by Dick Mac
Changing wine to water is much more impressive than changing water to wine! Doc Hendley is doing exactly that!
Some people who drink wine are sending fresh water to those who need it. Perhaps you can join in the fun; or, if you do not drink wine, perhaps you could just support this cause.
Wine To Water
CNN Article: Bartender helps turn wine to water in developing world
The rantings of an unrepentant old leftist, and his friends.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
A Dying Breed? Suicidal Elephants!
by Al Falafel
The future of the Republican Party USA just looks brighter and brighter.
Yes indeed.
That is, for those of us who really want them to fail (sorry, they brought it on themselves!), prospects that the GOP will soon succumb to political suicide have never been better.
Just today we get this bit of giddy news from Politico.com:
Yeah, Republicans! All together, now. Join hands with your undisputed leader, Mr. Limbaugh, and take the plunge! Right off that cliff and into oblivion!
J U M P ! ! ! !
Isn't that what you want to say? Aren't we all getting sick and tired of their pathetic whiny death wish? Just do it already!
If you think the GOP does not have a death wish then what the hell are they doing?
Their appeal to average unsuspecting Americans has long been based entirely on manipulating our emotions (fear, mostly) rather than on ideas or actions that might benefit anyone but the super-rich. If they had a will to live you would think that whoever is in charge over there might try to capitalize on the positive feelings that most Americans now say they have about the direction our country is moving in.
How long do they think they can survive by making fools of voters, trying to frighten them out of their contentment with certifiably insane delusions such as the cynical urban legend that the US is being taken over by a gang of socialists?
After 100+ days as Commander-in-Chief, doesn't anyone realize that Obama could have done it by now? If he had a mind to stage such a coup, why would he drag it out?
The venerated GOP saint Ronald Reagan of B-movie fame wowed America with his wistful "City on a Hill" imagery. George H. W. Bush had his "Thousand Points of Light." Neither of these meant diddly-squat, of course, and were basically just silly metaphors meant to cover up and distract from their true intentions. But at least those seminal neo-cons were not so clueless when faced with one lost race after another to just go insanely bombastic, railing and voting against everything the Democratic Party was up to - particularly those things that a majority of people in every poll say they support.
Have the morons running that party today forgotten that they would need to win a majority of votes to stay alive politically? That after a while most voters with half a brain who happen to respond favorably to just some of the things that the Democrats are doing will eventually catch on and resent what the neo-cons are trying to pull?
At some point no rational voter will be able to deny that Republicans are just a bunch of ineffective empty headed nay-sayers. Sooner or later won't most of the few people left loyal to the GOP have to wise up and realize how they are being insulted by party leaders who ask for their votes while telling them how stupid they are if they do not buy into the GOP's rabid opposition to all things Democrat with no coherent ideas of their own?
I would hate to think this is giving Republican loyalists too much credit in the smarts department.
Illustration Credit: Fox News, of course
Even as acknowledged by the GOP, Arlen Specter's defection marks a milestone on the path of their imminent demise. If my home-town Senator did only abandon the Republican Party for self-serving opportunistic reasons, his changing affiliation at this time can only be taken as a sure sign that the GOP ship is sinking fast: the last of the plague-ridden rats are diving off in a desperate grab for survival. Those staying on board have obviously gone out of their minds.
Specter, long known as the most moderate Congressional member of the party that has run out of tolerance for liberals, leftists, or independent thinkers, will become one of the most conservative members of the Democratic Party in the Northern States (Lieberman doesn't count for anything).
But at 71, Arlen is more of an old-school conservative, coming out of a time when some Republicans still had an active brain cell or two that responded to something other than a sense of entitlement, greed and power-lust. Back in the day even Republicans were sometimes known to engage in something more than negative sensationalistic smears of their opponents even after losing major contests to them.
As junior counsel to the Warren Commission, Specter cut his teeth on his invention of the laughably implausible "single bullet theory." And who could forget how grossly lawyer-esque he was - in the worst conceivable sense - when he savagely grilled Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas nomination hearings?
But Arlen somehow managed to get that Commission to accept that people would not question the impossibly magical explanation of JFK's assassination which brought the official inquiry to a tidy end. And, to his disgrace, he managed to discredit Anita Hill so thoroughly as to assure a sexual predator's confirmation as the most ineffective Supreme Court Justice ever (see: The Truth About Arlen Specter).
Specter has always known how to achieve the means to an end, no matter how undesirable or premature that end may be.
That even he could not figure out a way to keep the Republican Party from imploding (and taking with it his chance for political survival) is very telling indeed.
One thing the last of the Republicans still know is that Americans, on the whole, do not like extremist political parties. That is exactly why the dwindling GOP is pouring every last ounce of energy into trying to convince their gullible clinging base that Obama and the Democrats are socialists, communists or even fascists. Far from gaining any ground with this last-ditch tactic, however, it is obviously backfiring on them big time.
As the once-dominant party slumps in numbers and influence, a few goofy loud-mouth extremists are left with nothing to offer but more of the same mindless arrogance and gutter-level politics that dragged this country to the brink of collapse under their rule.
Seriously, what little is left of the GOP as a national political party - its bitter dregs - no longer deserves a place at the table.
But if you don't like everything the Democrats are doing, please remember that we have a number of other minority parties besides the moribund GOP to choose from. And we urgently need to realize that some of them actually do offer viable ideas and agendas that may be serious workable alternatives to what the newly dominant party is putting out there. We The People know that, in addition to extremist parties, Americans also very much dislike the prospect of single-party rule. What most of us still have to learn is that Republicans are not just one among a number of alternatives to the Democrats - they are no longer a viable alternative at all.
Mostly what the other (non-Republican) minority parties lack are those deep pockets and a shadowy funding base that allow political parties to gain strength, membership and votes while also leading, invariably it seems, to political corruption. Witness our current reality where neither of our major parties are immune from the corrupting influence of money and power in any sense.
As the sole remaining political superpower, the Democrats now have to be very careful not to try and take undue advantage of the welcome demise of the Republican Party. We The People, on the other hand, have a responsibility to be more vigilant than ever, keeping the Democrats' feet to the fire while they are acting as the instrument to rid the land of this blight known as the GOP.
Ultimately, however, Obama and the Democrats will disappoint us - already have in a number of ways. As we become disillusioned with them as the ruling party, we as Americans have a responsibility to our country and each other to stay alert to - and support - real alternatives in the political arena, rather than just voting against the Democrats by voting for Republicans out of spite (talk about cutting off your nose!).
For an introduction to the array of alternative political parties see: Guide to American Political Parties at www.politics1.com. Any of the parties listed there are at least as deserving of our support as the Republican Party - which, to me, is on par with the American Nazi Party (regrettably, they too really do exist!).
Dying Elephant Sculpture
The future of the Republican Party USA just looks brighter and brighter.
Yes indeed.
That is, for those of us who really want them to fail (sorry, they brought it on themselves!), prospects that the GOP will soon succumb to political suicide have never been better.
Just today we get this bit of giddy news from Politico.com:
A conservative faction of the Republican National Committee is urging the GOP to take a harder line against both Democrats and wayward Republicans, drafting a resolution to rename the opposition the “Democrat Socialist Party” and moving to rebuke the three Republican senators who supported the stimulus package.
In an e-mail sent Wednesday to the 168 voting members of the committee, RNC member James Bopp, Jr. accused President Obama of wanting “to restructure American society along socialist ideals.
Yeah, Republicans! All together, now. Join hands with your undisputed leader, Mr. Limbaugh, and take the plunge! Right off that cliff and into oblivion!
J U M P ! ! ! !
Isn't that what you want to say? Aren't we all getting sick and tired of their pathetic whiny death wish? Just do it already!
If you think the GOP does not have a death wish then what the hell are they doing?
Their appeal to average unsuspecting Americans has long been based entirely on manipulating our emotions (fear, mostly) rather than on ideas or actions that might benefit anyone but the super-rich. If they had a will to live you would think that whoever is in charge over there might try to capitalize on the positive feelings that most Americans now say they have about the direction our country is moving in.
How long do they think they can survive by making fools of voters, trying to frighten them out of their contentment with certifiably insane delusions such as the cynical urban legend that the US is being taken over by a gang of socialists?
After 100+ days as Commander-in-Chief, doesn't anyone realize that Obama could have done it by now? If he had a mind to stage such a coup, why would he drag it out?
The venerated GOP saint Ronald Reagan of B-movie fame wowed America with his wistful "City on a Hill" imagery. George H. W. Bush had his "Thousand Points of Light." Neither of these meant diddly-squat, of course, and were basically just silly metaphors meant to cover up and distract from their true intentions. But at least those seminal neo-cons were not so clueless when faced with one lost race after another to just go insanely bombastic, railing and voting against everything the Democratic Party was up to - particularly those things that a majority of people in every poll say they support.
Have the morons running that party today forgotten that they would need to win a majority of votes to stay alive politically? That after a while most voters with half a brain who happen to respond favorably to just some of the things that the Democrats are doing will eventually catch on and resent what the neo-cons are trying to pull?
At some point no rational voter will be able to deny that Republicans are just a bunch of ineffective empty headed nay-sayers. Sooner or later won't most of the few people left loyal to the GOP have to wise up and realize how they are being insulted by party leaders who ask for their votes while telling them how stupid they are if they do not buy into the GOP's rabid opposition to all things Democrat with no coherent ideas of their own?
I would hate to think this is giving Republican loyalists too much credit in the smarts department.
Illustration Credit: Fox News, of course
Even as acknowledged by the GOP, Arlen Specter's defection marks a milestone on the path of their imminent demise. If my home-town Senator did only abandon the Republican Party for self-serving opportunistic reasons, his changing affiliation at this time can only be taken as a sure sign that the GOP ship is sinking fast: the last of the plague-ridden rats are diving off in a desperate grab for survival. Those staying on board have obviously gone out of their minds.
Specter, long known as the most moderate Congressional member of the party that has run out of tolerance for liberals, leftists, or independent thinkers, will become one of the most conservative members of the Democratic Party in the Northern States (Lieberman doesn't count for anything).
But at 71, Arlen is more of an old-school conservative, coming out of a time when some Republicans still had an active brain cell or two that responded to something other than a sense of entitlement, greed and power-lust. Back in the day even Republicans were sometimes known to engage in something more than negative sensationalistic smears of their opponents even after losing major contests to them.
As junior counsel to the Warren Commission, Specter cut his teeth on his invention of the laughably implausible "single bullet theory." And who could forget how grossly lawyer-esque he was - in the worst conceivable sense - when he savagely grilled Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas nomination hearings?
But Arlen somehow managed to get that Commission to accept that people would not question the impossibly magical explanation of JFK's assassination which brought the official inquiry to a tidy end. And, to his disgrace, he managed to discredit Anita Hill so thoroughly as to assure a sexual predator's confirmation as the most ineffective Supreme Court Justice ever (see: The Truth About Arlen Specter).
Specter has always known how to achieve the means to an end, no matter how undesirable or premature that end may be.
That even he could not figure out a way to keep the Republican Party from imploding (and taking with it his chance for political survival) is very telling indeed.
One thing the last of the Republicans still know is that Americans, on the whole, do not like extremist political parties. That is exactly why the dwindling GOP is pouring every last ounce of energy into trying to convince their gullible clinging base that Obama and the Democrats are socialists, communists or even fascists. Far from gaining any ground with this last-ditch tactic, however, it is obviously backfiring on them big time.
As the once-dominant party slumps in numbers and influence, a few goofy loud-mouth extremists are left with nothing to offer but more of the same mindless arrogance and gutter-level politics that dragged this country to the brink of collapse under their rule.
Seriously, what little is left of the GOP as a national political party - its bitter dregs - no longer deserves a place at the table.
But if you don't like everything the Democrats are doing, please remember that we have a number of other minority parties besides the moribund GOP to choose from. And we urgently need to realize that some of them actually do offer viable ideas and agendas that may be serious workable alternatives to what the newly dominant party is putting out there. We The People know that, in addition to extremist parties, Americans also very much dislike the prospect of single-party rule. What most of us still have to learn is that Republicans are not just one among a number of alternatives to the Democrats - they are no longer a viable alternative at all.
Mostly what the other (non-Republican) minority parties lack are those deep pockets and a shadowy funding base that allow political parties to gain strength, membership and votes while also leading, invariably it seems, to political corruption. Witness our current reality where neither of our major parties are immune from the corrupting influence of money and power in any sense.
As the sole remaining political superpower, the Democrats now have to be very careful not to try and take undue advantage of the welcome demise of the Republican Party. We The People, on the other hand, have a responsibility to be more vigilant than ever, keeping the Democrats' feet to the fire while they are acting as the instrument to rid the land of this blight known as the GOP.
Ultimately, however, Obama and the Democrats will disappoint us - already have in a number of ways. As we become disillusioned with them as the ruling party, we as Americans have a responsibility to our country and each other to stay alert to - and support - real alternatives in the political arena, rather than just voting against the Democrats by voting for Republicans out of spite (talk about cutting off your nose!).
For an introduction to the array of alternative political parties see: Guide to American Political Parties at www.politics1.com. Any of the parties listed there are at least as deserving of our support as the Republican Party - which, to me, is on par with the American Nazi Party (regrettably, they too really do exist!).
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
What's All The Fuss Over A Little Torture?
by Al Falafel
Some people I know - and who should certainly know better - still don't get it.
To this day I continue to hear the opinion that the real problem was the release of those photos from Abu Ghraib that broke the news story, exposing the American torturous treatment of Iraqi detainees. As if it would be better had no one ever found out about how we conduct our invasions of any foreign country because "they" deserve it because "they attacked us."
Do you think I do not want to scream?
That kind of attitude may have been excusable in some quarters in the first days after 9/11 and was bound to survive in those who are predisposed to blind reactionary patriotism that was stoked and exploited by the war-hungry, profiteering forces that had inhabited the Administration after the Bush coup of 2000. But after all we've learned about the rationale for going to war in Iraq - WMDs, ties to Al Queda, yellow cake uranium - all now exposed and accepted for being nothing but a pack of self-serving evil lies - how can anyone separate out the well-known acts of torture from all the other surreal and malicious lies we are still force-fed by the cynics and apologists for the deposed Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove/Rice/Ascroft/Gonzales cabal?
With the recent release of those torture memos it has come to light that this too - TORTURE of human beings - was just another part of their PR campaign engineered to establish a reason for the invasion of Iraq AFTER it became clear that all their other reasons were nothing but bold face lies.
Surprised?
Apparently, most of America is not.
Since the memos came out all the TV talk still centers on whether waterboarding is torture or whether torture "works" or not. We have become so jaded - so inured to hearing of the depths to which the Bush Administration was willing to dive in order to justify their nefarious war-mongering intentions - that we just gloss over the revelations that torture of detainees in the Iraq War were NEVER ABOUT obtaining useful information that might keep us safe or help defeat our enemies who threaten America.
It was all about justifying the Bush-led invasion of a foreign country on false pretenses and manufactured intelligence that has consistently proven to have been invented in order to rationalize and cover up their high crimes and misdemeanors.
Torture of human beings was plainly carried out by our troops and mercenaries under orders straight from the top of this country's government.
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Rice and the whole criminal cabal then lied - and continue to lie - to cover up and distract from the facts that are now indisputably evident from their own official words contained in the de-classified memos. Those memos detail how our troops were used to force detainees to say what the cabal wanted to hear -- what they wanted US to hear whether it contained any truth or not.
Cutting through all the shit, this is the bottom line and perfectly explains why the Bush Administration officially authorized torture in blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions. So perfect that we are compelled to shrug it off with a great big, "duh."
Of course: after none of the other lies would hold any water for very long, torture was all they had left.
It was and is their only hope to find some salable justification of their criminal activities. Since no direct evidence could be found to substantiate their headstrong plunge into the huge Middle East catastrophe, they were "forced" to resort to sadistic torture of Iraqi detainees in order to force them to say something that would help make a case for the US having invaded their country and killed all those people including over 5,000 of our own troops!
Wasn't there once a time -- seems not so long ago -- that when the President and other Administration officials LIED about something an investigation was unquestionably warranted? No matter what the cost, how long it may take, or the eventually futile outcome of such an investigation and prosecution after such allegations were made was done almost by routine.
I seem to remember a few things called "Whitewater," "Filegate," "Travelgate" and "the Monica Lewinsky Affair" on which some $60 billion and up to eight years of hearings, house arrests, and impeachment proceedings were justified by the allegations against a SITTING President for things that never amounted to more than a squirt.
How the hell are we going to let the ex-officeholders get away with their devastating ruinous lies even while Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and their apologists are all over the TV circuit bragging about what they did and laughing in our stupid faces?
How now is there the slightest question about whether there should be an investigation and prosecution of those who authorized torture for purely partisan political reasons and, in the process, sold our entire nation out, ruined our reputation -- not to mention our economy -- and cost millions of human lives and trillions of dollars?
All the chatter about whether torture works, or whether it yielded any useful information (we would definitely know by now if it did) is utterly meaningless and wickedly distracting from this central element AND IT NEEDS TO STOP!
For humanity's sake doesn't this warrant more than a wussy "truth commission?" How can we not demand a very serious investigation of these very serious crimes followed by a serious prosecution of the criminals to the fullest extent of the law -- the International Laws against war crimes?
See the New York Times Op-ed piece.
Some people I know - and who should certainly know better - still don't get it.
To this day I continue to hear the opinion that the real problem was the release of those photos from Abu Ghraib that broke the news story, exposing the American torturous treatment of Iraqi detainees. As if it would be better had no one ever found out about how we conduct our invasions of any foreign country because "they" deserve it because "they attacked us."
Do you think I do not want to scream?
That kind of attitude may have been excusable in some quarters in the first days after 9/11 and was bound to survive in those who are predisposed to blind reactionary patriotism that was stoked and exploited by the war-hungry, profiteering forces that had inhabited the Administration after the Bush coup of 2000. But after all we've learned about the rationale for going to war in Iraq - WMDs, ties to Al Queda, yellow cake uranium - all now exposed and accepted for being nothing but a pack of self-serving evil lies - how can anyone separate out the well-known acts of torture from all the other surreal and malicious lies we are still force-fed by the cynics and apologists for the deposed Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove/Rice/Ascroft/Gonzales cabal?
With the recent release of those torture memos it has come to light that this too - TORTURE of human beings - was just another part of their PR campaign engineered to establish a reason for the invasion of Iraq AFTER it became clear that all their other reasons were nothing but bold face lies.
Surprised?
Apparently, most of America is not.
Since the memos came out all the TV talk still centers on whether waterboarding is torture or whether torture "works" or not. We have become so jaded - so inured to hearing of the depths to which the Bush Administration was willing to dive in order to justify their nefarious war-mongering intentions - that we just gloss over the revelations that torture of detainees in the Iraq War were NEVER ABOUT obtaining useful information that might keep us safe or help defeat our enemies who threaten America.
It was all about justifying the Bush-led invasion of a foreign country on false pretenses and manufactured intelligence that has consistently proven to have been invented in order to rationalize and cover up their high crimes and misdemeanors.
Torture of human beings was plainly carried out by our troops and mercenaries under orders straight from the top of this country's government.
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Rice and the whole criminal cabal then lied - and continue to lie - to cover up and distract from the facts that are now indisputably evident from their own official words contained in the de-classified memos. Those memos detail how our troops were used to force detainees to say what the cabal wanted to hear -- what they wanted US to hear whether it contained any truth or not.
Cutting through all the shit, this is the bottom line and perfectly explains why the Bush Administration officially authorized torture in blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions. So perfect that we are compelled to shrug it off with a great big, "duh."
Of course: after none of the other lies would hold any water for very long, torture was all they had left.
It was and is their only hope to find some salable justification of their criminal activities. Since no direct evidence could be found to substantiate their headstrong plunge into the huge Middle East catastrophe, they were "forced" to resort to sadistic torture of Iraqi detainees in order to force them to say something that would help make a case for the US having invaded their country and killed all those people including over 5,000 of our own troops!
Wasn't there once a time -- seems not so long ago -- that when the President and other Administration officials LIED about something an investigation was unquestionably warranted? No matter what the cost, how long it may take, or the eventually futile outcome of such an investigation and prosecution after such allegations were made was done almost by routine.
I seem to remember a few things called "Whitewater," "Filegate," "Travelgate" and "the Monica Lewinsky Affair" on which some $60 billion and up to eight years of hearings, house arrests, and impeachment proceedings were justified by the allegations against a SITTING President for things that never amounted to more than a squirt.
How the hell are we going to let the ex-officeholders get away with their devastating ruinous lies even while Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and their apologists are all over the TV circuit bragging about what they did and laughing in our stupid faces?
How now is there the slightest question about whether there should be an investigation and prosecution of those who authorized torture for purely partisan political reasons and, in the process, sold our entire nation out, ruined our reputation -- not to mention our economy -- and cost millions of human lives and trillions of dollars?
All the chatter about whether torture works, or whether it yielded any useful information (we would definitely know by now if it did) is utterly meaningless and wickedly distracting from this central element AND IT NEEDS TO STOP!
For humanity's sake doesn't this warrant more than a wussy "truth commission?" How can we not demand a very serious investigation of these very serious crimes followed by a serious prosecution of the criminals to the fullest extent of the law -- the International Laws against war crimes?
See the New York Times Op-ed piece.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Buyer's Remorse
by Dick Mac
In 2002 I purchased a Dell GX-series desktop machine. Three months into ownership, the hard drive died along with all my data. When I called Dell I was angry. A woman in Alabama answered the phone and she was really great. She was sorry and if she was reading from a script it wasn't obvious. She investigated the options and determined that I should have a new hard drive. Instead of sending a replacement 60GB drive, Dell would send an 80GB. I hung-up from the call feeling really good about Dell. I thought they handled the situation perfectly: sorrow, contrition, helpfulness, generosity. It's the way I think customer service should be handled.
Since the mid-nineties, I have been using and supporting (professionally) Dell computers. Generally, I think of them as good machines and a good company. I have had very little consumer contact, and the above experience left me feeling generally good about them.
This was my year to get a new computer for home. I have not purchased a lot of computers in my life, but I do know how to shop for one.
I wanted an iMac, but the cost was prohibitive. When I finished 'building' it online, it was going to cost $2,700. and that was about $700 more than I was in a position to spend.
I like the all-in-one design of the iMac, because it really diminishes the number of cords and cables running around the desk.
I went to the Dell website and learned about the Dell XPS ONE, which is their all-in-one machine. When I finished 'building' the machine I wanted, it was actually right in my price range, and I ordered it. Paid in full.
By mid-January the new computer was set-up on my desk. It was beautiful, with it's 24" wide format screen and built-in JBL stereo speakers. Sadly, it comes with Vista, but I would have to make do. After a few weeks I realized that the keyboard was awfully small. It takes me a few weeks to get used to things, to notice things, because I work most of the time and spend very little time with my new toys.
I noticed another problem. Real Player would seemingly switch songs randomly, usually going back a song or forward a song. I thought this might be related to Vista. Another couple weeks went by when I noticed that whenever I used the keys on the right-hand side of the keyboard proper (keys like Insert, Delete, Home, etc.), if any of my fingers hovered above the media control keys on the special XPS keyboard, it would activate that function in Real Player. So, by touching the Home key with my ring finger, my pinky would hover about a half-inch above the "Back" button for the media controls, telling Real Player to stop playing the current song and go back and play the previous song again. Not an earth-shattering problem, but certainly an irritant; and I am totally open to the criticism that my touch-typing has gone to shit the past decade. Still, the keyboard seemed not only too small for my hands, but overly sensitive.
Real Player mystery solved, but small keyboard a failure for me.
I decided to drop another eighty bucks on a Dell wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard with old-fashioned media controls, instead of the fancy-pants heat sensitive controls on the XPS keyboard.
This past weekend I planned to install the new keyboard.
On Saturday, I powered-up the computer and the hard drive is gone. Cannot be seen. Kaput. So I called Dell support. The girl who answered was not anywhere as nice as the woman I'd spoken to in 2002. Sher was clearly reading from a script and her accent was more sever than the Southern accent of the woman from 2002. Still, she was nice and seemed interested in helping me.
She explained that we would try a couple of troubleshooting techniques, which she read from a script and did nothing. This was a very lame script and exposed the call handler as someone who knew nothing about the machine. Still, she was very nice, and diligently executed every step of her script. Every useless, ineffective step.
An hour into the call it was clear that nothing was going to work.
She arranged for a new hard drive to be shipped to a vendor in metropolitan NYC, and that vendor would call me and then an appointment would be set-up, and the technician would come to my home and replace the hard drive. i confirmed that I could keep the existing hard drive for a length of time to retrieve data still there since last week's back-up. Of course, the death happened the morning of the weekly back-up, so we maximized the amount of data I would lose.
I expressed my dismay that a three-month old hard drive would die, and that I believe Dell has failed to live-up to their side of our agreement. i told her that the last time this happened, Dell kindly sent a superior hard drive as a token of their appreciation of the situation. She made it perfectly clear, by reading the same script entry over and over again, that I would get only the disk that needed replacement and nothing further would be forthcoming.
That pissed me off, but I thanked her and moved on with my day.
When I returned from the day's errands, I called Dell Customer Service to explain my disappointment with the machine, the keyboard in particular and the dead hard drive. A man with a very heavy, almost unintelligible, accent explained that a replacement hard drive would be sent. I acknowledged that. He then said that I ordered that keyboard myself and if I didn't want it I shouldn't have ordered it.
Holy crap! I couldn't believe he was taking this position. I cannot believe that Dell trains their people to blame the customer; but, perhaps they do.
I explained that it was the XPS keyboard that came with the unit and was described as particular and specific to the model.
He became increasingly dismissive, and had no interest in my opinion of the machine or my feelings about this experience.
I am beside myself about being summarily dismissed by Dell, after I spent two grand on a machine that doesn't work three months later.
I will never buy another Dell machine and I will save my pennies to replace the crappy XPS ONE 24 currently in a box in my apartment.
Don't Buy Dell! Purchase a machine from a better manufacturer and try to find one that hires Americans!
In 2002 I purchased a Dell GX-series desktop machine. Three months into ownership, the hard drive died along with all my data. When I called Dell I was angry. A woman in Alabama answered the phone and she was really great. She was sorry and if she was reading from a script it wasn't obvious. She investigated the options and determined that I should have a new hard drive. Instead of sending a replacement 60GB drive, Dell would send an 80GB. I hung-up from the call feeling really good about Dell. I thought they handled the situation perfectly: sorrow, contrition, helpfulness, generosity. It's the way I think customer service should be handled.
Since the mid-nineties, I have been using and supporting (professionally) Dell computers. Generally, I think of them as good machines and a good company. I have had very little consumer contact, and the above experience left me feeling generally good about them.
This was my year to get a new computer for home. I have not purchased a lot of computers in my life, but I do know how to shop for one.
I wanted an iMac, but the cost was prohibitive. When I finished 'building' it online, it was going to cost $2,700. and that was about $700 more than I was in a position to spend.
I like the all-in-one design of the iMac, because it really diminishes the number of cords and cables running around the desk.
I went to the Dell website and learned about the Dell XPS ONE, which is their all-in-one machine. When I finished 'building' the machine I wanted, it was actually right in my price range, and I ordered it. Paid in full.
By mid-January the new computer was set-up on my desk. It was beautiful, with it's 24" wide format screen and built-in JBL stereo speakers. Sadly, it comes with Vista, but I would have to make do. After a few weeks I realized that the keyboard was awfully small. It takes me a few weeks to get used to things, to notice things, because I work most of the time and spend very little time with my new toys.
I noticed another problem. Real Player would seemingly switch songs randomly, usually going back a song or forward a song. I thought this might be related to Vista. Another couple weeks went by when I noticed that whenever I used the keys on the right-hand side of the keyboard proper (keys like Insert, Delete, Home, etc.), if any of my fingers hovered above the media control keys on the special XPS keyboard, it would activate that function in Real Player. So, by touching the Home key with my ring finger, my pinky would hover about a half-inch above the "Back" button for the media controls, telling Real Player to stop playing the current song and go back and play the previous song again. Not an earth-shattering problem, but certainly an irritant; and I am totally open to the criticism that my touch-typing has gone to shit the past decade. Still, the keyboard seemed not only too small for my hands, but overly sensitive.
Real Player mystery solved, but small keyboard a failure for me.
I decided to drop another eighty bucks on a Dell wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard with old-fashioned media controls, instead of the fancy-pants heat sensitive controls on the XPS keyboard.
This past weekend I planned to install the new keyboard.
On Saturday, I powered-up the computer and the hard drive is gone. Cannot be seen. Kaput. So I called Dell support. The girl who answered was not anywhere as nice as the woman I'd spoken to in 2002. Sher was clearly reading from a script and her accent was more sever than the Southern accent of the woman from 2002. Still, she was nice and seemed interested in helping me.
She explained that we would try a couple of troubleshooting techniques, which she read from a script and did nothing. This was a very lame script and exposed the call handler as someone who knew nothing about the machine. Still, she was very nice, and diligently executed every step of her script. Every useless, ineffective step.
An hour into the call it was clear that nothing was going to work.
She arranged for a new hard drive to be shipped to a vendor in metropolitan NYC, and that vendor would call me and then an appointment would be set-up, and the technician would come to my home and replace the hard drive. i confirmed that I could keep the existing hard drive for a length of time to retrieve data still there since last week's back-up. Of course, the death happened the morning of the weekly back-up, so we maximized the amount of data I would lose.
I expressed my dismay that a three-month old hard drive would die, and that I believe Dell has failed to live-up to their side of our agreement. i told her that the last time this happened, Dell kindly sent a superior hard drive as a token of their appreciation of the situation. She made it perfectly clear, by reading the same script entry over and over again, that I would get only the disk that needed replacement and nothing further would be forthcoming.
That pissed me off, but I thanked her and moved on with my day.
When I returned from the day's errands, I called Dell Customer Service to explain my disappointment with the machine, the keyboard in particular and the dead hard drive. A man with a very heavy, almost unintelligible, accent explained that a replacement hard drive would be sent. I acknowledged that. He then said that I ordered that keyboard myself and if I didn't want it I shouldn't have ordered it.
Holy crap! I couldn't believe he was taking this position. I cannot believe that Dell trains their people to blame the customer; but, perhaps they do.
I explained that it was the XPS keyboard that came with the unit and was described as particular and specific to the model.
He became increasingly dismissive, and had no interest in my opinion of the machine or my feelings about this experience.
I am beside myself about being summarily dismissed by Dell, after I spent two grand on a machine that doesn't work three months later.
I will never buy another Dell machine and I will save my pennies to replace the crappy XPS ONE 24 currently in a box in my apartment.
Don't Buy Dell! Purchase a machine from a better manufacturer and try to find one that hires Americans!
Friday, May 01, 2009
Ah, Tradition!
by Al Falafel
In 1959 Miss Oklahoma, Anita Bryant went on to be named second runner-up in the Miss America Contest.
In 1977, Anita Bryant launched the "Save Our Children" campaign in Dade County Florida after the local government extended legal protections against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation to include "sexual orientation," which gave queers of the time a modicum of security in a hostile homophobic environment.
In 2009, the reigning Miss California loses the top spot in the Miss America Contest and immediately launches a campaign to promote homophobia by joining forces with the contemporary movement to "Save Our Straight Marriages" even before she has a chance to enjoy life as a D-list celebrity and orange juice queen like Bryant did.
Carrie Prejean ought to talk to Anita Bryant before letting herself be used by the hateful forces trying to keep same-sex couples from marrying. But then she would have to find the rock of obscurity that Anita crawled under after her marriage was ruined and her lucrative contract with the Florida orange growers association was revoked for her being so obviously retarded.
Miss California: your 15 minutes of fame is up. Please join Ms Bryant and the other high-profile losers who chose to open their damn fool mouths instead of just doing your bimbo best to stand there, pose and give hard-ons to straight men.
In 1959 Miss Oklahoma, Anita Bryant went on to be named second runner-up in the Miss America Contest.
In 1977, Anita Bryant launched the "Save Our Children" campaign in Dade County Florida after the local government extended legal protections against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation to include "sexual orientation," which gave queers of the time a modicum of security in a hostile homophobic environment.
In 2009, the reigning Miss California loses the top spot in the Miss America Contest and immediately launches a campaign to promote homophobia by joining forces with the contemporary movement to "Save Our Straight Marriages" even before she has a chance to enjoy life as a D-list celebrity and orange juice queen like Bryant did.
Carrie Prejean ought to talk to Anita Bryant before letting herself be used by the hateful forces trying to keep same-sex couples from marrying. But then she would have to find the rock of obscurity that Anita crawled under after her marriage was ruined and her lucrative contract with the Florida orange growers association was revoked for her being so obviously retarded.
Miss California: your 15 minutes of fame is up. Please join Ms Bryant and the other high-profile losers who chose to open their damn fool mouths instead of just doing your bimbo best to stand there, pose and give hard-ons to straight men.
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