Posts Made By: Fred Dase

First of all derogatory comments of ANY sort should never be tolerated.

Without further details on how/why they changed the terms of sale after payment was sent, I can't offer an opinion.
I recently had to do the same thing myself though.

I offered a atlas for sale for $45.00. Seller pays shipping.
I got a few responses and one person said they would buy it.
He transfered the funds through paypal and I got the receipt.
It was only when I went to print the shipping label that I found out he lived in Canada. My shipping cost was going to be $24.60 plus the international paypal fee for the transaction. I contacted him saying that I had only figured on paying between $4-$7 for shipping and that if he still wanted the atlas he would need to add a additional $18 or I could give him a full refund. He was gracious enough to take the refund.

I feel this was 90% my fault because I forgot to add the (conus only) with regards to the shipping, and 10% his fault for not mentioning he lived in Canada when we were discussing the transaction.

Yes I changed the terms of the sale AFTER payment was made. I feel I was justified in doing so. Others may not.

(As a side note I eventually sold the atlas to a gentleman from the UK. He paid the extra $18 shipping costs. Why it cost the same $24.60 to ship to Canada as opposed to the UK is beyond me)

Fred Dase

You should have looked up what the pole question was. It's easy for anyone to get the results they want based on how the question is asked. The actual question in this pole was for people to give their opinion of the job Congress is doing as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor.
2% said excellent, 7% said good, 36% said fair, 55% said poor. Bloggers jumped on this saying Congress has a 9% approval rating. As you can see from the results thats not the case.
In another recent pole (I forget who took it) people were asked simply if they approve or disapprove of the job Congress was doing. In that pole the numbers were 41% approve 59% disapprove.

Would you be bitching about it if he had given her a very expensive gift during this economic crisis ?

Fred Dase

James McSheehy said:

Short of first degree murder captured on video, U.S. Senators are immune from prosecution by the federal government. Persecution is another story...

I was taught in school that no member of congress could be pulled over (no matter the time of day) while congress was in session. I had no idea they could do about anything they wanted short of murder though.

Mike Strieber said:

You would have an obligation to report illegal activity. There are ways to do so even in the "secret world". That doesn't include running to the nearest podium and news camera. Just as with the military where orders are in essense laws, a soldier has an obligation to not follow one that is illegal and to report illegal activities even if done under the guise of orders from a superior officer. Disclosing classified material to the public is not the right way to go about it and if that was the approach you took I think you would be reprimanded in some fashion, regardless if you were right or wrong. I don't think "whistleblower" laws pertain to national secrets; there are proper ways for individuals with access to them to report their concerns.
Mike

Mike, The military analogy is a good one, but one difference I see is that a order given by a superior officer is not classified "top secret" so you would not be breaking a law by telling someone else higher up the chain of command about it. It would seem to me that in the scenario I proposed the only people you could say anything about it to would have to already know about it. Perhaps you could report it to the AG without giving specifics and leave it up to them to investigate?

david elosser said:

Good question Fred, and here's my take on this. Congress does not "play second fiddle" to the president. They have one third of the government, an equal third. They have the power to persuade, the power to vote laws, the power to fund or defund. Remember when Senator Reid said that we lost the war in Iraq. He tried to defund our troops and get us out of Iraq, which failed, ignomeniously, dozens of times. But he excercised his right to exert his influence on foreign policy as part of the checks and balances in our Constitution. It is Congress' responsibility, whether we later judge them to be right or wrong, to do what they think is right. Congress should IMO be held accountable for what they do, or more importantly at times what they don't do.

David, I agree with you there. IIRC congress did try passing a torture bill back in 2005/2006. I believe McCain was at odds with the Bush administration over the details of what was torture even back then. If memory serves that's when Bush made the statement "we don't torture" I think eventually a watered down bill was passed.


Fred Dase

There's the problem in a nutshell.

I'm not totally happy with everything Obama and Co. are doing and trying to do.
How can anyone have a rational debate of the FACTS when faced with the type of rhetoric that Jim has spewed in this thread alone ?

"disastrous president destroying the country"
"discuss his stupidity"
"destroying the country one industry at a time"
"not letting a disaster go by without taking full political advantage"
"loony left"
"their favorite tactic of personal attacks"
"terrorist in the White House"
"Hussein's reign of terror continues"

I'm really just a lurker. I just come out to tweak Richard's nose from time to time. But I do miss the actual intelligent debates that used to transpire here. Though we disagree on many things Jim Babcock was respected because of his intelligence. I'm sorry to say that he's made himself irrelevant with his rhetoric. This of course will be taken as a personal attack agianst Jim when it's really just my take on the current political forum.

Fred Dase

Herschel and Caldwell finder charts added 07-25

In my 10" f/10 SCT I really enjoy the TMB Paragon 30mm.
Since your's is f/6 perhaqps the 40mm would be a better choice.

As a side note the Televue dioptrx will fit on the TMB 30mm.

Fred Dase

David, When you add your own words to a "quote" ALL your integrity is lost.
Why now would anyone seriously consider anything you say ?

Fred Dase

Excellent Post ... Should be required reading by anyone posting in the Political Forum.

Fred Dase

Actually I found it more insightful than funny.
NOW I actually think there are two reasons why he won't make the last 10 years of returns public.

1) Because he used the IRS amnesty program during the last 10 years.
(I have absolutely NO proof of this, but since he's admitted that not releasing them has hurt his campaign
it makes sense that releasing them would hurt it more. Before anyone starts yelling ... This is pure
speculation on my part.)

2) Because his "new" catch phrase on the campaign trail is "Are you better off then you were 4 years ago"
(That would seem very hypocritical to most "mainstream/middle class Americans")

Fred Dase