example, the spokesman for Republican Boehner was not enthusiastic about the White House proposal regarding the details on how to pay for $477 billion package.  "We remain eager to work together on ways to support job growth, but this proposal doesn't appear to have been offered in that bipartisan spirit," Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said.

It is obvious that the Republican’s number one goal is to ensure that President Obama is not re-elected in 2012.  It appears that the party literally has turned a blind eye to reviving the economy. 

However, if the Republicans refuse to embrace this bill, Mr. Obama should take them directly to the “boxing ring” aka the court of public opinion and make it known that the party is more concerned with doing his re-election harm than working for the American people.  

Live Positive!

Joveline 

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of Holland Turner Media Group, or any employee thereof. Holland Turner Media Group reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter content in any manner it sees fit or deems unacceptable.