Credit Card Rate-Jacking

This article was on CNN today: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/17/credit.card.rates/index.html Talk about some BS right?  The fact that everyone is running around saying:  “I’m trying to protect the consumer” and then they get a phone call from some person who makes large donations to their campaign and all of sudden the bill just sits there and sits there.  When are our representatives going to grow a pair and say “fuck this, I’m doing what is right” and I’ll bet you’ll still get elected next year because the America people remember the fact that you did the right thing… So your pockets won’t get full of money, but you’ll know you would have done the right thing.

This type of stuff happening in this economy is bull shit espeically since we pass the bail out package.. which by the way isn’t being used the way that we were all told. (IE government no longer buying trouble mortgages).  We are bailing out companies who knew they were doing bad shit, and kept doing it.  Pretty much “if you don’t say us and give us your hard earned money, we will just spiral down and the economy will be worse… Ohh we knew what we were doing was wrong, but fuck that, we are soo important to this ‘America’ that you don’t have a choice”.

What ever happened to honesty and having to answer for your actions?  If your pockets are deep enough, you can just buy what you want, or if your influence is deep enough you can just do whatever you want because they can’t afford to go after you.  It is ridiculous… simply outrageous that this Bill has been sitting in the Senate for so long… I a America consumer demand that something be done, stop taking payouts from the Financial industry and start getting something done… If it wasn’t for the lack of over-site and payouts you took to begin with we wouldn’t be in this situation.

AMERICA – From World Super Power to Third-World county over night thanks to the apathy for American Consumer.  Oh but lets not forget, we can still go all over the world telling people how to fix their damn problems cause you know our way has worked so damn well so far.

Verizon Commits Fraud?

So the definition of Fraud from Wikipedia is: “In the broadest sense, a fraud is a deception made for personal gain.”  Lets review how much Verizon is doing this to its customers (at least me).

Back in February as I’m sure most of you know by my previous “Comcast Blows” posting I decided to move away from Comcast due to poor service and go over to Verizon.  At that time FIOS had just come into the neighborhood so I decided to sign up for their bundle package of TV, Internet, and Phone for the next year to try it out.  Here is the kicker, Verizon did not have FIOS TV available in my area yet (due to a license agreement from what they told me) so they offered DirecTv.  Now explicitly asked for only a 1 year contract as Jess and I are looking to move soon and therefore did not want to be locked into anything more then 1 year.  I asked repeatedly to the representative if this was a 1 year contract and was told that without a doubt it was a 1 year contract.

Now I’m not going to get into all the other problems I have had with Verizon / DirecTV but due to some billing problems (charging us too much, which to be honest, they still haven’t been able to get the amount they quoted me on my bill yet and its been four months) we discovered we had been signed up for a 2 year contract because we have a DVR.  DirecTv told me its is not their fault to which I don’t really agree because if someone is certified by you to sell your product and they promise me something and I sign a contract and don’t get what I was told, is it not breech of promise or fraud?  They told me I would get one thing, and I got another?  To which I was told “well if you read the small print on the back of the contract you signed when we installed your service you would see their is a clause for the DVR being a 2 year contract”… Um I asked if it was everything I had discussed with the person and was told yes… So I guess we should run a business where we tell someone one thing, but write a contract for something different?  Well back to Verizon.

I called Verizon after DirecTV said I was SOL and spoke with a supervisor who informed me sucks to be me (not in those terms).  Not only did I get a two year contract with DirecTV because I had a DVR but I also got a two year contract with FIOS… WTF?  I asked her to credit me the fees and she informed me that they couldn’t.  I told her this is what I was told and this is what I expect to get, and your mis-representing yourself and was informed “I don’t know what you were told so I can’t say” so I asked them to pull up their recording of the call and of course I got “We don’t record calls, we only monitor for QA”.  To those of you who don’t know that translates to: “This way we are not liable for when we promise you something and you don’t get it”.

So where is the personal gain that something must have in order to be considered fraud you might ask?  How about the $176 for me to cancel my service with Verizon (early cancellation) followed by the $350 for me to cancel my service with DirecTV (early cancellation estimate)…  That’s a gain for them which means FRAUD in my opinion.  I would love to hear other peoples thoughts.

Also before you start commenting about how it is just lack of training.  I would tend to agree except for the fact that you shouldn’t be putting people out to sell stuff if they don’t know what they are selling and are promising things that are WRONG.

US Airways Worst Airline EVER

So let me start by saying that I have had my fair share of travel in my lifetime so far and I have found that one particular airlines is the worse ever; that airline being US Airways.  In the recent two weeks I have flown 4 times with US Airways using the same two flights.  Each time I had a delay of 1 and a half hour or more because of the airlines fault.  These are simple 1 hour flights guys, if I spend more then 1 due to a delay it really messed up my schedule at the receiving end.  Let me break down the flights for you.

First flight – Delay because flight attendant called out sick.  1.5 hours to get new flight attendant
Second Flight – Delayed because plan was in maintenance, then because plan wasn’t cleared to fly, then because the existing flight crew wasn’t trained or certified on the new plane so we had to wait for an entirly new flight crew.  Total Time: 4 Hours
Third Flight – Delay on tarmat for whatever reason.  1.5 Hours
Fourth Flight – Delay for maintenance, then the flight was cancelled because the plan got redirected flying to us.  Rebooked on another flight that was surprisingly late.  Total Delay 3 Hours

I mean come on people.  Each time I wasn’t offered a sorry here are some free miles, or why not a free upgrade to first class, they simply said “yea that sucks”.  Then the people in the airport are shocked when they ask me to sign up for reward programs and I tell them they are the worst airline I ever flew.  Again no offer to make anything right, just a “ohhh”.  Almost like “we get that alot, but there isn’t anything we care to do about it”

In fact on the second flight I was booked in first class, and they were going to book me on another later flight that was leaving (the flight I got rebooked to the fourth trip), except I wouldn’t keep my first class and I wouldn’t get a refund of my first class upgrade either… WTF?  They have got to be the worst Airline when it comes to Customer Service and Flights arriving on time.  Not to mention the bitchy flight attendants that really seemed like they didn’t want to be doing this to begin with.

Well thats enought for now.  US Airways, I have called you out, you guys are really the worst Airlines ever, even below those new startup airlines that have no clue what they are doing.  At least they would give me a free upgrade or miles, or shit, probably even stock.

~NARF

Google Health

A nice article I found online about the release of Google Health. I’ve tagged in under Gear Grinding and Crazy Shit because its annoying and crazy that Google would release such a feature and not comply with HIPAA. I’ve tagged it under Stupid People because do you know how STUPID you would have to be to sign up for a service that is not protected by HIPAA and could easily have vulnerabilities to allow someone to get your information. You might be thinking what could someone do with medical records right? Well just imagine what information is contained on those medical records that people can use to steal your identity or even better, steal your health insurance for themselves.

SecureThroughObscure writes “Security researcher Robert ‘RSnake’ Hansen discusses numerous concerns with Google’s new Google Health application, which aims to integrate user’s medical records online. We discussed Google Health’s opening to the public earlier this week. RSnake mentions that Google has found a loophole allowing them to provide this service without having to follow HIPAA regulations, which, combined with Google’s track record of having numerous flaws leading to private information disclosure, draws serious concern. Security researcher Nate McFeters of ZDNet’s Zero-Day Security Blog also commented on the article, mentioning several past vulnerabilities: ownership of content issues, Google Docs theft, a cross-domain hole, Google XSS, and a Google Picasa protocol handler issue leading to the theft of user images. He and fellow researcher Billy Rios disclosed these issues to Google, including the ability to steal GMail contact list information. McFeters says it’s likely that similar unpatched bugs would allow an attacker to view medical records if a user was also using Google Health. Both McFeters and Hansen tend to agree that Google’s vulnerability disclosure/notification is non-existent and really needs to be improved. Currently, Google does not report vulnerabilities it has fixed to its user base, for the obvious reason of trying to hide the fact that user data could have been stolen.”

Remember when gas was $0.99 a gallon?

Is anyone else getting the Wake Up call when it comes to Renewable energy sources? I mean lets take a step back here and examine some quick math. In 1997 Regular Unleaded Gasoline was $0.99 per gallon. As of 2007 the average price of gasoline was around $2.80 per gallon. That is almost a 200% increase in 10 years. Recent “experts” say gas this summer will top $3.80 per gallon for regular unleaded. Why haven’t we funded more renewable energy research? In my opinion it all comes down to the money. Gas companies are simply making too much profit, why should they fund something that is going to take out of their bottom dollar and remove money from their pockets? Hydrogen alternatives have been out since at least 2000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_station) yet they still are not fully implemented? Gas companies help control the researching and funding into building new cars and why build a more environment friendly car when you can simply build a car that will continue to line their pockets? Not sure if anyone has told you yet, but the environment is running out of Oil and other natural resources that help run our cars and heat our houses and yet Japan has a more wide-spread hydrogen fueling stations then the USA?

To me it is just intesting to see that the world is more concerned with money then it is with actually keeping the world intact.  What is the point of money if you have no place to spend it huh?

Help Save Manassas!!!!

So I have to say that this weekend, we didn’t have shadow as he was doing a trial border at Waggin Tails so we had some time to just sit back and relax without worrying about him. During this time, Jess was goofing around on the internet finding articles regarding my last post here, and came across Help Save Manassas. I have to say that after doing some research I can agree with this group and I hope that many others will as well. I have always been the person to say that if you are not a Refugee and then you need to seek the legal way to come into this country.

Illegals in this country are a BIG Gear Grinder for me. My grandparents on my mothers side came to this country legally and followed all the proper channels and I don’t understand why they can’t. Not to mention that once they are here, they expect to have all the same rights and abilities as everyone else, yet continue to break the law by not paying taxes, or obtaining work illegally. To make things worse, there are companies that actually help and employ these people and the government / police have done minimal to solve it. I can get in my car right now and drive by at least 4 labor sites in Manassas and watch as the police drive by the same places and do nothing. I see company vans pick up illegals for a day of work and yet the government does nothing to fine and shutdown these companies. It really is ridiculous.

Yes I know of the excuses, “We don’t have enough staff” or “We don’t want to raise taxes to take care of the problem”.  I mean I would support a tax increase if it would resolve the problem.  I have heard that “they are an important part of the economy doing the jobs we don’t want to do”.  Um… WTF, I bet I could find plenty of people willing to do the jobs if they were available and the people were not being paid $2.00 an hour.  It really is crazy how people justify illegal activities and they are no better then the junky who steals from someone because they need their next fix.  What makes it sad is the majority of the world don’t look at it as illegal acts, they look at it like “this is how it is.”  What would happen to the world if we looked at the drug business or bank robberies as “this is how it is”?

The only word to describe this problem is a virus.  A virus takes up resources, and overpopulates consuming more and more resources until it kills the host.  A virus can literally trick the body into thinking it is a good thing and should be kept around, keeping the body from fighting it off…  How long until this host is killed?

That is why I whole heartedly support Help Save Manassas.  I urge you to do the same..  and yes I’m open and ready to hear comments on the subject from any person who agrees or disagrees or really doesn’t care.

Comcast Blows

So just a quick note to tell everyone how much Comcast blows. Whats the point of telling me that someone is going to be at my house in a three hour window if they never are. I mean I have been a comcast subscriber 4 different times in my life and every time I schedule an appointment they have NEVER been able to make it on time. NEVER. Take today for instance. They gave me a 3 hour window of 9 – 12. I’m like ok… at 12:20 I call them and I’m told that they are in route and will be at my house in 10 minutes. 40 Minutes later I call them again, they tell me the last job he was at had a problem and it will be an additional 45 minutes.  The tech finally shows up 2.5 hours after the window was up, and then he couldn’t install my new phone service because I didn’ t have a Phone Jack next to my cable jack.  Something they should have mentioned before I signed up.  I ended up canceling the service, and I’m in the works of moving all of my stuff away from Comcast.  I have FIOS internet coming into my house on the 11th of February, and today at lunch I’m calling Verizon back to get Direct TV installed in my house… Hopfully on the same day… YAY Verizon.  I mean Verizon is not without fault on their sides either… I spend a significant amount of time on the phone with them yesterday, but all in all, they were pretty good at their job… We’ll see what happens when they come to install.

You’ve Got to be Freaking Kidding Me (What Really Grinds My Gears)

So lets start off the post with looking at this article: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=4183635&page=1

These people are nothing more then people trying to spread more and more hate. I have no problem with the Oscars (I mean come on, with all the writers on strike, they are a lost cause anyways) but Protesting a funeral of someone who acted in a movie is beyond ridiculous. This “Church” is less concerned with the word of God and more concerned with the publicity stunts then I have ever seen in my life. Not to mention after a little bit of research on google they have been protesting funerals of men and women who have died in Iraq claiming “gods judgment” (Notice the little ‘g” and not a capital G cause they people can’t really be referencing the real God, who has unconditional love for all.) on America because we allow homosexuality and such.

I mean you have honestly got to be kidding me. Your going to protest at someones funeral who is fighting for your right to protest. I understand that you have your right to assembly but your going too far. I was always told that my “rights” end where another persons “rights” begin. They would be SOOOO infringing on my rights. Protest walking down the street or any other form but a funeral is taking it too far. I mean they are so far past the line that I can’t imagine them ever going back across it. One of the worst pains in life that a parent could experience is seeing their child die, and your going to make it worst by turning that funeral into a political and media circus. Thank God someone won a lawsuit against these people http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church#Lawsuit_against_WBC). I vote that every single person they do this to, sue for the same damn reasons. Eventually these people are not going to have enough money to even pick up the phone to organize a funeral protest.

These people really grind my gears and in my opinion they arn’t going to truly know how it feels until someone does it to them. I vote that the next funeral of one of their members that they all attend, we are sit right next to it and protest. Maybe when they feel what these parents are feeling right now they might get a glimpse of what it feels like. Some things in life are just wrong man.

Now please keep in mind, don’t get me wrong on any of this. I’m more for the freedom of assembly and ability to protest as the next person, but when you bring that stuff to a funeral your way over the line man.

I seriously cannot write anymore cause it would turn into a world of foul language that no one has ever heard of before.