Altice Optimum: Plenty of Time For Sales, but No Service

Hey there blogoshpere, long time no write.  This is the first blog I've ever written in, going all the way back to 2007, but over the years my posts have dwindled to barely a trickle.  I call this blog Rants because it was originally intended as a way for me to, well, rant about things that made me angry or frustrated or both.  Well, it's been almost three years since my last Rant, and so for me to return here...well...

Capitalism.  It's at the very core of many of our economic problems and though many of us are not swayed into thinking so, the far reaches of capitalism into our lives and our pocketbooks is outrageously invasive and irritating and the way we are treated by those that wish to make money off of us is well, just plain wrong.  Today's case in point: Altice's Optimum, the company that provides my Internet service.  Their way of doing business, much like so many other of today's corporate entities, is simply outrageous!

Here's my Optimum story:

About two and a half months ago, I moved.  As with my phone service and my electric service, I took the necessary steps to transition my Opt account into my new home.  With my phone and my electricity, I had no problems of any sort.  Optimum, not so much.

My move was on November 20th, right after the Thanksgiving holiday.  I had made an appointment to have Optonline come to my home to set up my Internet and Wifi.  I was hooked up one, two, three.  A little into the month of January, I realized I hadn't gotten a bill for my new service, though I had received a final one for my previous account.  I went online to check (I have always paid my Opt account online, with paperless statements.).  

I'm sorry, you don't have access to this section.  

Huh?  I tried again.  Same response.  Well, I did this very early in the morning, so I couldn't call them at that moment, and then honestly I'd forgotten about it during the time I was at work (because of work!), but just a day or two later, I got a nice big notification at the top of my pc screen:

Are you the owner of this Optimum Online account?  Your bill is past due.  Please pay it now to avoid any disruption to your service.

It was around 9 p.m.  I went back to their website and tried again to view and pay my bill.  Same message as earlier.  No bill.  I clicked the link for support.  Contact us.  I clicked there and was given three options: call, chat or tweet.  I figured it might be faster to chat than call.  Click chat.

What can I help you with today?

I responded with my issue of not getting a bill nor having access to pay it.

As soon as I hit send, I got an immediate, standardized message to pay my bill conveniently on the website.  I reworded my inquiry.  Again, another standardized message...very close to the first one.  I realized  I was chatting with a bot who could not help me.  Ah well, let's try calling.

Funny, and here's where you see the priorities of a big corporation such as Altice.  There were indeed local phone numbers to call from the various areas where they provide service, such as Long Island, where I live, but those numbers were lower on the page, with no accompanying information.  At the upper part of the page other numbers were given to contact sales representatives, with late-night hours posted.  

I dialed.

I think by now we all know this routine of calling virtually any corporation for anything.  Robotized scripts that make you go round and round forever until you're either lucky enough to have found the right button or you get disconnected altogether.  Well, I experienced both on that first call, but when I did gleefully and finally find the right button I learned that they had closed at 8 p.m.  If I wanted to upgrade my existing plan or order a pay per view movie, I could have called all the way till 11.  Ugh!

I made it a point to sacrifice my lunch period at school the next day to finally get this thing resolved and was lucky enough to get through to a person in just 20 minutes (eye roll!).  I tried explaining to the gentleman that I wasn't receiving bills either via snail mail or email, and the rep finally told me he could assist me.  Finally!  

Okay, so I'm going to need the number on the back of your router.

I'm at work.  My router is in my house, 40 miles away.

Oh, well I can't do anything without that number.  You're going to have to give us a call back from your home.  Is there anything else I can help you with today?

Are you f*&(ing kidding me??!!??

Of course, I had class that evening and so I wouldn't be home before 8 p.m., so it would just have to wait.  Okay, so my bad.  I let a couple of more weeks go by without calling to fix it.  (In the meantime, I had paid my December bill over the phone back in that earlier phone call...just to avoid a disruption of service, so I knew I had time.)  

I was beginning to see those same messages on my pc again telling me that I am late, so I made it a point to give another call this evening.  Guess what?  I dialed the number at 8:04.  Another round of ring around the numbers before I realized.  Too late!

Altice, you simply suck!  You invest your money into workers who will gain you sales until 11 p.m., but will not pay people to service your customers after 8.  I gave you all the notifications when I moved!  You switched my service!  You never billed me, yet threaten to cut off my service!  And you are not available when it is convenient for me to call and fix this problem that never should have happened in the first place!

I paid another overdue balance on that call this evening, but I've still got the same problem.  I better remember to take care of this before 8 o'clock, and soon!  

Rant over!

The B.S. of Moving iTunes Libraries

It's been a long while since I last posted to this blog, my very first, and it's not because I haven't had anything to rant about.  It's just that the rants I've made to myself and to friends over the past year or so haven't angered me enough to want to write about, but here is a topic that I've found to be so frustrating, I just need to get it out...

Take a good look at this picture.  For any of you that have their music on their iPod or Iphone, you'll recognize that it is the iTunes page.  There's something missing from this particular page, though, a screenshot that I've taken of my own iTunes,  If you look towards the left of the screen, you can see the column that shows all of your iTunes playlists, and none that I have created over the years is there.

You see, about six months ago, I purchased a new laptop, something that, as a regular pc user, I need to do every six years or so.  Since my time is so limited during the school year, and since my old pc was still working, I was slow to start moving things over to the new one.  Moving over to a new computer is always a daunting task....bookmarks, passwords (ugh, everyone's got a different rule for that...use one capital letter and one symbol, at least one number, no less than eight characters), external programs, etc.  For any of you who use iTunes for your music, you'll know that moving your iTunes library over to a new computer can be the biggest headache.

This new pc of mine is probably like the sixth I've had over the years, and I've had iTunes on all of them, which means I've moved iTunes libraries over from one to the next, successfully, several times. This time, however, I am at a loss!  And here comes the rant...

I realize that in today's world, there is a lot of piracy out there, and with music it is especially so as a large number of people do not purchase their music, but find ways to download it illegally.  The only times I have ever not purchased music was when the song was not available on iTunes, and those times have been very few and far between.  Virtually all of the music I've got in my iTunes library was purchased through the site.  Yet, as always, I have to suffer because of this.

For twelve years, beginning in the 90's, I was a deejay, and so I've got a lot of CD's.  All of them were purchased legally back in the days when the CD was all we had.  Once I moved to the digital age of music, which overall I think is absolutely wonderful, I downloaded all of my CD music into my iTunes library.  It is the greater portion of the music I have there.  The other night, I had a lot of free time and I decided to work on getting my iTunes library over to my new laptop once and for all. Little by little, I've managed to get everything else over and this is the last thing that keeps me from ditching my old, slow computer.  

There I sat, in my office, for about four and a half hours, both pc's turned on and a passport in hand.  I copied every file I could find that related to anything music from my old laptop and moved it into the iTunes icon on the new pc via the passport.  All that moved over were my iTunes downloads, again and again.  No playlists nor music from any CD.  And to boot, it copied every song twice...something to do with clouds, which I am still trying to understand.  I searched through Google for answers. I tried everything.  Dead end after dead end.  Now we're into July and it's now been seven months since I bought my new computer and still...no iTunes library.

I figure I have a choice.  I can either re-download all of my old CD's, which would probably take weeks, and re-do all of my playlists...weeks more, or I can put this out there in the hopes that someone can help me.  iTunes has a service called Match, where supposedly they will find all of your stuff in your iTunes library and match it with your account so this problem is supposedly solved, and all for the nominal fee of $24.99 a year.  Well I think that's bullshit!  Why should I have to re-pay iTunes for all of my music again, just because Apple makes it so hard to move my legally downloaded music that I got from old CD's I purchased?  

No, I refuse to do that!  I'd much rather go through all of that hassle than to pay again for my music. As it is, I hesitate to buy new stuff to add to my library until I've got my library in proper order, and that is pissing me off more than anything.  So, if only someone from Apple would read this and do something about it.  I should not have to suffer so because of these idiots who pirate music.  I do things the right way and yet I suffer for it.  Not fair!  If anybody within the reach of this blog has any advice for me before I start the trudgery of re-doing anything, please help!

Sensible Commentary on Race Relations From Another Side

In a perfect follow-up to my post last night on the death of NYPD Officer Brian Moore and the big mess this country is in right now concerning race relations, here's a video I caught on Facebook via a website called LiveLeak.  The video is a self-made and impromptu one made by one Will Stack, a young African American man who had just been pulled over by a white cop in Lexington, South Carolina.

The video couldn't have come at a more appropriate time for me, as much of what I said in that post last night he echoes with very much the same sentiments.  I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this way.  It deserves to be watched...

Rest In Peace Brian Moore, the Latest Casualty in a Big Mess

In case you've been living under a rock, you've no doubt heard by now that the New York City police officer who had been shot in the head on Saturday by an ex-con in Queens has died.  Officer Brian Moore, 25, was a native of Massapequa, Long Island, and his death was senseless in every way, yet it underscores the building tensions between police officers everywhere and people of color, and this particular case feeds into the views of those who side with police officers nationwide.  Yes, it's bad!

I, for one, see both sides of the issue, and though race thrown into the mix of law enforcement does no doubt seem to cloud the judgement of some, it doesn't for everyone, and it's cases like this that feed into the actions of those who act upon their prejudices.  The stresses that I am sure are placed on those who are paid to protect and serve us every day are far greater than any of us will ever know, and those who do wrong should always be brought to justice.  

I want to share something that I always tell my students, who are all people of color.  It speaks to what happened in Queens on Saturday, and in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago, and in Ferguson last summer...  

First of all, there is some truth to most prejudices.  That is a plain fact.  The stereotypes that follow any minority group come from known experiences with a number of its members over time.  But the world is not black and white...it is gray!  Ignorance and prejudice comes are based on what we've heard, what we've read, and what we see on the television.  Most are not based upon interactions with the targeted group like they should be.  The greatest thing to break down the barriers of ignorance is more experience, experience with as many persons of the stereotyped group as it takes for us to learn that we are all individuals.

There are good cops and bad ones...Latinos who are illegal and those who aren't, good decent hard-working African Americans and ones who walk around with guns in their pockets looking for trouble.  There are effeminate gays and straight-acting ones, brilliant Poles and ones a little short on smarts, greedy doctors and ones who are in it to help....you get it!  There are a gazillion and one stereotypes, but the world is NOT black and white.  

I tell my students that each and every time they interact with an American person, they are representing all Latinos, and that it is always their job to show those they interact with that they do not fit the stereotypes that the general public believes about them.  Every interaction they have with someone of another flavor is always an opportunity to break down stereotypes, and break down prejudice...and you know what?  I sincerely hope that my students take that to heart and represent themselves for the individuals that they are.

Prejudice seems to be a part of the natural human psyche.  We tend to naturally distrust and prejudge those who are not of the same ilk as we, whether it's a player on another team or a neighbor from a distant block.  But maybe if each of us does our part to break down those prejudices, maybe someday we won't have whites saying, Uh huh, that Demetrius Blackwell was a typical thug, just looking to kill white cops, or African Americans believing that the cop that shot down Michael Brown did so just because he was black.         

We should all be angry at the Demetrius Blackwells and the cops in Baltimore who are involved in the death of Freddie Gray, another 25 year old who died at too young an age.  Their the ones who perpetrate the stereotypes, but there are plenty of us out there who just want to live in peace.

So rest in peace Brian Moore, Freddie Gray, and any other person who's lost their life in this madness that divides us.  I am truly sad for your loss and hope that maybe one day soon your deaths won't be in vain.  

George Takei's Truth on Indiana's "Religious Freedom Law"

If you don't follow George Takei on either Facebook or Twitter, then I ask what rock are you living under?  The former Star Trek actor, who just happens to be a P.L.U. (people like us!), has made quite a name for himself as one of THE masters of social media.  With all sorts of funny posts, thoughtful commentary and a great sense of humor, George Takei is one most followed person on the Internets.

So when George Takei has something profound to say, many listen, and today he's come out in a big way to share his thoughts on Indiana's new so-called "Religious Freedom Law."  For him, as for many of us, the mere existence of this issue is somewhat shocking given the inroads we've made in the last twenty years or so.  Yet there is still much work to be done, and a lot of hate to wash away, and George is certainly doing his part...

...Gov. Pence shamelessly pandered to the right wing of his party, perhaps because he is eyeing a run for the White House, or perhaps because he simply does not understand that bigotry, cloaked as religious protection, is still bigotry...

...I myself am a Buddhist, not a Christian. But I cannot help but think that if Christ ran a public establishment, it would be open to all, and He would be the last to refuse service to anyone. It is, simply put, the most un-Christian of notions.

...So let us be clear what this is really about: divisive politics. The far right has lost the war over marriage equality, and quickly. It now has staked out a new ground and shrouded itself ostensibly within the ambit of the First Amendment – for who can deny that we ought to give religious freedom its full and fair due? It seeks refuge in the recent, and regrettable, U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Hobby Lobby, which appeared to open the door for exceptions to “government regulation” in the name of protecting religious beliefs...

With all of the controversy that's been surrounding the passage of this law in Indiana, all sides are weighing in, but I think that George puts the truth out very succinctly in that last paragraph.  In this day and age, when we've come so far in learning that diversity is a good thing, there is still plenty of bigotry to go around, and politics obviously panders to that bigotry.  If you don;t see that, well then go back under that rock.

Check out the entire transcript of George Takei's op-ed on MSNBC.  He also appeared on this evening's episode of The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on the same station.    

I Live on Long Island...No Wonder I'm Broke

After paying your rent or mortgage, transportation, utilities, and any other bills, how much do you have left at the end of the month? The answer probably depends largely on where you live...

Um, not much, and now I know why!  There's a piece recently published on a website called Trove that's making its rounds on Facebook this week and after seeing several of my friends share it, I decided to check out the article, called The 15 Most Expensive Places to Live In America. Guess what?  I live in the #1 spot.  Yes, the counties of Nassau and Suffolk that make up what many of us know as Long Island is THE most expensive place to live in the good ole U.S. of A.  No wonder I'm always broke!

Wow!  Who knew that this wonderful piece of real estate, just east of NYC and commonly called 'Lon Guyland' was such an expensive place to live?  Here's what Trove has to say about it...

Nassau and Suffolk Counties, on Long Island, aren't the highest in the country in terms of housing, taxes, or healthcare, but they're up there in each category, and that's enough to make the area the most expensive place to live in America. Also a major New York City commuting hub, it's known for high property taxes and pricey real estate, especially in Nassau County. Suffolk is home to the Hamptons, a popular summer spot for the wealthy and the famous.

themostexpensivehomes

Oh yeah, those property taxes.  My friends and I were just talking about that last night and between the four of us, we could probably buy a brand new car in cash every two years with what we collectively pay in property taxes.  Well, Trove neglected to mention the price of gas, coffee , the railroad, and just about everything else that we pay so much for here.  Heck, now that Patchogue, my hometown, has become a hopping place, they've put in parking meters so even more money can be squeezed out of our pockets. 

WTF???!!!???

It's not just Long Island either.  Out of the 15 most expensive places in the U.S. to live, 3 are in New York State.  Westchester comes in at #5 and New York City at #8.  That's funny, because when I was 8 years old, we moved from the Bronx to Long Island because back then it was a cheap place to live.  My parents would have loved to live in Westchester, but at the time that was too expensive.  Now?  Even NYC is way behind us...go figure!  Maybe I should go back to my dream of living there.  It'll be cheaper.  

insidebitcoins

New York kills its citizens with taxes, especially in the downstate area as you can tell from the results of this article.  We pay ample state income tax when we make money, and we pay more taxes when we spend it.  Pretty disgusting, huh?  Most of us don't realize how bad we have it until we travel out of state.  Every time we leave, we find cheaper gas prices, cheaper coffee, and no tax on clothes!  Why is this so?  Who the heck knows?  I wish I had a solution to this problem because despite it all, I love New York (I hate winter, but that's another story!), but I do not (thus, a rant!).  I would guess the best solution is one which many people already do take, and that's to move out of the state.  As for me...I can't just yet, but perhaps the city is calling my name...

Here's how the findings were calculated:
FindTheBest created a cost of living index based on 2013 family budget estimates for housing, taxes, healthcare, childcare, transportation, and "other necessities" (like food) from the Economic Policy Institute to compare, in over 600 counties and metro areas across the US, where your dollar goes the farthest.

The average overall index for US cities and metro areas is 100, so a city with an index of 120 is 20% more expensive than average, and a city with an index of 80 is 20% cheaper than average. (Note: Long Island's index was 120!)

If you'd like to see if you live in one of the most expensive places in the U.S., check out Trove's article right here.

     

News That's Fit to Print: A Debate on Roadside Memorials
Are roadside memorials an eyesore? Are they a distraction? Do friends and family members have the right to erect such memorials in such public places where their loved ones have taken their last breath?
Read More

Protesters

For the first time today, I saw a group of protesters in front of a shopping center in Shirley. It was damp and rainy, and they were there with American flags and signs that said "Take back our republic!", and "Honk for no new taxes." After just having written my little ode to the protesters, I have to admit that I still find it astonishing that these people are so up in arms over a thing like healthcare.

I don't want new taxes, of course. No one does! But compared to all of the awful things the Bushies did for the better part of this decade, I still don't understand why they weren't protesting then. George Bush inherited a surplus...he squandered it and put us into the heaviest debt we've ever seen. Obama comes in, and he's trying to fix it. I don't necessarily agree with all the decisions he's made so far, but it doesn't take only eleven months to fix such a problem.

"But, he's adding to it," you say.

Here's a surprise for you: I agree! Still, all of this pales in comparison to the many, many things Mr. Bush did that wasted way more money than Obama ever will. As a writer and a conscientious patriot, I feel a duty to add my voice to this discussion in the hopes that someone will see all this ruckus for what it is.

No, this is not Nazi Germany. What liberties are we losing? I could argue that I lost the freedom to take some toothpaste on an airplane with me in 2004. Teabaggers will argue, "well that was for your own protection!" Well, I say that mandating that everyone has health insurance carries the same mantra.

I need to think some more on this...

Where were you? : A question for today's protesters

Where were you?

Where were you when $9 billion vanished into thin air?

Where were you when $1.7 billion was paid to some friends to do some housekeeping in the desert?

When the paid mercenaries out-earned the boys and girls doing us proud?

Where were you?




Where were you when a big wind blew, and another $30 billion was given to the same friends, with only a fraction of it trickling down to make any sort of difference?

Where were you when $3 trillion, with a T, in taxes was given back to those who needed it least?

Where you one of them?

Maybe you were!




Do you remember?

It seems to me you've forgotten,

especially when I see you so angry,

carrying signs, making all that hateful noise

at the chance of spending only $1 trillion, with a T, going to a very worthy cause;

to give a chance at life and death relief to the millions who need it.




Is that so terrible?

I don't think so!

It all doesn't seem so terrible to me.

I just don't understand!

You say what we've got is a good thing,

that a clerk in a private company has more expertise than one that works for the government.

Funny... they're both our comrades.

You say it's a good thing when big companies earn their market shares

by doing whatever they have to to earn a profit,

squeezing and squeezing the common people to financial ruin and sometimes even death.




The truth is, they fear competition, from a worthy adversary,

one that just might force them to do what they're meant to do.

I'm not sure what you fear exactly.

Is that so terrible?

I don't think so!

It all doesn't seem so terrible to me.

I just don't understand!




Sources:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1415905/the_bush_years.html?cat=9

Marcelo Lucero: One Year Later

One year ago , one of the most horrific hate crimes happened right here in the town where I live. On the night of November 8, 2008, a group of 7 teens embarked on an evening of "beaner hopping", which is what the defendants named their despicable hobby of going out and attacking Latinos. Late into their evening of terror, they came upon a couple of Ecuadorians making their way home from watching a movie at a friend's house.

The group immediately surrounded the two men and began to harass them, pushing them around and yelling racial epithets. Luckily, one of the two men was able to escape the assault, but the other, Marcelo Lucero, 38, was not as fortunate. Lucero was stabbed in the chest by Jeffrey Conroy, then 17 years of age and the only one to face murder charges, and later died of his wounds as the defendants made their escape.

Yesterday, one of the seven defendants in the case pleaded guilty to first degree gang assault and fourth degree conspiracy in connection with the murder. Nicholas Hausch, 18, of Medford, also pleaded guilty to second degree assault as a hate crime and second degree attempted assault in connection with an earlier attack that same day. He faces 5 to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced once the prosecution of the other defendants is complete, and he has agreed to cooperate with authorities in the cases against his co-conspirators.

Excerpts released by Newsday in connection with Hausch's statements reveal the mindsets of these young haters:

"We agreed to go to Patchogue knowing there were always Spanish guys walking around down there. We saw a Spanish guy walking on the street near a Jewish temple...We never caught the guy."

"We all got out of the SUV and began walking looking for Spanish guys to beat up. As we walked in a parking lot near a train station, we saw two guys and realized they were Beaners...the rest of us were popping off at them. Calling them Beaners."

"As I walked away, Jeff caught up to me first saying we gotta go. The others were still near the guy and Jeff yelled at them, 'Let's go.' As we all walked away, Jeff told us he stabbed the guy...We told Jeff to toss the knife, but he kept it. He said, "no, I washed it off in a puddle."

Violence is despicable in any form, but committing acts of brutality solely because another person belongs to a certain group is contemptible beyond words. Whether it's a Spanish person, an African American, or a gay person doesn't matter. To commit violence against another because of blind hate is the most heinous of crimes.

The cheerless anniversary will be marked this evening at 6PM, when a vigil takes place in Patchogue Village, at the spot where Mr. Lucero was brutally murdered. Lucero's mother and sister flew in from Ecuador to take part in the ceremony, to be presided over by individuals from various faiths.

This Wednesday, WLIW21, a local PBS station will air a documentary about the murder and it's after affects entitled "Running Wild - Hate and Immigration on Long Island." The film was produced by Tamara Bock and Angel Canales, two recent graduates of Columbia University's School of Journalism, and discusses all the ramifications coming out of this eye-opening event.

Sources:

Eltman, Frank. "NY town marks year since immigrant fatally stabbed." Associated Press (2009): n. pag. Web. 7 Nov 2009. .

Reddy, Sumathi. "Teen admits guilt in deadly hate crime." LI Newsday 06 Nov 2009: A9. Print.

Halloween Candy Companies: The trick's on us

Happy Halloween everybody! It's a relatively nice day here on Long Island and a great day for all of those little trick or treaters to go out and do their thing. Being that the holiday falls on a Saturday and the weather forecast called for unseasonably warm temperatures, I figured there'd be lots of princesses, ghosts, vampires, and bumblebees knocking on my door and I wanted to be prepared, but when I woke up this morning I was unpleasantly surprised by what I found. Warning: this is a rant!

On one of my regular jaunts to Target a couple of weeks ago, I decided to pick up my Halloween candy a little early. In the past, this would've been a dangerous thing since I'd always be sure to dip into the stored bags of goodies so much so that I'd have to pick up some more right before Halloween. But these days I'm a lot more disciplined when it comes to eating candy. When I brought it home, I left the bags of candy inside the plastic store bag and threw it into a drawer, not even thinking about it again until this morning.

When I went to Target, I had armed myself with coupons for Halloween candy. I can never bring myself to buy the cheap stuff...I wouldn't want to get that junk if I was trick or treating, so I would never want to give it out either. I had coupons for Hershey's Kisses and Mr. Goodbar, Kit Kat bars, Reeses, and all those other candy delectables I love to eat. Needless to say when I went to the seasonal candy section of the store I became confused.

As with seemingly all products on the market today, there are a plethora of choices for the shopper to make when deciding on a purchase. No longer do you need to decide between Crest and Colgate, but the mind-boggling choices of whitening formula, baking soda, advanced enamel protection, extra cavity fighting, healthy gum formulas, and all the other specialty offerings, in either gel or paste form no less, always causes me to spend a lot more time in each section than I would normally like to spend. It's just so downright confusing! Choices can be good, but this is ridiculous!

I figured my Halloween candy purchase would be simple. Just grab a couple of bags, take my coupon, pay and go. As I expected, this same multi-choice phenomenon exists in the world of candy. I had no idea there were so many different varieties of Hershey Kisses, but that wasn't my problem. The Kisses, peanut butter cups, 3 Musketeers and practically everything else came in a variety of different sized bags, the cheapest was "on sale" at $3.99 a bag. The store's shelves were packed to the gills with bags sold by the piece (a 52-piece bag for $6.99, a 100-piece bag for $9.99), by the size of the individual candies (super-mini sized, big bite size), and some were sold simply by weight (and these bags are a lot smaller than they used to be!).

I realized this morning how all of these "convenient" varieties offered by the candy companies are simply an elaborate ruse to rip me off by confusing me. After spending about a half hour in the department, I finally ended up buying four bags of the traditional (?) sized bags of my favorite candies at $3.99 each (My coupons weren't good for any other type bag!). I took out my Halloween bowl that I always use to set by the front door and opened up the bags. By the time I had finished opening the bags and putting the candy into the bowl, I immediately became infuriated. The bowl is not a large one, about the size of a large soup bowl, and it wasn't even half full! Sixteen dollars worth of candy and I'm probably going to end up running out for more later!

So while we're handing out treats to our little Frankenstein's, goblins, witches, and hobos, the candy companies are playing the tricks on us. Why do we need so many choices? The only reason I can think of is a clever scheme they've come up with to confuse and conquer. This needs to stop!

There, I feel better!

Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Wields God's Word to Promote Hatred

On Monday, local politicians, community and religious leaders, and police held a meeting to formulate a plan of action for upcoming demonstrations in Great Neck, Long Island. On Friday, September 25, the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, will be demonstrating in front of synagogues and schools in the area. The church is one of the most notorious hate groups in America, stating as their mission to "oppose the [homosexual] lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth."

I had mentioned the church in a previous piece in my dialogue with AC writer Becky Whittemore (Understanding Homosexuality: A Respectful Dialogue, John's Spiritual Journey, Part 2). In discussing the role of religion in anti-gay sentiment, I'd recounted a story of the group picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepherd, a young man who was killed simply for being gay, in 1998. Church members picketed the procession with raucous rhetoric and hateful signage. This has not been the only such episode in the group's history.

On the Westboro Baptist Church website, "God Hates Fags", they proclaim their mission:

"Perceiving the modern militant homosexual movement to pose a clear and present danger to the survival of America, exposing our nation to the wrath of God as in 1898 B.C. at Sodom and Gomorrah, WBC has conducted 41,226such demonstrations since June, 1991, at homosexual parades and other events, including funerals of impenitent sodomites (like Matthew Shepard) and over 200 military funerals of troops whom God has killed in Iraq/Afghanistan in righteous judgment against an evil nation."


They continue:

"WBC engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. We display large, colorful signs containing Bible words and sentiments, including: GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP, NO SPECIAL LAWS FOR FAGS, FAGS DOOM NATIONS, THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS, FAG TROOPS, GOD BLEW UP THE TROOPS, GOD HATES AMERICA, AMERICA IS DOOMED, THE WORLD IS DOOMED, etc."


Gay people are not the only objects of their ire. Jews are high on their list of targeted rhetoric. The Great Neck demonstrations are partially aimed at Jews. What they may consider to be peaceful demonstrations, I do not. Displays of such hatred carry the potential to beget violence, and when that hatred comes from a group disguising themselves as a congregation of worshippers, they are using God as a weapon to gain support for their despicable cause.

Upon exploring the group's website further, I came upon evil rhetoric at nearly every click. Three banners greet visitors on the home page, all in the mocking rainbow colors of a gay symbol. The makeshift flags display the slogans of the group: "Fag [=] Sin", "God Hates Fag Enablers", and "God Hates You." The "picket schedule" lists no less than 35 upcoming demonstrations, each with a hateful, twisted, description, and each one quoting verse from the Bible.

I am aware now, more than ever before, that not all Christians hold such radical notions in their belief systems. In fact, I believe the majority of them do not, but there are plenty of impressionable believers out there who are susceptible to this way of thinking. The act of judgement should be reserved for God and Him alone, but I can't help but bemoan the fact that the basic beliefs of homosexuality being somehow unnatural lend credence to these extreme convictions. That's what is so frustrating to me as a gay person. I know my truth and as long as there are people out there who continue to believe that my existence is invalid, then these types of extremists will continue to exist. Frankly, they scare me, as do extremists of any other religion.

The group in Great Neck came up with a plan: to ignore the protesters. U.S. Representative Gary Ackerman of Queens said, "These are very wacky people. It's a cult...Don't be there. Don't, even out of curiosity, walk by and see what they are doing. Without public and media attention, the group will lose its ability to be heard." I think it's very sound advice, and I will speak of them no longer.

Sources:

Jones, Bart. "Great Neck braces for hate group rally." LI Newsday 22 September 2009: A24. Print.

http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/wbcinfo/aboutwbc.html

Dubya....A Photo Tribute

Stock Market Psychiatry

I have an idea for what to do with some of the money from the bailout plan that's supposed to help fix the financial mess we're in. Congress should enact a law that provides money for mental health professionals to provide care for the folks on Wall Street.

I mean, every time I read something online or in the paper about the stock markets, I always see words associated with feelings. For example, today's paper had an article, "Post Election Slide" (Long Island Newsday, Combined News Services, 11/6/08) about yet another stock market tumble the day after the election. Words like, "jitters", "worries", "concerns", "nervous", and "loss of confidence" permeated the piece as they seem to do in every article about bad days on Wall Street. Good days reflect the "confidence" and "optimism" in the folks who buy and sell stocks and such.

I like to think of myself as a smart guy. I always did well in school, but Economics was never my forte. All of that supply and demand and stuff just confused the heck out of me! In my simple world, I know that as the stock market goes, so too does the rest of the economy. "Bad-feeling" days affect how much I'm paying for gas at the station and for cheese at Waldbaum's. Face it; we're at the mercy of people's emotions. People buy and sell because they're "jittery" or "nervous". They obviously need help, and we've got to get it for them.




That's why Congress needs to act now. Even with all the goodwill that's emanated from the election, these stock market speculators are still "worried." They obviously haven't shared in all the optimism that has come out of the events of the 4th. I think it would be a wise investment to provide them with the help they need. After all, $ 700 billion is a lot of money. When compared to what it's cost to bail out the banks, this venture would be miniscule in comparison.

And who knows? It just might do some good to get these people in touch with their feelings. Why do their feelings seem so manic? If these mental health professionals can break through with even some speculators, their rosier outlook might give them more confidence, causing the financial markets to go up, and everything would be alright.

So contact your local Congressman (or woman)...okay, Congressperson, today! Tell them how you feel. It's silly to even think that our pocketbooks are at the mercy of all such fluctuating "feelings". These people need help to reconcile their feelings, and get happy. Maybe then things'll get a little easier around here.