06 DECEMBER 2014, Vol.1, No.82 > GREED, STUPIDITY & HYPOCRISY…yet again!
The
POCAHONTAS CRIER
‘When the Righteous succeed the
people rejoice,
But when the bad govern, men groan!’
– Proverbs 29:2
[New Email address: pocahontascrier88@gmail.com]
GREED, STUPIDITY
& HYPOCRISY…yet again!
In sticking with our recent theme that,
“Stupidity is
doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different result!”
– let us consider a few more ‘stupid’
decisions & current policies within Pocahontas County! And this too fits right in with our
“true ‘muckraking’
& ‘iconoclast’ tradition of questioning authority, challenging corruption,
exposing impropriety and the appearance of impropriety”
– but this time with the local ‘business’ community! By now it is no secret that this county is
one of the ‘poorest’ when it comes to
financial income per/household pursuant to ‘MINIMUM-WAGES’, as compared to ‘LIVING-WAGES’,
let alone taking into consideration those majority of households on a ‘fixed-income’ like SS, SSD,
unemployment, workman’s compensation, or other social safety-net programs for
single-parents and children, etc. And it’s
a fact that our lower-income per/household is also due to the ‘seasonal-employment’ when work is
available.
But the simple fact is that unless
you work for the ‘government’, at some
level, and live off the ‘taxes & fines’ of others, trying to make a
living here in Pocahontas County is not easy pursuant to the limited number of
actual ‘businesses’ that provide
either full or part-time ‘jobs’ compared
to those in Randolph County to the north, and within Greenbrier County to the
south. And that’s
reflective upon ‘farming’ since it
takes 4 – 5 successful farms to support each small business in a rural
community! And ‘successful’ farming does not mean just
getting by like everyone else!
But when you consider
that the State Legislature cut back as much as 15% on all government safety-net
programs last year alone – yet still found money to raise the yearly salaries
of ‘public-servants’ by as much as $4000
- $11,000 as we’ve shown previously – can anyone else in
this county claim a PAY-RAISE of $4277 or more for
working just 24 DAYS PER YEAR? That’s
$1700 PER / MEETING, $3400 PER / MONTH for just two (2) days a month in which
the ‘THREE-STOOGES’ on the county commission can pretend to act important! Otherwise, they only show up to pick-up their
checks – twice a month – for an annual income of $40,000! That makes the county commissioners the largest recipients
of ‘PUBLIC WELFARE’ in the county – especially since Alice Irvine no longer
receives ‘three-paychecks’ for the titles she held in the school administration
office!
But as previously reported, we’ll remind
you all once again of the pay-increases for our illustrious ‘PUBLIC-SERVANTS’ as follows:
COUNTY CLERK &
CIRCUIT CLERK > from $53,460 to
$59,875… THAT’S AN INCREASE OF $6415.00!
COUNTY ASSESSOR > from $63,279 to $69,o73…
THAT’S AN INCREASE OF $5794.00!
COUNTY SHERIFF > from
$58,890 to $64,157…
THAT’S AN INCREASE OF $5267.00!
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY > from $92,200 to $103,264…
THAT’S AN INCREASE OF $11,064.00!
NEED WE
REMIND ANYONE THAT THIS IS ALL AT THE PUBLIC-EXPENSE and paid for by the vast
majority of folks on SS, SSD, unemployment, workman’s compensation, public
safety-net programs, and ‘seasonal
employment’ AT MINIMUM-WAGES!
DO WE
HAVE A DISPARITY OR WHAT?
Sadly our Nation has gone FROM:
(1)
a ‘Republic’ which had a ‘checks & balances’ system;
(2) TO a ‘Democracy’ of rule by a simply
majority;
(3) TO an ‘Oligarchy’ of the rule of
self-styled Intelligentsia;
(4) TO a ‘Plutocracy’ of the richest
people among us;
(5)
TO a ‘Kleptocracy’ where war &
theft became government policy; and now,
(6) TO ‘Corporate Fascism’ where the
largest corporations decide all public policies & programs headed by the
Military Industrial Complex (MIC) & the Homeland Security Industrial
Complex (HSIC)!
LOCAL GREED
Now as ‘stupid’ as that may sound to a normal person living outside of West Virginia or the USA, consider
the following absurdity taking place within this county. Here are three examples from the same store:
(1)
A local man entered Trent’s Store in Arbovale
and wanted to purchase two (2) chainsaw files.
When he went to checkout, the cashier stated that the total was $2.60,
and when the man presented her a Direct-Express Credit/Debit
Card, the cashier told him that she could not
process the purchase for less than $5. When
the man told her that he didn’t want anything else, she insisted the total
purchase had to be $5 or more for her to process the credit/debit card. So the man told her to keep the files, he was
going to Elkins the next day and he’d get what he needed there… and hasn’t done any
business with Trent’s since! The Dollar General has more choices, lower
prices, and no minimum limit!
(2)
A young woman went to the same
Trent’s Store in Arbovale to purchase a container of dry ‘baby-formula’ and the cost was less than $3; yet when she went to
the cashier with her EBT / SNAP Card, she too was told that she had to purchase $5 or more,
and the cashier suggested adding a ‘candy-bar’ to make the purchase over $5. The young woman indicated that she really
needed the formula and that her EBT / SNAP Card would not be ‘reloaded’ for at least another day or
so! What happened? The
MINIMUM-WAGE-CASHIER took the container and put it under the counter and turned
to the next person in line holding a case of beer! Needless-to-say, the young girl left with
tears in her eyes since she was denied a simple purchase because of a ‘stupid’ store-policy – which just happens to be ILLEGAL when denying a person a
purchase with a GOVERNMENT ISSUED CREDIT / DEBIT OR EBT / SNAP CARD!
(3)
Standing in line behind the man
who purchased the case of beer, from the same Trent’s Store in Arbovale was an
older woman who minutes previously had purchased about $25 worth of food items
– but had forgotten to get a box-of-matches to start her woodstove – so she
went back in to get the matches! BUT when she got to the same MINIMUM-WAGE-CASHIER that had
just processed her previous purchase, the cashier told her she needed to
purchase $5 or more! The
older-woman told the cashier that she had just made a larger purchase but had
forgotten to add the matches – the cashier didn’t care – and simply told the older-lady
she needed to purchase $5 or more at any given time!
Now for anyone else who has faced
this same INSULT from ANY STORE or BUSINESS in this county, or any other county…
SIMPLY DO NOT DO ANY
BUSINESS WITH SUCH A STORE IN THE FUTURE – AND CALL THE WEST VIRGINIA CONSUMER PROTECTION HOTLINE at
1.800.368.8808 or 1.304.558.8986!
General Consumer Complaint Form or click this site:
Let the Office of the Attorney
General of West Virginia know that there are stores in this county, and
elsewhere, that REFUSE to take a GOVERNMENT ISSUED DIRECT-EXPRESS CREDIT /
DEBIT CARD OR AN EBT / SNAP CARD! It is a violation of
our Civil Rights for any business to discriminate against us for any reason
– let alone trying to use some lame economic excuse! SO FILE A REPORT – AND LET THE ‘MEN IN BLACK’ DO THEIR JOB! Or simply notify us and we’ll make the
complaint for you as well as publish a list of stores with such illegal & ‘stupid’ policies!
LOCAL STUPIDITY
Now when interviewing store-owners
regarding this, or other, similar ‘stupid’
policies, they have attempted to explain that they have to charge ‘higher-prices’, or ‘processing-fees’, in order to stay in business since the cost of
renting a ‘credit-card’ or ‘telecheck-machine’ costs them from $500
- $800 per/month and that it’s the cost of them doing business! WELL
THAT SIMPLY AIN’T SO! THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES! And of course, we DO NOT have to ‘shop local’ – we can go elsewhere!
Since each business in
any given location is supposed to be protected or represented by the CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE, then why don’t all these small businesses COMPLAIN to the Chamber of
Commerce to get such ridiculous policies changed in the State Legislature for
the mutual benefit of all concerned? And in addition to complaining and having the
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE actually doing some good for others instead of its
self-serving programs & dinners – why do not these
small businesses form a COOP and share in one or two electronic-machines in
each area for credit / debit card & pre-checking checks instead of each
small business paying an extorted-price for the use of any given machine? Isn’t this what stores did before such
electronic machines became available for each store – they simply called a
central exchange and ‘ran-the-numbers’!
For example, one such machine
would cover all of Durbin, and another for Marlinton, and one more for Hillsboro, etc.! Each business could be hooked up to the same
machine or exchange! A little, just a
little, COMMON SENSE could go a long way for the mutual benefit of all
concerned. OTHERWISE THERE IS ALWAYS
WAL-MART TO THE NORTH OR SOUTH OF THIS COUNTY…and they don’t care how much you
spend as long as they get the purchase!
LOCAL HYPOCRISY
Last, but not least, there is a
rather sensitive reality that exists that few have the courage to even mention
in public – but we are ICONOCLASTS & MUCKRAKERS –
and we will bring up the obvious when such matters as INJUSTICE TAKE PLACE! The Biblical Book of Proverbs, Psalms, and
the Old Testament Prophets as well as Jesus Our Redeemer and the New Testament
Apostles continually refer to helping persons less fortunate than ourselves –
and rightly so – since THERE GOES EACH OF US BY THE GRACE OF OUR CREATOR accordingly
as He sees fit – for whatever length of time He allows!
But it is also a proven fact that
the vast majority of ‘local-store-owners’
and financially-successful persons in this county also belong to a
self-styled ‘benevolent-secret-society’
and/or also claim to be members of local ‘Christian
churches’!
SINCE THIS IS SO, THEN WHERE IS THEIR
‘BENEVOLENT-CHARITY’ TOWARDS PERSONS & NEIGHBORS LESS-FORTUNATE THAN THEY?
While these ‘Priests of Baal’ meet in their ‘Lodges’,
and the ‘Daughters of Isis’ meet in
their ‘Star-Chapters’, and both practice
their ‘craft’; what are they thinking
if & when they hear THE BEATITUDES of the SERMON
ON THE MOUNT (Matthew 5:3-12) talked
about in church or elsewhere? In either
case these folks claim to be ‘BENEVOLENT & CHARITABLE’ – but it is
towards everyone – or just practiced among themselves?
It is a sad day indeed, and a
Shame upon the county, when Senior Citizens are cheated & short-changed
trying to buy ‘milk, bread & eggs’
just because they are on a ‘fixed-income’
and not as sophisticated as the cashier who only gives them back a couple of
dollars change from a $20 bill; or refuses to provide the ‘baby formula’ to a young mother to feed her baby just so the store
can make a penny more in profit! Isn’t
the fact that some gas-stations fix their pumps to squeeze a few more cents
after the handle is released enough for them? It’s just another
example of some people always putting PROFITS BEFORE PEOPLE!
For now, our only consolation is
that these very same ‘hypocrites’ one second after taking their last
breath will not be able to take a single penny with them – and nor will they go
off to some distant planet to pretend to live like some ancient pharaoh waited
upon by us peasants – and that includes those planning to go to the planet,
KOLOB! Our Creator and His Only Begotten
Son will simply tell them, “I NEVER KNEW YOU!” …and into oblivion they will go to become
ashes and dust!
Suffice it to say – “Stupidity is doing the
same thing over & over and expecting a different result!” – so
sooner or later…
TRULY THEY WILL REAP WHAT THEY HAVE SOWN… & then some!
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
The Pocahontas Crier is an independent, free, non-subscription, Internet News Service
providing in depth reporting on important issues directly affecting the
Citizens
of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and meant for entertainment in
the true ‘muckraking’ & ‘iconoclast’
tradition of questioning authority, challenging corruption, exposing
impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, and offering Common Sense
Alternatives for
THE
GREATER COMMON GOOD BEFORE SELF…
or any
Special Interests!
We fight for Social
Justice on all fronts and are an integral part of The
Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of The Pocahontas Commentator, The Pocahontas Crier,
Signal Fires of WV, &
Rolling Thunder in association with
Echoes from
the Holl’r.
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