America Is Still A Free Country

So, now we have Comedy Central bowing to the murderous demands of Islam. It's forbidden to show any likeness of Mohamed, and Muslims have the right to behead anyone who does? Well, I'm not going to be intimidated. This is still America, and I have free speech. If you don't like it, then leave. NO religion has any more rights than any other here, and certainly those who do not adhere to Islam have every right to ridicule Mohamed. Even Muslims have that right here. Americans ridicule Mohamed, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, and any other religious symbol. Feel free to ridicule Moses, too.
I will continue to put up pictures of Mohamed forever, if need be. It's my right. Oh, and do you know that Persians have depicted him, and let's not forget that historical drawing of him braiding his nine-year-old wife's hair? Yes, he married her at six years old, in fact. If that's not child-rape I don't know what is. Your prophet was no holier than any other, and in many cases not as holy at all. Grow up, Muslims. You start beheading or killing Americans here and you'll be attacked. We own guns, and we know how to use them.
Don't think the politicians will protect you, either. They may try to get your votes by kowtowing to your imams, but We won't. Even if some of us are cowards, not all of us are. Remember that.

Give A Kid A "Back Hander" & He'll Likely Get A Crooked Jaw

Take it from me. I know---because that's what happened. My jaw was undershot and still slants to the left from years of face slaps, always hard ones, that began when I was about three years old and all through Catholic school. Back then (1952-1961) kids were seen as animals who had to be made to respect authority by any and all means. Corporal punishment, in the form of spankings, whippings, pulling hair,etc. were seen as legitimate means to ensure absolute obedience to those in charge be they parents, teachers or other adults.
Sounds positively chilling, doesn't it? But kids were thought of as "little adults" who understood what they had done. Yes, even at 3! Unfortunately, this idea persists among far too many adults today, who themselves had probably been beaten as kids and who regard the biblical "Spare the rod and spoil the child" as God's own parental advise. Sadly, it is. All through the bible, God is quoted as demanding death to man, woman, and child, so people still do "Imitatio Deo" by inflicting war and a host of other sadistic punishments on their fellow man, woman, and child. What a convenient excuse! Do Unto Others Before They Do Unto You.
The bitter truth is that children who are beaten by adults will probably grow up to beat children themselves, or be so afraid of getting beaten (even as adults!) that they mindlessly obey all in authority. Beatings made me a coward. Even now I do everything to avoid angering "those in charge", especially to their face. I instinctively cringe if someone near me makes a sudden hand movement. The last time I was slapped in the face was at age 22, by my father who demanded to see my graduation photos first. Why? Because he believed he had paid for them (I had taken them with my camera) so they were his. Guess what? He'd been treated the same way as a kid. Both my parents had been beaten growing up and saw nothing wrong with it. After all, they'd self-righteously insist, they had gone through it without harm, so who did I think I was when I dissented---on anything?
I was lucky. College showed me better ways of discipline. Even so, my jaw is still crooked, I don't have enough money to get it straightened, and my teeth are breaking and cracking from excess wear and tear due to my bad bite. Sad. Don't do it to your kids, and try to reason with others who do. Report such a person if they continue this practice. You may lose a friend, or a relative might never speak to you again, but you'll have at least saved some poor kid from disfigurement. I know, believe me I do. This won't stop unless all of us start taking notice and speaking out.

I'm not "a paranoid piece of shit", thank you

One of the less gracious (to say the least) comments left for me was that FCS lowered this individual's interest rate and so was well worth the $800---after calling me the above, of course. Well, when I called the banks that supposedly had been called by the FCS representative, they informed me that they had gotten NO such calls from FCS, and that nothing in my accounts had been changed---yet. In fact, I was told to change all my accounts, put a credit freeze on my cards, and contact the Consumer Fraud agency nearest me to fill out a report.
I did so the next morning, and also filed a fraud report with the police. Thank God here in NH we have a 3 day period in which to refuse any verbal agreements! I have a sneaking hunch that the rude commenter may have been an employee of FCS. I STILL say don't trust them, and I hope that commenter doesn't find any "surprises" in his bank/checking/credit card accounts.

Happy Holi-daze

I just got that greeting from a fellow Stumbler, and I think it pretty much encapsulates everything we go through at this time of year. Thank God for Chanukah! No gift buying, but plenty of madness getting through the craft fair season. I finished the last fair this week. No more until February! Isn't having your own business fun? It's sooo relaxing, too. All I have to do until the whole mess starts again is make tons of new jewelry. All I wanted was a hobby! Yes, making a bissel gelt doesn't hurt, but this economy is a killer. Good luck to all you fellow crafters! Don't be in a daze this holiday, if you can help it.
Be safe and live to go through all of this mishegass NEXT year.

MORE ABOUT FCS INTERNATIONAL SCAM---IT'S WORSE THAN I THOUGHT!

I contacted Consumer Protection in my state and my credit cards. Changed all my accounts, filed a police report, and reported the incident to the FTC.
BUT, I also learned that NONE of my banks had been contacted by David Shapiro, and NOTHING had been done to my accounts. Relieved? Hardly, because he had evidently had his own people PRETENDING to be my bank representatives---which is total fraud and identity theft. With my social security number (unfortunately, my bank has informed me it's easy to get that number anyway), and personal information, he obviously planned to use it to get that $800 fee he wanted, and possibly more.
I just now got a phone call from Citi Bank, informing me that I should call an 888 number, enter a message code provided, to check on the status of my Citicard. I have NO credit card with Citi Bank, and haven't had one since last I lived in NYC. Sound funny? You bet! I didn't call the number, as I figured it would activate an account or confirm a (fraudulent) account someone may have opened yesterday, or earlier today. Fortunately, nothing has shown up on my credit report concerning Citi, but they HAD requested info on me. I wish I could say that Experian doesn't give out credit information without my approval, but they insist the Federal Government requires them to by law.I may request a fraud alert be placed on my credit account, and I will be contacting them by phone tomorrow.
Get your credit report now, and do NOT do any business with unsolicited phone call or emails! I'll keep you posted as to future developments.

FCS International Is A Con!

Yes, I was conned. First, a woman with a heavy accent lead me to believe it was my bank, then I was transferred to a man who did not tell me he was working for this company. In short, what they "recorded for quality purposes" was NOT what I had agreed to. What they played back was a tape which made it appear that I had agreed to certain fees. NOTE: none of this was in writing! I feel like an idiot, because I gave personal information, and of course the man said it was all perfectly legal.
Nevertheless, I'm going to my state Attorney General to see what the laws are. That $800 fee was not explained to me as on the tape! I believe they deliberately left out, or failed to record, ALL that they told me. That tape recording is nothing but fraud, but it MAY be legal. I hope not. Do not accept their phone calls! Just hang up. I wish I had.

Are You A Twit?

Just Kidding! But I have to admit this Twitter phenomenon is amazing. People like Newt Gingrich wouldn't waste their time on some flash-in-the-pan blog service, that's for sure! I guess I'll have to toddle on over to Twitter to see what the buzz is all about. If Newt can adjust to new technology, so can I. We're about the same age, I think. Who knows? I could find myself talking to the Prez, or even the House Speaker.