The logic of "outing" someone's "offensive" e-mails, tweets, etc

 It's now SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for the aggrieved liberals, social justice warriors and other denizens of the swamp to dredge up social media posts of those they don't like, and republish them so all the world can see that how horrible those racist (etc etc) conservatives are. 

Never mind how old the e-mail or tweet or Facebook comment was, or that it was made in confidence, or in jest, if it could possible be construed as offensive, the person who wrote it is guilty, guilty, guilty! There's no Statute of Limitations on "hate crime" and "haters"... right? Or should I say "left?"

Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert (which Walt reads every day!) had a very good comment on this today. I trust he won't mind our reposting it.

MUSIC VIDEO: Mo Ghille Mear (My Gallant Hero)

Ed. here. While looking for a good recording of "The Green Fields of France" for yesterday's Remembrance Day video, I found this traditional Irish song, sung by the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin. The Gaelic title is "Mo Ghille Mear", which means "My Gallant Hero".

 

The arrangement is by Desmond Earley, with lyrics by Seán Clárach Mac Dómhnaill. The soloist is Mark Waters. Tristan Rosenstock plays the bodhrán on the track, but it's Brian Garvin you see in the visual.

This lovely song is from the album "Invisible Stars – Choral Works from Ireland and Scotland", directed by Desmond Earley. 

Remembrance Day 2021

Some call it by its old name: Armistice Day. Others call it Remembrance Day. Still others know it only as November 11th. No matter what you call it, November 11th is, or should be more than just a date. It's a day to remember those who gave their lives for our countries in a number of wars.

The exact number of wars is debatable. Depends which country you're talking about, and who's counting. But they were all "good wars"... "just wars"... right? They all needed to be fought, right? To preserve freedom and democracy and equality and all those other Good Things. Right? Maybe it's all debatable.

The "Armistice" in Armistice Day refers to the truce proclaimed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 -- the armistice that ended the Great War, the war that would end all wars. But, as the ballad "The Green Fields of France" says, it all happened again... And again... And again.

 

This song, sung here by Niall Hanna and Niamh Farrell, is also known as "The Ballad of William McBride". It should be heard every year at this time... in remembrance not just of the wars of the 20th and 21st centuries, but of those that preceded them. 

Following the battle of Antietam, General Robert E. Lee said to General James Longstreet, "It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it." That's something that we seemed to forget, too easily and too often.

We seem to scarcely finish one war before starting another. Sometimes we don't even wait for the first war to end, so we can fight two or three or four wars all at the same time. All for freedom, democracy, equality, human rights, and generally to make the world a better place. For "our side", at least.

Not all of the thousands upon thousands who died fighting our "good wars" did so for the sake of freedom and all that. Some of them did, sure, but some of them died because they obeyed orders and went unflinchingly to the death to which they were sent. It is those men and women -- the ones who didn't want to be there and shouldn't have been there in the first place -- whom Walt wishes to remember today.

Footnote: Joe Warmington, writing yesterday in the Toronto Sun, reports that very few people in the Little Apple are wearing poppies. That's what Don Cherry said two years ago, in what was to be his final appearance on the Coach's Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada. He called out "those people" who come to our countries to enjoy our "milk and honey" but don't honour those who fought and died to keep us free. For that, he got fired.

Recommended reading for Canadians: Operation Jubilee: Dieppe, 1942: The Folly and the Sacrifice, by Patrick Bishop, published just last month by Viking. Walt gives it ***** (five stars). In spite of the debacle of Dieppe, Canadian governments of both stripes keep looking for foreign wars, like the Muslim civil war in the Middle East, to which Canadians may be sent to die... for what! 

Do you really believe this?

One meme is worth 1000 words of argument. [Also a big help to someone too lazy to write! Ed.] Thanks and a tip o' the touque to Agent 6.

#LGB rally in VT on Saturday, Nov. 13th - Be there!

Nononoooo... Not that LGB, as in LGBTQ2Setc. We're talking #LGB as in Let's go, Brandon!

Breitbart News reports that Vermont Republicans will be taking the “Let’s Go, Brandon” chant to a literal level by hosting a rally in the city of Brandon, Vermont. It straddles US7, east of the Brandon Swamp and Otter Creek. You otter see it. [Get on with the story. Ed.]

Hmph. OK... The rally will be held on Saturday, November 13, and will largely serve as a celebration of the latest Republican victories and a repudiation of the Joe Biden presidency. See "VA: Good news from the Clinton News Network" (WWW 3/11/21) and "'Stupid wokeness' is what's beating Democrats: Carville" (WWW 4/11/21).

Brandon is the hometown of newly-elected state GOP Chair Paul Dame, who told the meeja "We have a lot of work to do over before the session starts in VT, but...we are going to start with a little fun. This Saturday we are hosting a 'Let’s Go Brandon' Rally in Central Park in Brandon. We are having hats, T-shirts and bumper stickers designed and printed as locally as possible as our first step to make a small contribution to the local economy."

Mr Dame [Kind of a funny juxtaposition, isn't it. Ed.] didn't say anything about dresses. That nice red one was worn by US Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) on a recent visit to Mar-a-Lago. 

The state of Vermont went heavily for Sleepy Joe Biden during the 2020 election. But, said Mr Dame, "Biden's first year in office has proved to be the worst of any president in my lifetime. Gas prices are nearly double what they were a year ago. The reports on the costs of an average Thanksgiving meal is nearly double what it was a year ago."

The good people of Vermont, and most of the rest of America are waking up to the cold reality of the abject failure of the Brandon administration. The mid-term elections are just a year away. The campaign to oust the Dumbocrats from the halls of power started on a week ago. If  you want to save America, get on the #LGB team!

"Allahu akbar!" - Algerian stabs French cop "in the name of the Prophet"

News of attacks on Europeans by would-be jihadis is so commonplace that I don't even try to post all the incidents. There was one somewhere in Europe last week in which a civilian was wounded by a Muslim wielding a knife, but it was just the one victim, who the "authorities" said was mentally unstable, yada yada yada, so no biggie. But today it's a cop, so I guess that rates a report. 

From the French city of Cannes, famous for its film festival, comes news that police have shot "a man" who attacked a group of them with a knife. One against many doesn't seem like a good idea, but no-one ever said these Islamic extremists were rational. 

Quite the contrary. What's unusual about this case is that security sources have told the meeja that the attack appears to have been motivated by Islamist terrorism. Inspector Clouseau of the local gendarmerie said the attacker claimed to have been acting "in the name of the Prophet." No kidding! 

 The attacker, a 37-year-old Algerian who reportedly got into Italy as a "refugee", opened the door of a police car stationed in front of the Cannes central police station, before stabbing the officer in the driver's seat. He then tried to attack a second policeman in the vehicle but a third officer fired his weapon, seriously injuring the attacker. Sounds to me like a defence of insanity might be mounted, but that's wearing a little thin. 

The attack coincides with the trial of Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of an ISIS cell responsible for the killing of 130 people in gun and bomb attacks on entertainment venues in Paris in November of 2015. Worries over violent crime and terrorism -- almost always the work of Islamic extremists welcomed into Europe as "refugees" and asylum-seekers -- feature among voters' main concerns in the run-up to the 2022 French presidential election. 

Thank goodness Americans and Canadians don't have to worry about Islamic extremists being allowed into their countries by too-liberal governments. Oh... wait... 

Further reading: "Referendum on immigration? What a novel idea!", WWW 10/10/21.

6 good reasons to STOP selling on eBay

Just four days short of eight years ago [! Ed.] I wrote "Fed up with eBay? There IS an alternative!" (WWW 12/11/13). It was the third or fourth in a series detailing the frustrations and pitfalls of buying/selling on eBay and dealing with its then partner, PayPal. One might think that the self-proclaimed leader in the online auction/sales market would try to raise its customer satisfaction level, but empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests the opposite.

This is what I've heard from a long-time follower who didn't heed my advice but continued selling on eBay until this spring when he finally weaned himself off that addiction. I should point out that the complainant [This sounds like a legal document! Ed.] is not running a business, trying to make a lot of money. He's jus an old guy who's got a houseful of junk which he's trying to dispose of to eke out his retirement income.

Here, from our disgruntled reader and other sources, are 5 good reasons to close your eBay account and find another place to buy and sell online.

1. eBay's new(ish) "managed payments system"

eBay used to own PayPal, which meant that money paid by purchasers through PayPal went straight into the seller's PayPal account. PayPal deducted a service charge immediately, and eBay billed the seller for their commission as well as insertion and other fees. So sellers lost up to 20% of the money they expected to get.

Now eBay has divested itself of PayPal and is forcing sellers into their managed payments sytem. That means giving eBay access to the seller's bank account, so that payments can be deposited directly, after deduction of eBay's ever-increasing fees. And payments will no longer be transferred immediately, but after a delay of, typically, a week.

2. Buyers now have to deal with eBay (only) to get their money back

Under the old payments system, if you bought something on eBay and didn't get what you paid for, or were dissatisfied, you could get your money back after going through a long and tortuous "customer service" process with eBay. 

If eBay found your complaint was justified, they would direct PayPal (which they owned, remember) to give your money back. 

You could also start the process by filing a dispute through your PayPal account. PayPal would buck it over to eBay, so it still took time.

Now that eBay has cut PayPal out of its "system", you have no choice but to complain to eBay and allow weeks for their system to deal with it. Your refund will come out of money they haven't yet paid to the vendor.

The only good news in that, for buyers, is that eBay almost always takes the buyer's side, even where the seller can make a good argument that they're being scammed by a buyer who says they never got the goods. How can you prove that? That's why a lot of sellers refuse to ship to south Asia or Africa.

3. eBay are now acting as tax collectors

American and Canadian governments -- federal, state and provincial -- have been itching for years to grab a chunk of all that money that's changing hands through online transactions, especially those that cross borders. eBay has caved under political pressure, and now charges sales tax, rated according to the residence of the buyer.

For example, suppose you live in New York state and buy something from a vendor in Ontario, Canada. The applicable tax in Ontario would be 13%, but the tax rate on foreign sales is 0.00% -- no tax. All the same, eBay will add the NY tax to your invoice.

4. And they snitch on you to your government

There are a lot of people and corporations doing business -- big business -- on the Internet. And yes, it's only fair that they should pay taxes on their profits, just like the bricks-and-mortar stores. But, there are also 1000s of people like the old guy described in the second paragraph above, trying to turn their junk into cash. Should they have to give Uncle Sam (or Mr Socks) a cut of the pittance they get for collectibles, craft items and suchlike, on which they make next to nothing after they pay eBay's commission and other fees?

Put it another way... Suppose you cleaned out your attic and held a garage sale or a yard sale. Would you be happy if, at the end of the day, an agent of the IRS or CRA came to your door to collect the sales and income taxes -- part of the money you got for selling your "treasures" -- which they would then give to such needy folks as illegal immigrants?

Under its managed payments system, eBay now has access to not just your sales records, but your banking information. They can and will give that information to the government on request, and if you think the government won't ask, LOL.

5. eBay's customer service sucks

See that meme above? eBay's customer service is actually worse than that! The chances of your having a phone conversation with a real person are slim and none. If you have a question or complaint and click on any of the "help" links, you will be directed to a list of possible problems, then to page after page of "solutions", which you've likely already tried or aren't relevant. 

You can go around in circles like that for hours. If you look hard enough, you might find an e-mail form which you can submit, but good luck with finding a phone number, and if you do somehow find a contact number, be prepared to be "on hold forever".

Before "managed payments", if you were dealing with PayPal, you could (with slightly less difficulty) contact their payment resolution centre or help desk, and you eventually got an answer. PayPal's bias is also towards buyers, but at least sellers get a chance to tell their side of the story.

6. There are alternatives

Our assiduous reader has looked at and tried a number of alternatives and has come up with four that can be recommended. None of them has as big a "reach" as eBay, but all of them are better than dealing with the Big Tech monster.

Etsy Inc. - American e-commerce company focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. These items fall under a wide range of categories, including jewelry, bags, clothing, home décor and furniture, toys, art, as well as craft supplies and tools. Not so strong on collectibles (stamps. coins, comics etc). Has its own managed payments system, with the same drawbacks as eBay's.

Webstore - US-based FREE online marketplace. Free, how? Webstore is currently supported by donations and ad revenues. They say they are "operated as a free public service so that our members may benefit from a professional, feature filled, FREE community in which to buy and sell goods and services without all the common fees of most auction sites and online marketplaces." Website cluttered and clunky, but user support is very good (according to our reader), with text exchanges with a real named person.

Delcampe - European website launched in 2000, "to provide a suitable environment for collectors to buy and sell their collectibles." More than 180 nationalities are present on the site, 1000s of new collectibles are being listed every day. Claims over a million active users, but little-known in USA. Easy-to-use site. Has its own managed payment method, but doesn't insist you use it.

eBid - British company created in 1998. It markets itself as an eBay competitor with the main difference being the vast difference in fees charged to sellers. If you sign up for a lifetime membership fees are minimal or even free if you settle for limited options. Very user-friendly site. They leave it up to you if you want to charge sales tax, and let you receive payment through PayPal (or whatever). They claim a monthly average of 8 million page impressions, and a daily traffic volume of around 60,000 visitors, but that's still just a fraction of the business eBay does in a single day.

So there you have it, folks. If you buy and sell online, don't put up with the hassles of eBay one second longer. Consider the alternatives and if you're scared to leave eBay, remember that there's no law that says you can only use one e-commerce platform! 

Walt also recommends SaleHoo, "a powerful research tool, supplier directory, and online community for dropshippers, wholesalers, and e-commerce stores." If you've never sold online and don't know where or how to start, this is the place to learn.