Time Out

2012-01-18 09:07
Last night at 2200 (10PM or midnight on our eastern seaboard) I turned off my internet access. I'm boycotting the internet in protest of the internet copyright measure before the U. S. Congress (SOPA & PITA).

My downtime runs from midnight January 17th Eastern Time through midnight January 18th Hawaii Time, it is symbolic, but I will not partake of the internet while it is the 18th of January in the United States of America.

Many websites will be dark in protest of the censorship they believe this bill will bring.

For myself, my little turning off the internet is my protest of continuing intrusion of the federal government in our daily lives. Small government is the better government.

These measures would allow websites to be shut down WITHOUT DUE PROCESS!

Small is better, local and small is best! The further that government is from home, the less control an individual can exercise over their own destiny. When your representatives (mayor, aldermen, counsel members, etc) are in "your neighborhood" the more responsive they are. After all, they never know when you may bump into them, and take them to task.

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The problem IS Netit and Fiserv, Inc

There has been an ongoing problem with the Sea Air Federal Credit Union* providing our financial data to the Quicken family of financial products. (By the way, this is not just Sea Air FCU problem, it hits many credit unions, ie., Penn East FCU, Omaha FCU, Neighbors FCU, Westmark FCU, Honeywell Philadelphia FCU, etc, etc) The problem stems from the  defiance of the Netit* branch of Fiserv, Inc* (see: http://satisfaction.mint.com/mint/topics/is_netit_financial_net_com_holding_us_hostage) to let the users have their financial data.

This came to a head when the members of Sea Air Federal Credit Union received this note:
----[From: SEA AIR FCU; 01/06/2012 13:37:14 CST]-----
We regret to inform you that due to unresolved issues with Quicken, we had to cancel our contract.  

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sea Air Staff
----[End of message]-----

I replied with:
I am afraid that you are letting netit.financial-net ordain the path of Sea Air FCU rather than the co-op THAT IS this credit union.
----[End of message]-----


It disturbs me that Netit* and Fiserv, Inc* blames security issues when in fact it is them wanting more money from someone, instead of providing financial data that belongs to us, when American Express, the Federal TSP program, and many others provide our data to Mint and others. The other financial institutions seem to understand that it is OUR financial data.


*
Fiserv, Inc -- www.fiserv.com  see: www.whois.net/whois/fiserv.com
Netit -- see: www.whois.net/whois/financial-net.com
Sea Air FCU -- www.seaairfcu.org

Do Not Fret, Cream Rises

I used to have a cartoon posted at my desk, the picture had a little man at his desk pointing down the hall. The caption was "It is amazing what you can do when you don't mind who gets the credit."

It is so true, but do not fret, cream rises and you will be well known for your good work.

At one time I was a photographer. In charge of the photo lab was an NCO that knew more about the Army than photography. I referred to him as "my pillow", for when anything went wrong he would get the blame because he was "in charge". When the photo lab accomplished something out of the ordinary the recognition would go to anyone but the NCO. It was widely known that he couldn't be counted on when it came to photography.

The rest of us were concerned about the quality of the product, we didn't need to let people know how diligent we were. Our commitment was evident. Most of us didn't wish to be in the Army, but we were dedicated to our craft, and it mattered little who the employer was.