Re-reading the article it seems that using 911 has nothing to do with it. This fees are for fire department services. If an idiot calls 911 with a 'setting the VCR clock' request the call is not charged. If you are in danger of dying after a traffic accident and the fire department attends you are.
This is simply a cash grab using victims to pay for poor fiscal management. Disgusting.
These are the same people that called (still call?) the Coast Guard to save those poor people on Gilligan's island.
Sometimes the 911 calls are very simply mistakes. I worked for a firm where 911 was a direct outside call but an outside line required you to dial 9 first. I was calling long distance and double clicked on the 1 accidentally resulting in '911'. But, yes, there are the calls from idiots and mentally ill individuals calling because McDonalds ran out of McNuggets, etc.
Then again, there are moron 911 operators. I witnessed a car theft in progress in 1995 from my office and called 911 and the operator asked where I was (the eighth floor across the street - about 120 feet) and argued with me that I could not possibly see what I described from so far away. After a few minutes she relented and put me through. The thief got away in the time I spent pleading.
A few years later I called 911 when I saw a plane spewing fuel from the unfastened wing tank filler cap (I took some lessons) and the operator would not take the call saying I could not possibly know what I was talking about, until I explained that if the plane crashed I would spend every effort to make sure the investigators knew about her. The pilot was advised and landed safely at a nearby airport.
Unless it's an immediate emergency I use the local police station number. It usually takes no longer than compared to the the few times I used 911 and keeps the 911 lines open for important calls. Tracy, California residents should do the same.
$300 per 911 call is insane. The mayor and the entire council are begging to be voted out. Yay democracy.
Now, now I'm sure some of the money goes to good, old fashioned, core values like: expensive dining, high-end booze, kickbacks, payola, and expensive jewelry-clothes-cars and general 'bling'. It certainly does not go for silly trifles like safety inspections and protective fencing on the luge track.
Certainly the judge's request that the US Marshals to check and make sure the emails are not a real threat may be unneeded. I'm sure the Austin IRS did not feel that Andrew Joseph Stack's blog content was anything to worry about either.
Re: Kevin Trudeau is a bad guy, but that does not justify what the judge did here
Contempt of court is not a criminal act as in theft or fraud. It is showing disrespect toward to authority of the court. Spamming the judge (or in this case encouraging it) definitely fits the definition. Trudeau has a history of showing disrespect toward everyone, it's about time he is punished for it.
Re: Kevin Trudeau DOES have at least one good point
This article is regarding an FTC matter. The FDA regulates all products that claim medicinal applications - drugs. A drug is a drug whether it is synthesized in a laboratory or gathered in the forest. It has to meet certain guidelines as to purity and consistent concentration. When it does the drug can have a DIN (drug identification number) and then be sold as medicine. It does not actually have to work or do anything claimed, just not be dangerous to consume in the recommended dosage.
The problem with most of the "Natural Cure" products is that they often contain none or far too much of the active ingredient and can have dangerous substances like heavy metals mixed in as fillers. These are what the FDA bans - dangerous, unregulated garbage from shady companies.
You touch upon some truths here but offer no facts or proofs. But, listen, if you think the secret government alien-human hybrid Monsanto created clones in the black helicopters are hovering overhead and listening in on your thought waves just beef up your aluminum foil helmet with another bag of genetically altered Monsanto corn based Fritos and you'll be OK.
I for one welcome our new Monsanto alien hybrid overlords.
Kevin Trudeau is a possibly sociopathic individual and definitely a convicted felon. He preys upon people's fears and ignorance and uses these weaknesses for profit. Putting the judge's email address on the Web site would be a typical lashing out action of a narcissistic sociopathic personality in response to someone that stood between him and what he wanted. In the common vernacular - he could be considered a douche-bag.
It's nice to see the Internet, so often the target of negative media, be a mechanism for exposing corruption.
I watched the first commercials for Cash4Gold with disbelief when they first appeared. 'Who would be so silly to send valuable jewelry to a post office box in Florida?' I said to myself. Well, many people it seems. Now there are several companies offering what Cash4Gold started. Hopefully these will be far more fair and honest.
Th problem is that this unlikely business model practically begs for the operators to cheat people sending in the gold. The consumer laws don't apply because the public are the sellers. Most people can't quote gold prices and have no knowledge of the percentage of gold in the jewelry sent in. Th buyer could claim it was all cheap plated junk or that the 18 karat rings where 10 karat - an easy theft of one third of the gold (purity is 1/24 for each karat so 8/24). Then there is the question of the alloy. Although most alloys are copper and nickel much good gold jewelry is an alloy of gold and silver, palladium, or platinum, themselves valuable metals. These could be "overlooked" by the gold buyer. The fox in the hen-house and assigned as egg counter and the guard by the farmer model comes to mind.
Dale Begg-Smith is the source of those pop-under ads, browser home page hijacks and other disreputable "gray area" software products that make the Web annoying (at best - his ad-ware has probably caused worse). The person that can do this for a living is not someone I personally would associate with, so I can see countries wishing to disassociate with such a person.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: If Michael Steele runs for president, I will leave the country
A small correction on number 14: The Department of Homeland Security is more modeled on the NAZI gestapo than the SS. The handling of internal security and secret arrest, incarceration, and torture of Muslims follows the gestapo model more closely than the SS operations of mass murder at the concentration camps. However, when the DHS starts rounding up and gassing (or at least torturing) Muslims in a wholesale fashion the comparison will be valid. Right now only the CIA is doing that. Also, the SS was a private political army so I guess Blackwater (now XE) is the best modern analog for the Schutzstaffel 'Protective Squadron'. Come to think of it, this explains the name change. 'XE' is far easier to remember and cooler looking when put on an arm band.
I agree. The laws are not being adjusted, they are being bastardized. If I buy a CD, I should be able to listen to it on my computer or MP3 player legally. Why should transferring the content to another format for my personal use be illegal? I am also sick of entertainment industry complaints about losing billions to rampant pirating in places like Quebec and China where the cultural laws make it impossible to sell or buy Hollywood content and the only way get the movies and music is through pirated content.
The major concern is that the "protect the starving artist from the giant international pirate-mafia-terrorist-nazi-commie-taliban conspiracy" rants by the MPAA and governments are being used to remove whatever rights to privacy we have remaining after September 11th made us so numb we agreed to anything.
Now that those idiots in the supreme court have ruled to allow corporations to spend unlimited funds in support of politicians you're going to see the laws being dictated by Sony and Universal using all of those record profits that are mysteriously unaffected by the claimed "billions" of bit torrents they rant about destroying their ability to pay the rent.
I think we need laws in place to protect the rightful owner of an original work. It's the laws that do not allow you to copy a song on your legally purchased CD to an MP3 player and other user restrictions I object to.
Who said anything about prates and terrorists? I want to able to send an email and not have it read, with no warrant or probable cause, by a technician at Verizon, two people at the NSA, and a local Homeland Security goon squad.
There is no question that copyrights need protecting. The laws and mechanisms to do so are already in place. Possibly there are some amendments to be made but that should be the extent of the effort.
My concern is that the government is not that silly as to provide free police and legal resources to corporate oligarchies. This may be a cover for more government infringement of privacy under the guise protecting American capitalism from evil doers (mostly teenagers with more time than money). Even scarier, what if the government IS that silly as to provide free police and legal resources to corporate oligarchies?
This is a bit hash (only a bit). What we need is a private IP task force to control TAM. They could intercept his posts, return edited versions for him to rewrite and post with infantile insults removed and facts and logical arguments added.
On the post: Calling 911? That'll Be $300
Re: Re: 911 overload
This is simply a cash grab using victims to pay for poor fiscal management. Disgusting.
On the post: Calling 911? That'll Be $300
Re: 911 overload
Sometimes the 911 calls are very simply mistakes. I worked for a firm where 911 was a direct outside call but an outside line required you to dial 9 first. I was calling long distance and double clicked on the 1 accidentally resulting in '911'. But, yes, there are the calls from idiots and mentally ill individuals calling because McDonalds ran out of McNuggets, etc.
Then again, there are moron 911 operators. I witnessed a car theft in progress in 1995 from my office and called 911 and the operator asked where I was (the eighth floor across the street - about 120 feet) and argued with me that I could not possibly see what I described from so far away. After a few minutes she relented and put me through. The thief got away in the time I spent pleading.
A few years later I called 911 when I saw a plane spewing fuel from the unfastened wing tank filler cap (I took some lessons) and the operator would not take the call saying I could not possibly know what I was talking about, until I explained that if the plane crashed I would spend every effort to make sure the investigators knew about her. The pilot was advised and landed safely at a nearby airport.
Unless it's an immediate emergency I use the local police station number. It usually takes no longer than compared to the the few times I used 911 and keeps the 911 lines open for important calls. Tracy, California residents should do the same.
$300 per 911 call is insane. The mayor and the entire council are begging to be voted out. Yay democracy.
On the post: IOC Threatens Ski Gear Company For Mentioning That Gold Medal Winner Wears Its Stuff
Re: Re: where does it go??
On the post: Michael Powell A Bit Quick To Claim Google Broadband Is Viable Competition
Re: Re:
On the post: It's Probably Not A Good Idea To Ask People To Spam The Judge Hearing Your Case With Support Emails
Re: A few points
On the post: It's Probably Not A Good Idea To Ask People To Spam The Judge Hearing Your Case With Support Emails
Re: Kevin Trudeau is a bad guy, but that does not justify what the judge did here
On the post: It's Probably Not A Good Idea To Ask People To Spam The Judge Hearing Your Case With Support Emails
Re: Kevin Trudeau DOES have at least one good point
The problem with most of the "Natural Cure" products is that they often contain none or far too much of the active ingredient and can have dangerous substances like heavy metals mixed in as fillers. These are what the FDA bans - dangerous, unregulated garbage from shady companies.
You touch upon some truths here but offer no facts or proofs. But, listen, if you think the secret government alien-human hybrid Monsanto created clones in the black helicopters are hovering overhead and listening in on your thought waves just beef up your aluminum foil helmet with another bag of genetically altered Monsanto corn based Fritos and you'll be OK.
I for one welcome our new Monsanto alien hybrid overlords.
On the post: It's Probably Not A Good Idea To Ask People To Spam The Judge Hearing Your Case With Support Emails
Typical Kevin?
A well documented and up to date synopsis of his career is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau
On the post: Cash4Gold Lawsuit Against Whistleblowers Over; Florida State Investigation Just Beginning
You Can'.t Make Up This Stuff
I watched the first commercials for Cash4Gold with disbelief when they first appeared. 'Who would be so silly to send valuable jewelry to a post office box in Florida?' I said to myself. Well, many people it seems. Now there are several companies offering what Cash4Gold started. Hopefully these will be far more fair and honest.
Th problem is that this unlikely business model practically begs for the operators to cheat people sending in the gold. The consumer laws don't apply because the public are the sellers. Most people can't quote gold prices and have no knowledge of the percentage of gold in the jewelry sent in. Th buyer could claim it was all cheap plated junk or that the 18 karat rings where 10 karat - an easy theft of one third of the gold (purity is 1/24 for each karat so 8/24). Then there is the question of the alloy. Although most alloys are copper and nickel much good gold jewelry is an alloy of gold and silver, palladium, or platinum, themselves valuable metals. These could be "overlooked" by the gold buyer. The fox in the hen-house and assigned as egg counter and the guard by the farmer model comes to mind.
On the post: An Olympian Spammer Discovers That Reputation Is A Scarce Good You Don't Want To Destroy
Dale Begg-Smith is Not Liked by Some
On the post: NY Times Execs Think People Will Pay $20 To $30 Per Month For The iPad Edition Of The NY Times
My Opinion of the Rumored $30/Mo NYT Online Rates
On the post: My Comments To The USTR On Special 301 Report On Foreign Copyright Issues
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: If Michael Steele runs for president, I will leave the country
On the post: My Comments To The USTR On Special 301 Report On Foreign Copyright Issues
Re: any mention of canada this time?
On the post: Beyonce's Bikini Infringing On Copyrights?
Re: Re: wait a minute wasn't there an article about fashion not using copyrights?
On the post: Beyonce's Bikini Infringing On Copyrights?
Re: Yay for puns...
On the post: Entertainment Industry Get Their Own 'Piracy Police' In The Justice Department
Re: Re: Copyrights Should be Protected
The major concern is that the "protect the starving artist from the giant international pirate-mafia-terrorist-nazi-commie-taliban conspiracy" rants by the MPAA and governments are being used to remove whatever rights to privacy we have remaining after September 11th made us so numb we agreed to anything.
Now that those idiots in the supreme court have ruled to allow corporations to spend unlimited funds in support of politicians you're going to see the laws being dictated by Sony and Universal using all of those record profits that are mysteriously unaffected by the claimed "billions" of bit torrents they rant about destroying their ability to pay the rent.
On the post: Entertainment Industry Get Their Own 'Piracy Police' In The Justice Department
Re: Re: Copyrights Should be Protected
Who said anything about prates and terrorists? I want to able to send an email and not have it read, with no warrant or probable cause, by a technician at Verizon, two people at the NSA, and a local Homeland Security goon squad.
On the post: Entertainment Industry Get Their Own 'Piracy Police' In The Justice Department
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Entertainment Industry Get Their Own 'Piracy Police' In The Justice Department
Copyrights Should be Protected
My concern is that the government is not that silly as to provide free police and legal resources to corporate oligarchies. This may be a cover for more government infringement of privacy under the guise protecting American capitalism from evil doers (mostly teenagers with more time than money). Even scarier, what if the government IS that silly as to provide free police and legal resources to corporate oligarchies?
On the post: Entertainment Industry Get Their Own 'Piracy Police' In The Justice Department
Re: Re: Re: Re:
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