Poor and Angry – Lifestyles of the Broke and Pissed Off…

First off, FUCK YOU.

So what, I talked shit to the people who run the DCCCD Money Card. They can suck my nuts. They are as good as any other bank account, if not worse. They are not in the business of helping students – they are in the business of fucking people out of money.

There are several ways to get your grants and loans throughout the DCCCD system, but this is the one being pushed, and I can see why. It’s convenient! It’s a card! It doesn’t take long!

Well, stick around, sista, cuz it’s there to TAKE MONEY FROM YOU.

The “Higher One” people care about nothing more than taking your hard-earned money and translating it to the account that they use to pay their under-qualified CEO’s. Please.

Not too long ago, I received an email from the customer service representative for the DCCCD Money Card, and they had no answers for the questions that I imposed in my last e-mail. It was a list-numbered explanation of fees and legalese that I would not read, because I knew the implications – if I want to use the card, I am subject to paying exorbitant fees to them.

I did not reply, but soon after, I got another e-mail asking if I was OK (my account is overdrawn, unsurprisingly), and if there was anything they could do to “help” me. I get an e-mail asking questions like, “Don’t recognize transactions on your account?”, or “Have a hold or alert on your account?”, “Have a question about a fee, or how to use your OneAccount for free?”,  “Need to schedule or make a deposit?”

For the record, I now know that my fucking account is overdrawn. I alluded to this in my last post about DCCCD Money Card.

It’s funny to me that the only options that they give you are self-serving. I would definitely take the paper check route, but it takes too long…

I need my money now – and I need an account (like the old Chase one) that gives me freedom – not one that takes fees for the smallest mistakes – it’s the bank’s job to understand how to minimize these fees. Revolt!

PS – If you haven’t noticed – this post will show up high in the search engine ranks – your company should be careful, lest be the object of public ridicule.

A big “Fuck You” to banks.

Wtf?

The Chase card that was issued last year was a pain in the ass to get a hold of, but, once in possession, it was actually a valuable asset, it turns out!

Starting in the Fall semester of ‘09, student’s of the DCCCD program are forced to use the “DCCCD Money Card” from Higher One, and we couldn’t be unhappier. The fact of the matter is, there is no other alternative, but – I question why are fees applied to an otherwise flawless system?

Before the credit cards and Internet, people were given checks for their financial aid that could be cashed almost anywhere, and then used to handle college expenses – tuition, rent, car repairs, and a number of other costs that may be incurred during a person’s educational career. A person with a limited income gets the financial aid, has a little left over, and pays off some ominous bills is the usual scenario. In the past, it has been very straightforward as to the receiving of these monies.

In the Spring semester of 2009, however, Dallas County Community Colleges introduced a new card for students to receive their disbursments. Higher One somehow took over the old Chase card system of disbursements, and fees reminiscent of the traditional bank run rampant. Where the formerly implemented Chase card had no restrictions on daily withdrawal limits, numerous branches with ATMs, and no fees for anything, the new Higher One account presents many obstacles, some extreme, to the student not wishing to spend any more than she/he has to. Below is a paraphrasing of the limitations of the new DCCCD card:

1) There are only 3 locations that money can be withdrawn without an external ATM fee – this fee is rather small, but is very frustrating when calculating balances, as it rarely included in receipts, not to mention the other fees in this program that produce well above the amount of income required to keep this program afloat.

2) There is a 50 cent “merchant fee” for every debit transaction – this means that using the PIN number for the card costs fifty cents every time. Why? It seems to me that using the debit feature of the card should be rewarded, as the transaction is immediate and reflects in the statement very quickly. My only guess is that the Higher One company doesn’t WANT the numbers to reflect immediately, bringing us to point #3.

3) A percentage of money withdrawls and overdraft fees – A typical bank lets you go over the spending limit and then charges overdraft fees while at the same time keeping your online bank information information not up-to-date. The old Chase system of financial aid would not let you go over your limit, which was fine with me (and I’m sure everyone else), but this new system allows you to supercede your allowance, which in turn allows the “bank” to charge you a $35 dollar overdraft fee – which is nothing more than a computer running your numbers over an algorithm. Adding insult to injury, a withdrawal from an ATM is subject to a fee, which is a percentage of the amount taken out. This is the typical scenario of recipients of financial aid – with most pulling money out to cover overdrafts in other bank accounts and using the leftover money to fight credit card debt and bank account overdraft fees.

4) You cannot put the money anywhere else – You have to set up the account for the financial aid. There is no choice. You have the option of getting the money placed into an account as described above, or having it sent to a “regular” bank account, which also has slavery-reminiscent policies. However, the regular banks have ATMs all over town, and are the more wiser choice – saving at least a dollar-fifty on each transaction. But here’s the catch – you can actually have your money sent to a bank account of your choosing if you request it, but then: you have to MAIL IN the routing and account numbers, supposedly for your security. Lemme ask you this: Are you worried about security when you’re paying your cable bill online? IT’S THE SAME THING. This option should be available online. The only reason it is not available online is because it discourages users from taking advantage of the feature. Might I also add that most people seeking financial aid are BROKE, and therefore, when the money comes, it’s gone – and once Higher One gets the deposit into your account, you no longer have the option of moving it to another location without an exorbitant fee.

Ok, I’ll stop my rant here.

I’m just pissed off because right now I’m losing about 100 dollars every time I get financial aid to these guys, and really have no way of fighting it.  I have no alternative ways of receiving my money, and I get charged a fee every time I do any kind of regular transactions. This, to me, is another example of the rich taking advantage of the poor, and had I a high-class lawyer, I could take on this behemoth.

Opposing emotions in one posting!

I don’t know what to say – well, actually, I do: Thanks, Griz!

Not too long ago I posted up about the small Vermont brewery using the name “Vermonster” on one of their beers that was sued by the makers of Monster Energy Drinks (Hansen). The whole case represents something that I believe strongly in, which is people being able to pursue their business interests without worrying about frivolous lawsuits, contracts, and overall bullshit. I couldn’t believe that Hansen sent a cease-and-desist to the Rock Art Brewery because they “may have been thinking about expanding into the alcohol industry” at some point! At some point? Well, hell, I’ve been contemplating getting into all kinds of things “at some point”; should I go out and find people that are already doing it under similar names and send them cease-and-desist notices? Thanks to our loopy legal system, Hansen could have easily remained in court with Rock Art Brewery and ran them out of business. Poppycock.

The good news is that Hansen lost the suit. The good people at Rock Art got lots of support; people made Facebook groups and Tweeted non-stop. With the threat of public embarrassment, Hansen withdrew, but it still bothered me that they offered up a contract to Rock Art with stipulations to make both sides happy. What do you mean, “both sides happy”? One side was ALREADY happy! The other side had no ground to stand on, so who cares? I can’t see why that needed to take place.

Now, I’m no genius, but I don’t think that the victory came the way it was made out. Of course, having a dope-ass Facebook group can help, but most groups on Facebook are largely unheard of, aren’t they? I’ve been studying the way the Internet moves by watching Griz over at MakeMoneyforBeginners, and I can see that a lot of people were doing their part by moving the attention to the case using backlinks and writing articles about the situation. (I’m not going to go over all of the SEO stuff – but you’re welcome to read up over at Griz’s SEO for Beginners site)

Lots of great people saw the post and linked back here. Lots of great people linked to a lot of places. Last I read (about a week ago), someone was already ranking on page 1 on Go*gle for “Monster Energy”. See, now that’s power. Hansen could have easily lost their collective ass in the online forum. Imagine going to do some “research” on Monster Energy Drinks (why would you?) and finding that the whole front page was rife with the situation that has played out here. Facing this “monster”, in my opinion, made Hansen concede. (sorry for the pun).

I will try to get back to linking to everyone, but this isn’t an SEO blog like most of the sites that the links came from. I’ll be linking from somewhere else, tho – look for “NOT Making Money Online” lol.

SEO is dope.

As if I liked Monster Energy Drink in the first place.

The high-fructose corn syrup nightmare drink is back with some horrible goings-on.  There is a small family-run business up in Vermont that started in a basement, and gained enough popularity to be able to move into  a warehouse and hire 7 more people. The American Dream come true. Well, the American Dream has turned on them, because their beer – “The Vermonster” is being told by Hansen Beverage Corp that they must cease and desist anything that has to do with the beer – the promotion, the name, all of it. Their argument is this: What if they decide to branch off into making beer in the future? They claim that consumers may be confused as to which is which.

Here’s the original post by Allyn Hane: “Monster Energy Drink Hates America“.

Listening to the owner and operator of The Rock Art Brewery, he says that his lawyers have told him that there is no copyright infringement. However, they can still take him to court at a whopping 65 thousand, and if he wins, they can appeal a few times. After one or two of these, he won’t be able to pay for the court costs, and that results in an automatic default. I’m trying to figure out how the hell this can even happen? So, basically, you can’t run a business in this country with anything slightly similar in name to one of these big-ass companies’s products? It’s ridiculous. If you were confused as to my Poor and Angry post earlier, now you can hopefully get the gist.

Here’s the company website. The link is for love, but if you’re compelled, go there and ask to help out: Rock Art Brewery in legal troubles with Monster.

What is Poor and Angry?

Poor and angry is what this site is about, of course, but what does it all mean? What is the site about?

Some people say that being poor is a state of mind – I tend to agree in some cases. Of course, if proper information is not in the hands of the people, then they are likely to be poor and remain poor. Conversely, I would argue that some people “choose” to be poor because they do not want to abide by some rules that have been set up. Everyone agrees to some kind of regulation, but when the laws that are set up are contrary to people’s beliefs, there are problems. We have a so-called democratic system here in the United States. But it does not work, because most people aren’t privy to the elections, and cannot take time off of work to vote – presidential elections aside (but even with the presidential elections there are problems – certain areas not receiving enough voting machines being one).

There is also a clearly biased media that ignores the fact that people are not being heard, and regarding them as sore-losers because they did not get their way in voting turnouts. This creates the illusion that the majority of the people agree one way on a certain issue, with the perceived minority whining about the results. A great example is the city of Irving, TX, where I once lived. It’s a well-known fact that most people drink, and there was an election being held whether the city should be allowed to sell alcohol. I would have loved to vote, but there was no information as to where the election was being held. I’m sure that I could have found it somewhere? Maybe the city hall? Well, I don’t even know where the city hall is. I know where the JAIL is, though! Needless to say, Irving stayed a dry city, forcing people to go out of the city limits for alcohol until the next year, when more people figured it out and went to vote.

The point is that there are able individuals that go vote, and there are much more ill-equipped people that do not have the opportunity. These are the people who get the laws passed against them by the upper-crust of society, and they are the Poor and Angry. There are more of us. Most people don’t want limitations on when and where they can purchase alcohol. Only a handful of people that don’t drink and are knowledgeable about the ins and outs of legislation are out there and changing our legal environment.

This goes for big business, too. I don’t believe that manufacturing high-fructose corn syrup should be subject to the subsidy laws on corn. As our economy goes to shit because of these big-ballers, money becomes scarce and the next thing you know, we have an obesity epidemic. Somehow the bigwigs are destroying our health and keeping their pockets lined… I guarantee they eat better foods, have personal trainers, cooks, and dentists, and are laughing at the hard-working fat asses that keep their physically fit kids in nice cars and nice schools. I also don’t have the time to study and examine all of the bylaws concerning a tollway that doesn’t have a tollbooth that charges me 250 dollars because I was late paying the fee that came to the wrong address. Yes, I know that the correct address should have been on the registration, but what if I were staying at someone else’s house for an extended time? This is complete bullshit. Rigid laws are stupid, and there should be some flexibility – the same kind afforded to the rich in this country.

So, you believe in socialism? Damn straight, I do! And just to make something clear: We’ve always had a socialist government here. You pay taxes into the system, and it pays for all the shit that you take for granted – police, school, roads. Only until recently have big corporations and head government officials been putting their hands in the cookie jar and forcing us to pay out even more. It’s been going on forever, but we’re really feeling the sting of it now, because critical elements of our society are falling apart: police are losing funding, causing them to hook up red-light cameras for auto-revenue, making ridiculous surcharges up for a little dose of double-jeopardy, not to mention their vehicles are falling apart – I saw a Dallas cruiser on 35 the other day with the bumper dragging the ground; schools already suck here, and now some of them are experiencing the budget cuts; tollbooths like the one mentioned above are becoming major thoroughfares, and collecting auto-revenue so they don’t have to pay employees. If you think you have to “grind” a little more to stay ahead, remember that almost all big companies and institutions are running on borrowed money – and if the tax revenue isn’t paying for it, then it’s a matter of time before we don’t have shit.

This site was built for those who are having a hard time adjusting to the world around them. It is for anyone who has ever felt stepped on or treated unfairly. It is also a vehicle to teach people that have felt that way to overcome and be better people. Overcoming doesn’t always mean “playing the game”, either. If resistance and violence come into play, then that is the way it is.