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I had a recent episode with a company called Protect America, an alarm monitoring service with whom I have been a loyal customer for over 4 years.  I purchased the service in 2003, after my home was burglarized.

Unfortunately, the industry in which I am employed has been slow for the past few months.  I decided it was time to start cutting back on my monthly bills to help support my family.  I cancelled my home phone, cut back my internet service to basic service, cancelled my satellite TV, and cancelled my alarm monitoring service.

All the companies I contacted were fairly easy to deal with — except one:  Protect America.  These corporate criminals use legal binding contracts to trap customers into keeping their service.  After using their service for over 4 years, I had a legitimate reason for cancelling.  I simply can’t afford it. 

The customer service representative offered to give me a lower rate of $29.95 a month.  Well, this was still significantly higher than the $17.95 a month offered by The Alarm Store, so I kindly declined the offer, and asked that she simply cancel the service.  She then referred me to section 2 of the agreement, which I signed over 4 years ago.  The agreement clearly states:

The initial terms of this Agreement shall be 2 years, starting on the first day of the month that Company or its Authorized Dealer installs and connects the Equipment.  This Agreement will automatically continue for successive two-year renewal terms unless the Customer or Company gives written notice of cancellation to the other at least 60 days prior to the end of any initial or renewal term hereof.

There it is in black and white.  I’m stuck paying $45.00 a month for service I don’t even want for the next 18 months.  That’s $810 I could be using to buy groceries for my family.  Well, being the kind-hearted people they are, they offered to cancel the account after I pay a fee of $253.  That’s $253 I could be using to buy groceries for my family.

Sadly, I signed the stupid agreement without knowing that 4 years down the line I would need that extra money to feed my family.  So, I agreed to pay the $253 and walk away from the contract.  Let this be a lesson to all the other consumers in the world looking to secure their homes.  Signing a contract with Protect America is no different from allowing a criminal to walk into your house and steal cash from your home.  Save yourself some money and headaches by signing up with a reputable monitoring service.

…when you’re torturing a jerkoff who abuses helpless animals.  This jackass stole an endangered turtle from the family of an autistic kid, and tried to pry it out of it’s shell.  Honestly, how sadistic can you be?  If it were up to me, I’d sentence the dumbass to have his skin surgically removed.

Full Story from MSNBC:

VENTURA, Calif. - A man who police believe tortured an endangered tortoise by trying to cut him out of his shell and throwing him against a wall was arrested Thursday.

The 25-year-old African spurred tortoise, named Bob, was slashed and stabbed after being stolen from the home of an autistic boy. After he was brutalized, the turtle was dumped in brush behind an apartment complex and an anonymous caller told the family where to find him.

Witnesses to the torture provided information that helped lead to the arrest of Jose “Tony” Mosqueda, 18, of Ventura, who was booked at the county jail for investigation of cruelty to animals and grand theft, police said.

“It’s a good feeling. It’s kind of neat,” Sgt. Jack Richards said. “It just really pulled at some heartstrings and it’s good to have someone in custody.”

The turtle is recovering at Turtle Dreams, a Montecito rehabilitation center. He remained in guarded condition and was being fed through a tube in his neck.

‘Coming out of his shell’
“He’s getting more relaxed and coming out of his shell” more often, said Jeanie Vaughan, the center’s owner. “If he continues without any infection, I think he’s going to be fine.”

Earlier this week, he gave owners Dorothy and Bill Sullivan some hope when he reached a key milestone in his recovery: bringing his head out of his shell and taking his first steps.

The tortoise collapsed but then managed to take eight steps.

“When he finished, he had a tear in his eye … as did the rest of us,” Dorothy Sullivan said. “It was an excellent, great sign.”

Dorothy Sullivan said that she and her son danced with happiness when they heard of the arrest. Her son has not been sleeping well since the attack, she said.

“His security fell apart,” she said. “He was afraid that somebody was going to come and steal him and take him away and hurt him.”

“Now he feels safe. Now he can go out and play,” she said.

The family has installed security cameras and an alarm on the backyard fence so that Bob will be safer when he returns.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

I know a few people like this.  At the end of the day, after you’ve taken out all your ill-fated aggression on innocent people, all you really need is a hug.  There are a lot of morons in the world that can learn from this conscience-ridden, albeit stupid robber.

Full Story from MSNBC.com

A gate-crasher’s change of heart
Gunman bursts into party, tastes cheese and wine, gets hug, then leaves

By Allison Klein

Updated: 3:47 a.m. MT July 13, 2007

WASHINGTON - A grand feast of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp was winding down, and a group of friends was sitting on the back patio of a Capitol Hill home, sipping red wine. Suddenly, a hooded man slid in through an open gate and put the barrel of a handgun to the head of a 14-year-old guest.

“Give me your money, or I’ll start shooting,” he demanded, according to D.C. police and witness accounts.

The five other guests, including the girls’ parents, froze — and then one spoke.

“We were just finishing dinner,” Cristina “Cha Cha” Rowan, 43, blurted out. “Why don’t you have a glass of wine with us?”

The intruder took a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupéry and said, “Damn, that’s good wine.”

The girl’s father, Michael Rabdau, 51, who described the harrowing evening in an interview, told the intruder, described as being in his 20s, to take the whole glass. Rowan offered him the bottle. The would-be robber, his hood now down, took another sip and had a bite of Camembert cheese that was on the table.

‘Can I get a hug?’
Then he tucked the gun into the pocket of his nylon sweatpants.

“I think I may have come to the wrong house,” he said, looking around the patio of the home in the 1300 block of Constitution Avenue NE.

“I’m sorry,” he told the group. “Can I get a hug?”

Rowan, who lives in Falls Church and works part time at her children’s school, stood up and wrapped her arms around him. Then it was Rabdau’s turn. Then his wife’s. The other two guests complied.

“That’s really good wine,” the man said, taking another sip. He had a final request: “Can we have a group hug?”

The five adults surrounded him, arms out.

With that, the man walked out with a crystal wine glass in hand, filled with Chateau Malescot. No one was hurt, and nothing was stolen.

The homeowner, Xavier Cervera, 45, had gone out to walk his dog at the end of the party and missed the incident, which happened about midnight June 16. Police classified the case as strange but true and said they had not located a suspect.

“We believe it is a true robbery,” said Cmdr. Diane Groomes, who is in charge of patrols in the Capitol Hill area. But it’s one-of-a-kind, she said, adding, “I’ve never heard of a robber joining a party and then walking out to the sunset.”

The hug, she said, was especially unusual. “They should have squeezed him and held onto him for us,” she said.

Rabdau said he hasn’t been able to figure out what happened.

“I was definitely expecting there would be some kind of casualty,” Rabdau said this week. “He was very aggressive at first; then it turned into a love fest. I don’t know what it was.”

Was it the wine or the cheese?
Rabdau, a federal government worker who lives in Anne Arundel County with his family and lived on Capitol Hill with his wife in the 1980s, said that the episode lasted about 10 minutes but seemed like an hour. He believes the guests were spared because they kept a positive attitude during the exchange.

“There was this degree of disbelief and terror at the same time,” Rabdau said. “Then it miraculously just changed. His whole emotional tone turned — like, we’re one big happy family now. I thought: Was it the wine? Was it the cheese?”

After the intruder left, the guests walked inside the house, locked the door and stared at each other. They didn’t say a word. Rabdau dialed 911. Police arrived quickly and took a report. They also dusted for fingerprints — so far, to no avail.

In the alley behind the home, investigators found the intruder’s empty crystal wine glass on the ground, unbroken.

There are a lot of stupid people in this world, but it’s really a shame when you see a police officer with no common sense.  Who in their right mind would manhandle a 70 year old woman because her lawn is dry?  That retard needs to be locked up for a few days himself.

This is yet another example of a Communist America, where the government regulates what you can and can not do with your own property. 

Full Story:

Woman Arrested for Not Watering Lawn
July 6th, 2007 @ 10:00pm

Sam Penrod Reporting

A widow and grandma spent the morning in jail, arrested for refusing to give a policeman her name when he tried writing her a ticket for failing to water her yard. The woman hasn’t watered her lawn in more than a year, and the condition of her yard violates an Orem zoning ordinance.

Tonight, the woman says she is traumatized and shocked that she was hauled to jail, just because she says she can’t afford to water her lawn.

Betty Perry says, “I never thought they would ever do anything like that to a person that is 70 years old. I’ve never bothered anybody, I’ve never hurt anybody.”

She says the policeman who brought her home tonight was very courteous, even held open the door for her. But there were no gentlemen there when she was taken from her home this morning and booked into jail.

When Betty Perry heard a knock at her door and saw a police officer standing outside, she never imagined she would end up in jail. That’s what happened, though, when the officer tried enforcing Orem’s nuisance ordinance against neglected yards.

“I didn’t want to tell him anything until I talked to a lawyer or my son. I wanted to see what he’d tell me to do. I’ve never had any experience before with the law, ever in my life,” she said.

As the enforcement officer started writing her a ticket, she tried going back in her house. That’s when the officer tried to handcuff her for refusing to give her name and resisting the ticket. She tripped on the steps, scraping up her nose and elbows, leaving blood on her door, her porch and her clothes. Perry was handcuffed, fingerprinted and put in a jail cell, where she sat for more than an hour.

“I laid down in there. I never seen the inside of a jail before. I didn’t know how it looked, I was really scared,” she says.

When police brass learned what happened, she was immediately released.

Orem police spokesman Lt. Doug Edwards said, “Every officer in his career has situations they find themselves getting into, at the end of it they scratch their head and say, ‘gosh, how did this happen?’ Today, I think, was one of those days. Clearly there were some other options available.”

After being arrested, Perry is now scared of the police. She says, “Don’t ever say no when the police tell you do to something. You better do what they tell you no matter what, even if you don’t have anybody to help you. You’ve got to do what they tell you or they will hurt you.”

The officer was sent home for the day and placed on paid administrative leave. Police are not pressing any charges against Betty Perry for either neglecting her yard or resisting the ticket.

Source: ksl.com