Recession Juice

Category: Opinion

  • The Major Parties Should Be Worried

    The Major Parties should be worried

    Voting is not exactly the most popular citizen duty Americans like to-do and when asking around, you may be hard-pressed proving otherwise. Of course it cannot be negated that the last president to be elected in the United States was nothing short of historic, the first of African-American heritage elected to the highest office and turning out a massive amount of new voters. With that said, that was eight years ago and it is now 2016. What do voters think now? One thing is for certain, the two major parties should be worried, because voters have caught onto their game and are turning on them.

    Looking at polling, the average turnout for presidential elections remains quite consistent over the last two decades. While it is great to see consistent voter turnout, one may ask, why would voter turnout remain relatively the same if the general population is increasing? Thinking about it deeper, if voting age population (VAP) is gradually increasing, but this is not reflected in voter turnout, could this mean that voters frequently resent the major parties? One thing is for certain: the two major parties should be worried; voters have caught onto their game.

    Total Voting Age Population 1960 - 2012

    Taking a look at the current presidential cycle is so very telling of the state of the voters mind. What does it say when populist consensus means “Democrats” prefer the only independent-socialist in Bernie Sanders and “Republicans” prefer an unknown quantity in an over-the-top Donald Trump for this presidential cycle? It means that voters are so unimpressed with our lawmakers and party establishments; they are willing to fundamentally change the entire party, even if it has negative results on the incumbents. Voters realize that in order to initiate “real change”; they must elect outsider candidates or risk falling into the never-ending spin-cycle Democrats and Republicans sell to voters. Voters are ready to kick their parties to the curb and vote for whomever they feel like, regardless of ‘what is best for the party’.

    What do we think Donald Trump supporters are doing by voting for him as their candidate for office? Some may think it is a joke, but others see it as symbolic, similar to the Bernie Sanders movement. In a nutshell, voters don’t care about voting for the parties any longer, they care about changing the parties to reflect their attitudes and beliefs. The major party establishment should be worried because their seats are not safe for long.

    What will the angry Bernie Sanders voters do when they figure out the party leadership at the DNC (Democratic National Convention) has always thought his campaign and voters are a joke and expendable? Will these voters stay home or would they be willing to spite-vote to show their dissatisfaction? Many of the Sanders voters are brand-new voters, similar to Trump supporters, just introduced to voting after being inspired by the respective campaigns. They will be turned off by the idea that a candidate running for the ‘right’ reasons has no chance to win due to status-quo party politics as usual. The major parties better be worried because they are in for a shakeup.

    Voting Rates Over Time 1964-2012

    The rhetoric major parties push is that their agenda is best for the people and that they know what is best. The major parties tell their dissenting-base of voters over and over, ‘this candidate has no chance to win, give up and follow us’. Well politicians and political elites, we have caught onto your game and are planning a respectful, but ruthless takeover of the Democratic and Republican parties. This is why the major parties should be worried as the next class of millennial activists are now speaking and demanding their voices be heard. The major parties should be worried as the party structures will be permanently re-aligned in order to allow for growth and real changes the current major party leaders could never allow. Let your party establishment know they should be worried, because voters are pissed off!

    Originally written on 14th of June 2016 by Tony Washington

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  • How Evil Monsters Become Popular – Magazine Style Essay for English 102

    How Evil Monsters Become Popular – Magazine Style Essay for English 102

    Requirements of Magazine Style Essay for English 102 (Brief overview)

    You will write an informal, magazine-style editorial or column piece in which you state your opinion(s) on a certain topic related to monsters/monstrosity and support this thesis. Essentially, this is a persuasive argument; you will try to convince your reader that your opinion is valid and/or correct. You may include the opinions of non-experts as long as they are in the context of evaluating the average person’s knowledge or opinion on a subject. You may not interview a non-expert and treat their opinion as fact, nor will the non-expert’s opinion count towards your minimum sources.

    Magazine Style Essay – Evil Monsters & Rise to Popularity

    Tony Washington
    Professor Evan Peterson
    English 102
    6 May 2013

    Evil Monsters & Rise to Popularity by Tony Washington

    “Nice guys finish last…” is a cliché term many people have heard before through a movie, reading or just overhearing it someday. The same may also be said for so-called good monsters of the monster universe. A question I had to ask myself was, if you pit monster vs. monster, which one(s) will have the edge at connecting to the hearts and minds of the people? The truth may very well be that the more evil the monster itself, the more memorable they become to individuals and this magazine essay explores a few instances of this.

    The people of the world seem to have a need for evil monsters in their lives and have enjoyed a close relationship with mankind since the dawn of civilizations, this being one of the reasons evil monsters have become so memorable for us. This relationship of evil monsters and people has been shown through paintings, pictures, sculpted art, sketches, and in literary forms from early and ancient civilizations. Author David Gilmore explains “monsters have a critical and fundamental role to play in the rise of civilization itself, not only in Europe and the Middle East, but everywhere” (Gilmore 26). Thinking of a popular evil monster, I think of the Sphinx, a half-man half lion. This monster is commonly associated with the Egyptian Pyramids and is one of the most memorable monsters of all time. Some folks may be surprised to know this monster wasn’t a friendly monster at all, but rather “dangerous or hostile to man, gratuitously one may say, often quite lethal” (Gilmore 27). Early societies relied upon these monsters, in part, to help explain events and occurrences happening in their times. Taking into the account the fact that evil monsters have been around since even the beginning of some civilizations, it is no wonder why evil monsters are even more popular and memorable than ever before.

    Digging deeper into how the more evil a monster is, the more memorable to individuals they become, we look to a raw and accurate data source, Google Keywords Tool. Based upon internet search habits and analyzing exact global search terms on their engine, we see 6 monsters account for well-over a million monthly searches globally; speaking to the volume of individuals interested in monsters. Starting from the bottom there are two monsters we see with ‘exact match’ terms: Incredible Hulk and Swamp Thing account for a total of 75,300 monthly searches

    Figure 1 – Google Keywords
    How Monsters Become Evil - Google Keywords
    These two monsters are not even close to matching the popularity and memorability to the rest of their evil monster-peers, even when combining both of their worldwide searches (tens of thousands vs. hundreds of thousands). Both of these monsters instill fear in others around them due to their superhuman strength and appearance, amongst other attributes. The mentioned monsters, however, also share similarities and have a good side to them. These monsters feel compassion. For this reason, they are the lone soldiers at the bottom of the list. I am certainly not discrediting these great monsters, just elaborating on the bigger picture that evil monsters win the hearts of individuals. As one jumps up the list we can see some notable monsters, with Joker and Darth Vader taking the top spots. So what makes Joker more memorable in this case than Darth Vader? They both are killers, but the Jokers visual appearance is more similar to humans, thus it may become easier for the general population to take interest in the evil traits of the monster. Thinking of why it is easier for people to acquire interest in evil monsters, we can look at the psychology attribute of the subject.

    Psychology has played a role in the way humans have acquired interest in evil monsters, in particular. Going back to the memorability/popularity of an evil monster, Joker, an audience will immediately notice his character has a smile on his face, similar to that of a clown. As mentioned in the Journal of General Psychology, the use of humor towards something typically considered dangerous may induce “. . . desensitization of fear or ambivalence toward a dangerous product” (Ventis, Higbee and Murdock). In addition to joking around often and not taking himself very seriously, the joker shows a general disregard to seriousness even when committing heinous acts. Although, this monster is a villain, he uses humor to ease others fears of accepting and trusting him. This concurs with the general findings in the study that use of “humor can facilitate change in an emotional response tendency like fear” (Ventis, Higbee and Murdock). Connecting the dots, an audience will see the use of humor in the monsters character may have desensitized people enough to the point where his popularity now is on the rise. It is safe to say, Joker has not always been a popular character, given that he is evil, but has made a comeback, even rivaling the good superhero that made him famous, Humor makes the evil monsters like Joker much more appealing to audiences and increases their own popularity or likelihood of being memorable and/or made popular. Focusing more on desensitization in our culture and monsters/monstrosity, there is a definitive trend allowing evil monsters to become more acceptable as well as memorable in our society.

    Figure 2 – Google Search Trends 2004-2013
    How Evil Monsters become Popular - Google Trends

    Monsters, particularly the evil and villainous ones, are becoming easier for people to like, enjoy, and even look up to, in part due to the amount of exposure monsters are receiving through various mediums and forms. Want to keep in touch with your evil monster daily? Check out their Facebook and Twitter accounts! With “1.11 billion monthly active users as of March 2013” (Facebook) social media sites are certainly making it easier for general population to connect with evil monsters and have real impact on the popularity and memorability of that monster. The popularity and memorability of evil monsters is on the rise everywhere and we find them in our restaurants, food, advertisements, toys, games and more. A visit to your local McDonald’s and you may see the newest popular monstrous toy out for kids, or flip on your TV or internet and you’ll see advertisements for the next horror story or ghost hunting episodes. The past decade has seen an explosion of famously evil monsters coming to life or back-to life on the big screen, such as Chucky, Darth Vader, Freddy vs. Jason, Hannibal, Hellraiser and the Minotaur (IMDB). We also see the exposure in all age groups to evil monsters through modern video games, including some notables like the Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat and Elder Scrolls series of monsters. New and old forms of media have helped sustain, spread and grow the memorability of evil monsters keeping the monsters surviving through to the next generation of mankind.

    The general population has accepted monsters and they have become engrained in our societies. Evil monsters have d played roles as some of the most memorable and reliable entities mankind has lived with since the earliest times. These monsters are alive and well with the people as seen in our entertainment, past history, ancient cultures, search trends, and even slipping into our lives subtly by psychological means. Evil monsters take on all types of forms and range from the not-so-bad to the not-so-good, the latter being available with increasing abundance. Take time to write down or think of a few of your favorite monsters of all time and your answers may just surprise you! How many of your favorite monsters are considered evil?

    Works Cited

    Adwords, Google. Google Keywords Tool. 2013. Web. 23 April 2013. www.google.com.
    Gilmore, David D. Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1943. Book.

    IMDB. Various Pages. n.d. Web. 23 April 2013.

    Swamp Thing. Dir. Wes Craven. Perf. Louis Jourdan and Adrienne Barbeau. 1982. Film. 09 April 2013. .

    Trends, Google Search. Web Search Interest: darth vader, hannibal, joker, incredible hulk, swamp thing. Worldwide, Jan 2004 – Jan 2013. 01 Janurary 2004-2013. Web. 03 May 2013.

    Ventis, Larry W, Garrett Higbee and Susan A Murdock. “Using Humor in Systematic Desensitization to Reduce Fear.” Journal Of General Psychology 128.2 (2001): 13. Document. 28 April 2013. web.ebscohost.com.

    Works Cited - Magazine Essay

  • Obtaining a Bank Account with Bad Credit History

    Obtaining a Bank Account with Bad Credit History

    Obtaining a Bank Account with Bad Credit History

    You can get a bank account with bad credit history that has all the features of a “normal” bank account. Bank accounts offer a secure place to park your money for many people. These types of bank accounts offer debit cards, savings accounts, direct deposit, bill pay, loans, and more.

    Since RecessionJuice.com was founded in Washington State we can provide some information to help in the search for businesses that offer bank accounts or replace the role of bank accounts similarly. All information here is applicable to many states, so do not be discouraged if you do not recognized the business names mentioned.

    “Nothing is wrong living within ones means, as in living life without obtaining free debt, which boils down to the definition of what “credit” truly is.”-Anonymous

    Short to Longer Term Bank Account Solutions

    In substitution of a regular bank account, as in Bank of America; consider using a business like Moneytree, as a bank account when facing bad credit history. Moneytree services British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Washington. Referencing Moneytree’s business statement is a good indication of what you should be looking for when looking for a bank account with bad credit history:

    “Moneytree is the premier provider of check cashing and payday loan services in the five western states in which it operates. In addition to these core services, Moneytree offers prepaid debit and gift cards,money orders, wire fund transfers through Western Union, and bill pay services” – Moneytree.com

    Check cashing and short-term pay-day lenders will often have some type of prepaid/re-loadable card that can get your debit/credit card needs accomplished. Additional advantages you will get by obtaining a bank account with bad credit history, is the fact of safely and securely storing money.

    Start Saving again…

    You can actually start saving again with this, where all the other banks will turn you down.  It typically works like so:

    1. Money is loaded onto your card
    2. You open a free savings account, which is attached to the card account
    3. Transfer money either in or out of your savings/debit accounts

    Interest will also be earned on the savings accounts. If choosing a card system with a savings account try to resist moving your money around too much, this just encourages saving.

    Before signing up with a business like Moneytree, make sure that their card service offers a savings account. The savings account will go a long way in retaining funds so you may be able to pay some of the bills harming your credit.

    Another business that will help you in your solution to a bank account is WalMart. WalMart will cash government, payroll, or tax checks for only $3 on checks up to $1000 and $6 on checks up to $5,000. In this area, WalMart dominates Moneytree. However, be warned that if you have not cashed a check at a WalMart before, your check may be declined. When attempting to cash a check for the first time, do not cash a check over $500. If your check is over this amount, it will likely be declined. Of course, there is no harm in still trying. Let us know if you experience a different result.

    Dispute discrepancies on your credit report

    Equifax Online Dispute

    Never underestimate the tactic of disputing information on your credit report as a way of potentially getting information removed and deleted from your credit record, thus improving your score and ability to obtain credit.

    Dispute your credit report with the 3 major credit reporting bureaus

    1. Equifax Credit Report Dispute
    2. Experian Credit Report Dispute
    3. TransUnion Credit Report Dispute

    A decent all around credit report that should be reliable is Equifax’s Complete Report. After reviewing the information obtained here, you should be able to get an idea of what bills you may not owe anymore. Any information that you know is false or incorrect should be disputed. Be careful when disputing information, you do not want to awaken an old debt that may be past the statute of limitations for your state; doing so would re-start the time limit for a debt agency to sue.

    If you get your credit score to a reasonable level you should also think about a Secured Credit Card as a means to establish good credit. Make sure they will report to the credit bureaus monthly – this will help your credit.

    Free sources for your reference

    Order your free Credit Report:
    Annual Credit Report

    Order your free ChexSystems Consumer Report:
    Annual Consumer Report

    Closing Suggestions

    To get a bank account the best way out is to pay your bills that you honestly remember owing. If you have the means – you should pay your bills. Everyone at times will be financially unable to commit. Look up your states statute of limitations, which vary state by state. These limitations spell out the time duration, in which someone may attempt to collect a debt. The financial institution that claims you owe them only has a set amount of time to actually collect or get you to admit you truly “owe” them that debt. After this limit, you may request removal of these marks on your credit report, which will help your credit woes. In some cases, it could be better to simply not pay.

  • A “Private” Response on Ron Paul

    A “Private” Response on Ron Paul

    This short response is a reply to a comment on Ron Paul via Facebook. Names have been omitted for privacy reasons

    It is very difficult to achieve change when you are working with an “Establishment” – that is a Washington DC that is full of corruption via special interests. He always votes against raising the debt ceiling, but everyone else is voting for it? How does that make sense?

    Ron Paul stands against everything the “Status quo” stands for and if nothing else would put a “Brake” on how things are run in DC if President. This would give a chance for a turn around in that Ron Paul would not BS the American public about the reality of our situation, which would be an absolute disaster for the current establishment as this would actually educate the American public instead of the real smoke and mirrors from the Federal Govt. You do make a good point about Che Guevara!

    It doesn’t take that much looking to see inflation is out of control and our dollar is still sinking in value, much of this due to, again, the out of control spending in DC. So weird how the federal government tries to “Fix” all the problems accept the most apparent one with a HUGE RED FLAG hanging out (debt). This is why we need Ron Paul and people who value the constitution in the cabinet, congress, and the house.

    Special interests come with $$ and the politicians fall in line, but that is not the case with Paul nor has it ever been. Ron Paul does not accept money from special interests – an extremely rare and uncommon for someone who has spent time in government. Ron Paul also donates a portion of his salary back to the US Treasury – to help pay down the debt (kind of laughable, but good to know!)

    Ron Paul is the reason the Federal Reserve was audited (See: http://www.unelected.org/audit-of-the-federal-reserve-reveals-16-trillion-in-secret-bailouts)

    Ron Paul actually had a practice at a private job as a OBGYN and delivered something like 4k babies & treated the poor for free at his clinic

    Ron Paul will end the “war on drugs” – which happens to end up being the most racist and harmful program they have created for the working class and minorities in particular. All you have to do is look in the prisons and jails.

    Ron Paul want to end the Federal Income Tax (cites it as unconstitutional) and replace it with nothing – this helps the working class with an instant and permanent raise on all income levels. (A *REAL* stimulus)

    Ron Paul wants to allow young workers to opt out of social security – this helps the working class. Everyone else will get to keep their benefits. If I were to opt out for example – there would always be the option to just take this money from the government and invest it in your privately held account so they don’t decide how much of your money you get back!

    Ron Paul is big on individual responsibility and states rights – the idea that Issues can be handled with local government to figure out what works best for those citizens on most issues.

    Do I agree with everything Ron Paul says? I can’t say I do. I do make an attempt to research my information and spread out my sources to get different views – as I am trying not to spread false information! lol

    Obama has unfortunately continued the status quo and is spending an enormous amount of money that we don’t have. They haven’t even passed a budget for themselves. Only the American people have helped the US Economy – I give the president or congress NO credit for that. We will soon be required to pay a new healthcare tax on top of this in 2014? Whew – I am going to be a lot broker a lot quicker come that time unless I see a raise sometime soon lol.

    Spending is like a drug up there in DC – Being blinded by the $BLING$ is easy I guess lol.

    Ron Paul is doing one thing right for sure – waking up a new generation to the realities we face – hopefully some of us outsiders like me and you can make it in and make a real change, that is the hope and goal. Dr. Paul really is a man of integrity and honesty, which I really like. I do plan to run for some local offices, just to make a small difference in my community and to promote the positive change I seek.

    Thank you for the reminder also it always helps to get others viewpoints and the conversation is great I really enjoy it – I know politics can get a bit edgy…. you should have been at the convention! lol

    Here is the budget he proposes if you want to check it out:

    http://www.ronpaul2012.com/the-issues/ron-paul-plan-to-restore-america/