DON KNOTTS IS DUBYA

Found this movie courtesy of educational whisper.

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CHURCH BOUNCERS

Nate posted a link to this ad from the United Church of Christ that NBC and CBS are refusing to air, citing their policy against airing commercials that "deal with issues of public controversy."

Wurtzel, who is in charge of broadcast standards at the network, said such issues should be handled by the news department and not in advertising.

"The problem is not that it depicted gays, but that it suggested clearly that there are churches that don't permit a variety of individuals to participate," Wurtzel said. ''If they would make it just a positive message -- 'we're all-inclusive' -- we'd have no problem with that spot."

Decide for yourself.

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VINTAGE WRISTWATCH SPOTLIGHT

Men's Vacheron / LeCoultre 37-Diamond Mystery Dial

I photographed this gorgeous, very rare late 1950's Vacheron & Constantin / Jaeger LeCoultre "Galaxy" model Mystery Dial.



As some of you may know, Vacheron & Constantin and Jaeger LeCoultre are separate companies, but during the fifties, they were under the same corporate umbrella. The 37 diamond Galaxy Mystery Dials from this period are the only LeCoultre wristwatches signed by both factories: "Vacheron & Constantin - LeCoultre Watches, Inc.".

I love shooting products that are in mint condition, but shooting these vintage watches is not like shooting a modern watch. The factory has just put out thousands of modern watches, but some of these watches cannot be replaced. This one, in particular has the original dial, crown, strap, buckle, box and papers are included, so I had to be very, very, very careful.

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THEME THURSDAY PHOTO MEME - ANIMAL

Theme Thursday - "Animal" Submissions

Click Read More to see the photos. Clicking the image will bring up a larger image.


Angry Squirrel
Originally uploaded by Rene.

The squirrel is angry because of this guy.


Diesel on Fence
Originally uploaded by Rene.

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THE GIFT OF GIVING

I've got a few faithful email subscribers to my blog now, but in honor of Chrismahannakwanza, I thought it would be interesting to give every 10th person to subscribe to my blog a full post about their blog. You can subscribe with the form at the right.

I got this idea from Nassira, though this is a variation.

Oh, and PS, for friends and family visiting, the link to my Amazon Wishlist is in the righthand bar. I've already hinted to my brother that I need a new blender, so get me something else! Hee hee.

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E-COMMERCE SNAFU IMPERILS GLOBAL FRUITCAKE SUPPLY

From Jim Louderback at Ziff Davis

I can't believe the major networks aren't all over this. We've got the exclusive details on how a poorly worded systems spec threatens timely delivery of the world's best fruitcake. This story has it all--an obscure order of monks, gross application development negligence and a generous dollop of everyone's favorite holiday treat. Will it end happily? Will those fruitcakes ever make it off of the island of misfit sweets? Read our story for the sad yet oddly cloying details.

From the story

The monks at this abbey are known around the world for making the best fruitcake on the planet. They sell the fruitcakes, along with a few other products, to support the abbey and their charitable activities.

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SCIENCE ON TRIAL... AGAIN

The Dover, PA. school board has ordered biology teachers to teach the theory of "intelligent design" and make students aware of problems and gaps in Darwin's theory of evolution. Being a Christian and an evolutionist, I do not feel the two are mutually exclusive. It is like going to the doctor when you're sick, but praying that you get well. I thank God for giving us scientists.

However, I have a problem with the way scientific theories are taught in schools, primarily in high schools. Darwin's theory of evolution, is a theory, just like the theory of relativity, what we know about stars, planets and black holes, etc. These theories change over time, as Stephen Hawking will admit, but it is taught as if it is a scientific law in high schools. When you get to college, the professors are more thorough in their teaching.

One of the reasons it is still a theory is because credible atheists in the scientific community recognize that there are problems in the theory. However, evolution is taught without examining the gaps and problems that keep it a theory. In order to become law, one of the criteria is that the theory must demonstrate universality, meaning that the theory is not conditional on circumstances or environment. As yet, there are still many questions in the scientific community regarding the universality of Darwin's theory. However, it is a theory because there is a substantial amount of evidence to support Darwin's hypothesis.

That does not mean that this idea of "intelligent design" or creationism should be taught as an alternative in biology class. Creationism is not a science and therefore should not be taught in a science class. Creationism and different religions should be taught in schools because they are an integral part of our culture, but teach it either in a religious studies class or a liberal arts class, like history or literature. Nearly all western college students majoring in English Literature are required to read the Bible as part of their studies.

The science of intelligent design is, simply put, junk science

The theory of intelligent design (ID) holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selection.

Clearly, this is not objective. They have stated in black and white that they are specifically looking for evidence to support intelligent design. The scientific method is supposed to be objective. They are not supposed to be spurred on by logical, religious or social necessity.

In college, I heard physics professors state that through their study of science, they have come to believe that the universe is too complex to have been created by chance. The universe is in such perfect balance that if anything were off by even a trillionth of a fraction, then the entire universe would cease to exist. These were not Christian physicists, however. They were decidedly agnostic. They also would not subscribe to the ID folks' ideas of science, since their revelations came from an objective study of science, not caring whether or not it proved or disproved any religious, social or cultural belief.

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PAYPAL ALTERNATIVE

It is very unfortunate that the customer service and customer policies at PayPal aren't better because it is a truly valuable and convenient service idea. However, if you're with them long enough, you'll eventually run into a major snag. Most of my friends were tried and true PayPal believers, and then it happens, but I think one of the things that bothers me most is that, through (now) illegally misleading wording in their user agreement, the general public is lulled into thinking that PayPal is just like a credit card or merchant account, so they don't read the fine print.

Back to alternatives. Yisroel (Izzy) Goodman, who is a semi-professional skeptic that writes occassionally for AuctionBytes, wrote an article on his website reviewing the different payment services available.

Izzy claims that

1) I am not an employee of, consultant of or have any connection to any payment service except as a customer or former customer.

2) I personally have never had any charge backs from any payment service and my account has never been restricted. My personal experiences with payment services, (including the ones I don't recommend such as Paypal, Paydirect and Billpoint) have been good.

He states that buyers and sellers should use PayPal with "extreme caution", but he does recommend ValidCash.com, which is a service owned by Checkfree.com, the bill pay service.

I think the CheckFree system is as safe as it can be. Since they have the name, address, bank account, driver's license and social security number of the seller, I would think this would minimize buyer risk and prevent scamming sellers from using the service.

However, keep in mind that he himself has not personally used it. I have a friend signing up for it in order to avoid PayPal, so I'll let you know how it goes.

PayPal - The "Pal" You Pay

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PAYPAL CAUGHT ON TAPE!

It isn't a PR nightmare for PayPal just yet, but I'm hoping it will be. Marc Perkel recorded a conversation he had with PayPal. The link is below. He had his account frozen by PayPal, with $300 still in it, so he called PayPal to wonder what the hell happened. First of all, for those of you unfamiliar with PayPal, it is not a credit card, it is more like a debit card attached to either a bank account or a credit card for funds. Any money you have on your PayPal card is your actual money.

Marc apparently withdrew about $300 from his PayPal account one day, and the next day, PayPal reversed the transaction and closed his account, leaving him unable to access the $300. PayPal states that they closed his account because he was selling mature material, which violates their user agreement. Marc disagrees.

He said that he has over 30 websites with the PayPal logo, and none of them are pornographic. One is an adult dating site, and specifically, the website that PP states was objectionable, had nothing adult on it, according to Mark, but that's neither here nor there. The issue is that their list of what is a violation of their agreement is so long, it's laughable. Some of the items are "items deemed fraudulent", which PP decides, even though they do not have every single, or probably even one, collectibles/jewelry/antique expert on staff, lists, signed items (autographs), alcohol and adult material, and PP decides what is "adult" material.

Sites have had their accounts closed because they have pictures of women in nurses uniforms posing provocatively but with absolutely no nudity. Marc has PayPal on tape stating that they can close anyone's account for any reason, whatsoever.

As a company, I can see that they reserve the right not to be associated with certain products or services, even if they don't give customers clear guidelines to follow, but Mark's real issue is not that PP closed his account. His beef is that PP is now holding his money for 180 days, or 6 months.

This is NOT an isolated incident.

And if you think that it's not so bad because PP is linked to your credit card, keep in mind that you're paying interest on that credit card charge, PP DOES NOT pay you interest for the 6 months they hold your money and you are limited to $1000 for the life of your PayPal account when linked to a credit card and not a bank account.

Friend #1 - Had their PP account closed, with an undisclosed amount of money still in the account, because a relative of theirs owed PayPal money. PayPal will not release the funds, even after 180 days, until said relative or Friend #1 pays PP. When friend complained that no bank would ever hold someone's money because of another peron's debt, PP stated that they are not a bank and therefore not regulated by or subject to banking laws.

Friend #2 - Had their PP account closed with $800 in the account because someone else was "linked" to their PP account. When trying to discover who this mysterious other person was, PP would not release their name, but stated that Friend #2's funds would not be released until either Friend #2 or mysterious other person cleared up $X with PP.

Sounds like extortion to me.

Here are some tidbits from the conversation.

PP: You can request a refund of those transactions. you'd have to do that through a secure webform...

MP: The people who sent me the money, can get the money back, is that right?

PP: Yes, they'd have to submit a buyer complaint... Or you can submit a secure webform through your PayPal account and request that we refund the buyers that paid you...

MP: Oh, so I can refund the money to them in my limited status, is that what you're saying?

PP: You'd actually have to submit an email to us in order to have that done.... Which is it? The buyer has to submit a complaint or the seller has to submit an email or both?

MP: Ok, so well, why don't you initiate that for the last 2 transactions.

PP: You'd have to submit that through a secure webform.

MP: Ok, and you're telling me that if I submit that, or if the customer who sent me the money, asked for a refund, that you will refund the money?

PP: They would actually have to submit a buyer complaint because we don't actually refund anything, unless you request that through our secure website. Hmm... circular logic.

MP: I see. I don't. But if I submit that, you will give them their money back?

PP: Yes. Uh huh... Bullshit. Talk to anyone that has submitted one of these buyer complaints when the seller's account has been closed, and they'll tell you that they've tried over 10 and 20 times via numerous vehicles and gotten nowhere, for 6 months or longer.

MP: I don't understand this 180 day thing. You can arbitrarily close an account because you don't like what I have to say in my website and keep my money for 180 days. Is that what you're saying you can do?

PP: Yes sir.

MP: What gives you the right to do that?

PP: The user agreement that you agreed to.

MP: So you're saying that, according to your user agreement, the people who sign up with PayPal agree to, that they agree to, that for any reason at all, that you want to close somebody's account, that without any type of due process or anything, you can just grab their money and keep it for 180 days. Is that what you're saying that PP (crosstalk)

PP: PayPal can hold your funds for 180 days, if your account becomes limited. And for any reason, your account becomes limited to a state where there are no appeals, they can hold your funds for 180 days. That is correct sir. She tries to imply that there is some sort of appeals process, but there isn't.

You have to listen to the entire recording. PP states that they hold the money for 180 days to protect themselves from any chargebacks, but he corners them on that issue, too.

In short, I will never ever do business with PP, and I strongly suggest you follow suit, until they are regulated, either like credit card companies or like a bank. They can't have their cake and eat it too. Furthermore, if you have had an experience with PP that smells illegal, I would urge you to talk to an attorney to see if anyting can be done to right the wrong.

LINKS
More PayPal horror stories
Marc Perkel's Taped Phone Conversation with PayPal - You can save this file on your hard drive or your web server for posterity by right-clicking it and doing a "Save Target As".
Original Discussion Thread

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ZERO TOLERANCE MANIA

The US was stripped of its 1600 relay gold from the 2003 World Championships. Calvin Harrison was found guilty of his second doping violation. His first doping violation was 10 years ago, during the 1993 US junior indoor championships. He tested positive for pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient in over-the-counter medicines like Sudafed.

The authors of a book on performance-enhancing drugs stated that

Another important issue... is how athletes may also inadvertently use a drug that is banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Those drugs are usually central nervous system stimulants, pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (found in Robitussin-PE) and phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride (found in Triaminic Cold Tablets and weight control suppressants).

"Athletes often use these over-the-counter drugs for health reasons, unaware of the potential threat to their competitive status," said co-author Dr. John DiGregorio, professor of Pharmacology and Medicine, Allegheny.

Caffeine used by competitive athletes is considered illegal if the amount measured in the urine is greater then 12 micrograms/ML (about six to eight cups of coffee). "It is banned," Dr. DiGregorio noted, "because it can increase muscle contraction, improve performance, and increase the time to fatigue or exhaustion during prolonged moderate or intense exercise."

So, in addition to not being able to use an inhaler for asthma, you cannot take anything for your allergies or cold or flu or drink too much coffee if you want to be an athlete, because they could be "performance-enhancing" drugs. Alright, the coffee part I can uderstand, and I understand that psuedoephedrine can be abused, just like any drug, but most of the time, psuedoephedrine "abusers" are making meth, which would be anything but performance-enhancing. Not to mention, he was just a kid when he had his first "doping" violation. He probably just got sick and his mom gave him some OTC medicine.

This time, they found modafinil, a mild stimulant, in Harrison's system. Harrison contended that modafinil is not specifically mentioned as a banned substance, but he did not appeal the ruling before the deadline, so now there are new relay champions. Modifinil is not an anabolic steroid like you think of when you think of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Lyle Alzado. Most experts do not believe that modifinil has any performance-enhancing capabilities, unlike the better known steroids. It would be like buying one of those protein shakes and hoping that it will promote faster muscle growth, but there's no proof that it will actually help.

I fully expect multi-vitamins to either make the list, or be grounds for medal stripping in the near future because they're also performance-enhancing drugs.

Since we're talking about zero-tolerance policies, I'll tell you about my personal experience. One of the two boys in this picture, was getting beaten up at school by a bully. We have always taught him to never start a fight, but if he is in physical danger, he should defend himself. Well, he fought back, and he was suspended.

The guidance counselor stated that the boy that was beating him up was a bully and had a history of beating up other kids. He also said that it was clear that our boy didn't start the fight and that he was only defending himself, but the zero-tolerance policy mandates that both boys be suspended.

Granted, the bully was suspended for a week and our boy was only suspended for a day, but he should not have been suspended AT ALL. Why should he bear a punishment for doing something that any sane individual would have done? If he were an adult, would he have been convicted of self-defense and jailed, even for one day, or would the city consider fining him for defending himself? This is beyond ridiculous, which explains why zero-tolerance criticisms are strongly bi-partisan.

MORE ZERO-TOLERANCE = ZERO-INTELLIGENCE
Civil Rights Groups Fight Eviction of Battered Women Under "Zero Tolerance" Housing Policy

A Colorado Springs, Colo., school district says it did the right thing when it suspended 6-year-old Seamus Morris under the school's zero-tolerance drug policy. The drug? Lemon drops, and boys suspended for playing with water guns.

ACLU Sues Michigan School for Suspending Honor Student Who Privately Criticized Tardiness Policy. Student was suspended for ten days for committing a "verbal assault" because he allegedly assaulted "the dignity of a person."

11-year old boy's "Home Alone" drawings causes call from school to police, then prosecuting attorney who filed a family services petition.

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