Posted (Van Santos) in Bullshit! on December-9-2009
I refuse to *EVER* use a service of AT&T.
Several years back I had both billing and services issues. First I was billed roughly $120 for services I never obtained. My repeated attempts of convincing the company I never was given the service fell on deaf ears. Fine, I paid the charge just to get the nightmare out of the way.
Then my existing service began to degrade, so much so that I was unable to locate a signal in my home and I lived a mile from a transmitter. Before you ask “how did you know it was an AT&T transmitter” let me tell you – I had a friend that was a network engineer for the company who informed me of the location, and also noted this was a common problem with the company.
With an annoying billing issue, suck-ass service, and the company unwilling to help I took my toys and went to play in Verizon’s sandbox vowing to never return to the evil communication giant.
Reading the latest news from the company I have to say I am more than happy that I have left: AT&T is going to cap wireless bandwidth consumption because smartphone users (read – iPhone) are pulling down two much data. The article states AT & T has a 5 Gig cap on all wireless plans, but if that is the case why does the AT&T site state:
Data Plan for iPhone includes unlimited data in the U.S. Access rich HTML email and desktop-level web browsing, as well as Visual Voicemail to listen to voicemail messages in any order you choose.
Color me confused as I always thought unlimited was defined as unrestricted. Next thing you know AT&T will be telling us that 4+1 = 41.
If you think back about the iPhone launch you will remember AT &T was picked as the carrier of choice because they were spending the capital to upgrade their network in order manage iPhone bandwidth needs. Now it looks as if their inability to successfully manage their network means they have to redefine words and the consumer is screwed in the process (once again).
You all know PETA, right? For those of you who don’t know PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an activist group that, ironically, killed more than 10,000 animals from 1998 to 2003 under the “Better off dead than fed” mantra. Well, it seems they have an issue with President Obama killing a fly… You read that right.
PETA has a few words for President Obama: Brush, don’t kill.
After the President very publically swatted and then killed a fly during an interview with CNBC yesterday, the outspoken animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) said they wished Obama had served a better example.
“We support compassion for the even the smallest animals,” says Bruce Friedrich, VP for Policy at PETA. “We support giving insects the benefit of the doubt.”
Friedrich says PETA supports “brushing flies away rather than killing them” and was disappointed that the President had gone ahead and squashed the pesky fly.
A Vatican official is lamenting that many faithful no longer confess their sins, and says some confuse a psychologist’s couch for a confessional booth.Archbishop Mauro Piacenza has told Vatican Radio the sacrament of penance has been experiencing a “deep crisis” for decades. Piacenza, an official for the Vatican office on clergy, says fewer people distinguish between good and evil, and as a result don’t go to confession.
The archbishop said in the interview Tuesday that if faithful don’t have a sense of sin, they might “confuse” confession with “the couch of a psychologist or a psychiatrist.”
This story, while all of three paragraphs, raises so many questions I am having a hard time even starting. Let me try but please hang with me was I get to my ultimate point.
Point #1 – How does the Vatican know confession is down?
Your first reaction may be “Well, the priests say they spend less time doing confession…” But that doesn’t mean confessions are down, maybe the priests who perform confession have become exceedingly efficient in doing so? What is they are seeing *more* people in less time?
Working under the assumption that confession is down, however; does that imply the Church is auditing/counting each individual who goes to confession? Are the masses being tracked, and if so, to what end? Better yet, do they even know they are being tracked?
Point #2 – Why is it a bad thing?
What if people are going less because the time commitments in life mean they have to bunch up all the thoughts for one confession a week, not three?
The Archbishop makes this sound like a lack of confession is a bad thing – what if it is not? What if confession is down because Catholics, or those in the Catholic Church that would seek Confession, have become better people because of their faith?
Less sin would require less confession, no?
Point #3 – Does the church want people to be sinners?
Assuming point number two – the “better people” part – is not that case and people are not becoming “better” people, does that mean the Church would not want them to improve who they are?
Would it make sense that a group that espouses God’s love would wish for other to grow become of that love? If they are not growing – emotionally or spiritually – wouldn’t it be safe to say the Church isn’t doing something right in their teachings or simply trying to limit their teachings so that people never find true enlightenment, thereby creating a cyclical “sinning class”
Point #4 – Confession and Therapy are not the same!!
I, personally, know of no one who goes to confession to address mental health issues, nor do I know of anyone who sees their psychologist to ask forgiveness from god for their sins.
Again, there is no evidence that people are making this leap, rather it appears as if the Archbishop is making an unsubstantiated claim based… well… on nothing – hence unsubstantiated.
Point #5 – The church is now, vaguely, suggesting people do not seek help for mental health issues OR that a lack of confession causes mental health issues.
If you and have individual who is desperately seeking assistance for their actions/thoughts/feelings, who in God’s name cares if they go to a Psychologist first before going to confession?
It’s about the mental health and well being of that person, not about a process or tradition for an organization dating back to the Roman Empire. The Church, the one all about God’s love, should be supporting the person first.
Furthermore, the Church needs to remember without the support, without that person, there is no Church. If a sinner who didn’t seek help – in one form or another – ended up committing suicide the Church would only chastise their actions, disavowing any previous association, and claim that person is now in hell.
So, in the end…
You have a member of the leadership chastising people for not going to Confession but, he assumes it’s a negative. In the same breath, this individual links sinning to mental heath and provides no basis for the statement.
It’s irresponsible. It’s dangerous.
Picture this – you have a devoted believer of the Catholic faith who a mental health concern and goes to a Psychologist but, after hearing this, feels guilty for doings so and then, as a result, they go to confession but stop their therapy. Now, the issues that was being addressed with a trained therapist, is suddenly left needed some form of attention.
They think “oh, but the confession will take care of that” but the emotions and feelings continue to grow, not understanding simply saying “I swore today” isn’t helping the person address the fact that there very well may be a dangerous medical condition at play. Confusion and frustration sets in. Now this individual who was addressing the root cause (or attempting to) is worse off and, possibly, a risk to themselves or the world around them.
How does this help anyone? Really?
This has nothing to do with Religion, Faith, God… it has to do with how of touch, and how unrealistic, the Catholic Church has become.
There are two major forces behind the recent rise in oil and gas prices – seasonal flux and production cutbacks.
Let’s forget, for a quick moment, that the world is in the worst recession in years – possible even a depression – and say things were “normal.” This would mean that demand, specifically in the U.S., would really start to pick up. As a result, traders and producers would start to bid up the price of oil ahead of the expected increase in demand. The problem, however; is that we are not in normal times and travel and oil consumption in the United States is off anywhere from 10% to 30% (depending on the sources you read).
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, speaking on the eve of a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna, said oil prices would continue to rise and that the global economy was now strong enough to support $75-$80 oil.
“The price rise is a function of optimism. Better things are coming in the future,” Naimi told reporters in Vienna.
The guy is flat out wrong.
Not only are economic conditions deteriorating, such a move on their part will only prolong any economic recovery as companies will need to pay more for energy. Their reaction will be to cut the need for energy.
The ONLY reason Saudi Arabia wants to see elevated prices is simply due to the fact that the majority of OPEC countries obtain their funding from the sale of oil. Since the recession kicked in, OPEC countries have faced hard economic times… their money well has dried up… and all of a sudden they need more funding.
Where do the naturally turn– oil.
So, consumption is down, that means producers reduce their inventories and refining capabilities, which in turn means OPEC needs to cut their production in order to inflate prices. Folks, we are almost paying 2007 gas prices simply because OPEC countries need funding for their government. Allowing for oil to be at this level, and not speaking out against price gouging, is another way of providing yet another bailout – this time to foreign governments.
Why does the U.S. Government feel the need to spend money on studying and educating prostitutes in Asia? (Remember, I prefer the professional term whore). It all started with the U.S. paying $2.6 Million to train Chinese Prostitutes to drink responsibly on the job.
Researchers plan to interview 60 sex workers — 36 women and 24 kathoey — to understand the factors that make the prostitutes susceptible to HIV, including economic pressure, sex-change operations, their heavy use of drugs and a Buddhist fatalism that keeps them feeling resigned to their fate.
The NIH funds many studies that focus on HIV risk and prevention in hopes that it can lay the vital groundwork for developing treatment and intervention plans to thwart the deadly AIDS virus.
“and a Buddhist fatalism that keeps them feeling resigned to their fate”
Oh, maybe that is why they get HIV. They just accept that it will happen, therefor it does.
Not having any exposure to the whole whore lifestyle, I’m going to go out on a small limb and say there are two huge factors – UNPROTECTED SEX and drug use. Ya know that whole dirty needle thing… What about these two things need to be student?
Anyway, it finally sounds like someone is questioning why the money is being spent… on such things… outside of the U.S.
But government watchdogs are having a hard time understanding why American tax dollars should go to study the sexual habits of prostitutes halfway around the world.
“This really is a complete waste of money and should not be funded by the taxpayer,” said David Williams, vice president for policy at Citizens Against Government Waste, which tracks wasteful spending in the federal budget.
Now, this is my type of place. Not because of the “nurses” but because this guy is pushing the limit and isn’t afraid to offend. If you even *think* these women are nurses you have other problems you should address.
What I really find enjoyable about this is that I know 3 nurses – professional nurses – that have “naughty nurse” outfits they’ve used with the husbands.
Posted (Van Santos) in Bullshit! on February-25-2009
The whole “artificially inseminated woman who gave birth to 8 children but already has 6 kids because of artificial insemination” situation continues to get more and more… and more… bizarre.
Take three minutes and four seconds out of your life, three minutes and four seconds that you will never get back – just giving you advanced warning, and watch this interview between Nadya and her mother.
Ok, what things do you notice from this interview? Assuming this is the entire situation, here is what I pick up…
She is a liar OR she knew her actions were wrong and felt the need to hide them from her own family
There is obvious some conflict between her and her mother – at times it comes off as friendly and other times it appears true feelings come out
Nadya had always intended on profiting off of her disabled children (notice the comment about writing a book), and if that is the case, is it that hard to jump to the conclusion that she expected to profit from having more children
She believes a masters in counseling (LPC) will allow her to provide a life for all of her children. I’d like to know how she will provide for 14 children on a profession that only pays $34K to $44K
Faith, and her god, will allow her to manage to care for the children
Is it me or does it appear that Nadya has false beliefs that continue to persist even when provide proof to the contrary – also known as delusional. Apparently, I am not the only one who questions her mental status as her father told Oprah ““Now I’m no psychiatrist, but I question her mental situation.”
The Southern California mother of octuplets has been offered $1 million to star in hardcore porn. Vivid Entertainment spokeswoman Jackie Martin said the offer also promises a year of health insurance for Nadya Suleman and her 14 children….Vivid said the offer was sent Tuesday via overnight mail and there has been no immediate response.
All joking aside for a moment, this is where I call bullshit! on the entire situation.
I think all of this was planned out. Frankly, I think the only true bit of information that came from the interview was that she intended to profit off of her children, and it seems like the media are more than happy to help her do so.
Think about this…
She has a publicist
She admitted the intent profit from her disabled child
She and her mother have appeared in a number of high profile interviews, mainly after it came out she already had 6 children
Her father is on Oprah
Dr. Phil will be interviewing the family shortly
Offers, regardless of their origin, are starting to come in
Aside from the “fame” or attention, why would Nadya or her family, want to be involved in such a situation? Maybe the driver is the fact that Nadya has no money and the Suleman family has already declared bankruptcy?
And last week, some eager reporter discovered that Nadya’s mother, Angela Suleman, is 10 months behind in mortgage payments on a home she purchased in 2006 for $450,000. Her mother has also filed for bankruptcy, listing $1 million in debts.
Financial hardship can happen to anyone, bankruptcy shouldn’t lead to an individual becoming a pariah, but events surrounding the entire Suleman situation looks mighty suspect to me. If you can’t sell organs for profit, nor can you sell children into adoption, why would it be legal to plan to have an obscene number of children for a profit? If this whole situation does turn out to be a scam by the entire family, I would be the first to push for an investigation into whether any laws were broken.
“I think that you should hear what my opinion about the Obama election is: that he will not be the next president. I said on my home page in August that if he lost to expect to see the ‘riots’ that 2 Peter 2:13 tells us about. He didn’t lose. But the story is not finished yet. I still think they may begin the riots before Christmas 2008, as I said.”
I have no issue with religion. Actually, I have no issue with individuals with extreme views – no matter how radical or out there they may be. My issue comes down to when such individuals attempt to capitalize on their extreme views via fear.
This “Prophet” sells “survival guides” via his website. Essentially, he is out preaching fear and there is a set of individuals, ones who do not critically look at data and situations, that will simply hand over their money. Sure, one can argue if individuals are that gullible they deserve to part with their money, but still… It’s the modern version of the snake oil salesmen.
Freeborn conceded that he’d issued similar warnings many times before, and still the world kept spinning. Prophecy, he said, is not an exact science. “I’ve been at it for 30 years, and I have always really believed it,” he said. “Now, if we go on, that’s great. Maybe we can get some more people to repent.”
Freeborn may very well believe what he is saying, and his intent is not to cause fear within a segment of society, but it really seems suspect when your only source of income is directly connected to the “message” you are sending.
Ok, with all the searching on information for Gerald Celente and his predictions for the US, I decided to track down a video of him. While none of this information is “new”, you can see his comments in person and judge for yourself.
Posted (Van Santos) in Bullshit! on November-19-2008
Last week an individual by the name of Gerald Celente made a number of bold claims, including that America will become an undeveloped nation by 2012, people will be rioting in the streets and a number of giant corporations will crumble to their deaths.
I called bullshit on his predictions simply because he tends to be very general and ignores his past failings and trumpets his successes.Some of what he is predicting happens every day.It seems there are always protests in the US at one point or another and large corporations fail all the time, but let’s assume for a moment that he is right.Let’s take the worst case and say modern society simply falls apart… simply fails.What kind of world would the United States face?
Looking at statistics and other scenarios where civilizations fall, a good comparison is to that of a country that was on the ass end of an ass kicking (a war torn country).What better example to look to than Germany after World War Two. Understand this is not a perfect “fit” as Germany was propped up and governed by the American, British, French and Soviet governments, but it gives us a good starting point.
So, if our systems simply fell apart we could face:
Hyperinflation – our money would be virtually worthless.Society would turn to either precious metals (Gold, Silver) as means of payment and the bartering for services would be another means of obtaining the items one needs.
People who wished to keep positions of responsibility would have to prove to the masses, or the individuals who held the most power, they were trustworthy and not a threat to society or those in power.
Public infrastructure (roads, railways, water works) could fall into decay, creating an environment that would virtually prohibit travel and commerce.A 35 minute commute may turn into a 4 hour excursion.Energy (Oil, gas) would be limited or non-existent meaning people would turn to wood and coal.
Good bye internet!Telecommunications would fall apart leaving a very select few groups (remaining federal government and educational institutions) with the means of communication, and they would be limited.No cell phones, no wireless…
Law enforcement would become a highly localized issue, kind of a “group rule” scenario.As this is the worse case scenario, local government will have collapsed meaning local police departments will have disbanded leaving people fight for themselves OR put the burden on the remaining military, allowing them to police the nation.
Crime would be out of control – need we say anything more?
Healthcare would be virtually non existent and all health / science advancements of recent years would be absorbed by other governments or lost until rediscovered by future generations.We would be back to a state where the common cold could simply wipe out a large segment of society every year.
Food…We would all suddenly be hunters and gathers.Large farms would no longer be realistic and your favorite places to eat would be long gone…
I’m sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other things that would take place but these are the first things that come to mind by looking at post-war / post-revolution countries (and thinking about every movie I’ve ever seen about Armageddon).
Will this happen… I highly doubt it.HIGHLY doubt it.The World economy is in recession, and a very bad one, that is expected to last for almost another year.It happens, it’s the normal course of business even thought it was caused by extreme events.
If I’m wrong, I’ll flat out admit it… but if I am, it won’t be on the site as I won’t have access to the internet!