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[- Editorial Disclaimer and Fair Use Notice] Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Reviewer Mag" journal:

[<< Previous 20 entries]

August 28th, 2008
01:48 am [Link]	I Wanna Be Elected I never lied to you, Ive always been cool Im your top prime cut of meat, Im your choice I wanna be elected Im your yankee doodle dandy in a gold rolls royce I wanna be elected Kids want a savior, dont need a fake I wanna be elected Were gonna rock to the rules that I make I wanna be elected, elected, elected I never lied to you, Ive always been cool I wanna be elected I gotta get the vote, and I told you about school I wanna be elected, elected, elected Hallelujah, I wanna be elected Everyone in the united states of america Were gonna win this one, take the country by storm Were gonna be elected You and me together, young and strong Were gonna be elected, elected, elected Respected, selected, call collected I wanna be elected, elected Tags: elected (Leave a comment)
August 6th, 2008
06:13 pm [Link]	re-post from ReviewerMag.com Interns Wanted We need more music review writers Music Writer Wanted: Are you tired of an easy life of toil-free leisure? Do you feel you have too much money and nothing arduous to occupy your time? Take your first step in the exciting world of journalism! Become an unpaid intern at Reviewer Magazine and get started on our treadmill of clerical drudgery! Positions to be filled include music and entertainment review churner, distribution specialist, computer drone, and more! editor@reviewermagazine.com MYSPACE (Leave a comment)
July 27th, 2008
11:56 am [Link]	Chomsky Gets It Wrong Chomsky on Pornography " ...A Disgraceful Activity" "I'd never heard of the Huster... " Wow, maybe I should take him off my Myspace friends list. To imply generally that all pornography is about the degradation of women is the same as saying all tomatos have salmonella, or that all wars are immoral... The narrator of this drek even gets the street date wrong of the issue the article was in, saying it was September of '04 while zooming in on screen is a shot of the cover where it clearly shows it's SEPTEMBER OF 2005. "I'd never heard of the Huster," says it all. Chomsky is such an out-of-touch acedemic that he didn't do any cursory research on the magazine before he granted the interview, a magazine that every other American male has heard of, until someone told him "what the Huster was..." Haha. This is the magazine that has fought for First Amendment rights for 30 years and made famous for printing photos of Jackie Kennedy-Onassis. So Huster's style of erotica isn't for everyone - so what? This is a free country. Look at it if you want or ignore it, just don't try to remove the rights of others to enjoy it if they want. Oh, and pornography is like child abuse?! PLEASE! The actresses and actors in the magazine are adults who gave their full, informed consent, which is something children can't do. I feel sorry for Noam Chomsky. After his name appeared on the cover of Hustler he probably received some harsh criticism from people close to him, people who, as an old man, he felt very dependent upon their approval, and at his age and in his state of frailty one needs to make more friends, not lose them. But Chomsky's stock has fallen. To use as a metaphor the comparison of child abuse to pornography shows that this man's days as a reputable commentator of social issues are now over. ~Editor Below, the Chomsky interview video about his Hustler article, from youtube.com/watch?v=SNlRoaFTHuE at youtube.com/ChallengingMedia: ReviewerMag.com \| editor@reviewermagazine.com Tags: chomsky gets it wrong (Leave a comment)
June 17th, 2008
02:31 am [Link]	archeological discovery http://reviewermagazine.com/metate-page.html Stone Age Cuisinart Pictured below is an American Indian metate. A bit of background: It was picked up in 1975 by a railroad weed survey employee who was working in Sorrento Valley, just east of Torrey Pines State Beach, in San Diego County. At the time he was checking for "exotic" or non-native grasses that might have sprouted along the tracks from seeds that fall off railroad cars. It's a job that he said was paid for by tax dollars so I guess it might not exist anymore. In 1975 the population of San Diego was a fraction of what it is today, and the land rush that Proposition 13 started in 1980 hadn't been imagined by more than the most visionary of community planners. In 1980 both Carroll Canyon Road and Black Mountain Road were unpaved and we'd drive down them to go surfing in La Jolla or Del Mar, passing places like this metate spot all the time. Anyways, he was with a group of people from work doing a job, the guy who found this metate, and he saw it sitting off by itself "in a wash" near where Panasquitos Canyon empties out onto the tidal flats. It was when Interstate 805 was just being finished, and he said there were still some old windmills there built by homesteaders in the 1860s after California had become a state, but they had been abandoned shortly after being erected due to drought. There were also some now vary rare wild walnut trees nearby. This metate belongs to me now but the former owner said that there were grinding holes in the vicinity (the type in large semi-submerged boulders), and I've read on the internet that there's different uses for those too. Perhaps the women had these mobile stones for washing flour with water, although this one's rather heavy to transport over long distances. Here's a Mapquest page of near the exact spot he described it as being found: mapquest.com/maps/sorrento+valley+road+%26+sorrento+valley+blvd+san+diego++ca/ I not sure why I'm sharing this info with you, dear readers. Like me you probably have a busy life, one full of exciting events and ambitious hopes. Just yesterday you might have watched Tiger Woods on TV win the US Open at the Torrey Pines golf course a couple of miles away from this location. Thousands of people pass by this site every hour during a normal day on the 5 and 805 freeway overpasses that merge above it. But down there it sits, the pastoral nexus of coastal valley and seasonal streams where generations of humans had used it continuously until the mid 1800s when the socio-demographic climate began to change and they moved on to greener meadows. Afterwards this metate must have sat untouched in the same spot for at least 100 years, perhaps totally unnoticed, until someone came by and ascribed any significance to it again. Today's descendants of the hands that ground Torrey pinon nuts, acorns from Live Oaks and walnuts on this granite milling device are doing pretty well for themselves all things considering since the casinos have brought them enough money to afford electric cuisinarts. I wonder a lot of things about this example of prehistoric kitchen technology. Like how long did it take to carve out that trough used as the grinding bowl? That's a hard-ass piece of granite... And where did they get it? Was it unearthed from a local granite outcropping or did its manufacturer import it from the hills inland where there's more of this stone to be found? Is it possible to determine how old it is, maybe from local tribal knowledge of the history of the area? And who were these people? What sort of society did they have? Why did they leave all of a sudden? Was it a type of military action that drove them out or were they brought under the rule of the Catholic Missions? I'll look into these questions more later, but for now I'm content to occasionally glance at this metate in its place on my counter-top next to my stove. And I smile when I see it because it's a reminder to me of our shared nomadic heritage. Because, no matter who you are descended from, be it English royalty, gypsies, samurai, Scandinavian vikings, Zulu tribesmen or whoever, somewhere back there in the misty bogs of antiquity you had a grandmother who toiled upon a stone not unlike this one. ~RR Tags: metate (Leave a comment)
May 7th, 2008
10:56 am [Link]	nature's way Snakebite! A rattler gets ready to enjoy a yummy furry treat. It is nature's way. This is a Crotalus oreganus helleri, also known as a "Southern Pacific rattlesnake, black diamond rattlesnake, black (diamond) rattler, gray diamond-back, mountain rattler, Pacific rattler, San Diegan rattler, timber rattler," and is a member of "a venomous pitviper subspecies found in South-West California and south into Baja California," according to its listing at Wikipedia.com here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_oreganus_helleri See a higher resolution version of this clip at the Reviewer Magazine website here: http://reviewermagazine.com/tasty-snakey-mouse-snack-web-desktop.mov Tags: rattlesnake bite (Leave a comment)
April 22nd, 2008
02:19 am [Link]	My Cause Is Noble "I can guide a missile by satellite" The Flobots - Handlebars lyrics [... video by Reviewer Rob] Artist: The Flobots lyrics Album: Other Song Lyrics Title: "Handlebars" I can ride my bike with no handlebars No handlebars No handlebars I can ride my bike with no handlebars No handlebars No handlebars Look at me, look at me hands in the air like it's good to be ALIVE and I'm a famous rapper even when the paths're all crookedy I can show you how to do-si-do I can show you how to scratch a record I can take apart the remote control And I can almost put it back together I can tie a knot in a cherry stem I can tell you about Leif Ericson I know all the words to "De Colores" And "I'm Proud to be an American" Me and my friend saw a platypus Me and my friend made a comic book And guess how long it took I can do anything that I want cuz, look: I can keep rhythm with no metronome No metronome No metronome I can see your face on the telephone On the telephone On the telephone Look at me Look at me Just called to say that it's good to be ALIVE In such a small world All curled up with a book to read I can raise funds open up a thrift store I can make a living off a magazine I can design an engine sixty four Miles to a gallon of gasoline I can make new antibiotics I can make computers survive aquatic conditions I know how to run a business And I can make you wanna buy a product Movers shakers and producers Me and my friends understand the future I see the strings that control the systems I can do anything with no assistance I can change the nation with a microphone With a microphone With a microphone I can split the atoms of a molecule Of a molecule Of a molecule Look at me Look at me Driving and I won't stop And it feels so good to be Alive and on top My reach is global My tower secure My cause is noble My power is pure I can hand out a million vaccinations Or let'em all die in exasperation Have'em all grilled leavin lacerations Have'em all killed by assassination I can make anybody go to prison Just because I don't like'em and I can do anything with no permission I have it all under my command I can guide a missile by satellite By satellite By satellite and I can hit a target through a telescope Through a telescope Through a telescope and I can end the planet in a holocaust In a holocaust In a holocaust In a holocaust In a holocaust In a holocaust In a holocaust I can ride my bike with no handlebars No handle bars No handlebars I can ride my bike with no handlebars No handlebars No handlebars Tags: handlebars lyrics (Leave a comment)
April 21st, 2008
01:14 am [Link]	Moon over Nado Tags: moon over nado (Leave a comment)
April 5th, 2008
02:32 pm [Link]	Temporary Hold?! Apr. 3, 2008 Debit Card PIN Purchase To SHELL SAN DIEGO CA Completed Details -$54.72 USD $0.00 USD -$54.72 USD $149.97 USD Apr. 3, 2008 Temporary Hold By PayPal Placed Details -$54.72 USD $0.00 USD -$54.72 USD $204.69 USD Apr. 3, 2008 Authorization To SHELL SAN DIEGO CA Pending Details -$54.72 USD $0.00 USD -$54.72 USD $259.41 USD Dude, what the FUCK? What the fuck to they get off on placing a temporary hold for several days after the purchase has completed when you make a MasterCard purchase at some places? This is fucking bullshit - now that money can't be used for anything else until it's released. It's BULLSHIT! I bought $50 worth of gas and some munchies at the Shell station the other day with one of my cards and the purchase went through just fine but then that night I saw online that TWICE the amount of my purchase was lifted from my balance. I fucking HATE THAT. There's NO NEED FOR THAT! Why, I mean give me just one fucking good reason how come they need to tie up twice the amount of the purchase. If I had only $55 dollars in the account the purchase would have still went through just fine... right? So why the "temporary hold" on these other funds when the card company shows me online that the original purchase has went through already? Can anyone fucking explain this to me???? (Leave a comment)
March 29th, 2008
04:43 pm [Link]	AT&T hasnever had any real competition AT&T: A Persistent and Dangerous National Monopoly [From Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Telephone_&_Telegraph] A national monopoly As a result of a combination of regulatory actions by government and actions by AT&T, the firm eventually gained what most regard as monopoly status. In 1907, AT&T president Theodore Vail made it known that he was pursuing a goal of "One Policy, One System, Universal Service." AT&T began purchasing competitors, which attracted the attention of antitrust regulators. To avoid antitrust action, in a deal with the government, Vail agreed to the Kingsbury Commitment of 1913. The terms of the agreement allowed AT&T to purchase independent phone companies as long as it sold an equal amount of telephone devices. G.W. Brock says in Telephone:The First Hundred Years, "This provision allowed Bell and the independents to exchange telephones in order to give each other geographical monopolies. So long as only one company served a given geographical area there was little reason to expect price competition to take place." AT&T focused on purchasing companies within specific geographic areas that increased its effective control of the telephone system market, while selling its less-desirable and previously acquired companies to independent buyers. Also included in the Kingsbury Commitment was the requirement that AT&T allow competitors to connect through its phone lines. Economists point out that this reduced the incentive of these companies to build competing long-distance lines. … Break up, spinoffs and restructuring The rest of the telephone monopoly lasted until final settlement of a 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T on 1982-01-08, under which AT&T ("Ma Bell") agreed to divest its local exchange service operating companies, in return for a chance to go into the computer business (see AT&T Computer Systems). AT&T's local operations were split into seven independent Regional Bell Operating Companies known as "Baby Bells". With the American consumer's new ability to purchase phones outright, AT&T and the Bell System lost the considerable revenues earned from phone leasing by local Bell companies. Forced to compete with other manufacturers for new phone sales, the aging Western Electric phone designs still marketed through AT&T failed to sell, and Western Electric eventually closed all of its U.S. phone manufacturing plants. AT&T, reduced in value by about 70%, continued to run all its long distance services through AT&T Communications (the new name of AT&T Long Lines), although it lost some market share in the ensuing years to competitors MCI and Sprint Corporation. A sign that hung in many Bell facilities in 1983 read: There are two giant entities at work in our country, and they both have an amazing influence on our daily lives. . . one has given us radar, sonar, stereo, teletype, the transistor, hearing aids, artificial larynxes, talking movies, and the telephone. The other has given us the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, double-digit inflation, double-digit unemployment, the Great Depression, the gasoline crisis, and the Watergate fiasco. Guess which one is now trying to tell the other one how to run its business?[1] … On 2001-07-09 it spun off AT&T Wireless Corp. in what was then the world's largest initial public offering (IPO). Later that year it spun off AT&T Broadband and Liberty Media, which comprised its cable TV assets. AT&T Broadband was subsequently acquired by Comcast in 2002, and AT&T Wireless merged with Cingular Wireless LLC in 2004. In 2004, the U.S. government eliminated equal access regulations that allowed long-distance phone companies to access the networks owned by the regional Bell carriers at fixed rates. This ultimately caused AT&T to move away from the residential telephone business — declaring in the process that it would no longer market residential telephone service. Instead, its residential focus shifted to offering a voice service over a broadband Internet connection called AT&T CallVantage. Acquisition by SBC Main article: AT&T On January 31, 2005, Baby Bell SBC Communications announced its plans to acquire "Ma Bell" AT&T Corp. for $16 billion. SBC announced in October 2005 that it would shed the "SBC" brand and take the AT&T brand along with the "T" NYSE ticker symbol. Merger approval concluded on 2005-11-18; SBC Communications began rebranding the following Monday, November 21 as "AT&T Inc." and began trading as AT&T on December 1 under the "T" symbol. The original AT&T corporate entity, founded in 1885, became a subsidiary of the new AT&T Inc. However, this is not the first time it has existed as a subsidiary; in its founding it was a subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company. Tags: at&t has no real competition (Leave a comment)
04:10 pm [Link]	AT&T hands over personal account customer info without subpeona [Ooooo - the employees were "investigated"... like big wup-dee-do. ~Ed.] ex·i·gent – adjective 1. requiring immediate action or aid; urgent; pressing. 2. requiring a great deal, or more than is reasonable. FBI Employees Face Criminal Probe Over Phone Company Info/Patriot Act Abuse When It's THE PHONE COMPANY Who Willingly Supplied The Pivate information Of The Customers! Ryan Singel Email 07.12.07 \| 2:00 AM FBI personnel who used misleading emergency letters to acquire thousands of Americans' phone records are the subject of a criminal investigation, top bureau officials told civil liberties groups Monday. The unprecedented criminal probe, revealed at an outreach meeting led by FBI director Robert Mueller and general counsel Valerie Caproni at FBI headquarters, is looking at the actions of an antiterrorism team known as the Communications Analysis Unit, according to two people who attended the meeting independently and who informed Wired News, requesting anonymity. The privately disclosed investigation would mark the first time government officials have faced possible prosecution for misuse of Patriot Act investigative tools, and highlights the seriousness of recent reports about the FBI's misuse of a powerful self-issued subpoena known as a National Security Letter. Unit employees, who are not authorized to request records in investigations, sent form letters to telephone companies to acquire detailed billing information on specific phone numbers by falsely promising that subpoenas were already in the works. According to a third source, FBI officials also said at the meeting that some bureau employees have already been granted immunity from prosecution in the investigation. The third source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, did not recall, however, that FBI officials described the investigation as "criminal." FBI spokesman Richard Kolko confirmed that the meeting took place but declined to comment on the content of the conversation, saying only, "The FBI does not confirm or deny investigations." Neither the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General nor the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility returned calls for comment. While the scope of the alleged investigation is unknown, investigators could be examining whether the unit violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, or committed fraud by falsely swearing that subpoenas were being prepared. National Security Letters are self-issued subpoenas that allow investigators in terrorism and espionage cases to require phone companies, banks, credit reporting agencies and internet service providers to turn over records on Americans considered "relevant" to an investigation. Those records are then fed into three computer systems, including a shared data-mining tool known as the Investigative Data Warehouse. Though warned in 2001 to use this power sparingly, FBI agents issued more than 47,000 National Security Letters in 2005, more than half of which targeted Americans. Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, have downplayed the gravity of the reported errors while attempting to mollify critics by promising to strengthen internal oversight. The Communications Analysis Unit, part of the FBI's Communications Exploitation Section based in the agency's headquarters building, is tasked with analyzing terrorist communications and providing intelligence to the FBI's Counterterrorism Division. However, because it only supports investigators, unit employees cannot issue subpoenas and instead need to have counterterrorism investigators do so. However, the Justice Department's Inspector General reported (.pdf) in March that the office issued 739 "exigent letters" to AT&T, Verizon and MCI seeking information on more than 3,000 phone numbers. The letters stated: "Due to exigent circumstances, it is requested that records for the attached list of telephone numbers be provided. Subpoenas requesting this information have been submitted to the U.S. Attorney's Office who will process and serve them formally to (Phone Company Name) as expeditiously as possible." However, no such subpoenas had been filed with U.S. Attorneys and only later were some of the requests followed up with proper legal process, according to the Inspector General's report. Several of the letters included requests for records for more than 100 phone numbers. Bassem Youssef, the current head of the Communications Analysis Unit, told Congress in March that key FBI lawyers knew about the problem in 2005, when he notified them and put an end to the false letters. Youssef first noticed the problem with the letters in 2005 when he took over the unit and quickly brought the matter to the attention of his supervisor and the FBI's Office of the General Counsel, according to a March letter (.pdf) sent by his lawyer, Stephen Kohn, to Sen. Chuck Grassley. "At all times, the (National Security Law Branch) and the FBI (Office of the General Counsel) knew that the field offices and operational units were non-compliant in obtaining the legal documentation," Kohn wrote. Youssef is currently suing the FBI for retaliating against him for complaining that the bureau was wasting his Arabic-language skills and antiterrorism experience. He attempted to get proper National Security Letters filed to provide post-facto legal backing for the exigent letters but was hampered by uncooperative field offices, according to the Senate letter. Kohn did not respond to requests for comment. (Leave a comment)
04:00 pm [Link]	AT&T - who really needs it? ...hasn't ever had a problem until AT&T Why does anyone have land-based phone lines in 2008 anyways? [Text excerpted below is from http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/att_big_bill.htm] I signed up for a new Verizon long-distance account and was told to contact AT&T to cancel. When calling the company they used the usual selling tactics and convinced me to sign up for a new plan. After thinking about it I decided that it wasn't a good idea and so had the plan blocked by Verizon the same day. On the next, which should be last phone bill from AT&T there is a charge for the phone plan that I signed up for. Knowing that the plan never went into effect I called them to have the charge removed. They refuse to remove the charge because I signed up for it and they have a 30 day prepayment for that plan. I feel that the charge should not be on the account because they never provided me with any services after I switched to Verizon. Considering that she did not even have the courtesy to inform AT&T that she had changed her mind we have a hard time seeing how a one-month minimum charge is out of line. Christine of Nesconset, NY, writes (4/2/01): Here�s my nightmare: In the beginning of March, my 80-year-old father got his phone bill from Sprint. He only uses Sprint, for local and long distance. His bill, for approximately three years, has been $8 or so a month. He hasn�t ever had a problem until AT&T entered his life. AT&T added a page of long distance charges to my father�s Sprint bill totaling $170.27. My father mailed the bill to me because he got so upset he thought he would have a stroke over it. I told him I�d call and take care of it. After three weeks, seven Customer Service Reps, two Supervisors, seven solid hours, and a dozen excuses, I�m no closer to resolving this. I will try to give you a concise version of events: 3/13/01 7:30pm � Called AT&T at 1800-222-0300. Spoke to Tony. Told him these calls were not my father�s and he transferred me to Ms Brown. Ms Brown told me I had to order a wire check with Sprint or call 1800-222-3000 to order a wire check from AT&T. She wasn�t sure though, if the customer would have to pay for that. I called Sprint and spoke to Jennifer in the Repair Dept. She told me that Ms Brown was incorrect. I should call during business hours and get Customer Service to order a CMI to investigate the charges. * 3/14/01 3:35pm � Called Sprint at 1800-339-1811 and told them the story (for the fourth time). They transferred me to an AT&T dept. Back to them, I was told that both the wire check and CMI excuses were not correct. They said I should call AT&T Customer Service again. * 3:50pm � Spoke to Monique at AT&T Customer Service. She told me she�d have to call me back because their computers are being updated. She promised it would only be 45 minutes. * 5:00pm � Called and demanded to speak to a Supervisor. Was given to Craig Gentry. He surmised that the problem could be with the recent change in area codes. He suggested I call Bell South in Florida at 1-904-780-2355. I explained that I�ve wasted enough time trying to get AT&T to fix their own error. I shouldn�t have to make all these calls to different companies and investigate where AT&T made the mistake. He agreed and had a conference call with BellSouth in Florida. Well, BellSouth wouldn�t even talk to me because they told Craig that it is an AT&T snafu. AT&T tried numerous times to push their mistake onto every other phone company. I refused to let Craig off the line now. He transferred me to Kevin Morgan, supposedly a Supervisor in Hollywood CA. We went over everything for an hour and a half. He thought that when the area codes were changed in Florida, my father�s was the same number as a Sprint Wireless phone. My father was being charged for those cell phone charges belonging to a different customer. He said I�d have to now call Sprint Wireless. * 3/15/01 3:50pm � Called 1800-339-1811 and spoke to Patricia. She transferred me to the Business Office. I spoke to Coritha there. She suggested changing my father�s phone number altogether since AT&T can�t seem to fix this. My father would have to call though, to authorize this. In the meantime, she�ll get AT&T to take off the charges. * 4:30pm � Kevin at AT&T said the charges of $170.27 will be removed. He gave me Confirmation #NC*****. It will be about a week before Sprint gets the order and takes off charges. Also, he will note the problem on the computer so that my father will no longer get these erroneous charges. I thanked him profusely and thought all was well. 3/18/01 � AT&T sends my father a letter (dated Sunday, the 18th) stating that they have reviewed the charges and they are correct as is! The name on this letter is incorrect and the phone number they are referencing is also incorrect: * 3/29/01 � My father receives a letter from Sprint stating that they will be turning off his phone service if they do not receive the past due balance by 4/8/01. In a panic, he calls me. * 7:30pm � Chris with Customer Service says I should call 1800-222-0300. I�ve explained that MAYBE AT&T has the information mixed up. MAYBE these charges belong to the area code they have on my father�s letter? I did AT&T�s job so that this might finally be resolved. I, myself, called that phone number on their letter and, SURE ENOUGH, the gentleman there said he uses his phone for business calls. * 7:40pm � Spoke to Pauline Chadwick at AT&T�s Long Distance Billing for Business Dept. She gave me Confirmation #NB***. She said there�s no promise that �they� will take off charges though. She said she�d call me back in a few days, after she gets an answer from someone else. I asked her for her direct line or extension since I�ve gone through this over a dozen times now. Not to hold her accountable (God forbid!), but just to allow me to reach someone who knows the story so I don�t have to repeat whole complicated mess again. She told me, �No, you can�t get me again. Just dial the 800 number�. I then asked for a supervisor and she refused, saying, �No, there�s no one else you can talk to here�. As of this date, I don�t know what to do or who to turn to. I feel that AT&T has no interest in taking care of this. If I can�t investigate and tell them whom to charge, they will not bother. I tried everything. I can�t spend any more time or aggravation on this. Also, I made the long distance call to the number on my father�s letter. I�ll have to pay for that; I don�t understand why AT&T didn�t call it and find out for themselves. They do not cooperate at all though. I feel this is a form of extortion. They can tack any amount or any calls on someone�s bill, then refuse to look into it and correct their own error. What is a consumer to do now? I feel they expect me to pay the $170.27 just to be sure my father�s phone isn�t shut off. After all, he IS elderly and in poor health. I find it hard to believe that they can do this to people. We've forwarded this sad tale to AT&T and, like Christine, are awaiting a reply. What Christine might want to do is pay the disputed amount, just to ensure her father's telephone is not turned off. Angela of Salisbury, MD, writes: My husband and I got our phone bill three weeks ago. The bill was from AT&T for $800. We don't even have AT&T long distance. When we called them they said it was internet related. We called AOL our long distance provider and they said that it was not. They could prove we were not even on the computer when these calls happened. AT&T then said they were regular 900 calls, but they would cut the price in half. We refuse to pay anything, we did not do this. Everytime we called back AT&T they changed the story. First they say they are internet related calls, then when we tell them we can prove they weren't they change the story. Finally they said it was going to investigations. I called back myself and talked to a woman named Ida in the Massachusetts office. She said we were cleared of the charges and a credit would be made to our account, it would take up to two billing cycles to hit our account. She even gave me a confirmation number. I asked her if a lot of people were having trouble with these calls to Chad Africa, and she told me no because AT&T had an account with this company, and other companies like psychic hotlines. Just two days ago we get a phone call from Vincent in investigations with AT&T saying they are reinstating the charges. When my husband told him we already had a confirmation number clearing us of the charges, he said that was only a credit while under investigation. Now he says that we do owe the money. He told my husband I misunderstood Ida, and that there was no way that she told me that AT&T even has accounts with companies like these (adult porn). So my husband hung up the phone and called AT&T himself and asked how he could set up a 900 number account. They gave him a number and when he called it was a "how to" set up a porn line (phone or internet) and how AT&T will help you collect money from customers and all this other information. When my husband called Vincent in investigations back at AT&T he told him about this number and Vincent said he could not believe that a company he worked for would have accounts like this. I know I keep rambling on but I'm very upset and AT&T keeps changing their story on us. I truly believe they are in "kahoots" with companies like these. There is no way we called on the internet or on our phone these numbers. Either we are being scammed by AT&T or someone has hacked our computer and used our info to access this porn account. Carol of Hollywood, FL: Billed for a bogus call from my phone on billing cycle 1/28-2/28 to an international "Chad" number which is an adult entertainment charge. Billed for $197.16. On Feb 7, 2000, I called AT&T and told them this call was not made by me. They were advised I would not be responsible for this call. They could check my previous records and it will show this is not my practice. Billing 2/28 to 3/28--my bill was credited for a "MISDIRECTED CALL" for $104.13, they were still asking me to pay $93.03. This is a scam. I will not pay. Another letter went out to AT&T. They were also advised I would be contacting Consumer Affairs. There should be some type of law to protect the innocent consumer. Unfortunately, AT&T has been refusing to back off these charges to Chad, which are the result of a scam supposedly aimed at adult site visitors. See our recent story for more details. Raymond of Mooresville, NC: I received my phone bill from Alltel. In it was a bill from AT&T for $297.40 for two phone calls to someplace called Chad. I called AT&T and talked to a guy name Vinny. He said the calls were made from my computer and I'd have to pay the bill. My wife and I are the only ones who use are computer and neither one of us made the calls. I Didn't know you could make calls from a computer. I'd like to know if AT&T has some scam going with some co. to rip off people. My wife and I are both in our 60s and I am disabled. Scott of Norcross, GA: I have 2 phone lines in my house. When I switched to AT&T I requested to have each line set up on the same calling plan (7 cents/min and 25 cents calling plan). They agreed. Several months later after using the calling card while traveling on company business, I realized I had been charged 72.5 cents per minute for each calling card call made. I called AT&T to complain and expected to have them gladly remove the excess charges. After a personality conflict with one supervisor "Monica", no one else was permitted to override her decision to help me. I e-mailed the company only to receive another "I'm sorry" response. I am willing to fight the big boys if that's what it takes to prevent excessive consumer charges and the lack of record keeping these companies have in these situations. It is frustrating to have a poorly spoken company rep to say, "I didn't overcharge you, so don't be upset. There is not anything I can do. Kathryn of Stuart, FL: We were on the AT&T One Rate Plan at $.07/minute at our previous address and telephone number. When we moved to our new house I re-established the same service with AT&T at our new number effective 2/1/00 and confirmed that I would be on the same One Rate Plan at $.07/minute. Well, I received my first bill approximately 1 1/2 weeks ago and I was shocked to see I have been charged REGULAR RATES! Upon conversations with a couple of Customer Service Reps., and a message from a Manager, they have no record in their file of my request for the One Rate Plan and will not adjust my account. The last Customer Service Rep. I spoke with, Terry, said she feels that my complaint is extremely legitimate and she agreed with me when I told her I was not planning to pay my bill until I receive an adjustment. She was going to specifically speak to her Manager about my situation and have her Manager call me back. Her Manager left a message that she would try back, but left me no way to contact her directly. Last night and again this morning I tried to get some sort of acceptable response through their online customer service, but received the same results. A customer service rep. wrote back that they reviewed the notes in my file and cannot make an adjustment. I specifically requested direct contact information for someone above the Manager level with whom I could discuss my situation. I am awaiting a response. Having just endured the stress of moving across country with two young children, living in temporary housing, house-hunting, and finally moving into a permanent house - all while being 3,4,5, and now 6 months pregnant is extremely stressful. This problem with AT&T is extremely frustrating, especially when I make a LOT of long-distance calls, have been a loyal AT&T customer, and have ALWAYS BEEN on a calling plan. Gail of New Rochelle, NY, writes: On October 21, 1999 I received a AT&T long distance bill for over $1200.00. I reviewed the bill and called AT&T and found that I had been dialing a 914 telephone number to connect with my Internet Service Provider (which I assumed was local since I live in the 914 area) but turned out to be a long distance call. Subsequently I ended up making calls in the amount of $1200.00. I tried explaining my error to several representatives who were all very nice but kept telling me that "it is not AT&T's job to police my bill". I would have accepted that, had another representative, "Irene," not advised me that on five different occasions - September 13 & 22, October 5,13, & 21 - AT&T was notified of a "high usage bill." As a matter of fact on September 13, the bill was a little over $524.00. Why didn't anyone contact me? I tried getting an explanation as to why no on ever notified me, I called the Executive Office and spoke with Mr. Tom T, who arranged for a Manager to call me back. Mr. Mike T called me and advised me that the charges would be sustained and that"it is not AT&T's job to police my bill". Mr. T then advised me that the bill was now an additional $1900.00 and still would not answer my questions or explain what happened but said that I could make payment arrangements. Not being satisfied I called the Executive Office again and spoke with Mr. M, who listened to my story and agreed that the best answer to my question, was not, "it is not AT&T's job to police your bill". Mr. M advised me that he would arrange for someone to call me back with a better explanation, but no one ever did. I called Mr. M again today; he advised me that "the charges were sustained " and that the case was closed. I feel that someone dropped the "ball" on this, I feel that someone should have called and did not. I was a representative for another company and we always notified our customers of "jump bills", it was a good policy then and it is still a good policy now. Anyone who even looked at the bill would have realized that, 1000's of dollars in calls to Poughkepsie, NY when you live in New Rochelle, NY had to be an error of some kind. Tags:** at&t - who really needs it? (Leave a comment)
March 2nd, 2008
02:57 pm [Link]	Prince Harry and the free press Machine Gun Harry - No More Days And A Wake Up So the younger lad of Charles, Prince Harry, third in line to the throne and the rebellious one who likes to party and rock the fuck out, was recently recalled from his military deployment in Afganistan where he was in the employ of her majesty the Queen as an entry-level officer directing fire for American pilots. This was due to the breaking of an astonishingly long 10-week press embargo of the story of his serving in a combat unit on the front line. The Ghost Of Diana There are people who are criticizing the editors of these major news venues for this rare case of self-censorship, most of who agreed to hold the story for three long months until Harry was scheduled to return from the field. I've been reading about this over the course of the last few days in the LA Times, the New York Times, our San Diego Union and online at various places like CNN.com where I first saw it when it was a bulletin less than 10 minutes old and nowhere, NO WHERE, is anyone talking about the possible motivation of the press keeping their mouths shut being guilt over the death of his mom, the statuesque Princess Diana, whose car crash in a Paris highway tunnel was caused by motorcycle-riding paparazzi photographers (and a drunken driver too, true...). Imagine if the leaking of this story would have lead to Harry's death now. How would that have affected press rights in England and here? ~RR Tags: prince harry and the free press (Leave a comment)
February 24th, 2008
07:35 pm [Link]	Sailing To Byzantium, by Yeats No Country For Old Men "Sailing To Byzantium" – by William Butler Yeats That is no country for old men. The young In one another's arms, birds in the trees --Those dying generations--at their song, The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, Fish, flesh, or fowl commend all summer long Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unaging intellect. An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, unless Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing For every tatter in its mortal dress, Nor is there singing school but studying Monuments of its own magnificence; And therefore I have sailed the seas and come To the holy city of Byzantium. O sages standing in God's holy fire As in the gold mosaic of a wall, Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre, And be the singing-masters of my soul. Consume my heart away; sick with desire And fastened to a dying animal It knows not what it is; and gather me Into the artifice of eternity. Once out of nature I shall never take My bodily form from any natural thing, But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make Of hammered gold and gold enamelling To keep a drowsy Emperor awake; Or set upon a golden bough to sing To lords and ladies of Byzantium Of what is past, or passing, or to come. Tags: sailing to byzantium by yeats (Leave a comment)
February 18th, 2008
08:49 am [Link]	Piano Bars JD Broucharde plays piano at The Turf Club now My assistant and I stopped in to The Turf Club last night on our way back to Point Loma after a wedding I shot in Bonita. He hesitated at first and said his wife was getting dinner ready but I roped him into it. JD Broucharde plays piano at The Turf Club now and JD's wife Azule was sitting at the piano bar with us. She told me about another place in San Diego that has a similar set up like the piano bar here. I already knew about The Red Fox Room on University, everyone does, but this other one is a hotel piano bar over on Fourth or Fifth near Balboa Park, I forget the exact name Azule said it was... Piano Bars are the new cool. ~RR Tags: piano bars (Leave a comment)
February 13th, 2008
10:28 pm [Link]	My Cubicle by the Beach My Ocean Beach Cubicle My one-bedroom pad in Point Loma has, adjacent to a tiny kitchen/dining area, a medium sized living room wherein I keep shelves with books, a TV, my corner-unit-with-ottoman and my mountain bike. But my bedroom is where I spend most of my apartment time... with my laptop in a 5x5 squared off area segmented by two desks and my closet doors. There's also a TV in it, this one with a DVD player. Yes it's a tight, cramped little space - but I can't complain. I live in a relatively quiet neighborhood (for OB) and although when it rains the widow frame drips water so I have to put jars on the windowsill to catch it and a trashbag over my desk against the wall so the wood and papers don't get wet, I don’t really mind. The rent is cheap (again, for OB), and, over the tops of the apartments below me I have an ocean view of the mighty Pacific a block away. They'll get around to fixing the roof eventually. :) ~RR Click HERE for the totally awesome low-rez YouTube.com/reviewer vid of the view from the window... Tags: cubicle (Leave a comment)
January 28th, 2008
11:33 am [Link]	And they both pissed off the far right? Theatre Of The Eerie Hey kids, if you're like me you're a firm believer in all theories of conspiracy, that and I guess you'd also be really handsome and well-hung. But we're not so concerned about that here so much as the Strange But True dealings of the psychic realm! Posted below for your evaluation is a youtube video about a well known coincidental relationship between the untimely deaths of both president Lincoln and Kennedy. One or two details may have been explainable by chance, but can anyone simply say that the Universe didn't have a hand in these strange but true events being so closely linked together by Fact? Tune in next episode for our hot new video with all the juicy details about the bikini waxing patterns of the stars. ~RR Tags: both pissed off the far right? (Leave a comment)
January 20th, 2008
01:07 pm [Link]	Reviewer Rob isn't a hippie [NEWS FLASH] Reviewer Rob Gets A Haircut. It's past mid-January now, the nights are getting shorter, and although there are probably a few more chilly days left before the Southern California sun beats down with unmerciful summer abandon I couldn't wait to get my hair cut yesterday. Long hair is over-rated. It's great to keep your ears warm when the thermometer dips below 55 but people today make too many bigoted character judgments based solely on appearances. For instance, strangers upon meeting me immediately think I am good at basketball just because I'm black. Or they assume I am stingy, can't enjoy a ham sandwich and am easily given over to kibitzing simply because I'm jewish. Well, I'm here to break those restricting shackles. Because it isn't fair. Besides, it's nice to not have to wear a hat in order to keep the hair out of my eyes. Click this recent pic and see the whole, truly totally amazing video: Or go to http://reviewermagazine.com/me-haircut-vid-full-all2a2.mov. Tags: haircut for rob (Leave a comment)
January 15th, 2008
10:21 pm [Link]	Sex Workers Art Show Truth In Advertising? I posted a notice on the nasty DVD review section of the Reviewer website for the Sex Workers Art Show, which is touring into San Diego on January 21st at Brick By Brick. I've never been to it, although I've gotten the press releases for it for perhaps three or four years now. Is there any actual art or sex in this show? Tags: sex workers art show (1 comment \| Leave a comment)
January 13th, 2008
04:04 pm [Link]	Sank, swam, go down with the ship "In ancient Rome there was a pawn" Freedom Of Choice by DEVO lyrics from lyricsfreak.com A victim of collision on the open sea Nobody ever said that life was free Sank, swam, go down with the ship Just use your freedom of choice I’ll say it again in the land of the free Use your freedom of choice Your freedom of choice In ancient Rome there was a pawn Who faught alone And watched it fall He cast a stone He felt secure He felt that he'd never be hurt Freedom of choice Is what you got Freedom of choice! Give into the voice You dont want it Seems to be the rule of thumb Don’t be tricked by what you see You got two ways to go I’ll say it again in the land of the free Use your freedom of choice Freedom of choice Freedom of choice Is what you got Freedom of choice! In ancient rome there was a pawn Who faught alone And watched it fall He cast a stone He felt secure He felt that his voice would never be heard Freedom of choice Is what you got Freedom from choice! Is what you want Freedom of choice Is what you got Freedom from choice! Is what you want Freedom from choice Is what you want Freedom from choice! (Leave a comment)
January 9th, 2008
11:20 pm [Link]	Reviewer TV on the roll! Adventures In Web Design I'm doing video uploads now onto the Reviewer website and foresee that this will be more and more the meat and potatoes of the website as well as REVIEWER MAGAZINE (the print version) coverage in the future. But it's funny how you figure things out by trial and error. For instance, the other day I loaded up the absinthe video here: reviewermagazine.com/absintheattowerfullvid5.mov. I liked it alright, all except for the smaller size of the view window... Then I loaded up a video shot last summer of Stormy Daniels (the youtube video of her has gotten more than 15,000 views) and the view box for her was much larger, and here I saved the large file in almost the "low" export mode of Quicktime to speed uploading onto the FTP. It's probably something to do with how many times I saved and resaved the absinthe video that made it smaller, but I'm not sure yet. Need to look into it more. Maybe I'll go back to the original and save it once for uploading like I did with the Stormy Daniels vid... One thing's for sure though, this is pretty fun. CNN.com, watch out. Here comes Reviewer TV! ~RR Click here become a Member. [Click here for the newly uploaded Stormy Daniels interview video by Reviewer Rob, America's Greatest Indy/Alterna-Photo-Journalist.] Tags: reviewer tv on the roll! (Leave a comment)