AT&T - Higher prices / no increase in speed or service content

January 25, 2020

I have been a customer of ATT and Uverse for over a decade.  I generally write long posts but will try to keep this short for a change.

A few days ago I talked to Customer Loyalty / Customer Retention.   I had promotion that was expiring on my Uverse services.  I have the top package, more expensive than other folks or on demand subscriptions of today.  ATT is behind the times but that is another subject.

When I talked to the folks in Loyalty, I was informed that the Uverse would be more expensive AND my Internet would increase by $5.00 a month.  My Internet promotion was quoted / promised, at a specific speed for life.  What good is a promotion for the same amount year after year if they just change the rate?  The Internet is not any faster than it was.  I can get three times the speed elsewhere for less.  I have been procrastinating switching service as I was just lazy and thought the ATT folks were working with me to some degree.  Wrong.

Bottom line.  Higher costs in life are understandable but you generally get something for the higher cost charges.  My content on Uverse TV has not changed.  My Internet speed has not increased.  My costs have just increased, year after year.

I am currently on Twitter with ATTHelp.  They asked for my account number to look into this but I have no confidence in anything being accomplished.  If you doubt my lack of confidence take a look at some of my ATT posts and documents that go back a decade at https://la-economy.blogspot.com/2012/07/at-so-wrong-in-every-way-part-ii.html

I'll update this if there is a reason.

SuddenLink - setting the customer service bar at a new low

20 September 2019

Months of problems.  Months of broken promises when they say they will have somebody contact you within 48 hours it does not happen.

Somebody that reads my pieces on AT&T says that Suddenlink sets the service bar at a new low.

If you look on twitter and search for "suddenlink problems" you might be floored that somebody this bad at customer service can stay in business.

Check it our here if you want to see more complaints.  More complaints here ......
or here....

2018 - Most memorable year of my life

I did not do very much last night, as 2018 came to a close.

I have walked this planet for a long time. Looking back on my entire life .....

On my first birthday, June 25, 1950, the Korean War started.

I watched my neighbors build fallout shelters as we faced the brink of nuclear war with Russia over missiles parked in Cuba.

I was taught history about how the Nazis locked up people because they were different, put them in cages, treated them like animals.

I observed our government lie to the people about a place called Vietnam.

I was here for the gas crisis of the seventies.

I was here to watch as our banking system and economy crashed.

I observed as our government lied about something they referred to as weapons of mass destruction.

2018 ......

Loss of respect and trust by our allies.

Loss of respect by the world.

Locking up children in cages.

Brink of war with North Korea.

Destruction of the environment by overturning laws.

Spending money on 4th Century technology to address a 21st Century issue.

Empowering the worst element of our country to come to action against anybody different.

Watching the head of our nation deny climate change and science.

Watching the news media banned from The White House.

I saw new records being set for the lowest points in our economy, surpassing even those of the Stock Market Crash of the past.

I have lost track of the number of now uncountable multi daily barrage of news stories about the President's lawsuits, failed business practices, immoral aspects continually surrounding his life, past and present.

I have lost track of the number of now uncountable multi daily barrage of news stories about the President's staff and closest allies, their lawsuits, failed business practices, immoral aspects continually surrounding their lives, past and present.

I have lost track of the number of charges, allegations, or convictions brought against "The President and his men".

The list goes on and on.  2018 just may go down as the most memorable year in my own life, and may go down as the most tragic year in the history of the United States of America.

Levi's - Another Institution Bites The Dust

I just left a review on Amazon regarding the Levi 501's that arrived yesterday.  What was an American institution for decades, after three plus orders over a few years, has proven to me that there is no turning back the clock. 

My review:

This is basically about overall quality.  Over the years I have watched the quality decline in every aspect.

Inconsistent workmanship.  One used to be able to count on one pair of jeans being the same as previous pairs.  Not the case anymore.  In my last three orders of multiple pairs of 501s, items in the same order were inconsistent. 

The fabric gets thinner every year.

Right rear pocket attachment point develops a hole over a short period of time.  I do not carry anything in that pocket.

A pair of Levi's would last years.  Six months is considered amazing with today's product.

These are made in more countries that I can begin to count with some of the worst quality control and workmanship that I could document using ISO9000 standards.

Bottom line.  Overpriced junk.  This is the last time I will deal with this company who was based on quality in the past but has lost their commitment to the primary factor that made them great.  Time to try Wrangler once again next go around.  Ordered them in the past and went back to Levi's after the thinner material seemed cheap.  This latest Levi order makes Wrangler look more attractive with the latest, additional decline, in Levi quality.

Leaf Springs, Coil Springs. Fine firearms.

A bit of explanation on leaf springs compared to coil springs utilized in fine firearms.

Is there an advantage or disadvantage to one type over the other?  Not really, as long as good materials are used, proper workmanship is employed, proper maintenance is implemented.  But, you should understand some basic fundamentals as there are differences and there is some misinformation out there.

First, a bit of history.  Leaf spring use in firearms goes back centuries.  In the past, the technology was available to produce leaf springs.  This was not the case with coil springs.  Some people like their fine firearm that may have a historical tie to fine pieces of the past.

Leaf springs were used, and are still used, in some of the finest firearms such as Holland & Holland, Westley Richards, and James Purdey and Sons to single out a few.  The trigger groups above are from another fine firearms maker, Perazzi.

Lets take a moment to look at a few points worth thought.

Some people state that a leaf spring will maintain the same tension until it breaks, this being it's advantage over coil springs.  Simply stated, this is not true.  We can dive into metallurgy to show this is not true but we can also set up a simple example which you can do at home to disprove this yourself.  Take a simple steel paperclip and bend it partially, back and forth, as you sit in front of television. You may find it breaks before the show is over.

Coil springs are utilized in many modern firearm designs.  They are also used in automotive engines and internal combustion engines in general.

Imagine a cheap car, using the cheapest steels, and imagine driving down the road as your tachometer reads 1,500 RPM.  In a four cycle engine, the intake valve(s) are being opened and closed 750 times per minute, in a four cycle gasoline engine.  That is 45,000 times per hour.  The cheapest Yugo using the cheapest steels available will generally run for more than an hour.  Let's imagine that we drive that car for one hour a day for a year.  That would be over 16 million cycles of the coil spring.  How many cars have you seen on the side of the road non-operational due to a broken valve spring?  Fine flintlock and percussion lock guns were not generally fired 45,000 times in their lifetime (remember the Yogo above that drove for one hour).  I believe, but may be incorrect, that Perazzi expects the life of their leaf springs to be about 40,000 rounds.

Drop lock and side lock guns that utilize leaf springs which are expected to break.  This is the primary reason which why the locks in many cases are hand detachable.  The springs can be quickly and easily replaced.

Leaf springs work great.  They feel great as do many coil spring powered hammer actions.  In both cases metal fatigues over time and use but leaf springs concentrate the force into one small stress spot while coil springs do not have a focused stress spot.  This is not good or bad, this is just simple design and metallurgy science.  The belief that leaf springs maintain the same force and lock time over their entire lifespan until they fail is false as well.  You prove this yourself with the paperclip, or you can ask a metallurgist or physicist.

As a side note, some fine gun makers such as Perazzi give you a choice as they offer both leaf and coil spring models.   If you love history and removable locks float your proverbial boat you can go one route.  If you want a more modern and technological approach you have that option as well.

Happy shooting.

Fidelity Investments vs TD Ameritrade

Why have I stayed with Fidelity Investments rather than switch to TD Ameritrade even though TD is more flexible on negotiating lower trading commissions?

Fidelity had terrific tax reporting to the customer and great customer service.

TD had been a temptation.  Their technical support was better.  They always gave an answer rather than refer you up their organizational chain where at times you never received a proper answer. Fidelity support was generally quite friendly but over time had fewer immediate answers.  Certain types of trading, such as option trading are available from TD and not offered by Fidelity.

Let's examine my point about customer service, which is actually directed at the tax reporting advantage.

Yesterday, February 6, 2017, I was told my 1099 would not be available until March 4.  The reason I was given is that certain securities that I held were holding up their data to Fidelity as some things might be reclassified over the next weeks and Fidelity would not receive the data until this was done. This turned out to be a flat out lie as I investigated further.

My complaint was handled via social media online via twitter direct messages, phone calls to their support (where the initial complaint was reported and the initial lie was told), and to my own personal representative in my local Fidelity office.  My local representative was no help.  He said he could do nothing other than refer the issue to his boss, the office manager.  The office manager and I then conversed.  She said she could do nothing other than refer the issue to her manager who would not get back to her until tomorrow at best, after repeating the same lie.  I informed her that I had investigated and found other Fidelity clients with the same security holdings that I had, and even more extensive trading portfolios, had received their 1099s already.  Friends at TD Ameritrade had also received their 1099s on time.  This was later confirmed by a Fidelity employee, in writing.

The above two images are what I find on my account on Fidelity.  The "pending" statement has been verified to be untrue.  As I have reported, many other Fidelity clients with the same security holdings have received their 1099s.  Many others, such as myself, have received excuses rather than our 1099s.  This is a matter of Fidelity not running their accounting early enough or having resources to allow these documents to be delivered to their customers on time.

Fidelity said they are filing an extension with the IRS.  Heads up Fidelity, I am your customer, not the IRS. My tax accountant firm is very busy and I made my appointment last year as I always do.  I figured that since you are obligated to have tax forms in the hands of your clients by the end of January 2017 for the 2016 tax year, it is safe to schedule my appointment for mid February.  I do not want an extension.  I want my 1099.

The Fidelity end of year advantage was over. I should have seen this coming as each year my tax forms arrived later each year.  The service advantage was over too.  Last year my representative was promoted within the Fidelity organization.  It was warranted.  He was a great rep for many years.  He always got my issues addressed without me having to repeat the incident time and time again as things are referred to others.  He was gone and a new rep was assigned to me who sent this issue to his manager, and so on.

TD Ameritrade .... now with better tax reporting, more competent customer service, lower commissions, more investment trading options, and better trading software.  If even one of those points hit home with you it seems you now have the same issue facing you that I have .... when do I switch to TD Amertrade?

Update Feb 7, 2017 2:30pm pst
I just learned that Fidelity is not under the same laws as employers.  They are allowed to extend delivery of 1099s until Mid February via an extension.  They can also exercise a second extension until mid March of 2017.  So ... legally, they are within their rights.  But .... they lied to me about why things are late, they do not have the resources to deliver tax documents in a timely manner, they never explained this to me and gave me a false excuse instead, they do not mention this on the tax area of their website.  I intend to keep riding this every day until my 1099 arrives.  I have requested daily updates from my Fidelity representative in my local office. He just assured me that I will hear from him every day with a status update.  I am currently in full ISO9000 documentation mode.

Feb 8, 2017
I have learned that two of my positions I held in 2016 were limited partnerships and receiving documents for them is allowed to be later.  I was also in error regarding a TD Ameritrade customer who had already received their 1099 who shared similar positions.  It seems that they did not hold the actual securities as I did, they had options on those securities.  I then called the Burbank office to try to ask them if they would be supplying the K1 forms necessary for filing as this was not explained.  I was on hold a long time, then my call was sent to some office on the east coast, I told them I wanted to speak to Burbank, the original number I called, they would not transfer me back until I supplied a bunch of information.  So .... the bigger issue remains .... poor service and no single point of contact.

Side note .... this is not the first Fidelity blunder.  This issue was added to my original Fidelity complaints in another blog piece that can be seen at http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2013/03/asshat-of-day-award-fidelity-investments.html

Feb 23, 2017
I just received an email from Fidelity which told me that my complete 1099 would not be available until March 10.  This keeps slipping.  I contacted by Fidelity financial representative and instructed him to escalate this issue again and send me daily status updates.  I instructed him to contact the entity that is holding up this process and supply me with specific information which I can use to focus accountability.  I told him that if he runs into any sort of wall in his investigation that he is to escalate with somebody above him and give me their direct contact information.

Legally, Fidelity may be on legal ground but from a customer service aspect, to inform me with a date that my forms will be ready and to have this date slip three times at this point is irresponsible customer service at best and is a very poor reflection on Fidelity Investments.  They may be fine all during the year when it is not near the end of the game but at the end of the game, tax season, they fail miserably and lose the game in a dramatic way.

I was told I'd be contacted today.  To be continued.

0931pst - I just received a call from my Fidelity representative.  He told me he contacted the party who is holding things up and will check and get back to my rep.  I asked my rep to send me the information at the end of today in writing.

Feb. 24, 2017
I talked to my personal Fidelity representative this morning.  He is being quite helpful.  I think we are on a track to resolution.

March 6, 2017

The following was received from Fidelity today:

From:Fidelity

To:Myles Rose

Topic: 

Subject:Fidelity Investments: Follow-up

Date:03/06/2017 10:40 AM

Dear Mr. Rose:

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the delayed availability of your IRS Form 1099 for the 2016 tax year. Your concerns were brought to the attention of our Executive Office for additional review, and I appreciate this opportunity to respond.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience created by the delayed receipt of your 1099 form. I understand that this situation did not meet your expectations and assure you that this was not our intent. We believe that offering a superior customer experience is at the core of our continued success.

IRS guidelines state that 1099 forms should be mailed by financial institutions on, or prior to, February 15 or the next business day. The guidelines allow financial institutions to apply for an extension to this deadline. On a regular basis Fidelity has applied for, and been granted this extension. Some companies have a history of restating the tax qualification of dividend and capital gains payments. These restatements require Fidelity to mail corrected 1099 forms for impacted customer accounts.

If the tax treatment of a distribution changes, an amendment to a tax return may be required. Tax preparers may charge additional fees to file these amendments. Our delay in posting 1099 forms is designed to minimize fees encountered by our customers.

The tax reporting statements for your accounts are currently visible on Fidelity.com and our records indicate a copy of these forms was mailed to your address of record. I confirm your feedback about the availability of your tax forms was forwarded to the appropriate senior management team within our organization for inclusion in ongoing efforts to improve the overall customer experience.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Lathrop
Executive Office

LAX Flyaway - poorly run - discrimination to the handicapped

It all started here with a letter to our mayor.  This was published on the official Mayor website more than once, to the LAX Fly Away official website in the comment / customer contact application, more than once, and on Facebook.

Mayor Garcetti,

Today, November 21, 2016, a group of disabled veterans flew to LAX from Chicago.  They arrived at about 5pm.  They have been trying to get on a LAX Flyaway bus to Van Nuys for hours. They were at Terminal 7.  One bus after another passed by.  Some said they were full.   I was called and was at Van Nuys Flyaway waiting for their arrival.  I tried to talk to the people in the office at the VN facility.  They told me to have the people walk to Terminal 1 or they would never get a bus.  I explained that these were disabled folks.  Are you telling me to tell them to walk?  They said yes.  I asked for a company contact.  They would not supply a company name, address, or provide any information.  They would not give their names or any ID information.

You were pretty big on LA transportation issues during the recent election.  I'd like to know who operates LAX Flyaway?  What permits do they hold?  Who are they owned by?  

Please let me know how your office intends to address this issue.  I am looking forward to a dialogue and a way to hold this company responsible at some level.  #ABC7EYEWITNESS 

On 11/29 I received this:

Mr. Rose,

Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is dismayed to hear of the situation described in your post on our Facebook page as well as the Mayor's. LAWA, a Los Angeles City department, oversees the LAX FlyAway Program. The poor customer service you described is not in alignment with our Program requirements. Currently, the LAX FlyAway routes are operated by two contractors, with the Van Nuys route operated by Pacific Coast Sightseeing Tours & Charters. Your post was listed on 11/21. Please confirm the date and time of the incident. Your complaint will be forwarded to the operator for immediate investigation. A formal response with the outcome of the investigation will be sent to you directly by the contractor. In the future, please do not hesitate to send your comments regarding LAX FlyAway services directly to FlyAwayComments@lawa.org. Again, we apologize for any inconvenience caused by the described incident. Thank you very much in advance for your patience.

I replied by sending again, the information I had sent multiple times before on their official website and on their Facebook page as a message and as a comment to one of their other posts. My reply - I also sent this to you folks on your page on the net in your comment area. Once on the 21st and once again on the 28th.

Hi Myles, We're unsure of what day this occurred, was it November 21? We need to know the date this incident occurred please. What time did they arrive at the Terminal 7 LAX FlyAway stop?

This was on 11/21.  

All the details are in what I have sent already.

I don't know when they arrived. After two hours of waiting we used Super Shuttle as we gave up waiting.

If you ask me for details again I will assume this is just a stall tactic to avoid helping.

Perhaps you'd like to call me so I can have a single point of contact for this issue?


Again, date was 11/21. Time was 5pm to 7pm. Location was LAX terminal 7 for pick up from United Airlines from Chicago. Destination was Van Nuys from LAX. Both employees in the office there told me to tell folks to walk to Terminal 1 for pickup even after I told them, both of them, more than once, that this was a group of disabled veterans. Neither employee would give their name or a card or a phone contact of a supervisor or even information on who runs this service. They should both receive a serious reprimand at the least. Fined or fired would be more fitting. This breaks many laws in regard to handicapped access and service. 

Hi Myles, Please provide an email address and phone number so someone can contact you as soon as possible. Thank you. I have provided my email and phone multiple times on your contact form on your website where it is required, but, I will do it again. xxxx@email.com at xxx-yyy-zzzz.

I also filled out a form such as this on Mayor Garcetti's official website.

I also request the name of the dispatcher who was on duty between 5pm and 7pm on November 21 2016. The fact that for over two hours they left passengers behind at the last terminals shows a profound lack of a basic problem solving skills that any elementary school student would possess, the problem solved easily .... alternate the pickup start from terminal 1 to terminal 4. I await your reply. I am keeping track of your progress and timeliness or lack thereof.

Some dialogue between the Mayor's office and myself which took a while to be initially received after my contact with them:

Hello Myles, we’re very sorry that this happened. We’d like to make things right. We’ve been talking with LAX and we would like to reimburse everyone for their cost. Can you please let us know the name, address, and phone number of the person/people who were charged for the service? Thank you for being patient and for alerting us that this happened.

My reply:

Thank you for the offer. I am currently working with the flyaway folks. Reimbursement is not a viable response, holding the two women on duty that night is something that will help many rather than simply appease a few. Let's proceed on this tack.

Received a few minutes ago on 11/30 at about 9:20pst.

Hi Myles, Thank you for the information. Someone will be contacting you for action. Thank you for your patience, we will get to the bottom of this.

The end at the moment ....

December 6, 2016

The following letter was received by me. The apology is is nice but since it did not address any of the points I requested to be addressed I find it somewhat shallow.

December 5, 2016

Mr. Rose- 

Please see attached apology letter addressing your concerns with our service on 11/21/16.  

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions. 

Thank you, 

Kristin Martinez 
General Manager 
Pacific Coast Sightseeing Tours and Charters, Inc., a CoachUSA Company 
Southern California Gray Line 
800-828-6699 
714-507-1116 (direct) 
714-507-1169 (fax) 
kristin.martinez@coachusa.com 

Myles Rose




Dear Mr. Rose,

Thank you for caring enough to share with Los Angeles World Airport your frustrations, issues and concerns as it relates to the FlyAway service on November 21, 2016. Most guests do not take the time to “complain”; and, as we both know, if you are not aware of problems, you can’t fix them.

I humbly apologize for our failure to provide timely service to your group at LAX and the lack of customer service that you received from our ticket agents at the Van Nuys station. Providing professional, outstanding customer service is a top priority at Pacific Coast Sightseeing Tours & Charters, Inc. Our company philosophy is to do everything possible to ensure that each trip is a positive and enjoyable experience. Although problems do occasionally occur, we strive to minimize their effect on our guests. I am extremely disappointed and apologize that was not the case with your group.

I understand from my discussions with Robin Brown, our Compliance Supervisor, that you had two issues on your trip; overloaded buses and unhelpful ticket agents. Allow me to address the overloaded buses first. As the FlyAway service is a “first come first serve” program, we do have a procedure in place to alert the guests on the curb when their expected bus is overloaded. Should a bus overload, the drivers are to contact our Dispatch to alert them of the overload. Then they are to stop at all remaining terminals to alert the waiting passengers of the overload. Dispatch then contacts the next arriving driver and instructs them to begin their service at the overload spot. In your instance, because of the Thanksgiving holiday travel, the 17:30, 18:00 and 18:15 buses were all overloaded. The second issue, as I understand it, was the lack of information and customer service provided by our ticket agents at the Van Nuys station. Although I cannot share the details of our investigation and results, rest assured that we have taken the appropriate disciplinary action necessary with the employees involved.

Again, I sincerely apologize for our failure to provide excellent customer service to you and your group. It is my hope that this incident will not prevent you from traveling with FlyAway in the future. In an effort to gain back your patronage, on behalf of Pacific Coast Sightseeing Tours & Charters, Inc., I would like to provide complimentary roundtrip transportation to your group for a future date. Please contact Robin Brown at robin.brown@coachusa.com or 800-828-6699, ext. 71081.

Kindest Regards,

Kristin Martinez

General Manager

My response to the above letter which I sent:

Thank you for the apology.  It really did not address my points on the employees who told me to have folks to walk to Terminal 1 from Terminal 7.  

The explanation of what you do in high volume situations which you explained on the phone to me and explain a bit here, as a secondary point, did not work and was not followed.

The apology from the two people on staff would have been a bit easier to accept.  The fact that they did not take responsibility makes me feel even less of them as individuals and makes me question your administrative practices including hiring.

I hope this is not the end of this incident or dialogue but would not be surprised if I do not hear from you again in a step to actually answer my concerns.

- the end for the moment - 

Donald Trump - Make America Great?

Seems this fellow thinks he can change things in America on the employment by putting some attention in the area of foreign trade, or taxes, or business practices or .....

Hey Mr. Trump.  Open your eyes.  The biggest problem we have here in America is that some of our largest companies not only send jobs overseas (I talked to ATT customer service people this weekend in India and the Caribbean), but also talked to supervisors in San Antonio Texas.  Many (actually, most, if you read the two pieces where employees are noted by name, ID, time and date) of those they employ are incompetent, not empowered to take action to resolve problems, they pass the customer from one person to another only to have the dialogue repeat, and are technically inept, to start the proverbial list.

Mr. Trump.  As long as the employees of our "flagship" corporations hire people that do not take pride in their work, cannot think outside the box, show little skill in the areas of people skills, make the customer feel that they are of little or no value, the lynch pin of your plans is flawed to say the least as the very foundation of corporate America is in shambles.

You say that you will make changes over time and things will improve?  Look at the two links below to my experiences with ATT / Uverse since 2010.  Thing were awful but then improved.  This cycle was repeated a number of times only to end up in the proverbial toilet once again.

http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2012/07/at-so-wrong-in-every-way-part-ii.html

http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2010/11/at-so-wrong-is-every-way.html

The first link is the most current, latest antics at the end of the piece.  Two parts were necessary as the activity and documentation grew too large to add to the original piece.

1,175,826 reads of these two parts since November 2010.  23,918 reads since yesterday of the latest ATT / Uverse antics since 26 March 2016, less than three days.

As far as who may be your opposition, Hillary Clinton .....  It was under the Obama Administration that the historic profits for ATT and rate increases came and were tolerated if not outright supported.

I am not trying to turn this into a political piece.  I am just stating that you look pretty darn foolish in my eyes when you wear that hat or utter those words based on personal experience and observation.

#trump #att #clinton #uverse #sanders #cruz #economy #obama #democrat #republican #abc7eyewitness

Democrats and Gun Control

I may be be one of those Democrats which are cited as a Democrat who is in favor of "responsible" gun legislation.  When can "we" expect some?

Can any of you give a single example of how any of the current proposed legislation or current laws would have stopped any of the horrid events we have seen in the past YEARS in the news or reported in the media?

Can any of you give me an answer of how any of your legislation will stop firearms from being acquired by people who do not follow laws?

These questions are for you, David Chiu - Tel: (415) 557-3013, Marc Levine Tel: (415) 479-4920, Tel: (707) 576-2631, and Philip Y. Ting - Tel: (916) 319-2019 (he has no facebook page or email info), and our California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

https://twitter.com/philting
https://twitter.com/MarcLevine
https://twitter.com/DavidChiu
https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris

Well, the Democrats have lost me.

In regard to Assembly Bills 1663 and 1664; People in California already went through a process deemed legal at the time of purchase of these firearms.  They went through a background check, waiting period, registration process, and paid fees as noted in the graphic at the top of this piece.

To require additional fees and registration is not what I feel is "responsible legislation" on many levels, There are additional aspects to the legality, it not just the rationality, of AB 1663/1664.  What about passing property down to heirs when I pass away?  Firearms will be held to a different standard than other legally purchased items?

If I owned a classic car, the car could no longer be produced.  Yet, I could sell the car or pass it down to my children.  The car would retain full value.  This is not the case here.

Our government insists that  they are looking to enact registration and practices which do not take legally purchased property from people.  This is clearly a road which is contraindicated.

If AB 1663/1664 is passed, I hope people will not take any steps to be compliant with this law.  I hope they will be willing to be prosecuted.  I hope the National Rifle Association will have attorneys available to represent us on a case by case basis.  I also hope people bring cases into small claims court against the California Attorney General and the other individuals responsible for this bill for the loss of personal property and the value when the firearm cannot be sold, passed down to their heirs, or has lost it's value.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1663
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1664

Looking at these two bills raises a question.  Is the object of our legislature to write the same bill multiple times with slightly different wording in the thought that one of them will go unnoticed by their constituents?  I am insulted that you feel we are all that stupid and uninformed.  Hopefully many will return the respect and sentiment when they vote.

Yes, I am a Democrat.  I have been a member of the NRA on and off.  My reason for leaving the NRA at times was that I felt that too many members made rash and emotional statements that reflected poorly on the organization.  But, even to me, this reeks of a government wanting to eliminate firearms from being in possession of anybody other than those under direct control of the government in some manner such as law enforcement and our military.

I wonder how many people realize that this could classify pistols such as the M1911 pistol (Colt Government 1911) as an "assault weapon" as well?  I am sure that the government hopes that most people don't realize this.

In the future, I intend to vote against any Democratic candidate for any position.  I always used to vote for Assemblyman Mike Gatto as I felt he was one of the "good folks".  Unfortunately, I will not feel comfortable doing that in the future as I will now see him as somebody that belongs to a bad organization.

I attempted to write each of you from your online contact website but was not allowed to do so as you are not in my district.  Considering that the actions you have taken impact people outside of your district, I find this highly irresponsible.  I tried to call numbers on your websites, including you Kamala Harris, and was received by automated phone systems that give lists of other departments or numbers to call.  In the case of Philip Y. Ting. his numbers did not work, he does not have a Facebook page as other noted in this piece, and for a public official, is anything but accessible.

I have written all of you on Facebook (excepting Ting) with a few questions.  As of this time I have received no response, not even a form letter.  In the case of Ting, I did find a Twitter page where I asked him something.  I have received no response.  I am waiting.

Ting

Chiu

Levine

FrogLube - does it just work?

Many folks reading this are aware of the testing I have done on vacuum tubes and the claims of cryogenic testing.  I have published reports on many things, based on scientific testing using scientific equipment based on my decades of QA / QC experience and held to ISO 9000 standards. which means the tests are documented and repeatable.

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