SodaHead - Mike's Answers & Comments

Should this dishwasher get his $59,000 back?

2007-10-02T22:21:03Z

Should this dishwasher get his $59,000 back?
(U.S. Government)

137 answers, +21 raves

For 11 years, Pedro Zapeta, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, lived his version of the American dream in Stuart, Florida: washing dishes and living frugally to bring money back to his home country. Two years ago, Zapeta was ready to return to Guatemala, so he carried a duffel bag filled with $59,000 -- all the cash he had scrimped and saved over the years -- to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. But when Zapeta tried to go through airport security, an officer spotted the money in the bag and called U.S. customs officials. "They asked me how much money I had," Zapeta recalled, speaking to CNN in Spanish. He told the customs officials $59,000. At that point, U.S. customs seized his money, setting off a two-year struggle for Zapeta to get it back. Zapeta, who speaks no English, said he didn't know he was running afoul of U.S. law by failing to declare he was carrying more than $10,000 with him. Anyone entering or leaving the country with more than $10,000 has to fill out a one-page form declaring the money to U.S. customs. Officials initially accused Zapeta of being a courier for the drug trade, but they dropped the allegation once he produced pay stubs from restaurants where he had worked. Zapeta earned $5.50 an hour at most of the places where he washed dishes. When he learned to do more, he got a 25-cent raise. After customs officials seized the money, they turned Zapeta over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The INS released him but began deportation proceedings. For two years, Zapeta has had two attorneys working pro bono: one on his immigration case, the other trying to get his money back. "They are treating me like a criminal when all I am is a working man," he said. Read full story here

Mike answered
This is what I think...
and said : He should have done things legally. That job should have been given to a citizen or imagrant worker working with the proper paper work. After 11 years, I am sure he knew he was doing wrong especially with the recent controversy. He should be fined, have to pay the taxes, and the buisness he worked for should be investigated. He should have learned English too.

What would you do if a friend/relative came to visit from out of town and they came with their dog too?

2007-09-11T00:05:43Z

What would you do if a friend/relative came to visit from out of town and they came with their dog too?
(What's Bubbling in Your Head?)

45 answers, +6 raves

Without any prior knowledge this friend / telative shows up with their dog and says " I hated to leave her home" or the Kennel was all booked up --What would you do .

Mike answered
tell them they would have to put in a kennal in your town
and said : My son is allergic to dogs and many other animals. So I would not be able to have him or the dog in my house. Even the dander on his clothes after visiting the dog could cause a reaction. We just pray he grows out of it, but now it seems unlikely. We do like animals, but for now we have to keep them at a distance.

Wal-mart or K-mart?

2007-09-10T00:10:01Z

Wal-mart or K-mart?
(Companies)

27 answers, +3 raves

Mike answered
None of the above
and said : Target... Not as big and better quality available. Good sales on clearance items.

Would you be in favor of banning the Confederate Flag in America?

2007-09-09T23:46:34Z

Would you be in favor of banning the Confederate Flag in America?
(U.S. Government)

222 answers, +20 raves

Do you think the Confederate Battle Flag should be flown from public buildings in the USA?

Mike answered
No
and said : The South lost the war, and therefore the flag should not be on top of the government buildings. It should not be banned from the property because it is part of history. Now, if it is incorporated into the state flag then it is a different flag. After the war, the flag was not flown over the SC State House til one of the anniversaries of the war. Now it is not on top of the State House, but it is still causing controversy for the state. It is sad that the Confederate flag and the Christian flag are used by racist groups. Not all people who have a Confederate flag are racist. They may be "rebels" and/or Dukes of Hazzard fans. The Civil War was over state's rights. One right they were seeking was the right to own slaves. I do not condone slavery, especially with the mistreatment that occured. But people seem to forget that other races were slaves, too... or maybe people simply weren't educated about that part of it. It is a sad part of United States history.

Are Christianity and Judaism peaceful religions?

2007-09-07T02:08:12Z

Are Christianity and Judaism peaceful religions?
(General Religion & Beliefs)

36 answers, +6 raves

(2 Chronicles 15:13) That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (1 Chronicles 20:3) And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. 1 Chronicles 17-19 tells us that David slaughtered 22,000 Syrians and that Abishai murdered 18,000 Edomites. (Numbers 25) (3) And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. (4) And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. (Deuteronomy 13) (1) If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, (2) And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; (3) Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (4) Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. (5) And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. (6) If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; (7) Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; (8)Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: (9) But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. (10) And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. (11) And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you. (12) If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, (13) Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; (14) Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; (15) Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. (16) And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again. (17) And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; (18) When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God. (1 Samuel 15) (1) Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. (2) Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. (3) Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. (2 Samuel 12:31) And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem. (Numbers 31) (16) Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. (17) Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. (18) But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. (Deuteronomy 2) (32) Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. (33) And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. (34) And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain: (35) Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. (Deuteronomy 3) (6) And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city. (7) But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves. (Ezekiel 9) (4) And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. (5) And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: (6) Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. (7) And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. (8) And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? (9) Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. (MATTHEW 10:34) DIRECT QUOTATION OF JESUS Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. ---------------------------- Please note that I myself do not believe that Christianity, properly executed, is violent. I'm just trying to prove a point.

Mike answered
Yes
and said : I am a Christian. I believe we should turn the other cheek, but there is a point at which force may be needed. If for instance, I am attacked at work, I will most likely turn the other cheek. No point in losing my job and benefits when they will not be working there any longer. I need to support my family. Then again, if someone tries to attack my immediate family I will stop it. The long term goal is peace, but there will be persecution, a point at which we must defend ourselves and family at some level.

Should we hang this guy with the shoelaces from the shoes he stole?

2007-09-02T01:45:09Z

Should we hang this guy with the shoelaces from the shoes he stole?
(General Government, Politics & Law)

32 answers, +2 raves

WAUKESHA, Wis. - Police seized more than 1,500 pairs of girls' shoes from the home and storage unit of a man arrested for breaking into a high school, police said Tuesday. "He liked to smell them," said Lt. William H. Graham. Police said the recovered shoes may be related to the burglaries of three Waukesha public high schools and a middle school over the past two years. The 27-year-old Kenosha man, who was not identified because had yet to be formally charged, worked for a cable company and collected keys to the schools as he responded to calls, Graham said. The same man was convicted in 2005 for stealing shoes from Kenosha Tremper High School. Police arrested him after a security video showed him entering North High School on May 20 and leaving with some items, authorities said. Officers searched the man's home and a rented storage unit on Thursday, recovering the shoes along with school yearbooks, keys, a bolt cutter and other items. The man was expected to be charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Tuesday, Capt. Mike Babe said.

Mike answered
No
and said : Some people like wierd things. Which as long as it doesn't hurt anyone or infrenge on other's rights then let them be. His crime is theft. He should not work for the cable company because he is a thief. maybe he can buy used shoes online. He needs to learn it is wrong to steal.

What should be done with this girl?

2007-09-02T01:22:24Z

What should be done with this girl?
(Humor)

73 answers, +12 raves

11-year-old driver from Perdido Key in 100-mph chase in Orange Beach Associated Press ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- An 11-year-old Perdido Key girl has been charged with driving under the influence after she led Orange Beach police on a high-speed chase. Greg Duck, Orange Beach assistant police chief, said the Tuesday night chase — which was caught on a dashboard camera in a police cruiser — started about 10:30 p.m. in Orange Beach near the Florida line. It ended just inside the Gulf Shores city limits when the girl crashed and rolled the Chevy Monte Carlo she was driving. Duck said the chase began when a patrol officer saw the car speeding west along Alabama 182. When the officer flicked on his lights to pull the car over, it sped up. Police said the car sideswiped another vehicle during the chase, which reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour. Investigators said the girl was taken to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center. She was treated for minor injuries and released. "She left the road here," Fred Lee, a witness, told WKRG Channel 5 in Mobile. "She went airborne (and) didn't come down till she hit that fire hydrant and knocked the two palms down and then came right back up against those two dead palms." Lee watched the whole thing from his condominium across the street. "Once the police jumped out with their weapons, they didn't know what they were up against, either," he said. The girl's name was not released because of her age. Duck said the girl told police she was on her way to pick up her sister at a concert in Orange Beach. The case has been handed over to the Baldwin County Juvenile Court for prosecution. Along with the DUI charge, the girl faces charges of speeding, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless endangerment, Duck said.

Mike answered
Undecided
and said : To many unanswered questions. Where were the guardians? How did she get the alcohol? Did she have permission to drive the car? Did the guardians think she was the most sober to get her sister? Was she told to do this by her guardians? Were was the ball dropped for this child to be in this situation? There are many other questions to be asked. Maybe she was under someone elses suppervision, who her guardians thought they could trust. I say guardians because I don't know her family situation.

Should New York Ban Text Messaging While Driving?

2007-09-02T00:48:28Z

Should New York Ban Text Messaging While Driving?
(General Government, Politics & Law)

92 answers, +18 raves

NY State May Ban Text Messaging While Driving The horrific deaths of five upstate teens when the SUV they were riding in slammed into a truck has pumped momentum into a measure that would prohibit New Yorkers from sending text messages when they're behind the wheel. "The recent tragedy in Canandaigua highlights how deadly the combination of texting and driver inexperience can be," said Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Oyster Bay), who is co-sponsoring the proposal with Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn). Using cell phone records, police determined the 17-year-old driver who caused the deadly wreck last month was sending and receiving text messages before the SUV she was driving rammed a tractor-trailer, killing her and four girls who had just graduated from high school. Tests conducted on the driver after the fiery crash showed the primary cause of the accident was driver inattention due to the apparent text messaging. Alcohol was not a factor. A recent poll of people 18 to 24 years old showed that two out of three admit to sending text messages when they drive. Ortiz, the author of the trail-blazing New York prohibition against drivers using hand-held cell phones when they're behind the wheel, said, "It's a shame that it may take a tragedy like this for this bill to move forward." Under the proposal, those nabbed texting while driving could be hit with fines of up to $100 - the same penalty that applies now when police catch drivers gabbing on cell phones. *And on a side note, a guy texting in his car yesterday almost crashed into my car.

Mike answered
No
and said : People need to take responsibility for their own safty. The government should not have to tell you that it is unsafe and therefore unlawfull to text while driving. If so they need to add reading a book, talking (while holding the phone to your head), and all the other little distracting things people do while driving. For the sake of punnishing those who put themselves and others at risk by intentionally doing distracting things, maybe they can pass a law that covers them all. DUI, covers alcohol and drugs maybe the phone could be the influence. DWD for driving while distracted. It would save time to have one law instead of individual laws.

What industry do you work?

2007-08-30T23:02:35Z

What industry do you work?
(Jobs & Careers)

14 answers, 0 raves

American manufacturing is nearly gone. Can we continue to grow and prosper on what we have left? The service industry seems to be the primary type left for us. What do you do and will you do this for the rest of your working life? Have we placed all our eggs in one basket and labeled it, Technology Development. Is this our new contribution to the world market? Technology Development = New product development for others to manufacture usually out of the country. Service Industry = Any job where you are providing a service for others such as truck driver, teacher, food service, etc. Manufacturing = Factory type job where a product is manufactured. Farming = Growing anything from seed or seedlings to animal products such as milk, meat, etc.

Mike answered
Manufacturing
and said : I am a Manufacturing Technician, Job looks very stable for now.

Which is the best Full size truck on the market?

2007-08-30T22:53:34Z

Which is the best Full size truck on the market?
(Trucks)

28 answers, +2 raves

Mike answered
F 150
and said : F150 is what I would choose. The Ram may sound tough especially with its Hemi, but when I had one I was dissapointed in the girth of the frame and controller arms. I believe they are still the same. Kind of wimpy. I also had a new 2007 Caravan which was suppose to get 19 MPG in the city and 26 MPG Highway. It was not suppose to get less than 16 MPG in the city. We did mostly interstate driving and only got 10-16 MPG. The Dodge repair shop confirmed it was getting poor gas milage. They would not fix it or make the situation right. Even at a corprate level. Lemon laws do not help because getting a lawyer to take the case is impossible, at least in my case. I.E. get it from someone who stands behind thier product.

What is the most TITANIC SCREW-UP one can make?

2007-08-30T22:05:39Z

What is the most TITANIC SCREW-UP one can make?
(What's Bubbling in Your Head?)

54 answers, +11 raves

Mike answered
None of the above
and said : biggest mistake.... not learning from your previous mistakes. Examples of people that keep making the same mistakes are all around. Learn from them too.

Is eating meat animal cruelty?

2007-08-30T00:25:12Z

Is eating meat animal cruelty?
(General Health & Wellness)

178 answers, +22 raves

An ad on SodaHead next to a Michael Vick poll said "Meat = Animal Cruelty" and linked to a ChooseVeg website.

Mike answered
No, Meat is yummy
and said : We are made to eat meat. Now the killing of the animal should be done as humanely as possible. All parts of the animal should be used.

Is it raciest to think that there should be a W.E.T or a H.E.T. since there is a B.E.T?

2007-08-30T00:06:17Z

Is it raciest to think that there should be a W.E.T or a H.E.T. since there is a B.E.T?
(TV)

17 answers, +1 raves

Mike answered
Yes
and said : Just because there is a B.E.T. does not mean it is right to have a W.E.T., H.E.T., or any other race spacific channel. I believe it would seperate the races more. It is the seperate channels, radio stations, and benifits specified for particular races that keep racism going. The actors should not want to be grouped into catagories by ethnicity. There are great actors and directors in all ethnicities. It all depends on why you think there should be one.

When you decide to go see a movie, what thing do you want to see in a film for it to be worthy of the price of admission?

2007-08-29T23:48:44Z

When you decide to go see a movie, what thing do you want to see in a film for it to be worthy of the price of admission?
(Movies)

41 answers, +6 raves

Tell us your criteria before you shell out those dollars to see a flick on the big screen. Which is most important?

Mike answered
A good story