Now that I’m almost a year into fixing my credit, I’m starting to get a lot of offers for credit. Well sort of. Most of the loans in being offered are really absurd; a loan for $1000 that will cost $500?! I’ve also received a lot of credit card applications. Many of these offers say “pre-approved” or “prescreened.” I’m finding that what that means is that they’ve realized my credit is improving, but this doesn’t mean they’ll approve me. First National Bank of Omaha sent me this kind of offer. I had a discussion with FNBO here.
Chase Bank has sent me these kind of offers too, and they denied me as well. This isn’t some random act. I’ve never received these types of solicitation before my credit repair efforts, so I KNOW it’s not some random event. When I contacted customer service, they apologized but didn’t really offer give any signals that they would change the way they send out offers. This annoys me to no end. If you send me offers that look as if it’s been looked over when it’s not, that’s misleading. Not only that, but every credit inquiry has an impact on my credit rating. So it’s not only a waste of my time, but a negative to my effort to repair my credit.
That being said, there’s not a lot I can do about it. Well, there’s not a lot I can do, save one thing. I’ve decided that even if it costs me over the long run, I’m going to be brand loyal to those that sent me offers and came through for me (namely Capital One and American Express). I know that my credit will get better over time. I’ve had my credit rating increase around 70 points in a year, and I plan on keeping up my monthly pay-offs of my credit cards. Even if they’d offer me an interest free credit card, I won’t bite. The only way I can protest this type of business practice is to reward those that don’t do it with my business, and refuse business with those who do. It’s something small, but it’s what I CAN do.
(Recently on a progressive e-list I’m on a person pointed to the work done by Science and Public Policy Institute and suggested that we “learn the truth” about climate change. The following is my response to him)
When someone claims to hold the truth to a question I tend to want to believe them. In my own life I want truth more than anything, so I my nature is to want to believe what people say. In third grade Ricky Crawford told me that his father worked for NASA and that his father had told him secretly that aliens from Pluto were attacking and would be here in three days. For three days I cried a lot, hid a lot, and waited for news to break that the aliens were attacking. When I realized that I’d been tricked, I trusted other people a lot less.
I’ve found consistently through my life that though I want to believe what people say, I have to dig down and see if there is a more sinister or politically motivated reason underneath. Many people (Christian creationists, for example) start with a belief and amass data to support their belief while dismissing anything that doesn’t support their beliefs.
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Late last Wednesday I started my trek across Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin to Madison for Thanksgiving. About 2 AM on Thanksgiving morning I stopped at a 7/11 in Huntley, Illinois to take a restroom break and to get a java refill. When I brought my coffee and snacks up to the counter the cashier tried to make small talk, and said: “So did you just come from the Turkey Testicle Festival? ”
I said “excuse me? Are you joking?” He said, “No, tonight was the Huntley Turkey Testicle Festival, right down the road.” I started to walk away and turned to him and said, “I’m really sorry I missed that! How unfortunate!” as I walked out the door.
Who the hell else but me would stop in a town with a Turkey Testicle Festival? What are the odds? You can read about it here and here. Life can be really amusing sometimes… especially when turkey testicle festivals are involved. The only thing that could of made it more amusing would have been Sarah Palin emceeing the event.
Anyone hungry?
Then you should read this. It's the best piece on white privilege and entitlement I've read in a while.
Well, kinda. I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally want to go see “Jerry Springer: The Opera.”
I mean…who can resist dancing Klansmen:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7V2Zmbx5Y0&w=425&h=350]
I’m so there. 🙂
It opens in Chicago May 14th.
Post of the day goes to one of my favorite local bloggers, Steph Mineart:
“In reality, religious people seem more obsessed with anal intercourse than gay people are. So here’s the thing, for all you religious homobigots out there – it’s not about the butt sex. Really. And if you so obsessed with it, please just go off and do it yourself, rather than trying to bash us because of your obsessions with your own sphincter.
I want to propose that this year when people are testifying about SJR-7 and some of the other legislation related to gay issues, that we play “Butt Sex Bingo” – create a grid of all of the cliched arguments that the religious nuts trot out, with Anal Intercourse being the bonus in the center square (how apropo!). And when they get up to testify, mark off every argument, until they trot out the bonus free space — when everyone shouts “Bingo!” at the same time, it will truly highlight how absurd they are.“
(link)
Maybe that’s denegrating poop, I’m not sure. From Jen at Transcending Gender:
“On ‘The Situation with Tucker Carlson’, MSNBC host Tucker Carlson made defamatory comments about Lily McBeth, a transgender New Jersey substitute teacher. In reporting on McBeth’s story Carlson said, ‘I’m pretty tolerant of whatever people want to do, very tolerant, in their private lives. If men want to dress up like women that’s fine. I think it’s dorky, but you know, it doesn’t hurt me. If a person voluntarily undergoes castration, that is totally different. That is an act of a crazy person. That’s like setting your hair on fire or blinding yourself. You are unstable if you voluntarily castrate yourself simply because you feel uncomfortable in your own sex and I don’t want a person that unstable teaching my kids.’
Um…wait…
Matthew 19:12 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)
“For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”
eunuch – a man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction. http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Freakin idiot.
In response to the “No Comparison” blog entry at the Indy Star, “Joi” said
“my religious beliefs are against the act of homosexuality, but I LOVE YOU ANYWAY, just as Jesus loves you.”
S/he went on to say that
“HOWEVER, injustice is injustice. This country lacks a whole lot of LOVE and RESPECT! Why should I care who you choose to sleep with, just like why should you care about the color of my skin? It SHOULDN’T MATTER!!! NO ONE deserves to be discriminated against based on race or sexual orientation. PERIOD!”
I responded with the following email:
“AMEN! I can’t believe how some Christians defend their hatred by use of scripture. It’s reminiscent of how the Bible to defend slavery. Love and compassion aren’t bound by law. Allowing hatred, bigotry, and discrimination to happen to anyone is and never has been love.
Arguing who has been discriminated worse, does not benefit anyone. Is there a difference in the murders of Mr. James Byrd Jr.( His throat was cut, then he was chained by his ankles to a pickup and dragged to pieces along three miles of road), Gwen Araujo (she was struck on the head with a soup can, then struck again with a frying pan so hard that the blow caused her head to make a hole through an adjacent wall. She was then taken to the garage and strangled with a rope, hog-tied, wrapped in a blanket, and placed in the bed of a pick-up truck. Four of the men drove her body to a wooded area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada where she was finally buried in a shallow grave) or 15 year old Sakia Gunn ( who was murdered on the streets of Newark because she admitted to being a lesbian)? I think not.
Martin Luther King Jr said”Life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus Christ said much the same thing when he was asked what the greatest commandment was. He said ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Little else needs to be said.”
Little else besides the fact that S/he has given me hope that Christ’s love and compassion truly is manifested in a few Americans.
Indiana Governor, Mitch Daniels, called the recent ruling on Christian prayer at the statehouse “regrettable.” He went on to say:
“I just think it’s regrettable. “It’s in a long line now of, I think, confusing and sometimes clumsy attempts by the courts to insert themselves into this issue.”
Um, Mitch … the court wouldn’t of had to rule on this if Brian Bosma hadn’t pushed this. Singing Just A Little Talk With Jesus”? Why not pass the plate and give communion! You could invite a different church choir each week to back you up.
If anything is “regrettable” it’s that your Republican mates in the House don’t feel they can run on their record. It’s reprehensible that they find it necessary to use gays and Jesus to get reelected.
For you Indiana locals… did y’all catch the News at 6 on WRTV? Norm Cox did an interview with Pepper Partin about the planned protest at the The Annual Irvington Halloween Festival (you can read about the festival at Indyscribe ). The protest is being organized by Rock Indiana and is being dubbed “Indiana’s Witch Hunt.”
The main focus of the protest is State Senator Patricia Miller (she is co-sponsoring the festival). Miller’s recent history of aggressively supporting and sponsoring legislation that is aimed directly at gays and lesbians in Indiana is obvious. A few weeks ago she authored the controversial “authorized reproduction” bill, but has a history of trying to oppress gays and lesbians. She also sponsored a bill would that would move university employees to a state health-care plan and limit benefits to state and university employees, their spouses and children, effectively removing domestic partner benefits. She also voted in favor of SJR7. But she isn’t just limiting herself to legislating gays and lesbians into oblivion. Her position as the executive director of the Confessing Movement (a radical conservative anti-gay movement within the United Methodist Church) allows her to oppress gays and lesbians every day. This “movement” seeks to root out ANY acceptance of GLBT from within the United Methodist Church. It’s obvious that this woman is obsessed with denying GLBT citizens in every facet of life. In the interview with Channel 6 she denied being a religious zealot, but I think Senator Miller’s actions speak louder than her words.
Uncategorized | Marti Abernathey October 25, 2014 | 
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