Location:Quail Glen Ct,Charlotte,United States

Paige Lavender 
The Huffington Post
February 4, 2012

Ron Paul claimed he didn’t get the endorsement of Donald Trump because he was the only Republican presidential “candidate that didn’t kiss his ring.”

Paul hit at his GOP rivals for meeting with the billionaire real estate mogul in 2011, the State Column reports. Mitt Romney, who met with Trump in late September but denied media access to the encounter, received Trump’s endorsement Feb. 2, just days ahead of the 2012 Nevada Caucuses.

In an interview with Fox 13 News, Paul downplayed the value of Trump’s endorsement, saying he “can’t imagine why anybody talks about him.”

Read more

So, a few years back we decided to get DirecTV. We PURCHASED a receiver at wholesale pricing because at the time, my Dad was a DirecTV retailer.

Later, we PURCHASED an HD DVR, followed by an HD receiver a couple years later. All receivers were purchased at wholesale pricing.

In the years that followed on several occasions, DirecTV tried to make us return the receivers, demanding that they were leased – however they were not. Each time this happened, a complaint was filed with the BBB and then a resolution was reached where they removed the charges for the non-return of the “leased” equipment and stopped sending up empty boxes.

I put the service on hiatus in 2010 and recently went to pay the fees on the account and reactivate. Now they’ve again tacked on the non-return fees, for receivers I OWN.

A call to them only led to me being disrespected and cursed out by someone in their collections department…and all I want to do is pay the correct bill and reactivate!

So I did what I’ve done in the past – I filled a complaint with the BBB. Now, they no longer handle their own compaints and farm it out to a horrid company called, Trustlink (who claims they are a division of the BBB). They are more of a mediation service. What this means is that basically serve the agenda of corporate America and not the consumer. BEWARE – THE BBB NO LONGER SUPPORTS THE CUSTOMER!!!!!!

Now, after sending for copies of the PURCHASE RECEIPTS to Rachel Hernandez at Trustlink AKA the BBB – here is the response:

I’ve discussed your complaint with the company at length and unfortunately they’re unwilling to agree to your request.  Here is the exact text of their response:

 We regret to hear of any misunderstanding regarding the $132.50 equipment Non-Return Fee (NRF) that applied to the account on December 3, 2011. According to our records, the NRF is valid as your leased DIRECTV HD Receiver was not returned to DIRECTV after cancellation. As we advised you in 2008, the equipment you obtained from NORTH AMERICAN CABLE EQUIPMENT, INC. is leased.  The invoices you provided do not state you purchased the equipment. If you purchased the equipment outright, the invoices would indicate a purchase price of approximately $399 for a DIRECTV HD Receiver and $499 for a DIRECTV Plus HD Receiver. To have the NRF reversed, your leased DIRECTV HD Receiver, remote, and access card will need to be returned to DIRECTV in the recovery kit that was recently shipped to you. Instructions and a pre-paid shipping label are included in an envelope attached to the outside of the recovery kit. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to address your concerns. Sincerely, DIRECTV Office of the President

How ridiculous is that?

Well, it looks like my time in Kentucky is coming to an end. It’s been an emotional 9-10 days.

We had my grandmother’s funeral – as I’ve said, it was a beautiful service and truer words have never been spoken about her. Her faith is what guided her, her faith is what took her home to God.

Now I just hope that certain members of my family have the decency to make sure her final wishes are carried out. It is certainly no secret in regards to what I think of them. They are good for nothing people and only serve their own cause.

Everyone knows how they really are and where they will go when they die.

At any rate, I am confident that I did everything I could for my granny while she was still with us. I took her to the grocery on many occasions, and even ended up paying for her medicine – when those aforementioned relatives “borrowed” money from her with no intention of repaying.

It is definitely time to move forward. Those that did wrong to her will have to deal with their eventual guilt and consequences. No more bickering…

In other news, we stopped SOPA. Now on to put an end to PIPA. I’ll be posting a new series of articles about these issues and the people in Congress that are still backing them.

So tomorrow is a travel day. Back to Charlotte. More updates from the road.

Credits: Craigslist 

Corporate supporters of HR3261 (SOPA) and S968 (PIPA) want the ability to take down any web site that affects their profits — without due process or judicial oversight — in the name of combating “online piracy.” Hoping you won’t notice or care, your Public Servants are preparing to give them that right.

For example, Monster Cable (remember “Monster Park“?) considers craigslist a “rogue site” for future takedown under PIPA - apparently 2nd hand sales of cables by CL users are hurting Monster’s sales of new cables. (reddit).

SOPA/PIPA authors and supporters of course insist they’re only after foreign piracy sites, but Internet Engineers understand this is an attempt to impose China-style controls on the Internet, complete with DNS hijacking and censoring search results. Except in the US, instead of to the Communist Party, that control will go to the highest bidder.

Tell Congress you OPPOSE H.R. 3261 “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and S. 968 “Protect IP Act” (PIPA):

• Reverse Robocall ALL pro-SOPA MOC + Key Lobbyists (Genius! More info on Ars Technica)
• Phone your Member of Congress the old fashioned way (House) (Senate)
• Contact Senators who are refusing to meet with constituents about SOPA/PIPA.
• EFF Congressional Emailer – Oppose Internet Blacklisting (SOPA & PIPA)
• ECA Congressional Emailer - Don’t Censor Our Internet!
• OpenCongress Congressional Emailer – Oppose SOPA
• Generic Congressional Emailer (You’ll need your Zip+4)
• Outside the US? Sign Petition Opposing US Censorship of Global Sites (EFF)

Supporters of SOPA: RIAA, MPAA, News Corp, TimeWarner, Walmart, Nike, Tiffany, Chanel, Rolex, Sony, Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren, VISA, Mastercard, Comcast, ABC, Dow Chemical, Monster Cable, Teamsters, Rupert Murdoch, Lamar Smith (R-TX), John Conyers (D-MI)

Opponents of SOPA: Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, eBay, AOL, Mozilla, Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy, Zynga, EFF, ACLU, Human Rights Watch, Darrell Issa (R-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Ron Paul (R-TX)

Where does your Member of Congress stand on SOPA? (Project SOPA Opera)

SOPA and PIPA Are Too Dangerous To Revise, They Must Be Killed Entirely 

Congress needs to hear from you, or these dangerous bills will pass - they have tremendous lobbying dollars behind them, from corporations experts say are attempting to prop up outdated, anti-consumer business models at the expense of the very fabric of the Internet — recklessly unleashing a tsunami of take-down notices and litigation, and a Pandora’s jar of “chilling effects” and other unintended (or perhaps intended?) consequences.

There is still time to be heard. Congress is starting to backpedal on this job-killing, anti-American nonsense, and the Obama administration has weighed in against these bills as drafted, but SOPA/PIPA cannot be fixed or revised — they must be killed altogether.

Sen Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep Ron Wyden (D-OR) are championing an alternative to SOPA/PIPA called Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN)that focuses on cutting off payments to foreign sites dedicated to piracy, and refrains from disrupting basic Internet protocols, or threatening mainstream US sites like craigslist.

Tim O’Reilly, a publisher who is himself subject to piracy, asks whether piracy is even a problem, and whether there is even a legitimate need for any of these bills.

Learn more about SOPA, Protect IP (PIPA), and Internet Blacklisting:

• Growing Chorus of Opposition to SOPA
• Open Letter against SOPA from 83 Prominent Internet Engineers
• Why SOPA and Protect IP (PIPA) are Bad, Bad Ideas (Techdirt)
• Piracy not a problem, SOPA/PIPA unnecessary (Tim O’Reilly on GigaOM)
• SOPA News (Google News)
• SOPA Wikipedia entry
• SOPA FAQ (CNET)

Currently Listening To: Venus De Milo  by Miles Davis

Sunday – 6:33am

I’ve been up for about an hour now. This is my usual rising time throughout the week, although being sick with an awesome cold doesn’t make it any easier to sleep.

Still thinking about my grandma. The service on Friday was beautiful, and the pastor could not have said any more true words of her. She was certainly a pillar of the church and used everyday to spread the good Word. For that, was her life.

And she enjoyed it and reveled in every moment.

As sad as I have been – I was rather joyous for her on Friday as we laid her to rest.

She won.

She beat the odds. She got her grand reward.

I have experienced many religions in my life, dealing with my own search for answers and faith. I have not been the best Christian at times in my life, and I’ve also questioned my own faith in recent years. Quite simply, if  there is a God, then why doesn’t he just show himself? Well, I guess I can surmise if that were to happen, then there would be no reason for “faith”.

Faith is defined as the absolute belief in something, even though there is no physical proof. It is one of the great mysteries of Christianity, as is what happens to us when we die.

I’d like to believe that if there is a Heaven, that it’s not how much good or how much wrong that determines whether or not we get in – but rather if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior. You see this all the time in the world: serial killers, generally bad people who accept Christ into their lives prior to being put to death or while in prison. These guys believe that they are going to Heaven. But are they really? Won’t they one day have to atone for their sins? Or is by accepting Jesus Christ their way of being forgiven?

At any rate, not get into a discussion of theology.

As Fox Mulder would say, “I want to believe.”

And it’s not that I don’t believe.

It’s just that some of the Christian beliefs, I find it hard to really believe. For me, it’s more logical to think that God is not some dude with a beard living in the clouds, but maybe a higher intelligence (possibly other worldly) that laid the seeds of our civilization. How do we know that Heaven is up in the clouds? Because the Bible says so? What if Heaven is right here among us, maybe on a different plan of existence, frequency, or dimension?

I know that there is an afterlife. Too many people who have had near death experiences, all explain the same things. The tunnel, the all loving light, seeing relatives who passed away years before, and a sense of going “home”. Also there is a ton of scientific data mounting in this field of study – showing that there is something after this physical life but we haven’t the words to explain it as a species.

This can’t be simply parts of the brain dying off as oxygen leaves the body…and the dendrites and synapses starting to misfire.

I suppose, that in the end is when we all will find out. I just hope I can learn how to have the faith to get me there.

We miss you Mama Ruth.

It’s 1:21am.

I’m jarred awake partially by the cold of the night, and thoughts of the day ahead that I will begrudgingly take part of in the next few hours.

My grandmother passed away on Tuesday. My life has quite literally halted since then. You can think you’re prepared for something like this, but when it finally happens – the flood of emotions is almost unbearable.

I am not reluctant, nor am I hesitant about attending her visitation and funeral – I simply want to celebrate her life and let people know what a wonderful woman of faith she was, and in my heart, still is.

I never really imagined her to be one that would grow old, and whither away. She always was, and in my eyes, always would be. However, she was steadfast in the notion that all things in life were final, and that one day she would be with God. She knew where she was going and was ready for the journey ahead of her.

She was a truly wonderful person – always meeting us at the door with a smile, always wanting and trying to take care of us even as her own health waned these last few years.

Her life was one of absolute Christian servitude, she touched so many people – she did so many good things. And while she didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize or cure disease…she certainly made the world a better place.

There will never be another like her. Her heart was always full of gold, her eyes shining bright as the night time stars with love for her family, life, and God.

My earliest memory of her is her baking in the kitchen, and the lovely smells that always filled her house. As a child, Sundays were always the day we went and spent time with her. Then as a young man, I had the pleasure of attending church with her for a while. This is where I really came to know her, and her walk with God. I will always be amazed by her faith, and knowledge of the Bible.

She was, and is so many things to our family: a wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother – there will be such a deep void that we can only now fill with positive memories of her kindness, and the knowing that we did all we could to make her last few years as livable as possible.

She led a quiet and yet amazing life. She overcame such adversity in her life – from growing up poor, to losing her husband in 1976. But always, she held tight to her faith. It was her rock, and she was certainly ours. At the end of the day, she would always say that the Lord knows best and everything happens because of Him – good or bad. No matter what happened in her life, she was simply content knowing that God was watching over her.

I had a chance over Christmas break to sit with her for a few minutes. She had been battling dementia but had a brief moment of clarity and said, “John, I’m tired and my body is all worn out – I am ready to go home.”

Quickly I realized that she didn’t mean her little house on Spring Street, but she meant home as in “with God, or Heaven.”

I really knew then that this was most likely the last time I would get to talk to her.

This past Monday evening, I had a dream about her. The dream was nothing really out of the ordinary.

I remember my doorbell ringing. I get up and look through the peephole, only to find that I can’t see anyone – then the doorbell rings again. This time I open the door, only to see a short, little blue haired old woman with her hair done and makeup on….it’s my grandmother and I can’t believe she’s at my apartment in North Carolina.

I see her old car parked in the parking lot behind us.

She asks me how I’ve been and wants to know what I’m doing in NC. I answer her, and then wake up as she is telling me she just stopped by to see how I was, and that she has to go.

Tuesday morning I am flooded with phone calls, and messages telling me that she passed away.

The news hit me hard, and quite honestly I must tell you that I had to excuse myself from work – and go to the restroom to have a good cry.

I ran the entire gambit of possible emotions for I knew she was where she had be longing to be for a long time, and that made be joyful for her. I was sick and sad-stricken thinking of such a loss to our family, and that made me sad beyond words. Lastly I was greatly concerned about the emotional impact on my own parents, for they had been really the ones making sure she had been taken care of these last few months.

Then I remembered my dream from the night before. Perhaps that was her way of saying goodbye? Perhaps it was just a random dream? I would like to think it was her letting me know she would be going.

I also laugh out loud when I remember her telling me that she would never be placed in a nursing home, that she would rather die first. Ironically that day, she was to be moved from a rehab facility into a nursing home. She was, defiant until the end and obviously had the last laugh.

As sad as I am of her passing, there are so many good memories I have of her.

There are so many things about life she taught me.

Any tears I have now, I’d like to think are tears of quiet joy – and being thankful I had so many wonderful times with her, and knowing that I am a better person having her in my life.

Godspeed Mama Ruth – I love you, and I will miss you every day I have left on this planet.

I’ll see you again one day, I just hope they have chicken’n'dumplings in Heaven.

Obituary: Ruth Staton 1919-2012