Crazy Guide to the Internet

Verizon snipped one of the few remaining threads connecting Charles Whiting to his dead wife when they upgrade the 80-year-old man’s phone system. The update erased his wife saying, “The Whitings aren’t home,” a message Mr. Whiting listened to every day for the comfort it gave him. When Whiting called to complain, he was left on hold for an hour and was then disconnected. Then he waited on hold for another 90 minutes, only to be told that his wife’s voice was lost forever. Whiting said, “It was like she was still with me when I heard that. Now they took her voice away.” After his story hit the news circuit, Verizon restored the previously “irretrievable” message. Amazing how a little bad press works to get good customer service.

New York Man Loses Dead Wife’s Voice Message in Phone Service Upgrade [FOXnews] (Thanks to Ed!)
Phone Company Retrieves Voice From Past [AP]
(Photo: Getty)

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The New York Times ponders: How could irresponsible mortgage lending “take out take out the whole global financial system?” [NYT]

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Barack just sent out this email… 

Dear Samuel,

Five years ago today, President George W. Bush launched a war that should never have been authorized based on faulty premises and bad intelligence.

This war has now lasted longer than World War I, World War II, or the Civil War.

Nearly four thousand Americans have given their lives. Thousands more have been wounded. Even under the best-case scenarios, this war will cost American taxpayers well over a trillion dollars.

And where are we for all of this sacrifice?

We are less safe and less able to shape events abroad. We are divided at home, and our alliances around the world have been strained. The threats of a new century have roiled the waters of peace and stability, and yet America remains anchored in Iraq.

I am running for President because it’s time to turn the page on a failed ideology and a fundamentally flawed political strategy, so that we can make pragmatic judgments to keep our country safe.

That’s what I did when I stood up and opposed this war from the start and said that we needed to finish the fight against al Qaeda. And that’s what I’ll do as President of the United States.

Please take a few minutes to read my strategy for ending the war in Iraq and making America safer. I hope you will sign on and show your support:

http://my.barackobama.com/fiveyearslater

Senator Clinton says that she and Senator McCain have passed a “Commander-in-Chief test” — not because of the judgments they’ve made, but because of the years they’ve spent in Washington.

She made a similar argument when she said her vote for war was based on her experience at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

But here is the stark reality: there is a security gap in this country — a gap between the rhetoric of those who claim to be tough on national security, and the reality of growing insecurity caused by their decisions.

It is time to have a debate with Senator McCain about the future of our national security. And the way to win that debate and keep America safe is to offer a clear contrast — a clean break from the failed policies and politics of the past.

Nowhere is that break more badly needed than in Iraq.

Join me in supporting an end to this war and a plan for a safer America:

http://my.barackobama.com/fiveyearslater

The judgment that matters most on Iraq — and on any decision to deploy military force — is the judgment made first.

If you believe we are fighting the right war, then the problems we face are purely tactical in nature. That is what Senator McCain wants to discuss — tactics. What he and the Administration have failed to present is an overarching strategy: how the war in Iraq enhances our long-term security, or will in the future.

That’s why this Administration cannot answer the simple question posed by Senator John Warner in hearings last year: Are we safer because of this war? And that is why Senator McCain can argue — as he did last year — that we couldn’t leave Iraq because violence was up, and then argue this year that we can’t leave Iraq because violence is down.

When you have no overarching strategy, there is no clear definition of success.

Success comes to be defined as the ability to maintain a flawed policy indefinitely. Here is the truth: fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. And fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer.

When I am Commander-in-Chief, I will set a new goal on Day One: I will end this war. Not because politics compels it. Not because our troops cannot bear the burden — as heavy as it is. But because it is the right thing to do for our national security, and it will ultimately make us safer.

Show your support for a clear strategy to end the war in Iraq and focus our national security efforts on making America safer:

http://my.barackobama.com/fiveyearslater

Here are the core elements of my strategy to address our critical national security challenges in the 21st century:

• End the war in Iraq, removing our troops at a pace of 1 to 2 combat brigades per month;
• Finally finish the fight against the Taliban, root out al Qaeda and invest in the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, while making aid to the Pakistani government conditional;
• Act aggressively to stop nuclear proliferation and to secure all loose nuclear materials around the world;
• Double our foreign assistance to cut extreme poverty in half;
• Invest in a clean energy future to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil and to lead the world against the threat of global climate change;
• Rebuild our military capability by increasing the number of soldiers, marines, and special forces troops, and insist on adequate training and time off between deployments;
• Renew American diplomacy by talking to our adversaries as well as our friends; increasing the size of the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps; and creating an America’s Voice Corps.

Please take a minute to show your support for this plan:

http://my.barackobama.com/fiveyearslater

We are at a defining moment in our history.

This must be the election when America comes together behind a common purpose on behalf of our security and our values.

That is what we do as Americans. It’s how we founded a republic based on freedom, and faced down fascism. It’s how we defended democracy through a Cold War, and shined a light of hope bright enough to be seen in the darkest corners of the world.

When America leads with principle and pragmatism, hope can triumph over fear. It is time, once again, for America to lead.

Thank you,

Barack Obama

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How hiring a consumer lawyer is different from hiring a regular lawyer, and potentially much less costly. [Caveat Emptor]

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Earlier today Barack gave an important speech to mark the five year anniversary of the Iraq war, titled “The World Beyond Iraq.” Barack called for a turn away from the path of “unending war and unilateral action” and an end to a politics based on fear and division.

From the New York Times:

In an address delivered to an invitation-only audience at a community college, Mr. Obama praised the military’s service, specifically singling out those based at nearby Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base. Yet he said the war had not been worth the toll taken on military families and the nation’s security. He amplified his call to remove one to two brigades a month with a goal of having combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months.

… Mr. Obama appeared at the Fayetteville Technical Community College, where a handful of uniformed soldiers were in the small crowd for what the campaign billed as a major policy address on Iraq and national security. The address was designed to mark the official starting date of the war.

… “The lesson of Iraq is that when we are making decisions about matters as grave as war,” Mr. Obama said, “we need a policy rooted in reason and facts, not ideology and politics.”

From the Associated Press:

In a speech not far from North Carolina’s Fort Bragg military base, the Democratic presidential hopeful told military families and local officials that the war has emboldened al-Qaida, the Taliban, Iran and North Korea.

“Ask yourself,” Obama told the crowd, “Who do you trust to end a war: someone who opposed the war from the beginning, or someone who started opposing it when they started preparing a run for president?”

… “What we need in our next commander in chief is not a stubborn refusal to acknowledge reality or empty rhetoric about 3 a.m. phone calls,” he said. “What we need is a pragmatic strategy that focuses on fighting our real enemies, rebuilding alliances and renewing our engagement with the world’s people.”

… “This is why the judgment that matters most on Iraq - and on any decision to deploy military force - is the judgment made first,” Obama said.

From the CBS News:

Calling the war in Iraq the product of a “failed ideology” and a “fundamentally flawed political strategy,” Barack Obama sought to outline a clear differentiation between not only himself and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, but Republican nominee John McCain as well.

“The way to win a debate with John McCain is not to talk, and act, and vote like him on national security, because then we all lose,” said Obama. “The way to win that debate and to keep America safe is to offer a clear contrast, and that’s what I will do when I am the nominee of the Democratic Party – because since before this war in Iraq began, I have made different judgments, I have a different vision, and I will offer a clean break from the failed policies and politics of the past.”

… Repeating his assertion that he will immediately begin withdrawing troops from Iraq as soon as he takes office, his plan is to remove one to two brigades a month, which would have all troops out of Iraq in 16 months. “After this redeployment, we will leave enough troops in Iraq to guard our embassy and diplomats, and a counter-terrorism force to strike al Qaeda if it forms a base that the Iraqis cannot destroy,” he said. “What I propose is not – and never has been – a precipitous drawdown.”

Stabilizing Iraq, according to Obama, will require the Iraqis taking a bigger role in running their own country. “It is precisely this kind of approach – an approach that puts the onus on the Iraqis, and that relies on more than just military power – that is needed to stabilize Iraq,” he said.

From the Washington Post:

“In 2002, when the fateful decisions about Iraq were made, there was a president for whom ideology overrode pragmatism, and there were too many politicians in Washington who spent too little time reading the intelligence reports, and too much time reading public opinion,” Obama told an audience of military and community leaders, in a speech titled “The World Beyond Iraq.”

…. He noted that McCain yesterday had mixed up Sunnis and Shiites while discussing the terrorist threat in Iraq, during the Arizona senator’s trip through the Middle East. “Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no al-Qaeda ties. Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America ’s enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades,” Obama said.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Noting that the war in Iraq now has lasted longer than either of the World Wars or the American Civil War, Obama argued that the Iraq War in addition to the lives lost and treasure spent has opened a “security gap” for the United States by weakening its strategic position.

“There is a security gap in this country – a gap between the rhetoric of those who claim to be tough on national security, and the reality of growing insecurity caused by their decisions,” Obama said.

You can read Barack’s full plan, and then sign on to show your support for a safe and responsible end to the Iraq War.

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Reader Ted writes:

Love your website. I’ve been a fan for quite a while. I finally have a story of my own to add. A couple of weeks ago I called BofA to cancel the Automatic Payment Plan on my BofA Visa. I was taking advantage of a 0% balance transfer offer. The autopay plan would have paid off the entire balance in full at the end of the month. Today I received 64 individual and identical letters from BofA confirming the change to my account.

Mblockquote>How thoughtful! They must’ve realized I’m slightly ADD so they didn’t want me to forget what I had done. They were kind enough to include my full account number on each letter which means I’ll be sending all 64 pieces of mail into my undersized shredder (I knew I should have bought the Binford 2000 model).

I was thinking of raising a stink but the damage done (so far) is only a slight inconvenience. I hope they don’t send me another 64 letters tomorrow. I guess I could always try and get them to pay for my electric bill and a new shredder. This is gonna take a while.

Thanks,
Ted This is what would happen if my Mom owned a bank. She’s very helpful with the reminders. Very.

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Where do you go if you have no money and you lost your house to foreclosure? How about a tent city! Such are springing up on LA’s outer rim, and their numbers are growing, as seen in this BBC tv report. The American Dream, imploded.

[via Boing Boing]

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!      

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Here’s relief for users of Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash finding that the product stains their teeth brown and destroys their sense of taste. Jeremy writes:

I had that happen to me and I went to my dentist to have them cleaned. Since I had gone only a month after my last cleaning (1 free per 6 months) I had to pay. I emailed Crest about it and they said they would pay for it.

So if Crest makes your mouth look like you’ve been chewing tobacco sine you were 13, email them via this webform or call 1-800-285-9139 and see if they’ll pay for your teeth cleaning. No word on whether they’ll be helping customers recover their ability to taste anything.

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Barack Obama will deliver a speech in Philadelphia today. The event is set to begin at approximately 10:15 EST. Check your major cable news networks for live coverage or watch the live stream at CNN.com/video.

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