dixiegrrrrl
dixiegrrrrl's JournalI can declare victory over one corp's attempt to rip me off ( for now, anyhow)
We have DSL and landline service from Frontier
( you might remember they gobbled up Verizon and now are having digestion problems).
As of August they were deregulated in this state.
Every month since August the fixed price portion of my bill has been different,
plus there is always a new charge hidden away somewhere.
And I am supposed to be on a contract.
Every month I have had to call and argue about the incorrect charges, jump thru the hoops.
Last month I asked the Rep to spell her name and mentioned that I was posting, as we talked,
my call to The Consumerist online, and to Broadband DSL Report, on line.
The minute I said that, she turned me over to a "Resolution Specialist", who dropped the overcharges.
Today the bill came, with a 6.99 "modem fee" .
This fee is causing a HUGE stink across the country.
Frontier Gouges Customers With New, Mandatory Modem Fee (Even If You Own Your Own)
http://stopthecap.com/2011/12/04/frontier-gouges-customers-with-new-mandatory-modem-fee-even-if-you-own-your-own/
and
[DSL] Modem Support Fee
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r26613776-DSL-Modem-Support-Fee
When the Rep flatly stated she did not have the power to change the fee,
I said, "no problem, I will email the Regional Manager who lives down the road from me"
( he does, I have his email and happen to know he won a PR award recently.)
She immediately volunteered that I could talk to a "Resolution Specialist"
and when I got HER, I told her I was posting the outcome of our "resolution" to a nationwide community website.
So here is is, my posting.
Outcome :
I will pay 7.00 less this month than I NORMALLY pay, and the controversial modem fee is supposed to be taken off the bill permanently.
but, I know they will come up with some other fee to take its place,
more likely there will have to be another phone call next month.
Sadly, out here in the sticks, there is Frontier and there is Media Com, for internet service.
Period.
"Anyone who stands in the way of American interests will be arrested"
From Beyond The Green Zone-
forward by Amy Goodman
In 2003, Dahr Jamail was an unembedded reporter in Iraq.
He saw and photographed things that the MSM reporters never reported on.
If you want the REAL story of what happened in Iraq before, during and after 2003, this book is a must read.
The above quote is by an American soldier who explained why the American military invaded a boys school.
Seems the young boys had thrown rocks at a Humvee and were planning a Pro-Saddam protest march the next day.
So the Army took tanks,helicopters, Humvees and a bunch of men, locked down the school and arrested the boys.
Extremely readable book, and one of the very few I will be keeping.
I highly recommend it, and since it is not a brand new book, it should be had for a good price.
I had said for years when reading of our mis adventures in Iraq that many of the tactics and tools used against Iraqi citizens there would be used against us: bio-metrics, sound cannons, etc.
And now OWS has shown how true the statement is:
"Anyone who stands in the way of American interests will be arrested"
Anyone interested in John Corzine/MF Global hearings, here are links:
3 hearings have been so far
and one is to be held today.
the 3 already held were at the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, on the 13th.
Videos are of all 3 of the panels:
Part 1
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/MFGlo
Part 2
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/FGlob
Part 3
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/MFGlob
each video is approx 1.5 hours, give or take
The 4th hearing should be up on video this weekend, I hope, perhaps Monday.
Here is the Cspan Info.
http://www.c-span.org/Events/Jon-Corzine-Testifies-on-MF-Global-Again/10737426329/
New version of AD Block justifies allowing *some* ads onto your computer.
I just updated Ad Block and found this circular argument they use to justify letting some ads waltz right past any blocks:
It is to make the web a better place!!!
Get this:
Why is this feature enabled by default?
Because that's unfortunately the only way to reach the goals outlined above.
If we ask users to enable this feature then most of them won't do it —
simply because they never change any settings unless absolutely necessary.
However, advertisers will only be interested in switching to better ways of advertising if the majority of Adblock Plus users has this feature enabled.
But I hate all ads!
No problem, you can disable this feature at any time.
Click the Adblock Plus icon and choose "Filter Preferences" from the menu.
Uncheck "Allow non-intrusive advertising" and you are done.
Then follows promises of even MORE ads in the future!
https://adblockplus.org/en/acceptable-ads
Welcome to the Economy Group! Pls read if you are new here.
Our intention is that the group is welcoming to all, inclusive to differing points of view on
topics covering national/international issues related to and affecting our personal and collective economic well being.
To the right of the Blue "Post a Thread to this Group" button is a lighter blue button that says "About This Group"
Clicking on it will describe the host moderation functions and identify the current hosts of the group.
Come on in, pull up a chair, the more the merrier.
Alabama politician Bill Johnson caught in sperm donation scandal in New Zealand
X posted from GD:
Bill Johnson, a former top state official who made a failed bid for governor in 2010, has been living a secret life in New Zealand as a sperm donor for lesbian couples, a New Zealand newspaper reported today.
Johnson, a Republican from Prattville, has spent much of the past year in Christchurch, New Zealand, as a contractor working on the recovery effort from a deadly earthquake that struck the city in February.
The New Zealand Herald reported in its Sunday edition that Johnson, who is married, has been using an alias to meet women who want help getting pregnant. The newspaper said it confirmed at least nine women had received sperm donations from Johnson, and at least three were pregnant.
The newspaper cited fertility medicine specialists in New Zealand who said that donors should not make sperm available to more than four families, to prevent accidental incest and lessen the stress donors and children face if they meet.
<snip>
http://blog.al.com/live/2011/12/alabama_politician_caught_in_s.html
This group now has an official host! And, onto the next step:
Skinner has approved the group's nomination of me as host.
Thank you for your trust.
Reminder: the host's role is enforcing a group's Statement of Purpose...Period.
While locking threads is one option, there are non-locking options also available.
Personally, a locked thread is so traffic-stop screaming yellow on the thread line,
I would hope to avoid it if possible.
I see 2 issues that need deciding at the moment:
1. Statement of Purpose:
This is the one Admin wrote for this Group:
"Discuss fiscal and economic policy. Budget, taxes, spending, etc."
This broad statement is fixed, but we can clarify the specifics in it.
In an earlier thread, we discussed defining what we wanted clarified in the above general statement.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1116115
From that , I heard we want the group to be
"welcoming, inviting, broad and inclusive, and covering national/international issues related to
and affecting our economic well being"
or something close to that.
Whatcha think? Whatever we come up with should be pinned, I should think, for folks joining us to be able to see, yes?
2. Who else would like to share the hosting duties?
It would be best to read up on how the host system works before raising your hand.
"Group Hosts perform a similar role to forum Hosts, but they have additional powers.
1) They can lock threads which they believe violate their group's stated purpose;
2) they can pin threads to the top of their group;
3) they can block out members whom they believe are not adhering to their group's purpose;
4) they can make other members Hosts of their group; and
5) they can remove any Host of their group that became a Host after they did.
If a group already has Hosts assigned, members who wish to become a Host must contact one of the current Hosts. Current Hosts may select any other member to become a Host, without restrictions."
( Group hosts do not have to be Star members.)
Just give a shout out in this thread if interested, pls.
Lastly, here is the link to the whole page of how DU3 is being moderated.
Well worth a refresher read, I think.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=modsystem
And here is why it was sold:
The New York Times reported Friday the sale came after the State Department threatened to stop awarding contracts to the company as long as it was owned by Prince, a former Navy SEAL.
http://seeker401.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/blackwater-international-sold/
and
USTC Holdings, LLC is an investment holding company led by Forte Capital
Advisors and Manhattan Partners formed for the sole purpose of facilitating
the acquisition of Xe and its core operating subsidiaries.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/12/31/932598/-Erik-Princes-XMas-Gift:-A-Buyer-for-Xe-Blackwater,-SOLD
and
Bingham McCutchen acted as legal counsel to USTC Holdings and the Chertoff Group in collaboration with Avascent Group performed strategic due diligence on USTC Holdings’ behalf.
sounds like same game, same players, different names on the door.
New book list out, with some interesting history topics.
The Economist has posted a list of new books out on mostly non-fiction, some history topics.
I found this one intriguing.
Here is the link to the entire list..Books of the Year
http://www.economist.com/node/21541386
and here is the link to this book:
http://www.economist.com/node/21525808
"The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire, and War in the West Indies. By Matthew Parker. Walker & Co; 446 pages;
IT IS no exaggeration to say that the foundations of the modern globalised world were made of sugar. In the 15th century Europeans first encountered its sweet delights. Within a couple of hundred years the coming of sea power, and with it the means to create empires across the oceans, resulted in large tracts of land in South America and the Caribbean being seized. Much of it was used in the production of sugar, which was steadily evolving from being a scarce luxury to a daily necessity.
The English were late starters. Rather than compete directly with the Spanish and the Portuguese for territory on the South American mainland, they concentrated on gaining control of islands in the West Indies, first Barbados and then Jamaica and less important acquisitions, such as Antigua. Matthew Parker’s narrative account of the sugar trade and the formidable families who were behind it, in particular the Draxes, the Codringtons and William Beckford of Fonthill (pictured) and his forebears, is a tumultuous rollercoaster of a book."
Ohhhh..a cool new (mostly non-fiction) book list is out!
From the online the Economist:
Books of the Year
Page-turners
The best books of 2011 were about China, Congo, Afghanistan, Charles Dickens, Vincent van Gogh, the "Flora Delanica", Jerusalem, Mumbai’s dance bars, quantum physics, sugar, orgasms, blue nights, two moons and other people’s money.
http://www.economist.com/node/21541386
I am drooling over some of the titles.
One in particular:
Cables from Kabul: The Inside Story of the West’s Afghanistan Campaign. By Sherard Cowper-Coles. Harper Press; 312 pages; £25. Buy from Amazon.co.uk
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: Washington state, for half my life
Home country: USA
Current location: SW Alabama. for the rest of my life
Member since: Wed Feb 27, 2008, 02:09 PM
Number of posts: 60,010
