Sprint is a crook!!

I just got in from running lots of errands. I thought that I would get a lot done today since we got out fairly early but unfortunately I didn't. If we didn't accomplish anything else, we wanted to get my husband another phone since his contract is up. We are with Sprint. We wanted to get him a phone that was Android but not 4G since 4G costs more (when he got the phone, it was $10 more for a 4G phone because of the "better" data speed/network). We didn't want to pay extra for an intermittent network. It is very rare that he actually gets 4G speeds (also, it interrupts his data stream if he is watching something or downloading something). We wanted to save money as well, so we thought that it would be best for him to go just one step down. To our surprise, any phone from Sprint that has Android capabilities now requires and everything data plan PLUS a $10 premium! This is no longer for 4G only. Now they are charging everyone for what they have been enjoying for years. I even found out my mediocre LG Optimus S will begin to incur that same $10 charge as soon as my contract is up! If anyone knows this phone, it is a basic run-of-the-mill phone. there is nothing special about it and I find it insulting that I will be charged extra on top of: our bill, the everything data plan, and extra fees (there is also an extra $5 fee if you do not have automatic billing). If that wasn't enough, let's add an extra $10 to the mix for Android!! This is disgusting!

When we went to Best Buy today, the rep told us that they started this six months ago! I am so upset that Sprint is nickel-and-diming their customers!! Could this have anything to do with the fact that Sprint just started offering Iphones at unlimited data speeds? I was wondering how they were going to pay for that. Alternatively, it could also have to do with the fact that people with phones (like my husband's Evo 4G) were required to have an extra $10 charge despite the network not even being ready. Maybe people complained about that so Sprint said "let's just roll all premium phones into one premium plan and charge people extra whether they have 4G or not, that way, no one can say that it is because of 4G. Whatever the case is (I am leaning more toward Sprint penalizing everyone for their new Iphone customer's excessive data usage). Sprint is a terrible company and what stinks is the fact that as long as we continue to buy despite constantly being taken advantage of, big business will always win.

Honey Boo Boo?

Is education in America that bad? To a certain degree, I would say no. However, for a country that is as developed as we are…then yes. We emphasize test-taking way too much as opposed to the actual concepts of the subject matter. Many people are very intelligent but do horribly when it comes to tests. I am one of those people in some respects. While I have passed many exams, I have just barely passed some of them when I know that I knew the subject matter. What is frustrating is the fact that many children will lose confidence and not want to go to school at all because of it. You saw what a disaster the “No Child Left Behind Act” was. There were teachers who were good at their jobs but made poor decisions. This is what happens when you leave a wound to fester for decades, come in, rip the scab off and expect it to heal with no antibiotics or long-term care plan.

We are very good at hiding our flaws in this country, especially when it comes to education. If you go by local news and political campaigns, you would think that we were doing great because all of the positives that are highlighted. However, thanks to the gift of reality television, some of them slip through the cracks and expose our failed system. While it is not the only indicator of where we are education-wise, it is a good snippet. I am not immune to the lure of reality programming. I do have a few that I watch (most shows are reality now anyway). Some of these shows like “Toddlers and Tiaras” show not only how uneducated some of our children are, but the parents as well. I watched this little girl Alana, also called Honey Boo Boo “perform” and show her “talent” while her mother just watched and collected the checks. This little girl acted really badly and it is a direct reflection of our educational system as well as her upbringing (obviously, the system has failed the mother as well).

We have to be more careful as to how we portray ourselves but more importantly, we have to have standards. Our education system has been lacking for quite some time and our children are caught in the crossfire. For little Ms. Honey Boo Boo and other children like her, I hope it will not be too late.

　

Stop Comcast!

As if cable television wasn't expensive enough, it's getting more and more expensive by the month. We pay over $130 per month to Comcast Cable and we only have television and Internet. While some people do not think that $130 is too much consider this: I do not have a phone attached to this account, there are no premium channels, and most of the channels have nothing that I want to watch.

One issue with cable is the fact that nothing is really tailored to the individual user (besides some on-demand channels). We pay for many channels that we have absolutely no interest in only to get a few channels that we actually like. For instance, I like We TV. However, I cannot get this channel (and other channels like the Military Channel, Science Channel, etc.) unless I subscribe to the Digital Preferred package. There are 2-3 packages under this where these channels are not included. Comcast knows that people want channels like these and make them pay for hundreds of unnecessary channels as a result. Comcast wins, the networks win..WE LOSE!

To add insult to injury, programs are getting shorter and commercials are getting longer. Has anyone noticed that while you are watching your favorite programs, you are being bombarded with commercials every few minutes even when the show is only thirty minutes long. Has anyone also paid attention to the full banner ads that run at the bottom of their favorite shows now? I am not talking about an ad that just advertises another show. I am talking about ads for attorneys, cars, etc.

There is something that networks are doing and I really thought that this method of advertising was bad and buried. They have gone back to subliminal advertising. I have noticed that many shows work commercials right into the script. I have seen it on several shows. On the Biggest Loser, one of the trainers goes into the kitchen and asks a contestant what they were eating (all while a specific brand name was being shown right in front of her on the counter). Then the trainer went on to say how this specific brand was good for you and why. Then they went on with the show. I have also seen something similar on another show where they went into full detail as to why a specific car's make and model was good. They went so far as to show the interior/exterior of the car and explained all of its features and why it was better than the competition's car. Again, this was worker into the script and after that embedded commercial, the show went on as usual. There was no transition or anything.

Things like this will continue to happen if no one speaks up or even notices that we are paying higher prices for more commercials and the only one who loses out is us! Speak up, tell these companies that we are not going to stand for this anymore and that we are tired of substandard programming for premium prices!

This is very important. We cannot allow Comcast and other companies to get away with this. Where will it end? Please sign my petition at:

http://www.change.org/petitions/comcast-corporation-stop-comcast-from-advertising-subliminally

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