Health care is unattainable until he robbed a local bank

Life & Living
Chances are if you were contemplating robbing a bank, you’d probably be after some quick cash. But recently, a 59-year-old man had other intentions – robbing a local RBC Bank for health care. It happened on June 9th and continues to surprise anyone who hears his story. “This is the first time I've ever been in trouble with the law,” James Verone said from the Gaston County Jail. “I'm sort of a logical person and that was my logic. That was what I came up with.” He didn’t have gun when he calmly approached the teller, just a note that read, “This is a bank robbery. Please only give me one dollar.” And then he casually walked away saying, “I'll be sitting right over there in the chair waiting for…
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Writing letters is an art form that lasted thousands of years – until now

Information & Education, Life & Living
Historian, David McCullough, was recently asked about writing letters: “We don’t write letters on paper anymore. How will this affect the study of history?” His response was interesting… “The loss of people writing – writing a composition, a letter or a report – is not just the loss for the record. It’s the loss of the process of working your thoughts out on paper, of having an idea that you would never have had if you weren’t writing. And that’s a handicap. People I research were writing letters every day. That was calisthenics for the brain.” Yes, one might argue, that our society does write everyday. But take a look at the quality of text messages and emails being produced. You’ll soon realize that we’re not exercising our brain as…
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Quit smoking and add some years back to your life

Life & Living
Is it time to quit smoking? Starting in October of 2012, cigarette companies will be required to use nine graphic warning labels recently unveiled by the US Food and Drug Administration, on the top half of every cigarette pack and on 20 percent of every poster ad.  Some are grisly like showing the top half of a cadaver after an autopsy while others show smoke drifting towards a young child’s face. They estimate that over 200,000 people will quit smoking in the first year based on this aggressive strategy. For about 6 months back in college, I was a casual smoker (it took me about a week to finish one pack!). I first started because of the social scene I traveled in and the “cool” factor many of us are…
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Lawyers get a bad name for some very compelling reasons

Information & Education, Life & Living
Here's an example of why lawyers get a bad name. Let’s say you’re one of those guys who finds it gentlemanly to walk a female co-worker, girlfriend or maybe even your sister back to their cars after meeting up with them for dinner at a local eatery. Dark, eerie parking lots can be a little frightening for some, especially if you’re a fan of the popular crime drama “Criminal Minds.” And while you hope muggers will never approach you during this gentlemanly act, we live in a very unpredictable world where mischievous people lurk behind every corner - literally. I read a story online the other day where a young man was walking his girlfriend to her car late one evening in a darkened parking lot. Unfortunately, the pair was…
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A dress code is necessary to help keep some level of professionalism at work

Life & Living
Watching reruns of the popular 1950’s sitcom “I Love Lucy” provides a window into a world that seems utterly foreign to us today, especially when it comes to the dress code. Take their wardrobes for instance. Jeans were called “dungarees” and were NEVER worn outside the home under any circumstance. They were your knock-around clothes – worn while gardening outside, washing the car (if you were able to afford one) or cleaning out the garage. But even if you were doing something as ordinary as going to the movies, the market or to the beauty parlor or barbershop, men wore suits and ties and women elegant dresses, gloves and hats. There was a sense of pride in your appearance, which has all but disappeared today even with a dress code.…
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