BEWARE of Velocity Federal Credit Union in Austin, Texas

These jerks are a never-ending hassle.

I took out a five-year CD with them, and they never notified me by regular mail shortly before the maturity date. Never had that happen before with any other financial institution. I shudder to think of the penalty I would have paid had I not been keeping a close eye on things. Then they thought of every requirement imaginable for me to obtain my money. First, they wanted me to fax a request to withdraw my money. After I had done that, they "remembered" that I would have to include a copy of a photo ID. Then that had to be sent to management "for approval." Delayed me obtaining my money for two weeks. Totally inexcusable.

Now I'm having a miserable time getting them to send me the amount of interest to report for tax purposes for 2016. They've come up with similar stuff to what they required for me to get my money, even though they are required by law to issue a 1099-INT. They refuse to send me the info by email.

Heed my warning - AVOID 'EM LIKE THE PLAGUE.

3/24/2017 update - The info arrived in yesterday's mail. Velocity waited until Monday to send it - maybe everything had to be approved by management before they could act. Shakin' my head.

3/23/2017 update - Tomorrow will be a week since I published this post and sent Velocity a link. They quickly replied that they would send the 1099-INT by regular mail. It SHOULD have been mailed to me last Friday, but I haven't seen it yet, which is no surprise. 

Beaten at its own game, AT&T discounts the bill I DON'T owe 'em

Update 5/1/2019 - My savings for not having a phone are now approaching $4,000. 

Update 10/26/2017 - AT&T has further reduced the bill I don't owe 'em - this time to $59.05 -  and the bullying thugs aren't one bit closer to getting one cent outta me. No surprise that a bully like AT&T sponsors LGBTQQIAAP activities. 

Life jus' doesn't get much better. I chose to allow AT&T to discontinue my "service" (rather than be bullied into paying their fabricated bill) on 5/13/2015, and I've had FUN GALORE ever since. Not to mention the heavenly peace n quiet that comes with not being bombarded by robocalls. Bicycling to use a computer at the library, shopping n running errands along the way, and using a pay phone has worked out FAR better than I ever DREAMED.

But wunna the ABSOLUTE BEST experiences came a few weeks ago when I got a letter from Afni, Inc., wunna AT&T's collection gangs, discounting my "bill" from $118.09 to $64.95. Not that I trust AT&T or its "enforcers," and actually, over the past year and seven months, I haven't gotten many collection letters from any of AT&T's thugs. Once the goons realize I don't have a phone they can incessantly ring, they back off quick.

Ah, the SHEER DELIGHT of sockin' it to a crooked bunch like AT&T, ANOTHER CORPORATE SLOB that thinks it can kick ALL consumers around with impunity. A gang that uses robocalls and charges exorbitant, deceitful fees to force folks to give up their landlines and buy cell phones. Just for the record, AT&T, if there's anything I HATE, LOATH, AND DESPISE, it's a cell phone. And from asking around, it appears that I've got WAY more company than your presstitute mainstream media friends would have the gullible American public believe.

It'll be such a pleasure to send AT&T and their lapdog, the SC Department of Consumer Affairs, links to this post. I'm not givin' AT&T ONE RED CENT, and along the way, I've discerned a few things that I'll take this opportunity to point out.

If anyone owes anyone anything, AT&T owes ME for at least a year's worth of home phone (landline) and Internet for the $34.95 per month CONTRACT they entered into - IN WRITING - with no mention of any additional fees, taxes, etc. At this point, I'm willing to overlook their illegalities and the inconvenience they've caused me, in exchange for the few months they billed me correctly for, only to fire up their nonsense again, which ultimately led to their cutting off my "service" entirely after attempting to intimidate me with extended periods of "partial service." 

Then there's that threatening collection letter they first mailed me, pointing out that unless I forked over the amount they came up with (I still can't figure out how they arrived at it), I would be responsible for attorney fees, court costs, etc. when their fleet of scumballs - er I mean lawyers - took legal action. Of course, once they realized that I was SERIOUS about not having a home phone, and could actually pull it off, their tone got a lot less threatening.

And factor in over a decade's worth of robocalls (the precipitating feature of this whole matter), which had gotten so bad I usually didn't even bother to answer the phone. AT&T owes me an allowance for all the harassment, essentially cutting my "service" in half. 

I have a suggestion, AT&T.

Let's do what you initially threatened to do. Tell your gang of lawyers to file charges, haul me into court, and let's see what a jury of my peers has to say about the bill you cooked up. I'd LOVE to present that e-mail you sent me with the itemized charges guaranteed for a year, neatly summed up, without further ado as a GRAND TOTAL.I'll even act as my own attorney.

So PUT 'EM UP, AT&T. Yer not scared of a 71-year-old and his antique, steel-framed, easy-ridin' 10 speed bicycle... 

ARE YA?

9/14/2017 update - AT&T solicited door to door again last Saturday. Always such a JOY tellin' 'em how much money I've saved - now over $2,800 - and how DELIGHTED I am not watching TV and not having a landline, a cell phone, or home Internet.

5/14/2017 update: TWO YEARS without home phone or Internet and I like it all the more as time goes by. Applying a bit of creativity, including rare use of snail mail, I don't even need pay phones. And that's a good thing, since a dumbed-up American public has permitted crooks like AT&T to eliminate pay phones. So far, I've saved about $2,500 and I've also noticed a decrease in junk mail.

An "unconscious" woman? Gimme a break.

Let's ditch the Orwellian "newspeak" regarding the Sanford rape case. A woman - obviously never before exposed to the ways of the world - got passed-out-drunk at a fraternity party, wound up without her underwear on (we are not told at what point in the "party" it got removed or by whom), and was raped by another drunken punk out by a garbage dumpster.

Neither of them get any sympathy from me, likewise for the Brainless Rants And Tantrums (BRATS) because a judge sentenced one of the drunken punks to six months in jail, with a proviso for serving only three. We live in a "culture" wherein promiscuity rules supreme, confirmed by a never-ending epidemic of STDs, along with a barrage of failed marriages, single parents, unwanted pregnancies, and aborted fetuses. Toss in a nauseating acceptance of sexual perversion along with the popularity of alcohol and drugs, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to discern an out-of-control society coming apart at the seams.

There's nothing unusual about the Sanford case. Similar scenarios are commonplace on today's college campuses. The "evolved" society views sex as a recreational activity, and this entire case is consistent with that sorry state of affairs. The rapist thug's father exemplified this "evolved" society's cynical attitude toward sex when he quipped about a "six month sentence for 20 minutes of action."

America, ya asked for it.

Beware of Toro lawn equipment

Toro sure has a clever name. Their advertising is Bull, and their customers get gored. Most of the time, I wound up pushing their "self-propelled" mower myself, which is where the "Personal Pace" kicks in. Mowing speed depends on the terrain and the customer's strength. #ToroSpeak

The self-propel mechanism on my lawnmower became inoperable and neither of the only two Toro authorized repair shops in my area - A-Z Lawnmower Parts in Lexington, South Carolina and Catoe's Equipment in Columbia, South Carolina - could repair it.

A-Z failed twice, and charged me for work I didn't authorize. After their second effort failed, one of A-Z's employees advised me to hold the mower handle with one hand and force the self-propel mechanism down with the other. This is dangerous advice and provides no solution.

The Toro Company offers no help - AVOID THESE BUSINESSES like the plague.

> Update 6/11/2016 - Been sending links to this post, along with a few choice comments, to @ToroCompany on Twitter. Wonder why Toro isn't investigating the matter, intent on finding out why TWO of their "authorized mechanics" didn't repair the mower. TOTALLY INEXCUSABLE. The mower should have been repaired when the first shop, A-Z, had it.

> Update 6/14/2016 - No response from Toro, other than to suggest that I try yet another of their "authorized repair shops." It would be quite a distance from my home, and I know this will be a shocker to Toro, but I have better things to do than arrange to have my lawnmower hauled all over the metro area HOPING one of their "authorized mechanics" will repair a COMMON maintenance issue. I don't have the means to haul it myself, so I gotta pay for pickup and delivery or else ask my neighbor to haul it in his pickup. Toro apparently doesn't care what its customers encounter at its "authorized repair shops." 

> Update 6/15/2016 - How incompetent does A-Z have to be to charge for things a customer DIDN'T authorize, and NEGLECT (twice) to repair the problem that prompted the customer to contact 'em. There appears to be more to this story, and Toro needs to find out what's going on at their "authorized repair shops." Can't blame anyone for concluding that Toro is trying to force its customers to buy new equipment.

> Update 6/22/2016 - An independent mechanic has confirmed that ANYONE could have determined that the problem was worn out gears. All anyone had to do was take off the gear housing to see what the problem was. Time for Toro to explain what's going on. 

> Update 6/24/2016 - The independent mechanic's report (6/22 update) tends to explain why Catoe's immediately refunded the $48 they charged me for 10 minutes worth of work (after my neighbor got me and the mower to Catoe's in his pickup), and weren't interested in dropping by my house to confirm the inoperable condition of the mower, which was locking up and making a loud, rattling sound. A-Z charged me $115 and ignored my request for a refund. Once again, here's the point: Toro needs to explain why neither of their authorized repair shops corrected the problem or offered appropriate advice.

> Update 6/27/2016 - Update 6/27/2016 - The gears (6/22 update) were BEYOND worn out. ALMOST DISINTEGRATED - one part was literally "floating" - would be more like it. Now I'm wondering why Catoe's (the shop I've been using regularly since I bought the mower) didn't replace the damaged gears long ago, because it took quite some time for the self-propel mechanism to get in such bad condition. I had noticed over the years that Catoe's "repair" of the mechanism didn't last very long, and there were shorter periods of acceptable operation each time they "repaired" it. Apparently, there's a "quick fix" via adjusting a cable, but that doesn't correct worn out gears. When I used Catoe's in the past, I had a means of hauling the mower, and when I no longer had a means of hauling the mower, I tried A-Z because they were slightly nearer to my home and charges for pickup and delivery were slightly less. The failure of two of Toro's authorized repair shops to correct the underlying problem - or at least advise me of it - suggests a Toro-involved racket intended to increase sales of new mowers. 

> Update 6/30/2016 - I received an e-mail from someone regarding Toro lawnmowers of yesteryear - here are a few excerpts (emphasis mine):

'The “soft gears” are the “weak link” in the drive system, but you do want them to protect the (far more expensive) transmission from unexpected excessive loads -- as well as the drive gears which interact with these more easily replaced “sacrificial gears.”

Thankfully (and luckily) I never had to go beyond the worn-out wheel gears – after being “ripped-off” the first time at “an authorized repair” shop.

You’re correct.  They just want to “sell you” a new one ...'

Apparently (see 6/22 update), Toro eliminated the "soft gears" and designed a built-in obsolescence as the main gears gradually wear down. Meanwhile, customers shell out regularly - time, money, and inconvenience - for temporary repairs. No wonder Toro refuses to investigate their repair shops.

> Update 7/1/2016 - Talk about sleazy repair shops. A-Z charged $50 for pickup n delivery, and went ahead with other items I didn't authorize (new blade, new starter-rope, spark plug, oil n filter change) and laid on an additional $65. I had told them I thought everything was okay except the self-propel mechanism, but they could give me a quote for anything else before they did the work. Right. Run up a bill for a mower they either knew or should have known was inoperable. A-Z even stated on their invoice that the self-propel mechanism "checked out okay" when in fact it wasn't pulling at all. And BTW, the handle came off the new starter-rope. SPEAK, Toro. Explain what's going on at your authorized repair shops.

> Update 8/22/2016 - Beware of ordering Toro parts. After buying my mower, I thought it wuz kinda strange when every non-authorized-Toro shop I visited - lookin' for a repair shop close to my home - said they couldn't repair the self-propel mechanism on my Toro because they couldn't get the parts. And things got even stranger when the two Toro shops mentioned in this post failed to correct the problem.

Now I know what's been going on.

The independent mechanic I worked with ordered 'bout a $100 worth of parts from Toro in an effort to fix my mower. But alas. TORO'S PARTS WON'T WORK. They only allow the self-propel mechanism to partially function, and only if the mower is running. If the engine is off, the back wheels lock up, so the mower is essentially useless. No wonder Toro's "authorized dealers" didn't attempt to repair the problem. 

Toro is just another crooked American corporation propped up by cowardly consumers who tolerate anything corporate thugs dish out. Meanwhile, Toro contributes heavily to environmental pollution by making sure that lawnmowers that should be operable for many years to come wind up in dump yards. 

I've been e-mailing links to this post and the updates to Toro on Twitter. If they have an explanation, I'll publish it.    

Disgusting facts abt ancient Rome: http://listverse.com/2016/08/23/10-truly-disgusting-facts-about-roman-life/

Listen up AGAIN, AT&T: One year without home phone or Internet, and I LOVE it

Update 1/31/2018 - Goons from the telephone industry ripped he last pay phone in my area off a wall about 6 months ago, within 24 hrs after I used it. I had given my name and had mentioned how much I enjoy not having home phone or Internet. As pay phones disappear, businesses seem to be helping the telephone industry try to force consumers to shell out big bucks each month to communicate. Here's a link to my blog post about the situation. We need a campaign to increase the number of good ol' coin-operated pay phones. Such an option would empower consumers, and motivate the phone industry to end robocalls. I remain DELIGHTED having no landline, cell, or home Internet.

Update 5/20/2017 - Now over 2 years without home phone or Internet, and I enjoy the advantages more and more as time goes by. Not having a phone sure cuts down on the junk mail. And I've now saved about $2,000.

WOW. Tomorrow, 5/13/16, a whole year will have gone by since AT&T discontinued my "service." And what a year it's been.

The absence of robocalls has been absolutely WONDERFUL. I didn't realize just how stressful the daily, decades-long annoyances had been until they ended. For the first couple of weeks, all I wanted to do was sleep, and being retired, I could afford the luxury. In fact, before the "unwinding" ended, I got downright worried.

Ironically enough, when I had a home phone, wunna the worst robocall offenders was United Health Care. They showed their appreciation for my Medicare Advantage business by targeting me with robocalls demanding that I sign up for regular home health-care visits. Much to the medical fraternity's chagrin, I've been blessed with exceptionally good health, take no medications, and have no interest in United Health Care's supposedly optional program. I'd told 'em so more than once, but the robocalls continued, sometimes ringing my phone for up to 50 times. Much more of that - their strategy, perhaps? - and I woulda needed home health care visits.

What a pleasure it was - after I no longer had a home phone - to get a letter from United Health Care - suitable for framing - angrily informing me in big bold print at the top, "We've been trying to reach you." followed by a demand that I contact them (by phone, of course). Really.

Okay. This venture has also been about the money, but only in the sense that I don't appreciate being kicked around by a crooked corporation that assumes everyone who can afford it somehow has to have home phone (or surely a -YUK - cell phone) and Internet.

Ah yes, the Internet

I've cut my computer use by 75%, visiting the library has been a ton of fun, and a cute girl who works there even sang to me on my birthday. Top that, AT&T.

To sum it all up, this first year without home phone or Internet has been a delightful experience. The bicycling turned out to be so much fun that I've used my bicycle instead of my car 95% of the time. I've learned new riding techniques, saved a bundle of moolah, and look forward to continuing this modern day adventure in self-reliance.

 Update 5/18/2016 - My pleasure to send AT&T and the SC Dept of Consumer Affairs a link to this post.

Update 11/19/2016 - Now it's been over a year and a half without home phone or Internet, and I enjoy my new routine as much - or more - than ever.  

Roundabouts and school buses don't mix

Update 4/25/2016 - This morning, I witnessed an ambulance negotiating one of the roundabouts. The driver was attempting to go on down the road, but to avoid running over the roundabout or going off the pavement, he drove into the oncoming lane, stopped, and backed up in order to direct the ambulance forward. 

Few days ago, I witnessed a school bus negotiate the roundabout at the entrance to my neighborhood, Quail Hollow, in Lexington county, W. Columbia, South Carolina. I've blogged about the roundabout issue before.

The school bus had to run over the roundabout in order to make a left turn, and the bus leaned to the right. Isn't it a joy when tax dollars are put to such good use?

And then there's those pesky emergency vehicles, and people who attach trailers to the back of their vehicles. I saw a person pulling a trailer give up on going around Quail Hollow's other roundabout, deciding instead to make his left turn by entering the oncoming traffic lane. Nuthin' like tax-funded efforts to protect the public...

Wonder why the SC Policy Council isn't screaming about roundabouts as part of the group's outrage (#SCRoadsDebate on Facebook and Twitter) over South Carolina legislators refusing to repair the roads. Roundabouts ain't cheap, the boondoggles are poppin' up all over the place, and I'd like to know who's making money off the scam.

Let's quit wasting tax dollars on roundabouts. Let's repair the roads.

Probate in South Carolina is a racket

Some topics warrant a separate blog, and I published a new one today: Here's a link to my first post, "10 year limit on probating wills is one of many horrors facing heirs"

Update 4/29/2017 - It's now confirmed that South Carolina Senator Nikki Setzler - a "legislator" from my district in Lexington County - has had a decades-long CONFLICT OF INTEREST, deriving income from his probate-dealing law firm. 

Listen up, AT&T: No home phone or Internet has been a blessing

Update 2/1/2018 - Businesses now seem to be teaming up with the telephone industry in an effort to force consumers to shell out big bucks each month to communicate. 

Why should this government - Repukes n Demagogues alike - and its crooked corporate cronies be allowed to terrorize citizens within their own homes?

Over two months without my "service," and the benefits remain well worth any inconveniences. Not being harassed by robocalls is relief beyond measure.

The biggest surprise was receiving notices in the mail that automatic payments for various bills hadn't been received. Really had me puzzled until I remembered that a "rewards" checking account I opened years ago required home phone and Internet. Bank First in Macon, Missippi (AVOID 'em like the plague) never sent any notice, they just suddenly stopped my autopays. Fortunately, I never had to shell out any late fees, and it wuzza pleasure to close the account. Bank First plays the teaser-rate game, and if anyone raked in "rewards," it wuz banksters and AT&T. I can get a better rate with a CD.

Cashing in - pardon the pun - on prior bicycling experience, I've made most of my trips to the pay phone and the library (8-10 milers) on my bike, done most of my shopping along the way, and saved a bundle on gas. Lots of fun, and phone calls have averaged a measly $1.25 per month. The trick is to cut way back on using computers, and I've made great progress.

Of course, I'm getting nasty threats in the mail from those sleazy, robocall-supportin' crooks at AT&T. Their latest absurdity is a bill for $118.09, which I ain't gonna pay. Successful collection efforts will be based on a "Grand Total" of $34.95 per month, and will be for February, March, and half of April. The banditos get nothing for the periods my "service" was "temporarily interrupted," partially disabled, or whatever the bullies wanna call it.

In addition to robocalls, AT&T had been ringing my landline with a tacky little recorded message about their bill, and the day before my "service" was "permanently disconnected," I unplugged all three of my phones. So go ahead, AT&T:

HIT ME WITH YER BEST SHOT.

Update 7/15/2015 - My pleasure to send AT&T, SC Dept. of Consumer Affairs, and Bank First a link to this blog post.

Update 8/29/2015 - It'll soon be four months without my "service," and things are going extremely well. Still early in the game, but I'm beginning to doubt that I'll ever pay to have home phone or Internet again.

Update 11/14/2015 - Yesterday marked six months without home phone or Internet. Going into the cooler months will be interesting re the bicycling, but so far so good. I only got one mailing from AT&T's collection agency. When the gang realized they couldn't harass me by ringing a phone, they backed off. Phones have been turned into tools for crooked corporations. 

Update 11/30/2015 - Consumers Union just now exposed our corporate-controlled, paid-off stooge of a Congress for creating a loophole whereby crooked corporations like AT&T can route robocalls to cell phones. I quit participating in America's two-headed, one party SHAM of an electoral system years ago.

Update 12/16/2015 - I love it when AT&T drops by my house lookin' for business and sez it costs me gas to use pay phones and the library. That's when I smile EXTRA BIG and tell 'em about... The Bicycle. It's also been a ton of fun tellin' folks that I no longer have a home phone and explaining why. Bicycling is working out - pardon the pun - better than I expected. Temps have generally been mild so far this winter, but I've taken several rides in the 40's without any problem. 

Update 1/12/2016 - Tomorrow marks eight months, and the winter bicycling is going SUPER well. This morning's ride featured wind chills in the 17-24 range, but with ski gear, I wuz too WARM by the time I completed my 4.5 mile trip to the library. #FUN

Update 1/21/2016 - LOVE the bicycling, and in addition to all the moolah I'm savin' on gas n phone bills, this morning I scooped up a quarter, two coppers, and a nickel - all in one spot - on my way to the library. Hee hee: It PAYS to eliminate robocalls. 

Update 2/10/2016 - Better still is the absence of political robocalls. I quit voting long ago, and the robocall situation epitomizes why. 

Update 3/11/2016 - Winter is quickly winding down in South Carolina, and the cold-weather bicycling turned out to be nuthin' but fun. Couple months shy of the one year mark, and I'm enjoying the absence of home phone and Internet more than ever. It's all in whatcha get used to.

Update 4/16/2016 - 11 months, still goin' strong without home phone or Internet. I appreciate the peace and quiet more and more as time goes by.

Update 4/22/2016 - AT&T's sales guy dropped by this wk, SUCH A PLEASURE tellin' him how much I enjoy not being bothered by robocalls, the money I've saved, and the pleasure of putting my tax dollars to work for me by using a computer at the library. Talk about icing on a cake: I happened to be sittin' on my bicycle in the driveway as we talked. 

Update 11/23/2016 - Since the crooks don't have a way to harass me by phone (robocalls) about the $118.09 bill I DON'T owe 'em, they've offered (by snail-mail) to settle for $64.95. NO DEAL, AT&T. Ya ain't gettin' ONE CENT outta me fer yer deceitful, dishonest ways.

Good riddance, AT&T. No robocalls, I save $80 per month

AT&T plans to throw this rabbit in the briar patch come 5/12 by "permanently" disconnecting my U-verse "service" that they promised me - in writing - for a "Grand Total" of $34.95 per month, then jacked up the price, and I refused to pay. Actually, I view AT&T's high-handed behavior as an opportunity.

For quite some time, I've been concerned not only about a constant barrage of robocalls, but also the fact that I've been spending way too much time sitting in front of my computer. Prolonged sitting isn't good for anyone, neither is the glare from monitor screens. Adding insult to injury, computers tend to be addictive, especially for folks like me who are retired and like to write. I've exchanged one bad habit - watching TV - for another. Fortunately, writing is only one of many interests, and the others cost a lot less than the $80 per month I've been handing over to AT&T.

An extended break in routine is an idea whose time has come, and I look forward to the peace and quiet of not being bothered with robocalls. Never wanted a cell phone, and I refuse to shell out one cent to avoid harassment that greedy, dishonest carriers like AT&T could have eliminated years ago. Things have gotten to the point where I rarely answer my phone. Pay to be harassed? No, thanks.

Last but not least is the satisfaction of not handing over about $200 per year in extra taxes to the corrupt state of South Carolina via the phone-tax scam. Dunno what the state's scumball legislators do with all the revenue they rake in, but they sure don't do anything for consumers. It's been a real hoot watching the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, the so-called Department of Consumer Affairs, and AT&T squirm after I obtained written evidence of AT&T's false advertising and insisted that all communications to "resolve" my complaint with Consumer Affairs be done by e-mail. AT&T and Consumer Affairs - bullies that they are - thought they could force me to go "off record" by AT&T constantly ringing my phone a ridiculous number of times, about 85 on at least one occasion.

America has fallen prey to a government - Repukes n Demagogues alike - owned by unscrupulous corporations. The situation is propped up by a cowardly, brain-dead public that accepts anything dished out by this warmongering, police-state oligarchy and its presstitute mainstream media. Just for the record, I don't blog under any illusion that my efforts will change a thing. Really, folks: I just enjoy speaking the truth.

Will using library computers and pay phones work out? I dunno. It'll be quite a change, but it's worth a try, especially when ya factor in the $80 per month I'll be saving. Considering what I've refused to pay AT&T, I'll come out of the starting gate at least $330 ahead.

Let the game begin.

Update 5/12/2015 - At least for the time-being, I still have partial access to the Internet. I've been without phone service for almost a month, and robocalls have continued, along with efforts by AT&T to contact me by phone instead of e-mail. AT&T is now billing me for $183.76, and I've updated the SC Dept. of Consumer Affairs, encouraging them to refer this matter to the appropriate authorities for an investigation of AT&T for fraudulent business practices.  

Update 5/13/2015 - Speaking of fraudulent business practices, AT&T and other carriers have been scamming customers with unauthorized charges, $50-70 million settlement reached this week with Sprint and Verizon. Kansas Attorney General said it well: "Consumers have a right to know what services they are signing up for and to be clearly informed about the cost of those services." 

Update 6/19/2015 - AT&T disconnected my "service" on 5/13/2015. So far so good without home phone or Internet. KNOWING my phone ain't gonna ring is jus' flat out DELICIOUS, and I have no shortage of better things to do than sit in front of a computer all day. Hope to publish a blog post about how things have been going - in the meantime, here's to PEACE and QUIET. :-)

Update 7/1/2015 - It wuzza hoot seein' AT&T get fined millions (drop in the bucket for 'em, of course) for misleading customers. Thang of it is, AT&T's customers should be reimbursed.

AT&T promotes government tax scam

No wonder AT&T deceitfully quoted me a "Grand Total" and made no mention of taxes and surcharges. These exorbitant fees are quietly levied by crooked, cash-strapped state governments, amounts vary from state to state, and it's a matter that neither phone companies nor legislators wanna talk about. From their point of view, it's best if the public can be duped and cowed into "just paying" phone bills without further ado. Sucker 'em in with misleading rate quotes, then tack on exorbitant charges when bill time rolls around. Exorbitant indeed. In my case, the additional charges amounted to about 50 percent of the rate I was promised.

Last thing the culprits want is news headlines that might cause an overtaxed citizenry to reflect on how they're being ripped off. That explains why so-called news media in my area and elsewhere have turned a blind eye to AT&T's outrageous bait and switch marketing ploy, and why the South Carolina Attorney General's Office quickly referred me to the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs, a toothless agency limited to "facilitating a resolution" of disputes with businesses.

My situation doesn't really constitute a "dispute" at all. It constitutes a simple, straightforward case of the marketing ploy known as bait and switch. The reason nothing is being done to stop crooks like AT&T is due to the nature of this corporate-controlled government and a paid-off mainstream media. If I hadn't lucked out and managed to obtain written confirmation of the rate I was promised, I wouldn't have ever attempted to confront the power structure's deceitful effort to soak people for extra revenue. Trying to downplay taxes, surcharges, fees, etc. is bad enough, but when there's no mention of such charges, even in general terms, and a rate is touted in writing as a "Grand Total," it becomes fraud, pure and simple.

It wuzza hoot the way AT&T "mistakenly" overbilled me about $165 when I got my first statement for U-verse, and then gradually - as I complained - lowered the amount down to an additional $17 in an effort to dupe me into thinking "Wow - look how much AT&T has reduced my bill," when in fact, of course, AT&T was increasing my bill from the $34.95 per month I was promised to a whoppin' $52 per month. The absurd ploy was even emblazoned on my account in the form of a graph. Along the way, billing amounts have inexpicably changed several times, raising questions about exactly how AT&T "computes" these additional charges.

AT&T's nauseating degree of gall evidences how utterly corrupt this government - Repukes and Demagogues alike - has become, and how powerless consumers are when confronted with corporate fraud. Likewise for AT&T claiming (I got it in writing in an e-mail) that they "couldn't calculate" the additional charges. Never mind, of course, that they have no problem "calculating" such charges when bill time rolls around. The person I communicated with in their president's office never did get around to offering a reasonable explaintion of the company's glaring misuse of the term "Grand Total," and I wasn't surprised that AT&T balked at my insistence on communicating only by e-mail. Nor was I surprised that the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs tried to persuade me to communicate with AT&T on the phone instead of by e-mail. It was a hoot when AT&T stated (here again, I got it in writing in an e-mail) that they would never include those additional charges as part of a "Grand Total." Standard definitions of terminology aside, AT&T apparently thinks folks should agree to buy their products wihout knowing how much they cost.

Isn't it a shame when government aligns itself with crooked corporations like AT&T, Toyota, GM, etc. ad nauseum in an effort to pump ill-gotten gain into corporate coffers? The "phone-tax and surcharge" scam bears stark similarity to the Homeowners Association (HOA) scam, whereby crooked legislators allow neighborhood gangs to bully homeowners into handing over what amounts to extra taxes.

I quit voting over a decade ago, and the fact that elected officials are beholden to crooks like AT&T epitomizes my reasons for refusing to participate in this corporate-controlled sham of an electoral system. It's gotten to the point where we don't even have a free press in this country. Americans are confronted with a pervasively crooked power structure - tyranny is the word - that cannot be remedied at the ballot box.

Update 4/29/2015 - It has now come to light that AT&T's top advertising honcho - Aaron Slator - has been fired, and the company sued, due to a whistleblowing employee exposing racist images she found on Slator's cell phone. Nothin' like pristine, unassailable character when it comes to advertising. Worse yet, racism seems to be a systemic problem within AT&T.

Update 5/3/2015 - check out Time Warner's claim - at least they attach fine-print making vague reference to "additional" charges - of Internet only for $14.99. In South Carolina, that quietly prompts a tax - er I mean "surcharge" - of about 40%, increasing the monthly fee to around $21.00. 

Update 4/9/2015 - Not surprised that South Carolina's Attorney General - the son of Congressman Joe Wilson - is embroiled in controversy over his dismissal of a Special Prosecutor charged with investigating public corruption in the South Carolina legislature. Maybe he should hand the investigation over to the South Carolina Dept. of Consumer Affairs...

NEWS BLACKOUT re folks like Heather Barwick - a SC woman raised by lesbians - speaking out against same-sex "marriage"

WIS-TV has joined ranks with WLTX News19 in its unwarranted censorship of remarks critical of the LGBTQQIAAP gang. My impression of WIS as a sanctuary of free speech and impartial news coverage was sadly misplaced. My concerns about the absence of a free press in this country are right on target.

Heather Barwick's courageous letter to the homosexual community conveys the sincerity of conviction and the tenderness born of experience. She immediately expressed concerns that her voice would not be heard, and those concerns were well justified.

Today, after days of local media blackout, I placed a post on WIS-TV's Facebook page asking if they had done a story about Heather, and I included a link to an article about Heather's peers also speaking out in spite of bullying from the LGBTQQIAAP gang. About an hour later, I noticed that my post had been removed, and I asked WIS for an explanation, which they ignored.

The implications of mainstream media blocking stories about folks like Heather are enormous. It points to an Orwellian society controlled by sheer, unmitigated propaganda. Heather Barwick and her peers speak the truth, not to mention the fact that homosexuals are also beginning to speak out against subjecting children to same-sex "parenting." As the truth comes out, a recent study published in the British Journal of Education, Society, & Behavioural Science concludes that children subjected to same-sex "parenting" are indeed negatively impacted.  

How dare the "news leader" in Columbia, South Carolina ignore one of the capitol city's own residents willing to risk life and limb to expose such an important story? What a thigh-slappin' hoot that WIS has the unmitigated gall to tout its investigative clout. I was first alerted to WIS' outright lie in that regard when the station refused to interview a local professor of criminology who dares to speak out against the blood-spattered horrors of high speed police pursuits. 

The powerful, bullying nature of the LGBTQQIAAP gang obviously cannot be overestimated. The very idea that mainstream media in this country would gang up against defenseless children crying out to be heard. Likewise for a brain-dead, brainwashed American public so profoundly tail-tucked one has to wonder if its ability to discern right from wrong has been forever lost. I can't help being reminded of the public's deafening silence in response to the cold-blooded murder of teen-aged Marine recruit Jason Tharp.

The "Land of the Free" is in one sorry state of affairs.

Update 3/23/2015 - I tweeted WIS-TV and Jack Kuenzie - their "Senior Investigative Reporter" - a link to this post. I got a tweet back from Jack saying my "claim about the USC prof is absurd." Maybe WIS-TV's "Senior Investigative Reporter" has never heard of USC Professor Geoffrey Alpert (maybe he's never heard of Heather Barwick either). On WIS articles re high speed police pursuits, I've posted comments many times making references to Dr. Alpert's research, encouraging WIS-TV to interview him and do a story about the horrors of these pursuits. My comments have included a link to an investigative report that quotes Dr. Alpert, noting that he's "the country's leading expert on police chases." WIS is doing the public a disservice by not exposing the gruesome facts about these pursuits, and I've pointed that out. WIS has emphasized that they read comments posted on their Facebook page, but of course if newsworthy items are ignored (or removed as in the case of what I posted about Heather Barwick), it doesn't do the public any good. 

Update 3/24/2015 - The LGBTQQIAAP gang's efforts to bully people into silence extend far beyond Columbia, South Carolina. Amidst a continuing mainstream media blackout regarding Heather Barwick, here's an excellent article - from a relatively small publication, of course - exposing how the LGBTQQIAAP gang operates. 

Update 4/2/2015 - Vicious bullying by the LGBTQQIAAP gang has finally sparked a backlash. Money is pouring into a GoFundMe account set up to reimburse the owners of an Indiana pizza shop after bullying from the LGBTQQIAAP gang forced the shop to close. 

Update 4/4/2015 - The GoFundMe account mentioned above raised a WHOPPIN' $842,387. The public is finally gettin' fed up - pardon the pun - with the LGBTQQIAAP gang's bullying. Hee hee -the pizza shop owners got EXACTLY what they deserved, and it comes as no surprise that the guy who started the GoFundMe account - faced death threats and attacks on his family from the LGBTQQIAAP gang. Along the way, the pizza shop owners expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of support.

Update 5/6/2015 - GoFundMe is now helping the LGBTQQIAAP gang bully people into submission. Sweet Cakes by Melissa raised over $109,000 on GoFundMe after the gang ran them out of business and one of the gang's judges recommended the bakery's owners be fined a whopping $135,000. At that point, lest there be a repeat of public support like that evidenced for the Indiana pizza shop, GoFundMe closed down the account. This is typical of the bullying tactics that have become the LGBTQQIAAP trademark. The good news is that an alternate site (problems with AT&T, readers will have to search) has been set up to help reimburse the bakery. Looks like the public is finally getting fed up with the LGBTQQIAAP gang. 

Same-sex "marriage" propped up by the LGBTQQIAAP gang's psychotic agenda

"Mr. Zimmerman had a Great Dane with which he occasionally had sex, but it died four months ago. He now lives with his similarly zoophilic boyfriend and their Dalmatian." - New York Times

The LGBTQQIAAP gang epitomizes a house of cards propped up by one lie after another. Sheer, unbridled nonsense that has turned homosexuality into a fad as this sex-obsessed, STD-infested society proves foolish enough to look to the homosexual community for leadership.

The LGBTQQIAAP gang's fundamental lie revolves around promoting same-sex "marriage" as a "civil right," and necessitates more lies in order to prop up the sham. Distinctions between male and female (segregation) must be blurred or eliminated because such distinctions pose a threat to the gang's absurd "civil rights" analogy. So the LGBTQQIAAP gang's psychotic agenda necessarily includes blabber about men being able to choose to be women and women being able to choose to be men. Sanity is reduced to an Orwellian never-never land where men are viewed as "not necessarily men" and women are viewed as "not necessarily women." Stir in the gang's demand for unisex public restrooms and locker rooms (schools are a prime target), etc. ad nauseum. The gang conceals its ridiculous agenda by using the deceitfully abbreviated LGBT (with an occasional Q thrown in for good measure). The additional letters will be publicized as a brain-dead American public is gradually "conditioned" to accept what promises to be a never-ending parade of linguistic garbage. The gang's latest affront to sanity is the assertion that a change in sexual behavior isn't necessarily a change in sexual orientation. Such a notion is as indefensible as claiming rape is not about sex. By the LGBTQQIAAP gang's convoluted "logic," the intrinsic nature of reason itself is ultimately presented as unreliable.

The creepy, bullying nature of the LGBTQQIAAP gang cannot be overestimated. In Massachusetts, schools must now accept whatever gender a child chooses, and it took a public referendum to defeat the gang's demand for unisex public restrooms in Fayettville, Arkansas. Realizing that its agenda can't stand the light of day, the gang has been less vocal on the national level in its demand for unisex public restrooms. Propaganda spewed to a brain-dead public is the gang's best friend. Free speech is the gang's worst enemy. It's no accident that an openly homosexual legislator in Alabama is blackmailing other legislators if they dare to criticize homosexuality. In my case, speaking truth has gotten my remarks censored and participation in discussions banned by local television station WLTX News 19 on their Facebook page. My "crime" was consistently referring to "LGBTQQIAAP" and pointing out that the gang's demand for unisex public restrooms - especially in schools - is all the more ill-advised for a society struggling to contain an epidemic of child sex-abuse.

The direction things are headed is painfully obvious. Germany - a world leader in the promotion of homosexuality - has now seen the world's first pro-bestiality demo, and a German man is officially claiming he has a "civil right" to have sex with his dog. In Denmark - another leading aficionado of homosexuality - bestiality brothels are both popular and legal. In America, polygamy has been legalized in Utah, and a teenager is proudly declaring - as the LGBTQQIAAP gang promotes incest by blabbering about "Genetic Sexual Attraction" - her intent to marry her biological father. Of course, one of the LGBTQQIAAP gang's favorite techniques is to deceitfully howl that homosexuality is "different" from sexual perversions such as bestiality and pedofilia. In so doing, the gang feigns ignorance of the obvious fact that the common denominator linking homosexuality to other forms of sexual perversion is the discarding of traditional sexual norms.

Nationally franchised Planet Fitness gym has joined forces with the LGBTQQIAAP gang by cancelling a woman's membership after she complained about a man in the women's locker room. Use of the men's or women's locker room is dependent - under Planet Earth's Orwellian banner "judgement free zone" - on a person's "sincerely self-reported gender identity," and the "transexual" in the locker room claimed to be a woman. This headline-grabbing story may signal the beginning of a high-profile effort to force national acceptance of unisex public restrooms and locker rooms. And don't be shocked if it turns out the no frills, exceptionally-low-priced-membership "gym" is funded by special interests, both public and private.

As things now stand, the next "new normal" is anyone's guess. Stay tuned as the LGBTQQIAAP gang dupes gullible Americans into accepting most anything imaginable.

Update 3/15/2015 - Notice how USA Today promotes the absurd notion of "Genetic Sexual Attraction" in this article about the teenager planning to marry her father. Presstitute mainstream media is the LGBTQQIAAP gang's primary tool for spreading lies. 

Update 3/16/2015 - The branch of the LGBTQQIAAP gang that most likely played a major role in Massachusetts' schools now having to accept the gender a child "chooses," identifies itself as GLSEN. I wonder how many Americans are aware of GLSEN instructing school children how to perform various homosexual techniques, including the practice of "fisting." GLSEN has been infiltrating schools for many years via Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs.

Update 3/18/2015 - Columbia, South Carolina resident Heather Barwick - raised by lesbians - is speaking out against same-sex "marriage," and the LGBTQQIAAP gang - epitomized by Yahoo "Parenting" - is throwing its usual tantrum when anyone dares to expose a few unpleasant facts about the gang's inane "lifestyle." Be sure to click the link to Heather's SUPERB essay - she speaks SO admirably for her many peers. While Americans are making sure they don't offend members of the LGBTQQIAAP gang, maybe they should exercise some compassion and common sense regarding the helpless, hapless children subjected to these so-called "marriages." Of course, most homosexuals were raised by heterosexuals and have no concept of that it's like to be raised in a same-sex "marriage." The homosexual community's lack of empathy is as obvious as it is repulsive.

Update 3/20/2015 - South Carolina's mainstream media - most notably those in Columbia - musta not heard about Heather Barwick (see 3/18 update). Nuthin' like unbiased news coverage when it comes to the LGBTQQIAAP gang. Meanwhile, Heather is not alone in taking a stand: Other victims of "same-sex parenting" are also speaking out against same-sex "marriage," and those who dare to do so are being BULLIED by the LGBTQQIAAP gang. Victims have had enough of the gang's bullying and are producing a book about their experiences. Stay tuned.

Update 3/22/2015 - Homosexuals themselves are now speaking out against subjecting children to same-sex "parenting." Two world famous fashion designers - Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana - are being supported by an open letter from Heather and several of her peers. 

Update 3/23/2015 - Regarding GLSEN and its Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs in schools (see 3/16 update), I came across this story of an Irmo, South Carolina high school principal who resigned back in 2008 rather than be bullied into approving such a club. Hooray for Mr. Walker, and at this point, nobody should be surprised that WIS-TV "neglected" to expose GLSEN's teaching schoolchildren homosexual techniques. If Americans are lame-brained and cowardly enough to allow the LGBTQQIAAP gang to run their public schools, so be it.  

Update 11/17/2015 - The LGBTQQIAAP gang is now demanding "unisex" public restrooms at the University of South Carolina. Depend on "news leaders" like WIS and WLTX to provide biased coverage favoring the homosexual community. 

Update 5/11/2016 - Texans are waking up to the LGBTQQIAAP gang's psychotic agenda. Students "can no longer use the terms 'boy' and 'girl' and must abandon gender references..."

Update 6/3/2016 - 5/31/2016 article by Rachel Lu offers an apt summary: A time of collective insanity, the LGBTQQIAAP movement will self-destruct.

Update 1/28/2017 - A German sociologist, Gabriele Kuby, has dared to publish a book, appropriately titled "The Global Sexual Revolution: Destruction of Freedom in the Name of Freedom."

Update 2/4/2017 - The LGBTQQIAAP gang's war on sanity further exemplified as the British Medical Association now instructs doctors to use the term "pregnant people" instead of "expectant mothers."

AT&T tries bait and switch

4/3/2018 update: AT&T illegally disconnected my access to 911 when they permanently disconnected my telephone. Stay tuned.

I'm fed up with the telephone industry, especially AT&T. Robocalls are bad enough - I get two or three per day Monday thru Saturday - and now it's an ongoing, inexcusable effort to force me to pay more for U-verse than I was quoted.

It all began the first few days of last December when I called AT&T to discuss cancelling both my Internet and phone (I have a land line) service. Charges had been runnin' 'bout $72 - $80 per month, and given the constant barrage of robocalls - which had prompted me to generally avoid answering my phone - it just didn't seem worth it.

The lady I spoke with was very nice, seemed sincerely interested in helping me, and wound up quoting me a rate of $34.95 per month for a year if I would sign up for U-verse, which I gladly accepted. When AT&T showed up to install the U-verse, I inquired again about the rate. He quickly confirmed what I'd been told, and e-mailed me a copy of the charges (installation and modem fees waived), which ended off with a "Grand Total" of $34.95 per month.

No mention was made verbally or in writing of any addtional charges.

All well and good until charges showed up on my new U-verse account. Initially, I was billed for over $200, but after several online chat conversations with AT&T, that was gradually reduced to a little over $52 per month. AT&T dug their heels in for the $52 per month, and the online chats got somewhat less than cordial. 

ALWAYS - I repeat ALWAYS - get it in writing when AT&T specifies charges that you are in agreement with. Had I not obtained written confirmation, it's anybody's guess as to what I would have wound up being charged.

I refused to pay anything unless I was billed for the amount I had been quoted, and the next thing I knew, I got a nasty notice via snail mail advising me that my service would be "temporarily interrupted" the following day unless I forked over the $52 per month. So I immediately filed an online complaint with the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs.

Good thing I got to Consumer Affairs' website when I did.

Next morning, my phone had been disconnected for all but emergency calls (see 4/3/2018 update). Of course, the robocalls continued, and my Internet usage was restricted to e-mail, Facebook, and, for a short while, Blogger. Attempts to navigate to other websites prompted a nasty, full-screen pop-up berating me to pay the fifty-two bucks. 

I persevered, and it took about a week before Consumer Affairs e-mailed me confirmation that AT&T had agreed to $34.95 per month, and I needed to pay for two months based on that rate. I paid the amount within hours after receiving notification from Consumer Affairs, full service was restored, and I hoped the matter had been resolved.

But alas.

My next bill (the current one) popped up for about $92, and I've again complained to AT&T (Consumer Affairs had given me contact info for someone in AT&T's president's office), with a copy of this latest complaint to the person I initially communicated with at Consumer Affairs. I e-mailed my complaint Monday, my bill is due on the 27th, and I haven't heard hide nor hair from Consumer Affairs or AT&T.

I can understand errors on the first bill for U-verse. But there's no excuse whatsoever for my service being interrupted for a week. Nor is there any excuse for the same thing starting all over again. This entire matter amounts to nothing more than a bait and switch tactic, with a dose of bullying thrown in for good measure. The 27th will be here soon, and I suppose AT&T plans to once again "temporarily interrupt my service" in an effort to make me accept a higher monthly rate than I was quoted. 

Clean up your act, AT&T.

Update 2/19/2015 - AT&T is developing quite a reputation for bait and switch. The FTC is suing AT&T over the company charging customers for "unlimited" data, then throttling the data. "'Unlimited' means 'unlimited," says the FTC. Someone also needs to tell AT&T that "'Grand Total' means 'Grand Total.'"

Update 2/20/2015 - 
> My tweets with a link to this blog post are being blocked from appearing in Twitter's real-time posts. Likewise re the tweets appearing on my Twitter profile page. Corporate CENSORSHIP in the age of the Internet. My pleasure to expose Twitter and AT&T on Facebook. 
> Who woulda thought? My Facebook posts with a link to this blog post are also being blocked from appearing in real-time. AT&T and their crooked, bullying cohorts don't like it when folks dare to expose AT&T's inexcusable behavior.

Update 2/23/2015 - 
> This morning I heard from the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs advising me that they will once again reach out to AT&T. Stay tuned as consumers get a firsthand look at how AT&T bullies its customers.
> AT&T prefers to argue instead of correcting my bill, realizing, of course, that the so-called South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs has no legal jurisdiction in the matter. Here's a copy of the e-mail I just now sent to Consumer Affairs with a copy to AT&T:

"I didn't speak with AT&T the last time you resolved my complaint, and I complained to Consumer Affairs only after repeated conversations with AT&T. I'm not interested in arguing with AT&T - that's why I contacted Consumer Affairs. 

If AT&T wanted to correct my bill, they would have done so by now - the bill continues to reflect over $90 instead of the $34.95 I was promised - so it appears the situation cannot be resolved through Consumer Affairs.

There's no reason whatsoever - other than a lack of good faith on AT&T's part - that AT&T can't respond to Consumer Affairs' inquiry the same way they did last time, taking action to correct my bill."

> I just love it when crooked corporations like AT&T feign ignorance in an attempt to bully customers into complying with unjust demands. Just now heard from Consumer Affairs with the "news" - who woulda thought? - that AT&T sees nothing wrong with my current bill for over $90. Consumer Affairs wants me to have yet another verbal exchange with AT&T, when the facts of my case have been clear to AT&T since the first part of last December. I refuse to be baited in such a manner. Toothless state "Consumer Affairs" departments - looking out for business interests instead of consumers - are part of the problem when it comes to crooked corporations. I never expected much when I contacted the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs to begin with.

> I understand, AT&T: Crooked corporations and their stooges in state government would rather not converse in writing. Sure am glad I lucked out and got a copy of that quote for U-verse at $34.95 per month.

Updates 2/28/2015 - 
> Consumer Affairs says their actions are limited to facilitating a resolution between customers and businesses. They do not render decisions and have no legal jurisdiction over entities such as AT&T. In other words, the SC Dept. of Consumer Affairs is just another toothless, tax-funded agency that wears consumers out with meaningless back and forth chit-chat.
> AT&T reduced my current bill to about $38 and sent me an e-mail (copy to Consumer Affairs) claiming they would never include taxes and surcharges in a "Grand Total" because they "cannot calculate" such charges. Perhaps AT&T expects folks to purchase U-verse without knowing what it costs. My bill was due yesterday, I'll pay it when the amount is corrected to what I was promised, and I have advised AT&T (copy to Consumer Affairs) to review the definition of "Grand Total." 
> AT&T's claim that they "cannot calculate" taxes and surcharges is at odds not only with common sense, but also contradicts what they state on their website. Obviously, they are able to calculate such amounts and should advise potential customers accordingly. Failure to mention such amounts while offering a "Grand Total" price for U-verse, and then billing customers for such amounts epitomizes the marketing ploy known as "bait and switch." 

Update 3/9/2015 - Just for the record, I was referred to Consumer Affairs by the SC Attorney General's Office. Wonder why the SC Attorney General isn't taking a direct interest in what appears to be a bait and switch tactic.

Update 2/12/2015 - AT&T is now billing me for $86.40 - the correct amount (for two months) should be $69.90. I've updated Consumer Affairs (copy to AT&T) and have once again emphasized my willingness to pay the bill as soon as it's corrected to the amount I was promised. Truly a shame that paid-off legislators - Repukes and Demagogues alike - allow crooked corporations like AT&T to kick consumers around. 

Update 4/15/2015 - Effective today, AT&T has once again interrupted my service. I notified AT&T and Consumer Affairs via e-mail that I have no intentions whatsoever of paying AT&T one cent until my bill - now three months worth including April - is corrected to $34.95 per month. Consumer Affairs replied back that there's nothing more they can do. Isn't it wonderful that this paid-off, corporate-controlled government gives consumers such great recourse against crooked corporations?

Update 4/16/2015 - Future payments to AT&T - if any - will reflect a credit for each day my service has been interrupted.

Update 4/29/2015 - AT&T now says they will "permanently" disconnect my service if I don't pay by May 11. Real hoot when corporations are allowed to promise a rate in writing, then not honor it, and tack on about 50% of the rate as an additional charge. Apparently, AT&T expects folks to agree to pay for their product without knowing the cost. 

HOAs empowered by special interests, crooked state legislators

Talk about grand larceny. By what rhym or reason are these mafia-style gangs known as Homeowners Associations (HOAs) given the right to foreclose on homes? Does anyone else except tax authorities or mortgage holders have such a right? Can your doctor take your home because of money he claims you owe him? Your dentist? Your mechanic?

Does anyone in their right mind think HOAs should be allowed to literally strong-arm property owners out of hard earned dollars? Allowed to levy costs as the gangs see fit - often "punishing" homeowners who dare to speak out against the racket - backed by the tyrannical power of being able to foreclose on homes if people don't cooperate?

As the well-orchestrated racket provokes organized opposition all across the country, take at look at the filthy rich, special interest groups who bribe - er I mean lobby - bloodsucking state legislators to throw homeowners under the bus. Here are a few of the main cuprits:

National Home Builders Association
National Association of Realtors
Community Association Institute (CAI)
Property Management Association
Associa HRW, Inc. (America's largest property management firm, ramrodded by Texas legislator John Corona who started this whole thing about giving HOAs legal rights to foreclose on homes.)

I always get a thigh-slappin' HOOT out of folks who think this profoundly corrupt system of "government" can be remedied at the ballot box. I caught on to the "Your Vote Counts" scam years ago when I associated a common sense analysis of this two-headed, one party SHAM of an electoral system with a book I was assigned to read while earning my degree in Government and Public Administration. If you get a chance, read "An Economic Theory of Democracy," by Anthony Downs. Mr. Downs exposes a system fueled by corruption, pure and simple. A devil-take-the-hindmost affair, wherein "rational" political behavior is defined as whatever it takes to maximize votes. Period. Only recently did I realize the sarcasm so cleverly conveyed by the book's title.

Amidst compelling evidence that America is now an oligarchy, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Dr. Paul Craig Roberts has addressed the Washington gang's "selling" of political access, and the topic was given further exposure by this late-breaking article and video from CNN.

Insofar as Homeowners Associations are concerned, factor in a slew of local business interests that stand to take YOUR money via these neighborhood gangs. Everything from attorneys to ditch-diggers, and it's anyone's guess regarding how certain businesses get "chosen" to implement cooked-up projects, not to mention the fertile ground for kickbacks. Check out Associa HRW, Inc.'s 2/11/2015 seminar in Raleigh, North Carolina advising HOAs how to dog it over property owners when it comes to collecting the moolah.

Options to purchase properties free from HOA dictatorships are rapidly disappearing as crooked legislators allow almost all new developments to be subject to the scam. Meanwhile, my neighborhood - Quail Hollow, in West Columbia, South Carolina - is declaring dues mandatory, even though such dues have been voluntary for almost half a century. I wonder how many HOA gangs in similar neighborhoods are doing likewise.

I understood all too well when someone recently e-mailed me expressing their shock and dismay upon discovering that their HOA was part of a racket deeply entrenched in their state legislature. The name of the game, of course, is for corporate-controlled legislators to empower HOAs very quietly, making sure the public isn't aware of what's going on.

Know your enemies, folks. Chances are, the names of your elected representatives will be at the top of the list.

Update 2/13/2015 - Here's a late-breaking story (with video) about yet another homeowner - this one in South Carolina - unduly harassed and fined by an HOA. The very idea of state legislators empowering these gangs to bully homeowners by threatening to foreclose on homes. 

Update 3/13/2015 - Hot-off-the-press article re complaints about HOAs in South Carolina.

WLTX censors criticism of the LGBTQQIAAP gang's demand for unisex public restrooms

WIS News 10 has now joined forces with WLTX - and the LGBTQQIAAP gang - in removing my comments. As I've said, the LGBTQQIAAP  gang's worst enemy is free speech.

Let's get a few things straight: I couldn't care less what consenting adults do to each other in private. I do care about free speech and a free press.

Columbia, South Carolina's WLTX News19 recently published a post on Facebook referencing the day's breaking news of a child sex-ring orchestrated by a former reserve deputy with the Richland County Sheriff's Department. Stories of a similar nature have been popping up with ever-increasing frequency as America rushes to discard traditional sexual norms.

I posted a comment critical of looking to the LGBTQQIAAP gang for leadership, especially the gang's ongoing demand for unisex public restrooms in schools. Quoting as close to verbatim as I can recall, here's what I wrote: "Yes, America obviously needs to look to the LGBTQQIAAP gang for leadership. QUICK: Give in to the gang's demand for unisex public restrooms, especially in schools." WLTX removed the comment and banned me from posting comments on their Facebook page.

I'm appalled by WLTX's attitude toward free speech. To the best of my knowledge, similar comments I've been posting on similar articles published by other local news organizations have never been removed, nor has any local media ever banned me from posting comments.

"Similar comments I've been posting" probably holds the key to understanding WLTX's high-handed response. Most Americans who question the wisdom of discarding traditional sexual norms have been bullied into silence by the onslaught of pro-homosexual propaganda, which adds insult to injury by frequently ridiculing anyone who dares to express a different point of view. Then there's those online attacks - often anonymous - hurling every insult imaginable in an effort to intimidate anyone who speaks out against the LGBTQQIAAP gang's agenda. Underscoring the utter contempt for free speech, a homosexual legislator in Alabama is now openly blackmailing legislators in an effort to prevent them from speaking out against homosexuality. Americans have been both brainwashed and bullied into a cowardly acceptance of sheer absurdity. Obvious even to the most casual observer is the fact that the LGBTQQIAAP gang is at odds with the fundamental human right of free speech.

The issue of unisex public restrooms strikes at the heart of the LGBTQQIAAP gang's absurd agenda. Without unisex public restrooms, the "civil rights" argument falls apart, a fact the gang is acutely aware of. Someone daring to speak out against unisex public restrooms poses a fundamental threat to the gang's overall agenda, not to mention someone exposing that agenda by referring to the gang in its repulsive entirety as opposed to the intentionally misleading abbreviation "LGBT".

I take special pleasure in exposing "news" organizations when they affront free speech. WLTX is a long-time local wannabe whose overall news ratings never made it to the front of the pack, even after hiring weatherman Jim Gandy from the Columbia area's undisputed leader, WIS News 10. Imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, but WLTX missed the better point. News leaders don't remove comments and ban people from participating in discussions unless there's exceptionally good reason. News stations with integrity are sensitive to free speech issues, and their policies reflect the fact.

Get with it, WLTX. Attempting to bully people into silence is a bad idea.

Update 2/4/2015 - I e-mailed WLTX the link to this blog post, and I've been using Facebook and Twitter to spread the word about the station's unwarranted censorship. WLTX - which touts itself as being "On Your Side" - refuses to even acknowledge receipt of my e-mail.  

Update 2/22/2015 - As the LGBTQQIAAP gang demands unisex public restrooms, especially in schools, there's evidence galore that America's sex-obsessed society is rapidly spinning out of control. Another child sex-ring has been exposed - this time in Minnesota - and two recent cases involving teenagers sexually abusing young children underscore the sorry state of affairs. In South Carolina, a 14-yr-old girl filmed a toddler performing a sex act on her, and in Georgia, a 17-yr-old boy admitted to sexually abusing two children under ten, "forcefully and against their will." This month in Arkansas, a man filmed a woman and her toddler using a public restroom, and it's noteworthy that the citizens of Fayetteville, Arkansas recently voted down the LGBTQQIAAP gang's demand for unisex public restrooms. 

Update 2/23/2015 - 
> My Facebook posts exposing WLTX News19' unwarranted censorship are now being blocked from appearing in real-time, and Twitter is blocking my tweets to WLTX from appearing on my profile page. WLTX and its friends can't stand the truth.
> Easy to see why WLTX and their friends in the LGBTQQIAAP gang are so hypersensitive to criticism. In South Carolina, yet another case of pedofilia made headlines today re a 33-yr-old "basketball coach" and a 15-yr-old victim. Facebook comments include the usual blabber implying that such relationships are harmless. As foolish Americans look to the LGBTQQIAAP gang for "leadership" and give in to the gang's demand for unisex public restrooms, especially in schools, don't be surprised if pedofilia becomes the next "new normal." 
> Beyond demanding unisex public restrooms in schools, this article from today's headlines provides yet another example of how the LGBTQQIAAP gang forces its absurd "lifestyle" on children.

Update 2/25/2015 - 
> As foolish Americans rush to discard traditional sexual norms and look to the LGBTQQIAAP gang for leadership, South Carolina is again in the headlines. Today's news features a 36-yr-old married (father of three) assistant high school principal charged with having a sexual relationship with a 16-yr-old female student.
> Yet ANOTHER case of pedofilia in South Carolina - 34-yr-old woman, 15-yr-old boy - has made today's headlines.

Update 3/5/2015 - Headlines this week feature child porn, once again involving a South Carolina cop who used to be with the Richland County Sheriff's Department. Totally irresponsible of WLTX to ban people who criticize the LGBTQQIAAP gang's demand for unisex public restrooms, especially in schools.

Update 3/9/2015 - Some folks are refusing to cower down as the LGBTQQIAAP gang demands unisex public restrooms and locker rooms. Note the gym's ridiculous policy of determining male or female by the way a person is dressed.

South Carolina legislators beholden to HOAs

"What the Homeowners Association system does is allow your county to abdicate their responsibility for taking care of you, while they continue to collect taxes. Once in your HOA, you get to pay the county AND the HOA for services you enjoy." - HOA Warrior 

Corrupt government and the good ol' boy network is alive and well in South Carolina. And one of the issues making that clear is abusive shenanigans by Homeowner's Associations (HOAs) all across the state. Three years ago was when public uproar first forced elected stooges to pay lip service to the problem, and this year, as HOA abuse festered and grew, irate homeowners along Horry County's Grand Strand forced their do-nothing "representatives" into the spotlight again, when a whopping 1,000 folks showed up at a meeting in October to protest abuses that never should have come about in the first place. As these corrupt, mini-government extensions of corrupt state and county governments kick homeowners around from coast to coast, it's obvious that the need isn't to reform - the need is to abolish.

It wuzza real hoot watchin' elected stooges for HOAs put on a grand performance at the meeting in Horry County. Ya gotta do something to pacify people when they start coming together, outraged over the unconscionable antics dished out by mafia-style gangs under color of law. Things can get downright embarrassing, especially when such events get publicized. And in this age of the Internet, it's gotten kinda hard for corrupt governments to keep things quiet.

And corruption it is. As I addressed in a previous post, state and county governments have a vested interest in allowing HOA gangs to rip people off. Sure beats raising those taxes, which, make no mistake, is what HOAs are all about. Play the HOA game right, and governments get to continue their wasteful misuse of taxpayer money that would otherwise have to be spent on legitimate improvements for neighborhoods. Such waste was recently epitomized by the unnecessary and unworkable installation of two traffic circles (roundabouts) in my neighborhood, Quail Hollow, in W. Columbia, South Carolina, promoted by the Quail Hollow Community Association as the gang demonstrated its camaraderie with the bloodsucking power structure of Lexington County. Next thing ya knew, the gang suckered a sufficient number of residents into relieving Lexington County of the burden of maintaining stop signs and street markers. I was one of many residents who declined to participate in the voluntary effort. It's a howling thigh-slapper when folks start paying for things they've already paid for. Of course, the gang is looking forward to strong-arming residents out of dues sufficient to pay for stop sign and street sign maintenance, and no telling what else as the gang bullies residents to pay dues, based on a ridiculous "neighborhood voting" shenanigan offered up as justification for suddenly making dues mandatory after said dues had been voluntary for close to half a century. HOA dues are de facto taxes, so bear in mind that the more these gangs bully folks, the better corrupt governments like it. Will HOAs stoop to fraud in an effort to fleece folks outta moolah? You bet they will. Check out this lawsuit filed against an HOA in Nevada. Talk about obnoxious, money-wastin' gangs...  

No informed citizen in South Carolina should be surprised at the blabber coming from paid-off stooges - er I mean state legislators - as they "respond" - once again - to growing public outrage over out-of-control HOAs. The very idea, for example, of suggesting - with a straight face - that citizens be "given" the right to sue HOAs in magistrates court instead of being forced to engage in expensive, time-consuming, and emotionally draining "regular" lawsuits. Such an inane "response" to the HOA problem only exemplifies the need to abolish rather than reform. And be extra careful about laws requiring that home buyers be given copies of pertinent information about HOAs. Such laws can increase HOA dues to cover the expense of making copies, keeping information updated, etc. ad nauseum. Here again, the answer isn't to reform HOAs, the answer is to abolish 'em.

A thousand irate homeowners coming together is a good start. Looks like the next protest will need to take place in front of the capitol building in Columbia.

Update 1/2/2015 - Complaints against Homeowners Associations have been pouring in from all across South Carolina since 2005. As this article makes clear, state legislators are no more than paid-off stooges for these terrorist gangs known as HOAs. These gangs are unjustifiably foreclosing on peoples' homes while crooked legislators pander to special interest groups, ignoring the plight of homeowners. 

Update 4/13/2016 - Sometimes the "special interests" turn out to be their own, evidenced by South Carolina's lawyer-generated probate racket. 

Quail Hollow Community Association shows favortism

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Quail Hollow Community Association is now requiring homeowners who have cyclone fences in their back yards (just for the record, I don't have one, and fences of any kind have never been allowed in front yards) to remove that portion of the fence that extends from the sides of their houses. This late-breaking requirement came about over the past year for a neighborhood that got started over 40 years ago.

Not only is the timing bad - especially for a matter that bothered nobody for almost half a century - but I know of only one resident that received formal notification - a letter from the Association gang - about a cyclone fence. I've confirmed that at least one other resident with a cyclone fence never got such a letter, so it's anyone's guess as to which residents have been singled out for harassment.

No wonder the issue of favortism (scroll down to "Common themes" in this article) was spotlighted this year when those 1,000 homeowners protested the way Homeowners Associations (HOAs) are being run in Horry County, South Carolina. In fact, the issue of selective enforcement of regulations is a problem with HOA gangs all across the country.

As I discussed previously, HOAs are state-sanctioned racketeering. Lately, I've been pondering the notion that if people are intrinsically good, we need not have government, and if people are intrinsically bad (which I believe to be the case), we dare not have government. Meanwhile, just how well-organized and powerful these HOA gangs are is unbeknownst to most folks.

It's time to abolish HOAs. They've proven to be far more trouble than they're worth, including physical altercations at meetings expensive, time-consuming small claims actions over the imposition of ridiculous fees. It's a real hoot when South Carolina's corporate-controlled puppets - er I mean elected officials - wring their hands and suggest that homeowner discontent with HOAs might be addressed by "allowing" homeowners to sue HOAs in small claims court. Thanks, but no thanks.

The fox is guarding the hen house.

Can homeowner associations suddenly make dues mandatory?

1/14/2018 update: A FEDERAL LAWSUIT has been filed against several of these neighborhood gangs in South Carolina, arguing that Homeowner Associations don't have the right to foreclose on people's homes. Stay tuned.

1/9/2018 update: Here's where my neighborhood is gonna wind up, thanks to residents who are DUMB enough to pay dues. Latest on this story.

5/17/2017 update: The gang suckered some residents into joining by promising to limit dues increases to 10% during any one year (cleverly implying that dues increases would be unlikely anyway). For 2017, the gang is now proposing a dues increase of a whoppin' 54% for a grand total of $85 bucks (they had already increased to $55). Never underestimate the gullibility of an American public that doesn't mind being taxed twice.

Over a thousand homeowners coming together to protest the way HOAs are being run in Horry County, South Carolina really got my attention. Lately, the HOA in my neighborhood, Quail Hollow, in W. Columbia, SC, Lexington County, has been demanding membership dues of $50 per year, adding late fees for anyone who doesn't pay, and threatening to "eventually" put liens on the properties of folks who steadfastly refuse to hand over the moolah.

This would be understandable - and believeable - except for the fact that for about 35 years, membership and dues were voluntary. Members were clearly earmarked in the Quail Hollow directory, revealing that almost half of the families - 'bout 150 outta 325 or so - declined to join. Then the economy took a dive, and efforts to increase membership started getting more aggressive. Then, within the past couple of years, a scheme was devised by which everyone in the neighborhood was to vote on whether or not dues would be mandatory. The "referendum" - many folks, myself included, refused to participate - was followed by a declaration that "the majority" had spoken, and dues would henceforth be required. Then came announcements of late fees and threats of liens - plus attorney's fees - for anyone who didn't cooperate.

The lawyer I spoke with placed a great deal of weight on what the understanding was when property was purchased. He thought the Association's "voting" scheme sounded like a bluff designed to intimidate residents into handing over their money. He offered to research the issue and provide a written opinion for $600. That would be one Jackson each for 30 interested families, and I've started a list.

Point is, if something's a good deal, ya don't have to force folks to support it. Fact is, the Quail Hollow Community Association is anything but a "good deal." I targeted the gang's ineptitude and wastefulness in a previous post. Moreover, while the $50 per year may sound paltry, only a fool would believe the amount isn't likely to increase. If the gang can suddenly force residents to hand over membership dues, increasing the amount of those dues would be an ever present possibility, along with no telling (literally) what else. The $50 per year smacks of a ploy designed to sucker people into being bullied, with more in store.

As things now stand, it's anyone's guess as to who's gonna sue whom, for what, and when, if at all. In the meantime, I'm finding out plenty of disturbing things about HOAs. State government is involved, either actively or passively, folks are being forced to pay for services ordinarily covered by taxes, and there seems to be fertile ground for some sort of takeover at the federal level. Is there a hidden agenda to put neighborhoods under the direct control of a federal agency such as the Department of Homeland Security? No, I'm not trying to be an alarmist. Amidst daily assaults on constitutional rights, I simply think it's a valid question. And the fact that "Neighborhood Watch" signs have popped up all over Quail Hollow hasn't done anything to ease my concern. Neither has this year's publication of "In the Common Interest: Embracing the New American Community," by the politically-well-connected-Texan, John Corona. Talk about propaganda. Talk about bald-faced lies...

A whiff of tyranny is in the air.