Get off your ass and do something about it.
The one thing that drives me crazy about Americans, are the opinions we all have without real solutions, ask anyone in the country about the gas crises,or oil and you hear tons of opinions,and just plan bloviating no one has the answer's that can put us closer to a solution, some have ideas but fall to the wayside when being subjected to the test they just "most" fall short and at the end of the day, all we have is just a bunch of mouths open and spit flying..it has gone beyond disappointing it boarder lines frustration.
Having said that I don't have any answers, you will not see me on fox network news yelling a screaming to get my useless opinion up in your face, I just shake my head a lot giving the aspirin companies a whole lot of money, all I have are the facts that are presented to me, and I know there is no"quick fix" to these problems that we have all chose to encored until its a huge problem, then we are all forced to see over and over in the news, this is not only about oil its everything that happens from the Iraq war,to oil and hookers being bought with campaign funds to a presidential candidate befriending a racist Paster no one does anything about this till it becomes a media event on FOX.
where are the " think tanks" Americans pride them selfs on free and brilliant thinkers ..OK where are they?? it all comes down to there is no money in free thinking hence the word "free" before we can fix these problems that have gotten so out of hand we need to stop doing somethings in this country.
we need to Stop telling people this is a country of free thinkers and then point our finger at someone who is not afraid to THINK and voice them selfs in anyway,just because they don't think like you do,and share your warped way of thinking you call them unpatriotic, how dare you? the same freedoms that you enjoy are the ones that others cant?? HA.... quit telling people to stop being racist and then show them how many ethnic minorities groups occupy our prison systems and how much a burden it is on the American tax payer,Just how narrow minded are you?? guess what you just did, you killed the hopes and dreams of someone trying to make it in this world by limiting their potential shame on you!!, stop telling people that in the United States there is no limit on how much money you can make as long as you have the "right" education, then put education so out of reach for the poor by doing away with programs for needy Americans by taking away scholarships , and then in a smug voice tell them to get a better education, your an ass!!!! Stop taxing the Hell out a small business owners,that treat their employees like an extended family, then turn around and give huge tax incentives and tax breaks to big companies that treat the people who work and run them like slaves,governed and dictate to them that they are too fat, too thin, too ugly, too short, too tall, and smoke too much, stop telling them that they need YOU, and understand that it is YOU who needs them.
Just stop and fix small problems and then can open your eyes to bigger problems that face us day by day, stop and think before you open your face with your opinion that means nothing more then this blog, then get off your ass and do something about it...America...bullshit is nothing but Bullshit too bad no one hasn't thought of a way to tax that...wait Bush still has a few more months left...
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
BEWARE OF COMCAST IT'S JUST HORRID
Unlimited Access IS NOT UNLIMITED usage! Comcast enforces a secret limit on your use of its network. See the following article published in WIRED:
Comcast Limits 'Excessive' Bandwidth Consumers
By Scott Gilbertson September 17, 2007 | 9:51:15 AMCategories: networks
[Update: Charlie Douglas, the Comcast spokesperson cited below, contacted Wired News to say that figures given in the GameDaily story were meant only as examples and we have changed the headline to reflect that. Based on talking with Douglas and comments below, the limits for Comcast users appear to be considerably higher than our estimate. However, Comcast continues to say it does not have a hard and fast limit and "excessive use" could be well above, or, in some cases, below the cited figures. As you can see from reading the comments here and elsewhere, the bandwidth considered excessive, varies by location as well. Douglas also said that Comcast calls customers to inform them about excessive use, so if you haven't been called, there's no reason to worry.]
Comcast has revealed some details about its mysterious bandwidth limitations. Previously the company had only said that it would shut down customers who went over what the company considered average use. But given that the company doesn't seem to have a definition of average use, it's difficult to know whether you're in danger of being shutdown.
GameDaily has managed to get a sort of definition out of Comcast, though the limits aren’t actual numbers. GameDaily quotes Charlie Douglas, a spokesperson for Comcast Corporation, who says that Comcast’s definition of “excessive use” is any customer who “downloads the equivalent of 30,000 songs, 250,000 pictures or 13 million emails in a month.”
Obviously Comcast is avoiding the issue by failing to give an actual figure, but this statement does give a ballpark estimate. The standard assumption in the industry seems to be that a song is 3 MB, or at least most MP3 manufacturers seem to use that figure when they talk about storage capacity.
Using that ballpark figure, Comcast’s definition of excessive means that you’re limited to 90 gigabytes a month if you want to keep on the company’s good side. That actually seems like a reasonable number to me, but of course we routinely see comments from folks who’ve been capped by Comcast, so whether or not the company really abides by these figures is open to debate.
And that’s part of the problem isn’t it? It’s tough to abide by the rules when the rules are open to debate. Would it be so hard for Comcast to give a specific number? Apparently the answer is yes. The most likely reason there’s no hard limit is because “too much” bandwidth isn’t a constant. The measurement changes based on the infrastructure limitations of your particular locale, what are your neighbors are doing, and how steady and consistent your high usage periods are.
So while we may not have a hard limit now or ever, take the above statement as a rule of thumb should you be a Comcast customer. And if you’re unhappy with your ISP, have a look at the list of bad ISPs on the Azureus wiki, a handy way to see which companies to avoid, should you decide to switch.
[via Slashdot]
Comcast was caught spying on its users:
Comcast hit with privacy violation lawsuit
By Lisa M. Bowman
CNET News.com
May 24, 2002, 1:25 PM PT
Cable giant Comcast has become the target of a lawsuit alleging the company violated consumer privacy by tracking Web habits. The suit, filed by Michigan law firm Goren & Goren, seeks class-action status on behalf of people whose Web usage was monitored by Comcast earlier this year.
"This is clearly an important issue," attorney Steven Goren said. "If we lose this, they will be able to monitor and, presumably, sell information about where people go on the Internet."
The company came under fire in February for storing detailed information about people's Web surfing habits, including the sites they visited. Although Comcast said the data was only stored in aggregate and not tied to individuals, civil liberties groups, privacy advocates and some lawmakers were outraged.
Comcast eventually succumbed to public pressure and stopped storing the data after doing so for about six weeks. The company Web site still prominently displays a statement from Comcast cable division President Stephen Burke, saying it will no longer store the information, in an effort to reassure customers.
The class-action suit, filed May 17 in U.S. District Court in Michigan, claims the company's data collection practices violated the Cable TV Privacy Act of 1984. Plaintiffs are seeking up to $1,000 for each consumer whose data was tracked.
Comcast has about a million customers, but data apparently was only being collected by customers in a few regions, said Goren, who's not sure yet how many people would be covered by the suit.
Comcast did not immediately return requests for comment.
Comcast can't run a cable network well, much less an Internet Service:
In the past 30 days preceding 12/20/3003 (when I decided to fire Comcast), my Comcast cable and Internet were down three times and Comcast also lost DNS (Internet address service) four times. Without DNS, you need to know the REAL address of, say, Microsoft.com to be 207.46.197.102 and type that in instead of www.microsoft.com. Without DNS, no Internet sites, no e-mail, etc..
Each time Comcast lost DNS, I had to reboot my cable modem, then my home network router, then reset the IP addresses on all running PC's. Pain!!!!
Comcast Technical Support is poor:
Their instructions on setup were wrong, their instructions about what to do during the cutover from @Home to their in-house service was wrong, and even the corrected instructions were wrong. They refused me technical support because I was using a router that they advertised on their website and were selling. Etc., etc..
Comcast can't manage e-mail.
Everyone must be familiar with the massive problems where they lost e-mail service for as long as a week when they took over from @Home in February, 2000. Most are familiar with the repeat problem when they bought ATT Broadband. BUT, their problems continue. Here is an 11/30/2003 post on BroadbandReports.com:
Re: 9:30 PM EDT - Anyone else having email problem
It turns out that last night Comcast went through their accounts and disabled any active email addresses that were attached to an inactive account. We had moved in August, but our email accounts were not properly transferred to our new account when we moved.
I called Comcast tonight and they moved the accounts to the new account number and we're back in business.
Our accounts were inactive for the duration, so all email to us was bouncing.
If you've had a similar event in the recent past, this may have happened to you...
NOTE: The 9:30 PM post drew 4 responses complaining about Comcast mail outages ranging from Zion, IL to Burlington county, NJ. Each was in a different state. This is why I used my own e-mail server.
USER REVIEW: A User In Philadelphia:
Shnay
I used to live in Comcast Country, and their domination there is definitely apparent. And it really does suck. We had so many problems with our cable service, like having CBS, ABC, and NBC, (the free stations) come in all fuzzy (a problem they never got around to solving), that my family ended up switching to DirecTV. I've got some issues with DTV as well, but it's far better than Comcast. A pricey move, but one of the few options you have to get multiple channels if you live around Philly. My brother was the only one really bothered by the lack of sports, so he was out-voted.
As for their Internet service, that's equally bad. They routinely shut it down without explanation, and their e-mail service can be pretty inconsistent. I hated it, but, again, there weren't a lot of options.
Also, although I'm sure every cable company is like this, they never keep appointments. Ugh.
So, yeah, I agree. It really sucks, and their near-monopoly only makes the whole situation more frustrating.
Comcast greatly reduced services when it took over from @Home:
@Home provided free unlimited access to newsgroups as part of its standard package. Although it had a published monthly "cap" of 30 gigabytes of downloads, it did not enforce that. Comcast offers a free 1 gigabyte account with Giganews in its place. At best, this is a 96% DECREASE in service. They did not reduce their prices, however. Since newsgroups are 50% of the knowledgeable Internet users' activity, this amounts to a 48% overall reduction in service. This is a huge hidden price increase!
Three times now we've requested techs come look at our system. The first one, never showed. The second one came over and refused to do the job because the modem was on the floor under a card table with the cisco switch and the vonage router. He told his supervisor that there were a bunch of 16-18 yr old kids getting drunk and high and that he was asked to leave. The reality, 4 people (aside from the technician) were in the house, all over 22 (aside from me but I will be 22 in 6 days) and MAYBE 3 of us had a beer in-hand. Hardly seems like a raging party full of minors. And yes, he was asked to leave. But it was after he said he refused to get down and work on the modem under the table with the rest of the hardware and we called him worthless and told him to go and we'd call for a better tech. The third tech that showed up was quite helpful and polite, but was unable to fix the issue completely.
Now we come to the web-based chat support agents. What a worthless lot. We've probably spoken to 10 chat support representatives in the last 2 weeks and not one of them could give us a straight answer as to why our connection was so bad. They all just kept giving us the same "line speed is not guaranteed" speech and then some random excuse as to why it's not working. We've saved every conversation log.
Hopefully we can endure this for the next month or two before we switch to Verizon FIOS (Fiber-optic to the premesis =] .. lines will be provisioned within 1-2 months). I have to say I am very disappointed with Comcast. They were my first non-dialup connection and I've enjoyed the service every bit until now.
Comcast is taking over the country buying up little cable networks and putting a new spin on charging people, I had comcast when Adephia left the area I was forced to take comcast service and I saw 10 days after the switched that this was going to be hell.
1 comcast has very little people working for them that speck english, and customer service suffers,on a scale fro 1 being best and 10 being worst they top off at 10 1/2 they call at all hours of the night if you are behind a payment.
2 if you are unsatisfied with the service (and you will be) they will show up at your house at 8 pm wanting their box back meaning they have pushed aside all time limits that a company can make you feel like shit if you can't make the payments and will hunt you down work/ home/ gym .
3 the rates for comcast have tripled in less then 5 months what you were paying last year will now cost you a small fortune this year and they brag that its great service and HD compatible with high speed internet...(you pay for this trust me) the high speed internet..hummm you have to pay for what they are calling " power boost" you know what this means? they have watered down the speed of the service and give you only a 1/3 its speed and now to get what you had normally you now have to pay Double for "power boost my ass" ...COMCAST?? ITS COMCOSTLY
Send a letter of discontent to your state senator to have Comcast removed from your state call the better business bureau ,before they buy up all the descent cable companies in your area it truly is the walmart of cable companies they suck bad.
Comcast Limits 'Excessive' Bandwidth Consumers
By Scott Gilbertson September 17, 2007 | 9:51:15 AMCategories: networks
[Update: Charlie Douglas, the Comcast spokesperson cited below, contacted Wired News to say that figures given in the GameDaily story were meant only as examples and we have changed the headline to reflect that. Based on talking with Douglas and comments below, the limits for Comcast users appear to be considerably higher than our estimate. However, Comcast continues to say it does not have a hard and fast limit and "excessive use" could be well above, or, in some cases, below the cited figures. As you can see from reading the comments here and elsewhere, the bandwidth considered excessive, varies by location as well. Douglas also said that Comcast calls customers to inform them about excessive use, so if you haven't been called, there's no reason to worry.]
Comcast has revealed some details about its mysterious bandwidth limitations. Previously the company had only said that it would shut down customers who went over what the company considered average use. But given that the company doesn't seem to have a definition of average use, it's difficult to know whether you're in danger of being shutdown.
GameDaily has managed to get a sort of definition out of Comcast, though the limits aren’t actual numbers. GameDaily quotes Charlie Douglas, a spokesperson for Comcast Corporation, who says that Comcast’s definition of “excessive use” is any customer who “downloads the equivalent of 30,000 songs, 250,000 pictures or 13 million emails in a month.”
Obviously Comcast is avoiding the issue by failing to give an actual figure, but this statement does give a ballpark estimate. The standard assumption in the industry seems to be that a song is 3 MB, or at least most MP3 manufacturers seem to use that figure when they talk about storage capacity.
Using that ballpark figure, Comcast’s definition of excessive means that you’re limited to 90 gigabytes a month if you want to keep on the company’s good side. That actually seems like a reasonable number to me, but of course we routinely see comments from folks who’ve been capped by Comcast, so whether or not the company really abides by these figures is open to debate.
And that’s part of the problem isn’t it? It’s tough to abide by the rules when the rules are open to debate. Would it be so hard for Comcast to give a specific number? Apparently the answer is yes. The most likely reason there’s no hard limit is because “too much” bandwidth isn’t a constant. The measurement changes based on the infrastructure limitations of your particular locale, what are your neighbors are doing, and how steady and consistent your high usage periods are.
So while we may not have a hard limit now or ever, take the above statement as a rule of thumb should you be a Comcast customer. And if you’re unhappy with your ISP, have a look at the list of bad ISPs on the Azureus wiki, a handy way to see which companies to avoid, should you decide to switch.
[via Slashdot]
Comcast was caught spying on its users:
Comcast hit with privacy violation lawsuit
By Lisa M. Bowman
CNET News.com
May 24, 2002, 1:25 PM PT
Cable giant Comcast has become the target of a lawsuit alleging the company violated consumer privacy by tracking Web habits. The suit, filed by Michigan law firm Goren & Goren, seeks class-action status on behalf of people whose Web usage was monitored by Comcast earlier this year.
"This is clearly an important issue," attorney Steven Goren said. "If we lose this, they will be able to monitor and, presumably, sell information about where people go on the Internet."
The company came under fire in February for storing detailed information about people's Web surfing habits, including the sites they visited. Although Comcast said the data was only stored in aggregate and not tied to individuals, civil liberties groups, privacy advocates and some lawmakers were outraged.
Comcast eventually succumbed to public pressure and stopped storing the data after doing so for about six weeks. The company Web site still prominently displays a statement from Comcast cable division President Stephen Burke, saying it will no longer store the information, in an effort to reassure customers.
The class-action suit, filed May 17 in U.S. District Court in Michigan, claims the company's data collection practices violated the Cable TV Privacy Act of 1984. Plaintiffs are seeking up to $1,000 for each consumer whose data was tracked.
Comcast has about a million customers, but data apparently was only being collected by customers in a few regions, said Goren, who's not sure yet how many people would be covered by the suit.
Comcast did not immediately return requests for comment.
Comcast can't run a cable network well, much less an Internet Service:
In the past 30 days preceding 12/20/3003 (when I decided to fire Comcast), my Comcast cable and Internet were down three times and Comcast also lost DNS (Internet address service) four times. Without DNS, you need to know the REAL address of, say, Microsoft.com to be 207.46.197.102 and type that in instead of www.microsoft.com. Without DNS, no Internet sites, no e-mail, etc..
Each time Comcast lost DNS, I had to reboot my cable modem, then my home network router, then reset the IP addresses on all running PC's. Pain!!!!
Comcast Technical Support is poor:
Their instructions on setup were wrong, their instructions about what to do during the cutover from @Home to their in-house service was wrong, and even the corrected instructions were wrong. They refused me technical support because I was using a router that they advertised on their website and were selling. Etc., etc..
Comcast can't manage e-mail.
Everyone must be familiar with the massive problems where they lost e-mail service for as long as a week when they took over from @Home in February, 2000. Most are familiar with the repeat problem when they bought ATT Broadband. BUT, their problems continue. Here is an 11/30/2003 post on BroadbandReports.com:
Re: 9:30 PM EDT - Anyone else having email problem
It turns out that last night Comcast went through their accounts and disabled any active email addresses that were attached to an inactive account. We had moved in August, but our email accounts were not properly transferred to our new account when we moved.
I called Comcast tonight and they moved the accounts to the new account number and we're back in business.
Our accounts were inactive for the duration, so all email to us was bouncing.
If you've had a similar event in the recent past, this may have happened to you...
NOTE: The 9:30 PM post drew 4 responses complaining about Comcast mail outages ranging from Zion, IL to Burlington county, NJ. Each was in a different state. This is why I used my own e-mail server.
USER REVIEW: A User In Philadelphia:
Shnay
I used to live in Comcast Country, and their domination there is definitely apparent. And it really does suck. We had so many problems with our cable service, like having CBS, ABC, and NBC, (the free stations) come in all fuzzy (a problem they never got around to solving), that my family ended up switching to DirecTV. I've got some issues with DTV as well, but it's far better than Comcast. A pricey move, but one of the few options you have to get multiple channels if you live around Philly. My brother was the only one really bothered by the lack of sports, so he was out-voted.
As for their Internet service, that's equally bad. They routinely shut it down without explanation, and their e-mail service can be pretty inconsistent. I hated it, but, again, there weren't a lot of options.
Also, although I'm sure every cable company is like this, they never keep appointments. Ugh.
So, yeah, I agree. It really sucks, and their near-monopoly only makes the whole situation more frustrating.
Comcast greatly reduced services when it took over from @Home:
@Home provided free unlimited access to newsgroups as part of its standard package. Although it had a published monthly "cap" of 30 gigabytes of downloads, it did not enforce that. Comcast offers a free 1 gigabyte account with Giganews in its place. At best, this is a 96% DECREASE in service. They did not reduce their prices, however. Since newsgroups are 50% of the knowledgeable Internet users' activity, this amounts to a 48% overall reduction in service. This is a huge hidden price increase!
Three times now we've requested techs come look at our system. The first one, never showed. The second one came over and refused to do the job because the modem was on the floor under a card table with the cisco switch and the vonage router. He told his supervisor that there were a bunch of 16-18 yr old kids getting drunk and high and that he was asked to leave. The reality, 4 people (aside from the technician) were in the house, all over 22 (aside from me but I will be 22 in 6 days) and MAYBE 3 of us had a beer in-hand. Hardly seems like a raging party full of minors. And yes, he was asked to leave. But it was after he said he refused to get down and work on the modem under the table with the rest of the hardware and we called him worthless and told him to go and we'd call for a better tech. The third tech that showed up was quite helpful and polite, but was unable to fix the issue completely.
Now we come to the web-based chat support agents. What a worthless lot. We've probably spoken to 10 chat support representatives in the last 2 weeks and not one of them could give us a straight answer as to why our connection was so bad. They all just kept giving us the same "line speed is not guaranteed" speech and then some random excuse as to why it's not working. We've saved every conversation log.
Hopefully we can endure this for the next month or two before we switch to Verizon FIOS (Fiber-optic to the premesis =] .. lines will be provisioned within 1-2 months). I have to say I am very disappointed with Comcast. They were my first non-dialup connection and I've enjoyed the service every bit until now.
Comcast is taking over the country buying up little cable networks and putting a new spin on charging people, I had comcast when Adephia left the area I was forced to take comcast service and I saw 10 days after the switched that this was going to be hell.
1 comcast has very little people working for them that speck english, and customer service suffers,on a scale fro 1 being best and 10 being worst they top off at 10 1/2 they call at all hours of the night if you are behind a payment.
2 if you are unsatisfied with the service (and you will be) they will show up at your house at 8 pm wanting their box back meaning they have pushed aside all time limits that a company can make you feel like shit if you can't make the payments and will hunt you down work/ home/ gym .
3 the rates for comcast have tripled in less then 5 months what you were paying last year will now cost you a small fortune this year and they brag that its great service and HD compatible with high speed internet...(you pay for this trust me) the high speed internet..hummm you have to pay for what they are calling " power boost" you know what this means? they have watered down the speed of the service and give you only a 1/3 its speed and now to get what you had normally you now have to pay Double for "power boost my ass" ...COMCAST?? ITS COMCOSTLY
Send a letter of discontent to your state senator to have Comcast removed from your state call the better business bureau ,before they buy up all the descent cable companies in your area it truly is the walmart of cable companies they suck bad.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Jailing Homeless Expensive only in FloridDAH
So I came across this in the paper,and I sat back and wondered what is going on in this State when they focus on Arresting the homeless, and complain how expensive it is for the tax payer to jail these people and in the same breath close shelters that can help people get back on their feet, and refuse to feed the homeless ( west Palm) and the way they think that homeless is a choice your a bum who can't find a job or a drug addicted criminal, not even giving a thought that its a harsh reality for most of the state and country... its simply staggering to my mind, that there are that many dicks living in the state of Florida, the very same people who site folks for having big flags on their homes and try to make lease laws for Cats...thats right cats...beyond staggering. well here it is the news story that set me off tonight, please take note of my comment at the bottom I'm sure that within a few months or weeks or even days it will be removed because someone was offended a redneck who has little or no time other then to buy beer bare footed in a public store or get off his sister who is ovulating to produce more Floridians who think its funny to beat to death homeless people ( it happened just a few months ago) Instead of sitting down and thinking of a solution to end or limit homelessness in this state leading the nation by example, like opening permanent shelters in this state instead they are closing them that will make an even bigger burden on the tax payer by arresting the homeless ...makes you think of the old saying "if you think education is expensive try Ignorance" 98% of Floridians are Ignorant.
Jailing Homeless Expensive
By TODD RUGER, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Published: February 25, 2008
SARASOTA - It costs taxpayers about $925 when police arrest a homeless person for drinking beer in public or sleeping behind a church, a Herald-Tribune analysis shows.
Aggressive enforcement of city ordinances targeting the homeless has led to 1,427 arrests over the past three years, costing taxpayers $1.3 million, the analysis shows.
The number of arrests has risen sharply in the past six months, adding to jail overcrowding. As county officials plan a $56 million jail, they considered a special charge to Sarasota each time police arrest someone for public urination, illegal camping, curbside drinking or panhandling.
Police and city officials say it is more expensive to do nothing than make the arrests, which, they say, keep crime down and the downtown area safe and clean for residents, businesses and tourists.
"If you don't feel safe to go downtown, do you think we're going to have downtown businesses? Do you think we'll have a tax base downtown?" asked Sarasota City Manager Robert Bartolotta. "We have ordinances and we're a society of laws, so if we have ordinances, it needs to be enforced."
Bartolotta disputed the newspaper's analysis. He said judges and clerks would be paid, officers would be on the payroll and the jail would operate regardless of how many homeless people are in jail on city violations.
Experts: Analysis Conservative, Fair
Criminal justice experts and a University of South Florida economist say the newspaper's estimate is conservative and fair, as each arrest puts someone in jail and creates another case for the county's courts. That contributes to a higher demand for jail bed space, time from judges and more work for the courts.
"If you elect to trigger this process, this is what it costs us to ramp up to do this," said David Bennett, a criminal justice consultant hired by the county to study ways to reduce the jail population.
National homeless advocates branded Sarasota the nation's meanest city in 2006. A local advocate said money would be better spent building housing and shelters and addressing the root problems of homelessness.
"It's not only the right thing, but the most fiscally responsible thing to do," said Richard Martin, former Sarasota mayor and now executive director of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness. "We're forced into finding a better model at this point."
The homeless, who are usually too broke to post $120 bail to get out of jail for violating city laws, face two options. They can plead guilty at their earliest opportunity and spend as little as a week in jail, or fight the charge and spend at least 30 days in jail waiting for the next court appearance.
Court officials hold hearings on Fridays to take pleas and get people arrested for minor crimes out of jail in an effort to hold down the jail population.
Together, homeless defendants accounted for more than 200 arrests on misdemeanor charges over the past few years. On Feb. 15, nine of them were at the hearing.
Among them was Jeffrey Gale, 48, who pleaded guilty to an open container charge nine days earlier. He was out of jail two days when he was arrested again on charges of open container and trespassing.
After 45 arrests, Gale is well acquainted with the judge who presided over the hearing, as well as the public defender representing him, the bailiffs guarding him, and the plea deal they would offer.
For the latest open container and trespassing charges, he took a 15-day sentence with credit for time served, meaning he was to get out the next day. Then there is $298 in court costs and fines.
Gale's response: "Wow!"
Gale already owes $6,065 in similar fees and fines. Even if he paid those today, it would be a small dent in the more than $41,000 his arrests have cost taxpayers, according to the Herald-Tribune analysis.
Gale told the judge he is starting to lose track of places he has been ordered to stay away from. The list includes Resurrection House, a day center for the homeless and an alcohol rehabilitation center.
The newspaper's analysis may underestimate costs of arresting the homeless, say criminal justice experts, because it does not include arrests that start with a suspected violation that led to arrests on more serious charges.
For example, the 1,400 arrests tallied by the Herald-Tribune do not include one in which an officer cited a homeless man for panhandling, then found a knife in his pocket and also charged him with carrying a concealed weapon.
Likewise, the newspaper's tally would not include a case in which a homeless person cited for illegal camping was found to have drugs, and was charged for illegal camping and drug possession.
Most of the city's laws that target the homeless were adopted in 2002.
Martin, when he was mayor, called them a "tough love" approach to problems with the homeless.
Police have dedicated an officer to keeping tabs on the homeless and their camps, as well as directing officers not to ignore any infractions. When officers spot a person breaking city laws, they have the discretion to inform them of the rules, issue warnings, or cite them and give them a court date, said police Capt. Bill Spitler. He said officers do not make arrests unless it is the same person breaking the same rules over and over again or the person refuses to stop breaking city rules.
"We don't arrest everybody now, come on," Spitler said. "The people going to jail for these violations, this isn't their first rodeo, cowboy."
And some of the homeless spend a lot more time in jail than others.
Police know Mark E. Saunders by sight and have nicknamed him "John Wayne," though Spitler and another officer could not recall how the nickname originated.
Less than a week after officers cited Saunders for an open container, police found him spreading a beige sheet in the rear entranceway of Church of the Redeemer on Palm Avenue about 2 a.m.
According to an arrest report, Saunders held an open plastic Ice House beer bottle, and told officers he was getting ready to go to sleep. He was charged with breaking the city rules against curbside drinking and camping in public.
Establishments like the church "don't want people sleeping there, they don't want people urinating in their bushes, they don't want to clean up bottles," Spitler said.
Effort Not Working, Advocate Says
Martin, the homeless advocate, said the city needs to rethink its approach.
"It's just not working," Martin said. "Should someone really be arrested for something that would be normal inside a house, but you don't have a house?"
He suggested the city look into ways to keep the homeless out of jail by building subsidized housing to help people recover, or alternative sentences to keep them out of jail.
City Manager Bartolotta said the city is working with the county and judges to create alternative sentencing programs, making ordinance violators clean out parks or the beach instead of sitting in jail.
The county has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a jail consultant and new programs to reduce the jail population.
Arrests are a more expensive and less effective solution than shelters or other options because the court system does not address why the person does not have a home in the first place, said Bennett, the consultant the county hired.
Last year, the public defender's office in Broward County stopped representing those arrested for breaking laws in Fort Lauderdale, after studying the issue and finding it was about $30 a night for a shelter bed and $90 or more for a jail bed.
Reader Comments
Posted by ( notsosmart ) on February 25, 2008 at 3:51 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Give Richard Martin the keys to a Van, fill the Van up on Fridays with the homeless people that got picked up by the police during the week, have Mr. Martin drive the people to the Florida Georgia border. If Mr. Martin deems it necessary, buy the homeless at that border crossing, one way non cancellable bus tickets...........
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Posted by ( LARGO_TOM ) on February 25, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Sentence them to work crews for long periods of time where they can help pay for themselves and just perhaps pick up the work ethic.
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Posted by ( signit4bes ) on February 25, 2008 at 10:55 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
So is the implication that it costs more to arrest a homeless vs others? Or is it about arresting the employed vs the unemployed? If employed, you get in 'the system' and have to shell out clams. If unemployed than you can't really support 'the machine.'
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Posted by ( situp ) on February 25, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I like the chain gang idea. If their invoice for being a burden to the system is $500 then make them do $500 worth of work for the county/city. I bet they learn real quick that they should follow the rules because they won't want to work and be away from the drugs/alcohol for that long.
Letting them get away with this stuff is not an option regardless of what the bleeding hearts will say.
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Posted by ( paulzpc ) on March 12, 2008 at 11:07 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
WTF?? arrest the homeless for being homeless?? is everyone in Florida too busy banging their sisters and having children that think this way normal?cause the rest on the WORLD know that homelessness is not a choice but a harsh reality for most people not being able to buy a job in this state..my god chain gangs? wow this is why Florida is leading the pack as one of the most Ignorant, most uncaring, selfish interbred people in the entire free world ...are there no prisons!!! are there no work houses!!!!if there is a god he should fold up the United states and empty most of the morons that live here in the pit of fire and gather up the rest as caring humans...shame on you all instead of work houses and prisons stop closing shelters ..florDAH chirst!!!!
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Jailing Homeless Expensive
By TODD RUGER, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Published: February 25, 2008
SARASOTA - It costs taxpayers about $925 when police arrest a homeless person for drinking beer in public or sleeping behind a church, a Herald-Tribune analysis shows.
Aggressive enforcement of city ordinances targeting the homeless has led to 1,427 arrests over the past three years, costing taxpayers $1.3 million, the analysis shows.
The number of arrests has risen sharply in the past six months, adding to jail overcrowding. As county officials plan a $56 million jail, they considered a special charge to Sarasota each time police arrest someone for public urination, illegal camping, curbside drinking or panhandling.
Police and city officials say it is more expensive to do nothing than make the arrests, which, they say, keep crime down and the downtown area safe and clean for residents, businesses and tourists.
"If you don't feel safe to go downtown, do you think we're going to have downtown businesses? Do you think we'll have a tax base downtown?" asked Sarasota City Manager Robert Bartolotta. "We have ordinances and we're a society of laws, so if we have ordinances, it needs to be enforced."
Bartolotta disputed the newspaper's analysis. He said judges and clerks would be paid, officers would be on the payroll and the jail would operate regardless of how many homeless people are in jail on city violations.
Experts: Analysis Conservative, Fair
Criminal justice experts and a University of South Florida economist say the newspaper's estimate is conservative and fair, as each arrest puts someone in jail and creates another case for the county's courts. That contributes to a higher demand for jail bed space, time from judges and more work for the courts.
"If you elect to trigger this process, this is what it costs us to ramp up to do this," said David Bennett, a criminal justice consultant hired by the county to study ways to reduce the jail population.
National homeless advocates branded Sarasota the nation's meanest city in 2006. A local advocate said money would be better spent building housing and shelters and addressing the root problems of homelessness.
"It's not only the right thing, but the most fiscally responsible thing to do," said Richard Martin, former Sarasota mayor and now executive director of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness. "We're forced into finding a better model at this point."
The homeless, who are usually too broke to post $120 bail to get out of jail for violating city laws, face two options. They can plead guilty at their earliest opportunity and spend as little as a week in jail, or fight the charge and spend at least 30 days in jail waiting for the next court appearance.
Court officials hold hearings on Fridays to take pleas and get people arrested for minor crimes out of jail in an effort to hold down the jail population.
Together, homeless defendants accounted for more than 200 arrests on misdemeanor charges over the past few years. On Feb. 15, nine of them were at the hearing.
Among them was Jeffrey Gale, 48, who pleaded guilty to an open container charge nine days earlier. He was out of jail two days when he was arrested again on charges of open container and trespassing.
After 45 arrests, Gale is well acquainted with the judge who presided over the hearing, as well as the public defender representing him, the bailiffs guarding him, and the plea deal they would offer.
For the latest open container and trespassing charges, he took a 15-day sentence with credit for time served, meaning he was to get out the next day. Then there is $298 in court costs and fines.
Gale's response: "Wow!"
Gale already owes $6,065 in similar fees and fines. Even if he paid those today, it would be a small dent in the more than $41,000 his arrests have cost taxpayers, according to the Herald-Tribune analysis.
Gale told the judge he is starting to lose track of places he has been ordered to stay away from. The list includes Resurrection House, a day center for the homeless and an alcohol rehabilitation center.
The newspaper's analysis may underestimate costs of arresting the homeless, say criminal justice experts, because it does not include arrests that start with a suspected violation that led to arrests on more serious charges.
For example, the 1,400 arrests tallied by the Herald-Tribune do not include one in which an officer cited a homeless man for panhandling, then found a knife in his pocket and also charged him with carrying a concealed weapon.
Likewise, the newspaper's tally would not include a case in which a homeless person cited for illegal camping was found to have drugs, and was charged for illegal camping and drug possession.
Most of the city's laws that target the homeless were adopted in 2002.
Martin, when he was mayor, called them a "tough love" approach to problems with the homeless.
Police have dedicated an officer to keeping tabs on the homeless and their camps, as well as directing officers not to ignore any infractions. When officers spot a person breaking city laws, they have the discretion to inform them of the rules, issue warnings, or cite them and give them a court date, said police Capt. Bill Spitler. He said officers do not make arrests unless it is the same person breaking the same rules over and over again or the person refuses to stop breaking city rules.
"We don't arrest everybody now, come on," Spitler said. "The people going to jail for these violations, this isn't their first rodeo, cowboy."
And some of the homeless spend a lot more time in jail than others.
Police know Mark E. Saunders by sight and have nicknamed him "John Wayne," though Spitler and another officer could not recall how the nickname originated.
Less than a week after officers cited Saunders for an open container, police found him spreading a beige sheet in the rear entranceway of Church of the Redeemer on Palm Avenue about 2 a.m.
According to an arrest report, Saunders held an open plastic Ice House beer bottle, and told officers he was getting ready to go to sleep. He was charged with breaking the city rules against curbside drinking and camping in public.
Establishments like the church "don't want people sleeping there, they don't want people urinating in their bushes, they don't want to clean up bottles," Spitler said.
Effort Not Working, Advocate Says
Martin, the homeless advocate, said the city needs to rethink its approach.
"It's just not working," Martin said. "Should someone really be arrested for something that would be normal inside a house, but you don't have a house?"
He suggested the city look into ways to keep the homeless out of jail by building subsidized housing to help people recover, or alternative sentences to keep them out of jail.
City Manager Bartolotta said the city is working with the county and judges to create alternative sentencing programs, making ordinance violators clean out parks or the beach instead of sitting in jail.
The county has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a jail consultant and new programs to reduce the jail population.
Arrests are a more expensive and less effective solution than shelters or other options because the court system does not address why the person does not have a home in the first place, said Bennett, the consultant the county hired.
Last year, the public defender's office in Broward County stopped representing those arrested for breaking laws in Fort Lauderdale, after studying the issue and finding it was about $30 a night for a shelter bed and $90 or more for a jail bed.
Reader Comments
Posted by ( notsosmart ) on February 25, 2008 at 3:51 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Give Richard Martin the keys to a Van, fill the Van up on Fridays with the homeless people that got picked up by the police during the week, have Mr. Martin drive the people to the Florida Georgia border. If Mr. Martin deems it necessary, buy the homeless at that border crossing, one way non cancellable bus tickets...........
Report Abuse
Posted by ( LARGO_TOM ) on February 25, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Sentence them to work crews for long periods of time where they can help pay for themselves and just perhaps pick up the work ethic.
Report Abuse
Posted by ( signit4bes ) on February 25, 2008 at 10:55 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
So is the implication that it costs more to arrest a homeless vs others? Or is it about arresting the employed vs the unemployed? If employed, you get in 'the system' and have to shell out clams. If unemployed than you can't really support 'the machine.'
Report Abuse
Posted by ( situp ) on February 25, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I like the chain gang idea. If their invoice for being a burden to the system is $500 then make them do $500 worth of work for the county/city. I bet they learn real quick that they should follow the rules because they won't want to work and be away from the drugs/alcohol for that long.
Letting them get away with this stuff is not an option regardless of what the bleeding hearts will say.
Report Abuse
Posted by ( paulzpc ) on March 12, 2008 at 11:07 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
WTF?? arrest the homeless for being homeless?? is everyone in Florida too busy banging their sisters and having children that think this way normal?cause the rest on the WORLD know that homelessness is not a choice but a harsh reality for most people not being able to buy a job in this state..my god chain gangs? wow this is why Florida is leading the pack as one of the most Ignorant, most uncaring, selfish interbred people in the entire free world ...are there no prisons!!! are there no work houses!!!!if there is a god he should fold up the United states and empty most of the morons that live here in the pit of fire and gather up the rest as caring humans...shame on you all instead of work houses and prisons stop closing shelters ..florDAH chirst!!!!
Report Abuse
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Econony doing great?? BULLSH*T!!!!
well, the Republicans are telling us that the Economy is doing well, and they all know that things are looking bad for " some " Americans lets look at this shall we.
The latest available unemployment figures from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) Thursday showed Wabash County’s current jobless rate as 7.4 percent in January. That was up from 6.2 percent the previous month.
The statewide January unemployment rate average was 5.6 percent.Mt. Carmel Economic Development Director Brandi Stennett today said much of the peak in the jobless rate for January and February can be attributed to seasonal drop in the construction trades. The city has several residents employed in those trades with local firms.
According to IDES, Edwards County unemployment is 6.9 percent, up one percent from December.
Neighboring Lawrence County also had 6.9 percent jobless rate in January, up from 5.6 percent.
White County had 7 percent unemployed in January, an increase from 6.2 percent the previous month.
For Wayne County, the latest unemployment figure is 6.8 percent, up 1.2 percent from the previous month.
Among the highest unemployment rates in the southeastern Illinois region is Saline County, where the January rate was 8.7 percent, up 1.2 percent from the previous month, according to IDES.
Richland County’s January unemployment rate was 6.7 percent, up 1.3 percent.
Unemployment rates increased across South Florida and statewide in January, but stayed below the national average.
The region's unemployment rate, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, was 4.2 percent, up from 3.6 percent this time last year and 4.1 percent in December, the latest numbers from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation show. The unemployment rate in Miami-Dade was 3.9 percent, up from 3.6 percent in January 2006 and unchanged from December. In Broward, it was 4.1 percent, up from 3.4 percent a year ago and 3.9 percent in December.
Palm Beach County had the highest unemployment rate in the region, at 4.8 percent, up from 3.9 percent a year ago and 3.6 percent in December. It had the 33rd-highest rate in the state. Flagler County had the highest, at 7.8 percent.
Florida's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, representing 423,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9.26 million. That rate is up 1 percentage point from this time last year and .1 of a percentage point from December. It is the highest rate since October 2004, which was also 4.6 percent.
The national unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January.
Florida had a net loss of 7,300 jobs in January 2008 when compared to a year ago. Construction employment was down 10.9 percent, with a loss of 69,000 jobs, reacting to declines in the housing market, the report said. Construction losses made up 75 percent of job losses in the state.
Education and health services, up 3.4 percent with 33,800 jobs added, and total government, up 2.2 percent with 24,500 jobs added, accounted for most of the job gains among industries posting positive annual growth.
The Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall Metropolitan Division ranked second in the state for year-over-year employment gains, adding 7,200 jobs. It was behind the Orlando-Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area, which added 7,500 jobs.
Gasoline prices hit new high, seen jumping more
Sun Mar 9, 2008 11:16pm GMT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. average retail gasoline prices have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn.
Gasoline prices are rising sharply as refiners, who have kept prices down in order to compete for sales, become more willing to pass on their higher costs of crude oil, according to an industry analyst on Sunday.
The national average for self-serve regular unleaded gas was nearly $3.20 a gallon on March 7, up about 9.44 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations. The price has risen 64 cents per gallon in the past 12 months.
"The price increase was entirely due to the higher costs of crude oil," said survey editor Trilby Lundberg.
Although the latest price represents a nominal all-time high, when adjusted for inflation it is a smidgen below the record of $3.18 per gallon reached on May 18, 2007, Lundberg said.
Lundberg said things will likely get worse, with prices at the pump rising 20 to 30 cents per gallon in the next month as refiners begin passing on to customers more of their higher costs for crude oil.
"Should prices indeed rise 20 to 30 cents, they would vastly exceed previous prices on an inflation-adjusted basis," Lundberg said.
Refiners since last spring have deliberately refrained from passing on their higher costs for crude oil, in order to compete for sales, she said.
"But refiner profit margins have become so slim that they will now raise prices to recover their lost margins," said Lundberg. Likewise, she said retailers will also be less willing to hold back from passing on their higher costs to drivers.
Moreover, prices will also rise because of the return to daylight savings time and the approach of warmer weather, Lundberg said.
"Spring demand growth will soak up the current surplus of U.S. gasoline and put more pressure on prices," Lundberg said.
At $3.58 a gallon, the San Francisco Bay Area had the highest latest average price for self-serve regular unleaded gas on March 7, while the lowest price was $2.95 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The average U.S. diesel price was $3.80 a gallon in the latest survey, up 22 cents a gallon from two weeks ago, and $1.02 higher than this time last year.
(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, editing by Richard Chang)
I have an Idea lets take " oh lets say " 87 billion dollars and send it to Iraq , while Bush and his butt buddies pull their fingers out of each others assholes and talk bullshit to the American public,admitting to all of us there "might be a problem" but wait tomorrow is another day ,that means more families homeless more kids going without food and medical and older Americans dieing, Mr Bush you are a lame duck garbage human that sucked off the souls of 911 and gave the American people what come out of your asshole,hard working people that are now "now Unemployed" Americans,that are also now homeless, we can only thank god that your reign of American genocideing is all most to an end we all look forward to the next depression thank you Bush, we are now the " have nots" " the home of the homeless and the land of the richest poor, while you and your administration remained the Haves.
The latest available unemployment figures from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) Thursday showed Wabash County’s current jobless rate as 7.4 percent in January. That was up from 6.2 percent the previous month.
The statewide January unemployment rate average was 5.6 percent.Mt. Carmel Economic Development Director Brandi Stennett today said much of the peak in the jobless rate for January and February can be attributed to seasonal drop in the construction trades. The city has several residents employed in those trades with local firms.
According to IDES, Edwards County unemployment is 6.9 percent, up one percent from December.
Neighboring Lawrence County also had 6.9 percent jobless rate in January, up from 5.6 percent.
White County had 7 percent unemployed in January, an increase from 6.2 percent the previous month.
For Wayne County, the latest unemployment figure is 6.8 percent, up 1.2 percent from the previous month.
Among the highest unemployment rates in the southeastern Illinois region is Saline County, where the January rate was 8.7 percent, up 1.2 percent from the previous month, according to IDES.
Richland County’s January unemployment rate was 6.7 percent, up 1.3 percent.
Unemployment rates increased across South Florida and statewide in January, but stayed below the national average.
The region's unemployment rate, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, was 4.2 percent, up from 3.6 percent this time last year and 4.1 percent in December, the latest numbers from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation show. The unemployment rate in Miami-Dade was 3.9 percent, up from 3.6 percent in January 2006 and unchanged from December. In Broward, it was 4.1 percent, up from 3.4 percent a year ago and 3.9 percent in December.
Palm Beach County had the highest unemployment rate in the region, at 4.8 percent, up from 3.9 percent a year ago and 3.6 percent in December. It had the 33rd-highest rate in the state. Flagler County had the highest, at 7.8 percent.
Florida's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, representing 423,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9.26 million. That rate is up 1 percentage point from this time last year and .1 of a percentage point from December. It is the highest rate since October 2004, which was also 4.6 percent.
The national unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January.
Florida had a net loss of 7,300 jobs in January 2008 when compared to a year ago. Construction employment was down 10.9 percent, with a loss of 69,000 jobs, reacting to declines in the housing market, the report said. Construction losses made up 75 percent of job losses in the state.
Education and health services, up 3.4 percent with 33,800 jobs added, and total government, up 2.2 percent with 24,500 jobs added, accounted for most of the job gains among industries posting positive annual growth.
The Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall Metropolitan Division ranked second in the state for year-over-year employment gains, adding 7,200 jobs. It was behind the Orlando-Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area, which added 7,500 jobs.
Gasoline prices hit new high, seen jumping more
Sun Mar 9, 2008 11:16pm GMT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. average retail gasoline prices have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn.
Gasoline prices are rising sharply as refiners, who have kept prices down in order to compete for sales, become more willing to pass on their higher costs of crude oil, according to an industry analyst on Sunday.
The national average for self-serve regular unleaded gas was nearly $3.20 a gallon on March 7, up about 9.44 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations. The price has risen 64 cents per gallon in the past 12 months.
"The price increase was entirely due to the higher costs of crude oil," said survey editor Trilby Lundberg.
Although the latest price represents a nominal all-time high, when adjusted for inflation it is a smidgen below the record of $3.18 per gallon reached on May 18, 2007, Lundberg said.
Lundberg said things will likely get worse, with prices at the pump rising 20 to 30 cents per gallon in the next month as refiners begin passing on to customers more of their higher costs for crude oil.
"Should prices indeed rise 20 to 30 cents, they would vastly exceed previous prices on an inflation-adjusted basis," Lundberg said.
Refiners since last spring have deliberately refrained from passing on their higher costs for crude oil, in order to compete for sales, she said.
"But refiner profit margins have become so slim that they will now raise prices to recover their lost margins," said Lundberg. Likewise, she said retailers will also be less willing to hold back from passing on their higher costs to drivers.
Moreover, prices will also rise because of the return to daylight savings time and the approach of warmer weather, Lundberg said.
"Spring demand growth will soak up the current surplus of U.S. gasoline and put more pressure on prices," Lundberg said.
At $3.58 a gallon, the San Francisco Bay Area had the highest latest average price for self-serve regular unleaded gas on March 7, while the lowest price was $2.95 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The average U.S. diesel price was $3.80 a gallon in the latest survey, up 22 cents a gallon from two weeks ago, and $1.02 higher than this time last year.
(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, editing by Richard Chang)
I have an Idea lets take " oh lets say " 87 billion dollars and send it to Iraq , while Bush and his butt buddies pull their fingers out of each others assholes and talk bullshit to the American public,admitting to all of us there "might be a problem" but wait tomorrow is another day ,that means more families homeless more kids going without food and medical and older Americans dieing, Mr Bush you are a lame duck garbage human that sucked off the souls of 911 and gave the American people what come out of your asshole,hard working people that are now "now Unemployed" Americans,that are also now homeless, we can only thank god that your reign of American genocideing is all most to an end we all look forward to the next depression thank you Bush, we are now the " have nots" " the home of the homeless and the land of the richest poor, while you and your administration remained the Haves.
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