Month: November 2016

Auto Subscribe Makes Bad Service Pay

Auto Subscribe Makes Bad Service Pay — Several years ago we accepted an offer from AOL, found the service lacking and went on with our lives. Months later we noticed their charges continued to appear on our credit card statements and tried to cancel. We found we couldn’t do it due to long waits and disconnections and such. We resorted to going to our credit card company and having them stop the automatic payments.

AOL, wouldn’t take no, however, and sent us threatening letters. It only backed off after we made a complaint to the state attorney general’s office.

What brings back these memories is a brief blurb in the December/January Popular Mechanics called “The Impossible Cancellation” in which Gary Dell’Abate describes the difficulty he had in cancelling the $7 month fee he was paying to Microsoft for his son’s Xbox Live account. He said the hold times were eternal. He eventually resorted to cancelling it through his credit card company as we did.

Corporate pigs have obviously found a way to make bad service pay.

There are legislative solutions. Auto-subscriptions could be limited by law to a year or six months, for instance, with client permission needed for each extension. Auto Subscribe Makes Bad Service Pay

Or a market solution could be pursued. Credit card companies could separate automatic payments on their bills and put them in bigger type while informing sellers than the customer will always be considered right in any auto-payment disputes.

Regardless bad service should never be rewarded.

Auto Subscribe Makes Bad Service Pay

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-24-16

first Thanksgiving Day paradeNo Miranda, Macy’s did not have the first Thanksgiving Day parade. The first one was by Gimbels in Philadelphia in 1920 four years before Macy’s. Gimbels was a department store too, but before your time.

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-24-16 — first Thanksgiving Day parade

Morgan State Professor Sows Division

Morgan State Professor Sows Division –Lawrence Brown, an assistant professor in the Public Health Department at Morgan State University in Baltimore, thinks of himself as an oppressed black man.

He says “white allies should deposit their unearned wealth into black accounts“.

Well, considering his obviously unearned salary is funded by tax dollars from “white allies”, one kind of wonders what more does he want.

Brown is a childish idiot who is looking for attention by saying shocking things with the expectation of praise from other childish idiots.

He is not fit to hold a respected title.

Hopefully, the Trump administration takes a far harder line on public funds for “higher” education and limits disbursement to fields that can show objective results, or at least not sent to people sowing division like this guy. Morgan State Professor Sows Division

By the way, the phrase “white privilege’ so beloved by those who want to banish thought should be banished itself and replaced with “father privilege”.  Children raised in homes where a loving father is present are far more likely to to have success i.e. become “privileged” than those who are not. When 70 percent of human beings who describe themselves as “black” are raised in homes sans father, far fewer will end up “privileged” than from groups were most are raised in traditional families.

We don’t know much about “Professor” Brown’s background but if one had to bet, the safe bet is that he doesn’t have father privilege.

Hat tip Mary Ellen.

Morgan State Professor Sows Division

 

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-23-16

A bullet fired 90 degrees from the ground will never fall back to the spot from which it was fired. The rotation of the Earth is but one factor. A bullet fired 90 degrees from the ground will never fall back to the spot from which it was fired. The rotation of the Earth is but one factor.

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-23-16 bullet fired 90 degrees

Merciful Donald Won’t Lock Her Up

Merciful Donald Won't Lock Her Up
Avoiding an orange jump suit.

Merciful Donald Won’t Lock Her Up — Kellyanne Conway confirmed yesterday, Nov. 22, that the Trump administration won’t pursue charges relating to Hillary Clinton’s use of an unauthorized email server and the slush fund that was camouflaged as a charity.

We approve. Trump’s priorities must be health care reform, the economy and ISIS who anyone with an ounce of sense knows is trying to sneak sleeper agents here. As more ballots were cast for Clinton than The Donald, he is wisely seeking to foster unity with a eye to addressing more critical issues.

Still, equality under the law can’t be ignored. Nobody should be above the law. This means that if the Trump Administration is not going to lock her up, they should expand the kindness to others who committed similar crimes. This means that Martha Stewart, who is a felon for lying to James “Shifting Sands” Comey, should be pardoned. This means that basically decent people like Greg Skrepenak and Chris McNair who had been taken down by trophy-hunting feds for graft exponentially milder than what the Clintons practiced should also get their lives back.

And as long as mercy is the meme, Eric Snowden should be told “all is forgiven, come on home”, and it should be let known to Julian Assange that the U.S. has no interest in pursing espionage claims against him hence he is free to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to resolve matters in Sweden.

And if, after the wall is built and ISIS beaten and the bad trade deals fixed and Obamacare is replaced and sane judges are appointed to the Supreme Court, some FBI agent or federal attorney decides to investigate the death of John Ashe, well, that would be nice.

Merciful Donald Won’t Lock Her Up

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-22-16

Kerry Wendell Thornley was a hippie who is best known for founding a rather nihilistic religion called Discordianism. He also served in the Marines and was an author whose first book was called The Idle Warriors. The protagonist was a fellow who served with him in his radar unit and later defected to the Soviet Union.Kerry Wendell Thornley was a hippie who is best known for founding a rather nihilistic religion called Discordianism.  He also served in the Marines and was an author whose first book was called The Idle Warriors. The protagonist was a fellow who served with him in his radar unit and later defected to the Soviet Union.

The fellow’s real-life name was Lee Harvey Oswald. The book was completed in February 1962, which was 21 months before Oswald became really famous.

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-22-16 Idle Warriors

Petty Wolf Punishes Opponents For Doing Job

Petty Wolf Punishes Opponents For Doing JobPetty Wolf Punishes Opponents For Doing Job

By Sen. Scott Wagner

Last Wednesday, Nov. 16, the Pennsylvania  Senate had one session day in which Senate Leadership for the next legislature session was elected and several bills were considered. One bill that caught my attention was House Bill 2375 which would have amended the Unemployment Compensation Law to provide up to $57.5 million in funding to the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund (SIIF) in calendar year 2017.

The bill clarified that money may be used for technological upgrades to the delivery system for unemployment compensation benefits. A lively discussion took place in the Senate Republican Caucus at which point I learned that four years ago the legislature approved $60 million per year for four years to upgrade the delivery system (computer hardware and software).

Wait a minute – the legislature authorized $60 million a year for four years  which ends on Dec. 31. Over four years the Department of Labor and Industry (L&I) was given $240 million and now they want another $57.5 million? I have had enough of zero accountability in Harrisburg. Why wasn’t the project completed on time and why was the Senate expected to vote to give L&I another $57.5 million at the eleventh hour?

Later that afternoon, after the Senate did not vote to give L&I the additional $57.5 million dollars, Governor Wolf issued a press release that he was angered by the Senate’s failure to vote and approve this funding and that call centers may close. Over the next two days, Thursday and Friday, Governor Wolf stated that call centers will close around the state because of the funding issue. Not a surprise to me, Governor Wolf has selected to close call centers that are all in Republican Senate Districts.

In the private sector people would lose their jobs if $240 million was spent to upgrade  a system and then four years later it was still not completed. A good place to start would be to fire the Secretary of Labor and Industry and the managers who failed to deliver the final product. And who does the Secretary of Labor and Industry report to? Governor Wolf.

Why aren’t people being held accountable in Harrisburg?

In 2018, taxpayers of Pennsylvania get to hold Governor Wolf accountable and elect him out of office.

This is another great example of abuse of taxpayer funds, lack of leadership from Gov. Wolf and his unwillingness to hold people accountable. I have had enough.

I have been in Harrisburg since April 2014 and I have witnessed first-hand the financial games being played by Gov. Wolf and his Administration. Trust me when I tell you this, Gov. Wolf and his Budget Secretary know where to find money to continue to fund the call centers.

Gov. Wolf did not have a problem finding money this past August to give almost 30,000 state employees wage increases of almost 12 percent over a 27 month period – based on my calculation these wage increases total over $150 million and were not part of the 2016-17 budget. I serve on the Senate Appropriations Committee and we were not informed of these increased wage costs.

I was elected by voters in the 28th Senate District to do my job – the pension crisis has not been solved, school property taxes continue to increase, roads and bridges are crumbling, and we have the highest state gas tax in the nation – it is time we hold Harrisburg accountable which starts in the Governor’s office.

Stay tuned and watch how Governor Wolf grandstands and turns this issue into a political issue resulting in closing call centers and using state employees as hostages.
Sen. Wagner represents the 28th District in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Petty Wolf Punishes Opponents For Doing Job

Pennsylvania Elector Faces Orchestrated Pressure

Pennsylvania Elector Faces Orchestrated Pressure
Sorry spammers, Sheriff Bunny Welsh is voting for Trump/Pence.

Pennsylvania Elector Faces Orchestrated Pressure — Carolyn Bunny Welsh, who is Chester County sheriff and one of Pennsylvania’s 20 electors for Donald Trump and Mike Pence, is getting swamped with letters, emails and phone calls demanding she not vote for the victorious Republican ticket.

The demands are coming to her home and office, and to her personal and business accounts.

She has received thousands over the last three days and she no longer even bothers checking her voice mail.

“It’s harassment,” she said. She had to assign an assistant to specifically deal with the onslaught until Chester County’s I.T. staff developed new filters.

She says most of the messages asked that she vote for Hillary Clinton although many  merely wanted her to abstain or vote for another person.

She said the messages are clearly orchestrated. One sender even inadvertently included a form to follow.

She said the messages started as trickle on Wednesday and then exploded.

She said that none she received could be construed as threats and most were generally respectful. She said some implied, though, she’d be a racist or misogynist for voting for Trump.

She said many claimed to be minorities or gays and begged to be protected from Trump.

The plan is to keep Trump from getting the 270 electoral votes need to take office.

It is not going to work.

“I don’t get it,” she said. “What do they expect to accomplish?”

Pennsylvania is one of 21 states whose electors are not bound by law, so the Keystone contingent can expect the spamming to continue until Trump and Pence officially become president and vice president when the Electoral College votes on Dec. 19.

“It’s normally just a ceremonial thing and a great honor,” she said.

Pennsylvania Elector Faces Orchestrated Pressure

William Lawrence Sr. Omnibit 11-21-16

There has been more than one London Bridge. The famous one was completed in 1209 and closed in 1832. It was the only bridge over the Thames for most of that time and had houses on it. There has been more than one London Bridge. The famous one was completed in 1209 and closed in 1832. It was the only bridge over the Thames for most of that time and had houses on it. The bridge that replaced it was closed in 1968 and moved to America where it spans a canal in Lake Havasu City, Az. The newest London Bridge opened in 1971.

William Lawrence Sr. Omnibit 11-21-16 London Bridge

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-19-16

Off the InternetMany European public restrooms in Europe have blue lighting. Why?  Blue veins can’t be seen in blue lighting. This discourages druggies from using them to shoot up.

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 11-19-16 European public restrooms