invisible blog

It’s real out there.  Here is a roundup of some of the financial advice we have published in the past couple of years.

Eliminate Debt

Cutting Spending and Free Services

Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

Spend Less and Save More

Play Financial War Games

Technorati Tags: personal finance, money, credit crunch, debt

by Jason Proe

CNN recently reported that the U.S. Citizenship test has been revamped.  I have several friends that have taken the test over the years.  Since I am a “native” I never had to take the test, but I was curious to discover what you have to know to become a U.S. citizen so I checked it out.

After taking the test, I am confident I passed.  I thought it was pretty easy.  However, what struck me was how American women and minorities (African Americans, Native Americans, etc.) were incorporated into the test.  Here are a few questions from the actual test, the acceptable answers according to the answer key in bullet points, and of course my comments.

58. What is one reason colonists came to America?

• freedom
• political liberty
• religious freedom
• economic opportunity
• practice their religion
• escape persecution

Jason: Interesting, the first answer is freedom.  Remember that for later.

60. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?

• Africans
• people from Africa

Jason: Slaves? Wait, wait.  Didn’t the colonist come to America for freedom? I am confused.

74. Name one problem that led to the Civil War.

• slavery
• economic reasons
• states’ rights

Jason: Wow, slavery caused a civil war?  Probably a little confusion over this whole “land of the free” thing.

75. What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?*

• freed the slaves (Emancipation Proclamation)
• saved (or preserved) the Union
• led the United States during the Civil War

Jason: What a nice and brave guy that Mr. Lincoln must have been.

77. What did Susan B. Anthony do?

• fought for women’s rights
• fought for civil rights

Jason: Hmm, she is the only woman mentioned on this test.

84. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?

• civil rights (movement)

Jason: Even after the whole emancipation thing, huh? I guess the keyword there is “tried.”

85. What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?*

• fought for civil rights
• worked for equality for all Americans

Jason: Yeah, I heard of that guy.  He’s the only black guy mentioned on this test. Hopefully, that will change when they have to rewrite this question:

28. What is the name of the President of the United States now?

• George W. Bush Barack H. Obama

You can find the new test here.  Check it out and let us know what you think!

Voter Excitement Tempered by Concerns of Fairness at Polls
ABC News - USA
“The colors of the material were in red, black and green, all designed to encourage African-American voters to think that their African-American …

Rush Limbaugh sets the world straight on blackness and Obama
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
B. Now for your assertion that Obama isn’t African American. Who could be more so? He is literally of African and American descent. …

Congressional Black Caucus conference to address housing, health …
People’s Weekly World - USA
Ron Walters, a leading African American political scientist stresses the importance of securing a Congressional majority in support of the CBC’s legislative …

Talking with the actors in ‘Miracle at St. Anna’
Scripps News - Washington,DC,USA
“Buffalo Soldiers” was the nickname of the 92nd Infantry Division, which consisted of 15000 African-American men who served in Italy from August 1944 to …

Brothers Reaching Brothers Men’s Health Symposium
EPA.net - East Palo Alto,CA,USA
By Laura Savage, This weekend the Brothers Reaching Brothers Men’s Health Symposium is the place to be for information regarding men’s health. …

London gets cash to support black film
Hollywood Reporter - United States
The strategy, dubbed “The New Black” and unveiled Wednesday, will provide existing Black film exhibitors with financial support to market and publicize …

Wednesday is style day on invisibleblog.com.

by Jason Proe

Matt of the Dark Beige blog has posted a list of shoe recommendations for this fall season (with a bit of shoe bomber humor thrown in).  Black lace ups are a must.  But after you have that taken care of there are a lot of options to choose from.

Matt seems to like dress boots for the fall, which I have only seen pulled off effectively with the right pants.  Still, if you can pull it off, dress boots will set you apart.  Matt’s other recommendations include some white Paul Smith loafers (a must have for Vegas) and a pair of tennis shoes.  Usually I will go with a fresh pair of white kicks for the summer and choose a darker, less conservative pair of tennis shoes for the winter.

Source: Dark Beige

Chris Rock on Hillary and Palin…