Black Friday Can Land You In Jail

Black Friday Can Land You In Jail

Before you go out this Friday to piss away whatever money you have saved up.. or even worse, give that piece of plastic a work out, perhaps you should remember one important thing... America is bringing back Debtor's Prison!

As a sheriff's deputy dumped the contents of Joy Uhlmeyer's purse into a sealed bag, she begged to know why she had just been arrested while driving home to Richfield after an Easter visit with her elderly mother.

No one had an answer. Uhlmeyer spent a sleepless night in a frigid Anoka County holding cell, her hands tucked under her armpits for warmth. Then, handcuffed in a squad car, she was taken to downtown Minneapolis for booking. Finally, after 16 hours in limbo, jail officials fingerprinted Uhlmeyer and explained her offense -- missing a court hearing over an unpaid debt. "They have no right to do this to me," said the 57-year-old patient care advocate, her voice as soft as a whisper. "Not for a stupid credit card."

It's not a crime to owe money, and debtors' prisons were abolished in the United States in the 19th century. But people are routinely being thrown in jail for failing to pay debts. In Minnesota, which has some of the most creditor-friendly laws in the country, the use of arrest warrants against debtors has jumped 60 percent over the past four years, with 845 cases in 2009, a Star Tribune analysis of state court data has found.

Not every warrant results in an arrest, but in Minnesota many debtors spend up to 48 hours in cells with criminals. Consumer attorneys say such arrests are increasing in many states, including Arkansas, Arizona and Washington, driven by a bad economy, high consumer debt and a growing industry that buys bad debts and employs every means available to collect.

Whether a debtor is locked up depends largely on where the person lives, because enforcement is inconsistent from state to state, and even county to county.

In Illinois and southwest Indiana, some judges jail debtors for missing court-ordered debt payments. In extreme cases, people stay in jail until they raise a minimum payment. In January, a judge sentenced a Kenney, Ill., man "to indefinite incarceration" until he came up with $300 toward a lumber yard debt.

"The law enforcement system has unwittingly become a tool of the debt collectors," said Michael Kinkley, an attorney in Spokane, Wash., who has represented arrested debtors. "The debt collectors are abusing the system and intimidating people, and law enforcement is going along with it."

You know how stuff comes back into fashion in a 20 year cycle? Like how all the 80's tv shows and movies are getting rebooted and how Happy Days was a show in the 70's about characters living in 1950? Well, like all that shit, we're starting to see society revert back to the original state. Only instead of 20 years we're doing it by 200 years.

Take for example the article which clearly shows that the same social system that is bringing back debters jail can one day potentially bring back indentured servitude, child factory labor and if we're lucky, Impressment.

The only plus side to all this is that loom technology advanced to the point where bobbins will no longer come loose. I know I'm excited.

How are we suppose to deal with all this? Historically speaking, those who couldn't pay their debts were made to do so in a way that actually profited the rest of society.... Slave labor. But Americans are too stupid to divorce the concepts of slavery and racism, so there's pretty much no way we'll ever make people work off their debts again. We're sort of stuck with this mess for better or worse.

But what if we could work off our debt? It would be pretty nice if you think about it. No more calls from those student loans, instead you could do a months work for a couple hundred thousand of your debt. But then again, in our modern day's college system, it seems that student loans have a closer relation to indentured servitude than you think. Though making that comparison isn't all that accurate since college doesn't guarantee you a job or any useful skills for that matter.

But this seems to have gotten out of control. Just look at this story about a woman who's having issues with a funeral home.

A funeral home's debt collector threatened to dig her deceased daughter's body up and hang it from a tree unless she paid what she owed for the funeral service. That's when she started recording the calls, capturing such things as, "We're going to have your dog arrested, we're going to shoot him, and we're going to eat him," and, "Are you going to pay this bill or not or am I going to have to kill you?"

Threats of violence are definite breaches of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Armed with those recordings, the woman could go sue the debt collector in small claims court and collect statutory damages.

Reached for comment, the debt collection agency told KMOV that the recordings were "suspect" and said they sounded like an "unfortunate communication breakdown." They pledged to investigate the incident and said all their employees are given a copy of the FDCPA and are required to follow it.

So before you throw away your money on Friday just realize that stretching out that credit card can eventually land you in debters jail. And unless they make threats on you like this foolish credit collection agency, you're going to have to pay the dues eventually..

This article did make me think about something a little off topic though, how the fuck do the police ever find criminals in NYC if they can't pull over people riding the subway to find out if they have a warrant or not.

Anyway, what am I saying, it's already past midnight. I'm sure you've already got your tents set up in front of Best Buy hoping for that latest and greatest technology piece of shit you'll just forget in a couple of months for the next best thing.

For you people all I have to say is... FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKIN' CAPITALISTIC PIGS!

Ha. just kidding, I'm going to go out and buy $5 dvds like the rest of you mindless sheeple. Or just go to Stone to get my Growler filled with Double Bastard Ale and drink to forget how bad society is. You know, like this family in Florida..



Fuck this gay earth....

The Men Who Slaughter Goats On Black Friday

The Men Who Slaughter Goats On Black Friday

I suppose I'm pretty anti-black friday. This mentality comes from the idea of wasting time and not really getting the best savings. Black Friday is all about dealing with large crowds for no real reason. I'm sure many of you look forward to trampling and killing your fellow man for a $29.99 DVD player (regular price $39.99), but I don't really think that's my style. Neither do I want to sacrifice to Shub-Niggurath, the black friday of the burbs with a thousand white young in order to get some of those "hot deals" that everyone is looking forward to.

Hell, my best deals come from the regular year round shopping that pop up every once in a while. I got UP and Monsters Inc. a few weeks back on Blu ray for a grand total of 98 cents for the pair. So you can see why I really don't go in for the Black Friday says. It's the mob mentality that puts me off. Also the stupidity.



I talked to a family that sat since 1pm Thanksgiving day with a tent set up at a Best Buy in order to be one of the first in lines for the sales. To me, thanksgiving should be spent with those special people in your life. Be it friends or families in a warm setting with good food and the ability to give thanks for being together... then again, I doubt you really can get that across while you're eating some beans out of a can next to a tent with freezing conditions outside of a Best Buy.

But to add to this is that the companies got shit for doing something that is not in the Christian "correct" Yup, God durn a-rabs interfering with mah christian tradition of trampling over epople for a LCD TV..

Best Buy Ad's Mention Of Muslim Holiday Irks Some Customers

A recent Best Buy ad (hat tip to CrunchGear) promoting the store's Black Friday sales includes a nod to the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Adha, which is celebrated that day.

Sounds rather innocent, doesn't it?

Instead of being praised for its inclusiveness, Best Buy is being attacked by some customers who have made their views known on the company's message board. Some consumers are particularly irked because the home electronics retailer recently announced that it will no longer put "Merry Christmas" in its flyers.

Conservative groups like the the American Family Association began attacking the retailer in 2006 after the chain said it would replace "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays" in its ads. Best Buy, for its part, denies it has abandoned the C word altogether; it can be found on gift cards and online. The AFA has yet to comment on the ad.

The AFA has also called for a boycott of The Gap for its new holiday commercial which includes shout-outs to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Solstice, in addition to Christmas.

But there seems to be a small and vocal group of Best Buy customers who don't appreciate the flyer. Some of the colorful customer responses on Best Buy's message board include (please note that these may not accurately reflect the nature of the holiday Eid Al-Adha):

"Makes sense. Stop saying Christmas because you dont want to be associated with Jesus, and instead associate yourself with goat sacrifice. Truly noble. I think ill go to Best Buy with a dead goat."

Or this response:

"Eid is not about "giving to the poor", etc. It is about sacrifice. I live in a Muslim country and the streets literally run with blood during this holiday. That is not an exaggeration. Yes, they give some of the meat to the poor...but it is all about sacrifice."

These are the same right wing nuts who bashed Obama for honoring Eid Al-Adha and totally ignored the fact that Bush also did the exact same thing. The funniest thing about this is that Eid Al-Adha is the commemoration of Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son for Allah. So it's a Christian and Jewish occasion as well, if not an outright festival. I mean, it is from the same scriptures, right?



Then there's those who are screaming bloody murder because it deals with slitting Goats throats and pouring the blood on the street. Isn't animal sacrifice part of Christian mythology as well? Not to mention that the day before Black Friday was god damn Thanksgiving. We did the same thing but only replaced Goats with Turkeys.

In all versions, Cain is a crop farmer and his younger brother Abel is a shepherd.[7] Cain is portrayed as sinful, committing the first murder by killing his brother,[8] after God[9] has rejected his offerings of produce but accepted the animal sacrifices brought by Abel.[10]

But it's a Muslamorabic name! Don't they know that if they won't let us commercialize their Holidays, people will never accept them. At least Best Buy stuck to their guns on this one you can see their strong defense at their use of the phrase on their message board.

Best Buy’s customers and employees around the world represent a variety of faiths and denominations. We respect that diversity and choose to greet our customers and employees in ways that reflect their traditions.

We do use the word “holiday” in some of our advertising because it is meant to be inclusive to everyone. However, just as we have in the past, we will also reference specific holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in our weekly ads, store signage and other advertising vehicles.

We encourage our employees to interact with customers naturally and wish them a Merry Christmas or share whatever greeting is appropriate for the holiday they are celebrating.

Looking at the Bestbuy forums makes me feel like I accidentally wandered into Freep. Then again... Why the fuck would anyone post on a bestbuy forum? It can't be to make friends. Not at all. Best Buy lied about my warranty.. No friends of mine! Hmm, sounds like a good chant. BEST BUY LIED! GOATS DIED!

Let's see what some of those posters are saying;

"Makes sense. Stop saying Christmas because you dont want to be associated with Jesus, and instead associate yourself with goat sacrifice. Truly noble. I think ill go to Best Buy with a dead goat."

You could with your oldest son if that makes you feel better. I have no doubt that associating yourself with goat sacrifice will capture the coveted 18-25 male market. I mean, they have been playing Modern Combat 2 for the last few weeks.

Perhaps next they should release a flyer that says "We declare Jihad on high prices!!!" I will be a Best Buy costumer then. Even if they have tried to offer/sell me an extended warranty on CD/DVD spindles I bought there before.

While a little surprised that Best Buy has their own forum, I found one for Chipotle.. and now 'm forever scarred to the plight of our nation. But it's nice to see all the Abrahamic religions getting along so well considering it's the same fucking fairytale three times except with slightly different names and outcomes. What sort of savage religion would hold up a blood sacrifice as some sort of positive thing? Good thing those Christians have Jesus instead!

But again, this is the day after fucking thanksgiving and Americans are tut-tuting about "goat sacrifice"? Maybe it's cause the goats died for nothing.. right? NOTHING AT ALL! They may have been eaten at some point, but that's entirely peripheral to the matter at hand. I wonder if everyone in America had to raise their own turkeys for thanksgiving, if the streets filled with blood, would we do anything different? Especially given the number of people who go hunting for sport.

Serenity Now - Building Projecting

Serenity Now - Building Projecting

It's black Friday. If you were insane enough to go out and fight the crowds for mediocre deals, then you're more than likely in much need of some serenity. In this Friday day flick edition, enjoy this little piece where they project images on a building. It's really a trip



Just remember to breath in and breath out. The holiday season will be over soon.

A Black Friday Sale That's A Blast

A Black Friday Sale That's A Blast

We all know what Black Friday is about. No, it's not a racist term. It's when stores start seeing their sales records go from red (bad/in debt) and finally go in the black with a major boost in Holiday sales. Well, the fine folks of South Carolina decided to make Guns a major gift this holiday season....

The great state of South Carolina is putting its own sick twist on Black Friday with a tax holiday on firearm purchases.

Not cars.

Not clothes.

Certainly not books.

Just guns.

For the 48 hours following Thanksgiving, gun buyers will enjoy a break of up to 9% in state and local taxes.

Firearms traffickers are not expected to pass the savings on to New York criminals, but what is called "the extrava-gun-za" and "Second Amendment Weekend" is sure to help South Carolina stay among the top five states that provide 85% of the illegal handguns recovered in New York City.

One of the other top states is Florida, believed to be the source of at least 40 guns city undercover cops bought in the last three months, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes said.

The tax holiday for firearms in South Carolina was first tacked onto a 2008 bill that provided similar breaks for energy efficient appliances.

Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed the legislation, though not because he disapproves of guns. He recently repealed the state's one-gun-a-month restriction.

Sanford disapproves of tax holidays, though he subsequently slipped away on a holiday of another kind, this with his mistress in Argentina.

The legislature overrode the tax holiday veto thanks to the efforts of Rep. Mike Pitts, the gun amendment's sponsor. The South Carolina Supreme Court then ruled the bill violated the "one subject rule" of the state's constitution, which bars multiple matters in a single bill.

The legislature solved the problem by dropping the energy efficiency part and keeping the firearms in time for this year's Black Friday. That was no doubt welcome news to the state's gun shops, which outnumber McDonald's in the Palmetto State by four to one.

Even without a tax holiday, South Carolina gun shops sold a half-million handguns in a 10-year period. The state's population is only 4.5 million.

The number of gun sales is expected to grow ever higher thanks to Pitts, who also sponsored a bill that reduced the age for possessing a handgun in South Carolina from 21 to 18.

"If my daughter were driving, as a 19- or 20-year-old, to Charleston," Pitts said the other day, "I could put my handgun in the glove compartment of my car and she could drive to Charleston without being a felon."

Pitts also is pushing the "South Carolina Firearms Freedom Act," which proposes to exempt guns manufactured in South Carolina from all federal restrictions.

Pitts is untroubled by statistics showing South Carolina is a leading supplier of illegal guns to New York and other cities. He applies what apparently passes for logic down there.
"It's not our lax gun laws. It's our high crime-rate that causes the problems," he said the other day.

Pitts sought to illustrate his position by noting that a burglar had recently broken into his home and stolen "about a dozen guns."

"What's happening is people break into my home, steal my guns and get a premium price by taking it to other states and selling them," Pitts said.

Meanwhile, in Pitts' big extrava-gun-za, firearms traffickers will be able to enjoy a Black Friday tax holiday at gun shops across South Carolina, from Dead Bang Guns & Automatics to Freedom Guns and Pawn, The Gun Doctor and Pappy's Guns.

Monday, I gave a call to Woody's Pawn & Jewelry in Orangeburg, one of 15 gun shops Mayor Bloomberg cited in 2006 for making an illegal sale to an undercover. At the time, Woody's sold 98 guns that were connected to crimes in New York City.

I got as far as saying I was from the New York Daily News.

"I don't care to comment to anything in New York," owner Chan Holman said.

This is what Mayor Bloomberg had to say about the tax-free gun sale: "Law-abiding citizens have every right to buy a gun, but South Carolina is a top exporter of guns used in crimes. First we'd like to see South Carolina repair and enforce its lax gun laws."

Holman obviously disagrees. He told another reporter he expects a big jump in business come Black Friday.

"I'm even thinking about tearing down a building next to the store and using it for parking," Holman said. "We'll be open an hour early and staying open later depending on the crush of business. ... We have a lot of inventory to get rid of."

So... we have a black Friday sale on guns. Literally, this is modern America summed up in a single idea. The worse part of all this is they acknowledge that their guns are being connected to crimes in major cities. at a disproportionately high rate. Way to go and help the rest of the nation, South Carolina. Being the source of 85% of illegal firearms in a major US city sounds like a pretty big deal.

I suppose we should all gas up the car and get your credit cards out, cause we're gonna need some assault weapons to prevent Obama's ground troops from forcing their MARXIST HEALTH CARE on us Teabaggers!



I know what you're thinking.. What is South Carolina like? Well, there's really only two options. Savannah and Charleston. The rest is a complete lost cause.

Savannah still has homes that were built in the late 1600's still standing. Which means that Savannah is full of tourist. In the old manors south of Broad you can still see the iron spikes rising from court yard walls that were placed to keep the slaves in, and the little stone steps people used when getting out of horsedrawn carriages. It's a lot of antique shops and moss and shit. It's tiny compared to Charleston and is somehow surrounded by more ghetto. I suppose you should come here if you liked the novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.



Charleston, on the other hand is completely awesome if you're a drunk.. or you like culture. A trip there does provide you with some pretty good culturally enriching moments when, if you're like me, you end up wandering drunkenly through Charleston at 4 am and just have to piss, only to realize that you are letting loose all over a prerevolution brick wall. Really, the only redeeming thing about Charleston is that it's designed around drunken wandering/pissing on things you'll never afford. Yeah, whenever I travel I make sure to get drunk and wander (a hobby) and Charleston is one of the more interesting cities to be drunk in.

But enough about my clearly inappropriate behavior. Let's look at this situation again. Because while I placed in bold a lot of it, there's an even bigger part that I missed out in first reading it that I glanced back at and just wondered what the hell was wrong with society. You see, the legislature solved the problem by dropping the energy efficieny part and keeping the firearms in time to make it pass for Black Friday.



If you're not getting what I'm saying let me quote it again because it's amazing.

The tax holiday for firearms in South Carolina was first tacked onto a 2008 bill that provided similar breaks for energy efficient appliances.

The South Carolina Supreme Court then ruled the bill violated the "one subject rule" of the state's constitution, which bars multiple matters in a single bill.

The legislature solved the problem by dropping the energy efficiency part and keeping the firearms in time for this year's Black Friday.

Who cares about the climate, we need guns! I like to think I'm usually joking about the south being so god damn backwards, but good fuck, that is some onion level shit right there. No way would I believe that we're in America and this shit flies.

So this Black Friday, try not to shoot someone while waiting in line at the Wal*mart...

consumerism (n.): other people buying stuff they don't need and/or I don't want