Baby Boomers Beware of Free Trial Offers

Have you ever been the victim of a "free trial offer"? This is where a company offers you a sample of their product or service for a limited period of time.

Not long ago, I had to cancel my credit card and have another one re-issued because I became a victim of the free trial offer. I heard about a particular product on the radio targeted for baby boomer women and decided to try it out. All I had to do, they said, was give them my credt card number to cover the nominal cost of shipping and handling. I was also advised to call them within 30 days if I was no longer interested in receiving additional product. No problem, I thought.

After trying the product, I decided I wasn't interested...but guess what? I got busy---lost track of the 30-day trial period and failed to notify the company. As a result, I received more product the following month and a nice $49.95 added to my credit card. I immediately called the company to cancel and returned the product unopened. The following month I didn't receive any more product but another charge for $49.95 showed up on my credit card bill. I called the company again. I was told they had not received the product I returned to them and it takes awhile for the cancellation process to go through. My bank advised me to cancel the card.

When signing up for these trial periods, make sure you know the following information:

1) You should be aware that by accepting a free trial offer, you might be agreeing to buy additional products and services, if you do not cancel within a specified period of time.

2) Consumers don’t realize that by providing their card number, they may effectively be signing a contract allowing the merchant to automatically bill them for further merchandise and other things like shipping at the regular price after the trial period is over.

3) Reading the fine print is key to staying clear of trial offer traps. More often than not, if you’re not interested, it’s your responsibility to cancel the product or service to avoid any further charges from the merchant after the prescribed trial date.

4) If you have a problem with a trial offer, try to resolve it with the seller first. If you are dissatisfied with the response, contact the Better Business Bureau Federal Trade Commission or your local consumer protection agency.

Why Chicago Didn't Get the Olympics Bid

Let me start off by giving you this poll:

Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities in America 2008

New Orleans
Camden, NJ
Detroit
St. Louis
Oakland
Flint, Mich.
Gary, Ind.
Birmingham, Ala.
Richmond, Calif.
North Charleston, SC

Clearly, Chicago isn't on the list but, no doubt, it ought to be. Did you know the number of people murdered in Chicago during 2008 was larger than the number of U.S. soldier deaths in Iraq during the same period?

314 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq;
509 people were murdered in Chicago

Who would want to go to a city where their safety would possibly be in jeopardy?

Do you think Mayor Richard Daley has any answers or is he just another baby boomer who has closed his eyes to the real issues that plague his city and our nation?

Is President Barack Obama's eyes also closed?

Jesus on Twitter?

When I saw this headline the other day: What Would Jesus Tweet?---it immediately caught my attention. I went on to read the article---which was one preacher's take on using social media to spread the Word of God.

Since Twitter has become all the rave, more and more people are coming up with interesting ways to tie the social media site to their own agenda. But I do think connecting Jesus to Twitter is over the top. Asking what would Jesus tweet means every time we write 140 characters, we should ask ourselves if this is a message Jesus would put out there. Would Jesus be an IN YOUR FACE kind of person or would those spiritual tweets be redundant messages full of love and inspiration? What would Jesus tweet to us baby boomers? WWJT

I am connected to several pastors on Twitter and Facebook because I want to be. I do appreciate the inspirational messages they put forth. I also like to see that they're real human beings and not some self-absorbed, I can do no wrong man or woman of God on their self-made pedestal.

So what do you think? Does using social networking tools put the gospel message at risk? Can anything of real and lasting value come from technology that limits information to a mere 140 characters?

To read the entire article What Would Jesus Tweet click on the blog title.

Baby Boomers Gettin' High on More than Life

When the Beatles sang "Gonna get high with a little help from my friends..." back in 1967, who knew that song would have significant meaning more than 40 years later?

It seems that the percentage of American baby boomers age 50-59 who reported use of illicit drugs within a year nearly doubled between 2002 and 2007, from 5.1 percent to 9.4 percent, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported Wednesday.

The agency said that percentage rose because baby boomers — born between 1946 and 1964 — continued to use drugs as they got older.

The rates of people aged 50 to 59 who admit to using illicit drugs in the past year nearly doubled while rates among all other age groups are the same or decreasing.

So whatever happened to getting high on life?

To refresh your memory, here's that Beatles tune from the 60s.