Seems that someone named Joann Maynard of Raleigh is tied to the disappearance of my Blackjack II. Her phone number is 919-413-0450. Feel free to give her a call. No answer when I call. I purposely allowed all of my contacts synchronized with Exchange when someone thought they wiped the config. The only new number was listed as “CB” and this was Joann’s number. I acquired her name through a reverse cell search on Reverse Phone Detective. Someone who either knows or is Joanne has been playing with technology they don’t understand. AT&T is on the case too. For what that’s worth.
Increasing Gun Violence
Increasing Gun Violence
Yesterday gunmen went nuts in Germany and Alabama killing a combined total of 28 people. Both attacks were brazen, calculated and involved an initial attempt on the part of the perpetrators to escape. Both killers obtained their weapons easily and legally. The guns were initially bought and possessed by people considered to be responsible gun owners.
Access to firearms by those with a grievance is readily available. For some reason it’s almost never a convicted felon or someone straight out of mental institution who goes on one of these violent killing sprees. Guns are too prevelent. Since rounding up all the guns is not a real option, what’s the correct response to this problem?
With mass availability of firearms and growing discontent and mental anguish because of the economy I expect we will hear about a lot more of these incidents in the coming months.
IT Jobs on Craigslist
A lot of companies and proprietors who post IT jobs on Craigslist are flat out cheap. Cheap to the point of being ass-hat stupid. I saw a few postings today that just made me laugh at the idiots who posted the positions. I know the economy is bad but you still get what you pay for. I would never hire or trust an “expert in MS Project” with “project management experience” that is only asking for $14.50 per hour. That’s not smart hiring in a down economy, it’s ignorant wishful thinking that will most assuredly end in disaster. Here some of the insulting wages I’ve seen posted for relatively technical, experienced positions:
“Must have extensive knowledge of MS Project 2007; 14.50/Hr“
I don’t care who takes the job, they’re not qualified.
So, you want someone to support all of your technology requirements in your two business locations for $225 a month? Sounds like a bargain! If you are someone who agrees to this position please do so with full recognition of the cheap ass owner you’re working for. You will be used and abused accordingly.
Not only do you get the opportunity to work with cranky, used copiers and printers from multiple manufacturers but you will do it at half the rate of technicians factory trained on specific models. Again, what a bargain for the guy looking for frustrated slave labor.
This has got to be my favorite:
Are they serious? Really? I quote again “thorough knowledge of CRM groups / Help Desk and ERP client environment”. Here’s a hint: If someone even knows what these acronyms stand for they are worth more than this $10 per hour insult. People at Arby’s get paid that much for taking an order. In fact, in NC most people experienced with ERP deployments would make more on unemployment than this job pays.
These postings are an insult to the IT community and each of these employers deserve the failed employees they will end up hiring. I understand the concept of getting the best bang for your buck but these ass clowns are trying to meet moderate to high technical criteria at janitor wages. Get real. The economy is struggling and I’m sure a few very overqualified people have sent in their resumes for these positions. If you’re one of them thanks for running the market wages down. Personally if I were in the unfortunate position of losing a technical job I would take the 60% unemployment and wait until the market rebounds. Once there’s a recovery these jack asses will be forced to pay what skilled people are actually worth.
Oh and FYI: I’d watch out for most of these positions anyway because these fly-by-night cheapskates are obviously looking for something for nothing. If they had any capital they would be searching for talent somewhere other than a site offering free job postings. They may not have enough money to cover the first paycheck.
How bad can the economy get?
I’ve been playing through scenarios in my head to build an image of just how bad the economy could get in America. Imagine this…
40-50% unemployment. 1 in every 2 Americans eligible working Americans without a job. The “great” depression had a national unemployment rate of just over 20%. This could result in closed schools becoming shelters as foreclosures skyrocket to 60-70% while the government continues to protect the banks by pumping more money into them. This would be done so those who still have money without working can keep it. But they won’t spend it. There won’t be job creation and there won’t be any “re-distribution of wealth” in the private sector.
Once it is agreed there won’t be any continued redistribution of money the anti-socialists will cheer – hooray! Capitalism has won! America is a class system. The divide that we see between the haves and have-nots today will pale in comparison as those who have wealth begin to protect themselves in fortress style residences. The personal and private security industries will flourish. Guns could be everywhere.
Education begins to take place inside of shelters and communal living facilities while schools sit empty as shaky municipal governments struggle to pay the increasing tax burden created to support the banks. The rallying cry of politicians will continue to be “save the banks” to protect what little money is left in the hands of a few.
People will walk, not drive, passed their old houses which will sit empty and unkempt. Infrastructure crumbles. Third world conditions will truly exist literally in our back yards. Medical care would become impossible to find and deteriorating sanitation conditions results in a 8-14% casualty rate with the youngest children dying the fastest. Whether you live or die would be determined by nepotism (those born into the wealthy families will survive).
This is the current path America is on because we’ve decided against natural capitalism. Banks are a business and many have already failed. This is what everyone is forgetting. The super banks have already failed. If they had not, we would not be continuing their operations with tax payer dollars. This is so a certain segment of our population has a “safe haven” for their money.
How can you tell which side of this fallout you would be on? Easy. If you could currently take out all of your money from the bank and begin living by cashing your paycheck somewhere (other than a bank) and pay your bills with cash – you’re screwed. It’s only those with vast wealth (100’s of thousands) and capital assets that will keep their homes, fortify them, and live in the top class.
In other words, this could be the beginning of the end for the middle class. In this scenario there would be wealthy and poor and the transition would not be smooth. There would be a rampant increase in crime, black market activity and underworld riches. Education would be a privilege. The majority of children would learn only what their parents can teach them.
How do we avoid this? That’s easy too. Stop the bailouts. Let industries and businesses naturally fail as they should. There is a worse thing than letting banks fail in a down economy. It’s not letting them.
Obama’s 9/11
President Obama better start looking out for the growing drug war in Mexico. The Governor of Texas wants one thousand extra troops at the border to stop the rampant smuggling.
If he’s not careful some of this activity could spill onto our soil and become his 9/11 to deal with.
Knightdale and Wake Forest Pediatrics
Yesterday I was indirectly informed by the Knightdale and WakeForest Pediatrics accounts receivables clerk, Diane, that these practices care more about money than they do about children. I will elaborate on how this information was derived but I want to focus specifically on one of Diane’s comments: “Care of the children is our primary concern but our physicians deserved to get paid”. Now, through an account of factual events I will show exactly how much more hypocritical Diane’s comment was than it even appears on the surface.
Prologue: During a 24 hour period on Feb. 9th and 10th my 23 month old, Logan, had a Grandma seizure and two full seizures. During this course of events we turned to Knightdale Pediatrics, our Pediatrician of record with our insurance company, and the practice denied treatment to Logan, stating financial reasons. Fifteen minutes after Amy left their practice, ashamed and in tears, my son had his second seizure in the parking lot of the Carolina Urgent Care Center in Knightdale. He is in the care of Wake Medical Center this morning as I write this.
Up until yesterday my sons had been patients at Knightdale Pediatrics and occasionally Wake Forest Pediatrics here in NC. Through some service or treatment that is honestly unknown to me we ended up owing one of these practices approximately $400.00. I do not know the actual amount because Amy had all of the conversations about this balance with Diane and to date I have not seen a hard copy of an invoice.
Apparently Amy set up payment arrangements with Diane for a monthly amount. It is unclear if she signed anything authorizing payments in the form of automatic withdraws of my checking account. Even if she did it’s not valid because her names not on the account and her signature would not authorize this. That’s beside the point. The dispute between Amy and Diane began when the practice tried to run my card for a monthly payment. It wasn’t denied. My card number had been changed by Bank of America fraud alert services because a company in Florida, the Xacti Corporation, was trying to fraudulently process transactions against my Visa check card.
So Diane called Amy for a payment last week that I think Amy committed to. She called Amy’s cell number, the one everyone had ending in 4715. Everyone that knows us personally and well knows that Amy washed that phone about two weeks ago and it hasn’t been replaced because she’s carrying the phone ending in 6029 now. She could not check the old messages. Regardless, at some point in the last two weeks Amy did commit to pay $60 to Diane and the practice but neglected to call Diane to make the payment last Thursday.
So after Logan had a Grandma seizure Saturday, a full seizure Monday night and a trip to the ER Amy called Tuesday morning to see if she could take Logan to Knightdale Pediatrics for follow up. She had to call “Diane” for clearance because the practice wouldn’t see her until she said it was okay. So much for caring about the children before money.
Amy asked Dianne if she could come Tuesday morning and make a payment to them on Thursday. Note: we could pay the entire outstanding balance that very day but it would have been nice to wait until Thursday. It was just a request. Amy explained to Diane about the seizure. Diane told Amy she could not bring Logan in unless she made a payment to her on the phone at that moment. Amy got mad and cussed at Diane. Amy just wanted Logan taken care of. Eventually in the conversation Amy agreed to make the payment to Diane and went to okay it with me. I was in the shower.
Amy didn’t want to make the payment without asking me. She got back on the phone with Diane who told her Logan wouldn’t be seen without a $60 payment on the account and the co-payment of $20. Amy got mad and cussed some more at Diane.
So I got out of the shower, gave Amy a wad of cash (she could have paid anything they asked for) and sent her to Knightdale Pediatrics. Money was not an object and we are insured. When she arrived the receptionist would not admit Logan right away. Amy told me the receptionist turned to speak to a doctor in their hallway (I’ll get his name from Amy later). The receptionist returned and said “We have no responsibility to see your children anymore, we can give you the forms to release your records to another practice”.
So there stood my wife with my 23-month old who was shaking with fever in a medical practice that was refusing him treatment. Amy told them she had their money and what “Diane” said about the $60 payment on the co-payment on the phone. They refused to see Logan because apparently “Diane” calls the shots at this practice and if you don’t speak kindly to her the doctors will not like you and they will not treat your children.
Minutes later I met Amy at Carolina Urgent Care in Knightdale. I was going to get back all the money I had given her and put it back in the bank on the way to work. Amy got Logan out of the car and laid him in the front seat to change his diaper. That’s when he had his second full seizure and I ran him into the Urgent Care. Amy couldn’t help but speak about the whole ordeal at Knightdale Pediatrics. The attending physician recommended we go to The Growing Child in Zebulon which Amy says she’s heard good things about.
I called Diane myself that morning. I started the call by letting her know I would never, under any circumstances, return my children to their practice but I wanted to know where the breakdown was between her telling Amy to pay the $80 and when Logan was denied treatment in the office. Her response was “ya, that was before she cussed me out”. She then went on to elaborate to me about how she had never spoken to me about the account and said “I might still be able to work something out with you guys”. I guess it was because I was being pleasant. I responded “Okay, thanks, I understand now. You tried to pressure account collections on Amy, she got mad and cussed you out, you got pissed and decided to refuse my child treatment”. I heard the beginning of her next sentence “No sir…”. I hung up.
So there you have it. Form your own opinion. Apparently if a parent makes harsh remarks to an Accounts Receivables clerk at a medical practice they will refuse treatment. Funny thing is, I can tell you from my own conversation that Diane is not a pleasant person to talk to. After all she’s an account receivables (i.e. collections) clerk.
Knightdale and Wake Forest Pediatrics biggest mistake was never discussing this with me before denying treatment to my child. I will now spread this account of events in every public venue I can find. These events are factual and not opinion. Sure it’s up to their discretion who they treat and they were within their bounds to eliminate my children from their patient list. I will provide them the publicity they asked for.
Now I will only pay the $400 as soon as I actually see a bill. Then maybe the Doctors of Knightdale and Wake Forest Pediatrics can get their paychecks because their “care of the children is their primary concern but (they) deserve to be paid”.
All repercussions aside, this is a fight to me worth having and I’m taking it to the NC medical board.
The GOP smells…. waste.
Republicans listed what they thought was “wasteful spending” in the stimulus bill currently being debated. Here’s their logic:
• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
If the Dept. of Energy labels anything “inefficient” it probably is.
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
I don’t get it either.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
I didn’t get a coupon, did you? Oh wait. I don’t need one.
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
Manufacturing creates jobs.
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
Again, construction creates jobs. It’s stimulus.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
Uh, hell no.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s.
• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
I don’t see how this is creating jobs. Sounds like stimulus for inside the beltway to me.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
• $75 million for “smoking cessation activities.”
Will save on health costs. Should be included.
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
Not a bad idea.
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings.
• $500 million for state and local fire stations.
• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.
If you live in CA this would be a plus.
• $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs.
• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
A half a billion dollars for “repairs”? Seriously?
• $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• $5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
• $850 million for Amtrak.
Long overdue. We need to upgrade our rail systems now.
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.
• $75 million to construct a “security training” facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
So they can disburse those subsidies to millionaires and corporate farms more efficiently.
• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.
Because every man in uniform wants to drive a Prius.
We need jobs now.
As long as we continue to hemorrhage jobs there will be no economic recovery. For all the talk about economic stimulus and job creation there is little or no talk about creating financial incentives that will allow companies to keep workers. Businesses can cut employees in a heartbeat to maintain revenues or stave off losses. And they will. Those positions rarely, if ever, return.
Without political intervention to create financial incentives fro comapnies to keep workers the cuts will continue until we are a nation of unemployed. We don’t need to just look at ways to create “new jobs” that people are unqualified to fill. We need to find an immediate way to let people keep their current positions. No one seems to be interested in including this in the agenda if it creates even the slightest hardship on companies to find a way to keep their workers. It’s an easy out and they’ll take it every time, especially if there’s no embarrassment because all other companies are doing it.
SmartSavingsCenter.com and Xacti Group SCAM ALERT
Today I added Amazon.com on the list of companies I will never do business with again. Last week I attempted to purchase a Haynes service manual for Amy’s car. Amazon directed me to the reseller discountbooks.com. This is a site run by the Xacti corporation out of Boca Raton Florida. It is a front for the phishing scam site SmartSavingsCenter.com. Whenever you buy from discountbooks.com you are invisibly agreeing to a “trial membership” for SmartSavingsCenter.com. If you don’t cancel this intentionally obscured trial within 7 days they hit your card with a $29.95 fee. You will never see it coming.
This scam put forth by the immoral and ethically corrupt Xacti corporation is well documented in any Google search for SmartSavingsCenter. The Editor of Ripoffreport.com even has a site informing “how to get your money back into your bank account” if you are a victim of Xacti’s deception. He makes it sound like it could be difficult for your bank to agree to the refund. In fact when I called Bank of America this morning the scam is so well known that they didn’t resist one bit. Other Xacti websites that are a front for the SmartSavingsCenter.com scam are HotMovieSale.com and Rushmore Towing and Locksmiths. There are probably others.
If you’re a victim of the Xacti corporations immoral internet trade practices you can contact them directly using the information at the bottom of this post. Personally I wouldn’t bother as I understand they won’t cancel the “subscription” over the phone.
Instead try to locate the welcome email sent by these fraudsters when they initiated their malicious activity against you (mine was in the spam filter), retrieve the password for your account, go to SmartSavingsCenter.com and cancel the account. There is even a selection in the “Reason for Canceling” that says “I believe SmartSavingsCenter is a fraudulent service”. Pick this one. Then call your bank, dispute their fraudulent charges and place a fraud alert on your account against this company. The Attorney General of Florida should move to shut these crooks down ASAP. Here’s where the dishonest cowards hide…
Xacti 999 West Yamato Road Suite 100 Boca Raton, FL 33431-4478 Telephone: 561-989-7400 Fax: 561-989-7401
UPDATE:
Since posting this article I received a letter from the Florida Attorney Generals office informing me, as one of many complainants, that they are beginning an investigation of the company. Hopefully they’ll be shut down soon and anyone who requires additional reimbursement from their fraud will get some money back. If you’ve been affected by this scam file your complaint on-line with the Florida Attorney General. Here is a link.