I saw other comments already about how Hanukkah is a minor holiday and not that important. I wanted to add one point about its hype in the modern era. The story is about rebellion against an oppressive regime (Greeks) that was seeking to eradicate the traditions and practices of Jews in ancient Israel.
A holiday with a similar story and was actually celebrated in the middle ages through the early 20th century with giving of presents was Purim (typically in Feb or March). However, in the USA, immigrants began the present exchanges in December as part of assimilation.
Cell phones and prescription drugs seem very different products to me. Cell phones require contracts and the hardware is subsidized heavily. So that makes the pricing very unique and not comparable to straight purchase of a pair of jeans or gallon of milk. Drugs are different in pricing based on who's paying the bills.
Something to keep in mind about prescription drugs, it may only take pennies to produce a tablet, but it can take upwards of $800M to discover and develop one drug. That's before it ever reaches mass production. For every 1 drug that makes it to market, 100 compounds are discovered and discarded representing years of manpower and investment. Those costs need to be recovered for innovation to continue.
Most of the pharmecutical research is NOT being done or funded by public entites. However, it is HIGHLY regulated and controled by public entites. The resources to support that research are provided by those markups.
Yeah, I'm a mom of a school aged boy. Family and friends who now attend schools that I used to attend are saying the same thing. Even my old teachers are saying this. Kids are always being corrected if they say "Merry Christmas".
I'm hoping that not all schools are doing this, but quite a few from what I hear.
I don't mind "Happy Holidays" at all, but I just don't think kids should be taught that "Merry Christmas" is a bad thing to say.
Don't forget jewelry - back in 1998 the setting for my wife's engagement ring was $115 wholesale, and $650 retail (diamond district in NYC where I had a connection and got wholesale).
DIamonds are also artificially inflated, but that's a different post...
You have proof that schools are "teaching" children not to say "Merry Christmas"? To me, that sounds like the kind of thing that Bill O'Reilly would salivate over, but is highly unlikely to be true.
Also, just because one group of people is a majority, it doesn't mean that you assume that everyone is the same as you. If you actually believe in diversity, you would know that not everyone celebrates Christmas.
I say "Merry Christmas" quite a bit because I think it sounds nice, and because lots of people celebrate Christmas in a secular way, but I think "Happy Holidays" is fine - it doesn't leave anyone out, and it also includes New Years, if you think about it.
Wow... This was an eye-opener! I used to work in retail, and we generally marked up items by 100%. (So a wholesale item at $5.00 would sell for $10.00.) This was standard practice across stores I worked in, though books had a much much lower mark up.
However, it's important to remember that the mark-up isn't pure profit. There are shipping costs, staff salaries, building costs, expenses, etc. that come out of that amount as well.
I'm sick of playing the sales and discounts game though. I'd prefer to pay a reasonable price all the time than play games.
I am all for diversity. In each country, there is typically one holiday that people celebrate most. In the US it is Christmas. But what gets me is that schools are teaching kids that it's wrong to say the greeting "Merry Christmas". It's practically frowned upon.
I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, " It's OK to say Merry Christmas. "
As a Jew, I'd just like to point out that Channukah is NOT "one of the most important holidays in the Jewish faith." In fact, it's a pretty minor holiday, not mentioned in the Bible, and far lesser in importance than Passover, Yom Kippur (the day of atonement), and Sukkot (the festival of booths). The only reason it seems important in the North American context is because it's so close to Christmas, and so has been hyped up in importance.
That said, the rest of the information you've got in your blurb is right-on.
Fantastic article and very wise advice! Most immigrant families that I know are savers by nature who aren't afraid to work. They find pleasure in delicious home cooked meals shared with friends and family rather than time clocked at the mall.
Hannukah is NOT "one of the most important holidays in the Jewish faith". It is a minor holiday, about on par with MLK day in the US. If you actually wanted to teach your kids about the important holidays of other cultures, you would teach them about Yom Kippur or Passover.
There are endless minor holidays from other cultures every month. It would be far more beneficial for your kids to be aware of the real major holidays of other cultures rather than the relatively insignificant ones that happen to occur in December.
What is best for a dog to eat really varies from dog to dog.
Most unconventional "natural" dog foods are a huge step up from commercial dogs foods whether or not they contain only protein, or include grains or potato. I have tried everything from homemade raw to homemade cooked, grain or potato based foods, grain or potato-free foods, and also high protein. But always under the watchful eye of my vet.
I've discovered that my dog is allergic to beef, and, if I give her bone-based calcium in her homemade food, her skin will flare up and hair will fall out in masses. She does best on 60% meat (chicken or fish) and 40% fruits and veggies. But this may not be true for all dogs.
If your dog doesn't have any dietary issues, then you're lucky; enjoy it, and just be sure to switch the food up so they don't develop allergies. If he or she does suffer from allergies, like mine, then experiment with different combinations with the help of your vet until you find something that works for YOUR dog.
How about Yule -- the Winter Solstice (Dec 21) celebrated by Pagans? There are a lot of Pagan parents out here who struggle because their holiday is not "real" in schools or included in any lists of holidays.
I sometimes use a hot water bottle on my lap when using my computer at home. It really makes a difference. It is also toasty when watching TV or to warm up the bed. It is an instance of old technology really working well even today.
Public school events may be the last hold-out. Teachers do not want to accept, and are often told not accept, cash for class trips, events, etc. Everyone involved wants a paper trail. And many schools are not even set up to take attendance online, let alone accept online payments with specific event designation. And a lot is being lost in interest as districts can take months to deposit the checks.
Wait a minute! I see a golden opportunity for anyone who has programmed a major ticketing site- create a simple to use online payment app that your typical district assistant can use to set up online bill pay for school events/merch. Pitch it at the state level, and highlight the amount that can be gained in the interest on all these small amounts over a month. They already have it for lunch cards, make it better!
I'd be interested to know if they still have your account listed as "active." It would be helpful to know how long they hold accounts that have had minimal activity.
With all that travel, I'm guessing you have a lot of points that you can use towards more travel (or maybe a vacation!?) or other rewards like gift cards. Hopefully you'll be able to check in on them every now and then.
I'd never recommend using credit cards for blatant abusers; points or no points. Obviously people who are working towards rebuilding their credit need a very structured budget and probably need to forgo earning rewards through credit cards if they aren't ready to handle the responsibility.
However, there are plenty of other ways to earn rewards points, like through My Coke Rewards, grocery store reward programs, and travel programs.
I agree with Sarah that cooking using the oven is a great way to heat up a small home. But I guess that assumes another energy saving tip which is own a small home. another one we use is having party. With all the bodies over, the house starts to warm up pretty quick...of course we live in Southern California so our idea of cold is not really a big deal.
I saw other comments already about how Hanukkah is a minor holiday and not that important. I wanted to add one point about its hype in the modern era. The story is about rebellion against an oppressive regime (Greeks) that was seeking to eradicate the traditions and practices of Jews in ancient Israel.
A holiday with a similar story and was actually celebrated in the middle ages through the early 20th century with giving of presents was Purim (typically in Feb or March). However, in the USA, immigrants began the present exchanges in December as part of assimilation.
This is interesting stuff and useful to know.
Cell phones and prescription drugs seem very different products to me. Cell phones require contracts and the hardware is subsidized heavily. So that makes the pricing very unique and not comparable to straight purchase of a pair of jeans or gallon of milk. Drugs are different in pricing based on who's paying the bills.
Something to keep in mind about prescription drugs, it may only take pennies to produce a tablet, but it can take upwards of $800M to discover and develop one drug. That's before it ever reaches mass production. For every 1 drug that makes it to market, 100 compounds are discovered and discarded representing years of manpower and investment. Those costs need to be recovered for innovation to continue.
Most of the pharmecutical research is NOT being done or funded by public entites. However, it is HIGHLY regulated and controled by public entites. The resources to support that research are provided by those markups.
Yeah, I'm a mom of a school aged boy. Family and friends who now attend schools that I used to attend are saying the same thing. Even my old teachers are saying this. Kids are always being corrected if they say "Merry Christmas".
I'm hoping that not all schools are doing this, but quite a few from what I hear.
I don't mind "Happy Holidays" at all, but I just don't think kids should be taught that "Merry Christmas" is a bad thing to say.
Don't forget jewelry - back in 1998 the setting for my wife's engagement ring was $115 wholesale, and $650 retail (diamond district in NYC where I had a connection and got wholesale).
DIamonds are also artificially inflated, but that's a different post...
You have proof that schools are "teaching" children not to say "Merry Christmas"? To me, that sounds like the kind of thing that Bill O'Reilly would salivate over, but is highly unlikely to be true.
Also, just because one group of people is a majority, it doesn't mean that you assume that everyone is the same as you. If you actually believe in diversity, you would know that not everyone celebrates Christmas.
I say "Merry Christmas" quite a bit because I think it sounds nice, and because lots of people celebrate Christmas in a secular way, but I think "Happy Holidays" is fine - it doesn't leave anyone out, and it also includes New Years, if you think about it.
Wow... This was an eye-opener! I used to work in retail, and we generally marked up items by 100%. (So a wholesale item at $5.00 would sell for $10.00.) This was standard practice across stores I worked in, though books had a much much lower mark up.
However, it's important to remember that the mark-up isn't pure profit. There are shipping costs, staff salaries, building costs, expenses, etc. that come out of that amount as well.
I'm sick of playing the sales and discounts game though. I'd prefer to pay a reasonable price all the time than play games.
Hey meatbags, how could you forget Robonukah?
It's only a matter of time, of course, before someone jumps on here with another "War on Christmas" complaint.
As a non-Jew, I was going to point that out, but then didn't want to assume that I actually knew what I was talking about. :)
I am all for diversity. In each country, there is typically one holiday that people celebrate most. In the US it is Christmas. But what gets me is that schools are teaching kids that it's wrong to say the greeting "Merry Christmas". It's practically frowned upon.
I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, " It's OK to say Merry Christmas. "
As a Jew, I'd just like to point out that Channukah is NOT "one of the most important holidays in the Jewish faith." In fact, it's a pretty minor holiday, not mentioned in the Bible, and far lesser in importance than Passover, Yom Kippur (the day of atonement), and Sukkot (the festival of booths). The only reason it seems important in the North American context is because it's so close to Christmas, and so has been hyped up in importance.
That said, the rest of the information you've got in your blurb is right-on.
Fantastic article and very wise advice! Most immigrant families that I know are savers by nature who aren't afraid to work. They find pleasure in delicious home cooked meals shared with friends and family rather than time clocked at the mall.
Melissa Tosetti
www.TheSavvyLife.com
Hannukah is NOT "one of the most important holidays in the Jewish faith". It is a minor holiday, about on par with MLK day in the US. If you actually wanted to teach your kids about the important holidays of other cultures, you would teach them about Yom Kippur or Passover.
There are endless minor holidays from other cultures every month. It would be far more beneficial for your kids to be aware of the real major holidays of other cultures rather than the relatively insignificant ones that happen to occur in December.
You forgot the oldest, the solstice. There are also a few others that can be found on wikipedia under 'List of Winter Festivals'
What is best for a dog to eat really varies from dog to dog.
Most unconventional "natural" dog foods are a huge step up from commercial dogs foods whether or not they contain only protein, or include grains or potato. I have tried everything from homemade raw to homemade cooked, grain or potato based foods, grain or potato-free foods, and also high protein. But always under the watchful eye of my vet.
I've discovered that my dog is allergic to beef, and, if I give her bone-based calcium in her homemade food, her skin will flare up and hair will fall out in masses. She does best on 60% meat (chicken or fish) and 40% fruits and veggies. But this may not be true for all dogs.
If your dog doesn't have any dietary issues, then you're lucky; enjoy it, and just be sure to switch the food up so they don't develop allergies. If he or she does suffer from allergies, like mine, then experiment with different combinations with the help of your vet until you find something that works for YOUR dog.
How about Yule -- the Winter Solstice (Dec 21) celebrated by Pagans? There are a lot of Pagan parents out here who struggle because their holiday is not "real" in schools or included in any lists of holidays.
No mention of Festivus? :)
I sometimes use a hot water bottle on my lap when using my computer at home. It really makes a difference. It is also toasty when watching TV or to warm up the bed. It is an instance of old technology really working well even today.
Public school events may be the last hold-out. Teachers do not want to accept, and are often told not accept, cash for class trips, events, etc. Everyone involved wants a paper trail. And many schools are not even set up to take attendance online, let alone accept online payments with specific event designation. And a lot is being lost in interest as districts can take months to deposit the checks.
Wait a minute! I see a golden opportunity for anyone who has programmed a major ticketing site- create a simple to use online payment app that your typical district assistant can use to set up online bill pay for school events/merch. Pitch it at the state level, and highlight the amount that can be gained in the interest on all these small amounts over a month. They already have it for lunch cards, make it better!
Bravo! Very nice post. we'll be sticking with my investment strategy then.
I'd be interested to know if they still have your account listed as "active." It would be helpful to know how long they hold accounts that have had minimal activity.
With all that travel, I'm guessing you have a lot of points that you can use towards more travel (or maybe a vacation!?) or other rewards like gift cards. Hopefully you'll be able to check in on them every now and then.
I'd never recommend using credit cards for blatant abusers; points or no points. Obviously people who are working towards rebuilding their credit need a very structured budget and probably need to forgo earning rewards through credit cards if they aren't ready to handle the responsibility.
However, there are plenty of other ways to earn rewards points, like through My Coke Rewards, grocery store reward programs, and travel programs.
I agree with Sarah that cooking using the oven is a great way to heat up a small home. But I guess that assumes another energy saving tip which is own a small home. another one we use is having party. With all the bodies over, the house starts to warm up pretty quick...of course we live in Southern California so our idea of cold is not really a big deal.