The Old Switcheroo — On-line Buyers Beware

Have you ever ordered something on line, and paid the shipper for United Parcel Service (UPS) delivery only to have your package delivered by the United States Postal Service (USPS)? Well, you are not alone. It’s sort of a bait and switch tactic. You pay the on-line seller to have your merchandize delivered via UPS and later learn that while the item was initially sent via UPS – UPS Basic to be precise – near the final leg of the trip your package was turned over to the USPS for delivery. UPS Basic  is a less costly UPS service that delivers small packages, weighing less than 70 pounds within the U.S. at a lower cost than regular UPS.  

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Staying Alive

This is not a story about the 1983 John Travolta movie or the Bee Gees soundtrack. But, in a way it is a sad song about Jacque, my friend since childhood. He is now a Baby Boomer who has been unemployed since losing his white collar, mid-management position nearly three years ago. Subsequently, when he was let go, Jacque lost his health and life insurance. Any conscientious Boomer knows that losing either or both of those benefits make you as vulnerable as a cat trying to cross a four lane highway.  No wonder some Boomers commit suicide.

Jacque, a 61 year old divorcee, with two grown children says he does not have suicidal tendencies, although he has become a loner during the past year. We recently met for lunch one day after he called me and said that he needed to vent. He is unlike thousands of Boomers who quietly seethe in anger after losing their job. “They can call it what they want, being laid off, downsized or fired,” he said while resting his elbow on the table beside his plate and his chin on his fist. “The bottom line is that they are still kicking you out. Forget loyalty. Forget working hard and going to the office, promptly every day. You are damned if you do and damned it you don’t.” Jacque had enjoyed his job of the past 25 years, and planned to work until he decided it was time to leave.

As I sipped my green tea, he continued to let off steam, “You know I never lived an extravagant lifestyle. All I ever wanted in recent years was to live the rest of my life comfortably; keep my old Ford running and my dog, Duke, happy. I had a little bit of savings before I got axed. Then some age related medical problems started and …” He hesitates in mid-sentence and dejectedly shakes his head. I lower mine. I feel his pain.

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Viewpoint on the Death Penalty

In light of controversy concerning two pending death penalty cases – the recently stayed execution of Texas inmate Duane Buck and Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, the following commentary is posted on behalf of an adamant death penalty opponent. For the sake of clarification, some editorial adjustments have been made.

The following is a “Guest Contributor” post by David White

[The rational of using] heinous crimes [as a reason for imposing the death penalty] is exactly why I’m so against it. It’s subjective!!

You could say killing and raping several people is heinous enough, but there have been multitudes of people who have done as bad, or worse, and faced judgment far short of being killed. What makes one person more worthy of being killed than another? The subjectivity of the one with the power.

So, if I have the power and I see black people as more evil or menacing, I’m more apt to see a black who commits the same crime as a white more deserving of death. Or, [say that]I  think the killing or rape of a black college co-ed by a white man is more despicable than the reverse, [on who an I] likely to impose the harshest penalty? We know our justice system is not impartial, we know it is rife with prejudice, inequality and most importantly fallibility. Yet we put the power of life or death into the hands of fallible, sometimes prejudiced people and ask them to play God and determine who’s worthy to live a life that we did not bestow upon them.

We, Americans in particular, have a bloodlust that is, in my mind immoral; and ironically [that is] why we have so many murderers and heinous criminals in the first place. [Did] you hear the Tea Party audiences cheering Rick Perry’s execution record? Did you hear them wishing the death of a hypothetical dying uninsured man? We talk about the “sanctity” of life and go to war in a heartbeat, and call anyone who opposes “unpatriotic”. We talk about murder is wrong, but we hypocritically justify murder whenever we feel someone offends enough to justify it. No wonder we’re so armed and paranoid! Dick Cheney can torture, detain and kill with impunity, yet Davis can be put to death without any physical evidence because
“somebody’s got to pay for this” and he fits the bill.

Until humans become omniscient and all-knowing, I think we should refrain from imposing ultimate punishments – or in the alternative, institute the ultimate punishment uniformly – you kill, you get killed. But guess what? We’d never do that because we can always rationalize and justify some people’s misdeeds as opposed to others – that’s the definition of subjective judgment. Somehow the white lady who drowned all 5 of her children one-by-one in the bathtub should be allowed to live, but the young black thug who just happened to be riding in a car with a guy who killed a store owner in a robbery should be killed.

Are we truly so perfected in judgment that we can and should make these calls? Other “civilized” societies have determined that they can survive without capital punishment. I think we just haven’t evolved as much as they have. To me, it’s as indefensible as slavery was – it’s [the death penalty] just too immoral to stand on its own; it’s just a matter of when we [American society] will mature enough to renounce our darker instincts and advance to our “more perfect” ideal.

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