Response to South Park's QVC/Cash4gold Episode

This is kind of a rant more than a response. Seriously Matt Stone and Trey Parker were on point with both QVC and cash4gold. If you are wondering what I am talking about, then you should go here.

To give a brief summery of the episode, Stan gets a gift from his father with Alzheimer's Disease. The gift costs $6,000 Stan's parents are shocked at the amount he paid, but reluctantly forces Stan to accept the gift. Then Eric Cartman convinces Stan to try to hack his gift at a pawn shop. The owner of the pawnshop was only willing to give him $15 dollars for the gift. Needless to say, Stan got gypped and wanted retribution. The main culprit in the episode was unidentified because it was a giant social labyrinth of people. Stan thought it was Cash4gold's fault. (Note: cash4gold can be found on this website.) Cash4gold then revealed that they just pay people low rates for their gold and that it was really the hired helps' problem (the sign wavers). Then one of the hired helped, said it was sweatshops in India. Then they pointed it back to QVC or Southpark's mockery thereof.

Do you think it is QVC fault or old people's fault? When it comes to Alzheimer's disease, the freedom of choice becomes questionable. If you're not sure what am I talking about, then please visit their online shopping page for more information.

One thing that is for certain is that cash4gold and QVC was not made for the faint at heart. These predatory companies prey on the uneducated and I feel a social obligation to break down and expose them for what they truly are:

QVC can be defined as a company that peddles its products at exorbitant prices. They prey upon old people and collection addicts along with people that have bipolar tendencies. Two of the three categories are senile in their own right. Some old people also get age related diseases that will affect their memory like Amnesia and Alzheimer's disease. So the best thing to do is to try help these people rather than prey upon their weakness. QVC takes advantage of these people to the point where you have to put into question the "freedom of choice." And these people get their jewelry from Africa (home of blood diamonds) and India (home of a plethora of other problems including: caste systems, sweat shops, high rates of deformity, and a high percentage of under educated people). Nothing wrong with these countries as a whole, but the "product" themselves are the problem. They come at the cost of being either a slave to a diamond mine or a victim of a sweatshop. Call it a 3 way exploitation scheme if you will. I call them evil.

Cash4gold are taking advantage of people in a different way. They are a company that prey off the ignorant. Does anyone ever stop to think why they will accept any gold item? It is because they can easily melt them and make them pure gold again. Gold is worth more than what they are offering. They are taking  advantage of the fact that not many people know the overall price of gold. Gold is a product that is in limited quantities and the more it is consumed the higher the price will go up. Here, see the current price for yourself. Gold is highly valued in the scientific community along with it being a necessity for computers. Gold is highly conductive and there is a variety of uses for it that extend beyond being mere bling for bubble gum rappers. It doesn't cost too much to smelt gold in large quantities, but if you smelt gold in small quantities, it is somewhat costly.

In closing don't take anything from these wolves in sheep's clothing. You will not be any richer nor better off if you get exploited by companies like this. Who would you rather believe?

This?


-OR-

This:

 

Obviously both of the CEO and the "irate customer" are both faux. (Remember that faux sounds cooler when you drop the "x" when you say it.) But real recognizes real and fake recognizes fake. With that being said, the only ones receiving the "Hammertime beat down" is the consumer. We should not condone parasitic marketing that targets both the ignorant and vulnerable. We, as human beings, have the right to boycott whatever they market. When we shun their products, we bring these companies to their knees.

If you want to actually enjoy a life worth living, you cannot allow yourself to be ripped off by this apparent garbage. If you want real money for your gold, you should try to contact actual gold investors who will give you money that is a percentage off the mark up price. They need to make a profit, but they will not scam you if you encounter a legit one like a certified appraiser.

In closing, good job Matt and Trey. Keep up the political satire and dark humor. Also Mr. Haberny, thank you for the daily chuckle. You should seriously make a website with more of these letters. Check out some of his artwork here.

The International Appeal

It has been a while since I posted something on CB. I have been working mad hours in South Korea and haven't had much time to do anything other than eating or sleeping. I have been noticing an increase in popularity as of recent and most of my questions and comments have been via Facebook. So, I'll make this one extra special.

Any who, I want to talk about "the international appeal." What exactly consists of this image? This is really a response to this article and I want to address somethings.

It has been almost 5 years since the US economy has plummeted and there is this call for international appeal. People are suddenly trying to do what I have done 5 years ago. It's great. I have to say there is an interesting parallel with the failure that is the US economy and its juxtaposition to my success. Part of the failure that is the US in my humble opinion, is its notion that English should be the only language embraced and there should be no support signs in any other language.

I think this notion is preposterous and the very fact that these signs exist are to help the foreign patron. I think Americans themselves do not want to admit that they are afraid of misunderstandings.

With the Internet and applications this whole notion that language support should be isolated to a singular language is a very dangerous notion of isolationism. Isolationism is part of the problem we faced in the 1930s in the United States and is the mindset that ones culture is better than another's. With technology being at the advanced state that it is, there should be little to no problems with communication:

However, there still are many foreigners that go to another country and make absolutely no effort to understand the customs of that country. Then when they try to act American in another country they are surprised they are ridiculed and are insulted for their behavior. And employers can sift through a stack of applicants and see which candidate has actually received a cultural exchange that actually has some merit versus someone who just partied it up.

If you are reading this article and are thinking about going to another country. While it isn't mandatory that you intermediate or advanced proficiency in a language, people should at least get a basic level. After all, most people who seek to get the "international appeal" stay in their host country for at least 3 months to one year. Why would anyone want to burden their hosts with their ability to communicate is beyond me. While one should enjoy themselves in a country, they should exercise a level of prudence with their hosts. In other words, err on the side of caution. There is no real need to act like an arrogant Anglophone. There will be times and places to party, but I honestly believe people shouldn't treat their trip abroad as one giant hoopla.

However, I think part of the problem is that many Americans do not know how to obtain the "international appeal" mainly due to an inherent ignorance in America. We are often taught that the English language is the most superior language and no one should bother trying to learn another language. Sadly, most of the people I have bypassed in the job market have were monolingual and monocultural.

It only takes a few months to reach an intermediate level of proficiency in a language and there are misconceptions about the amount of time you have to put forth. Sadly, this also falls on their current American generation and this cultural promotion that laziness and anti-intellectualism is suddenly the "in" thing. When people make mistakes in a language they are often criticized as being incompetent, too. If there are people who believe they do not have the time to make the effort to reach even a beginner level of proficiency in a language, they should at least make the effort to learn some facets about the target countries culture. I understand and am aware that not everyone has the time to study,

but at least take the time to figure out what is okay and what isn't. Trust me, if you were to take just 20-30 minutes of your day to learn something about the country your going to visit or work in, it will save you from insurmountable unforeseen headaches in the future. When you the prospective graduate are choosing to embark on one of the most incredible journeys of your life, how do your wish to remember it? Do you want it to be a fruitful one, ripe with experience and growth as a human being or do you want to be the person who happens on the blunt end of every misconception and misunderstanding? Just ask yourself is it necessary to actually travel abroad. If you have a hard time adjusting to different people and cultures, you might want to actually take baby steps prior to going over to another country. While I do not really care for Lonely Planet books, you can browse them to get a general overview of the country you plan on visiting. You will thank yourself later for doing so.

To wrap things up, the "international appeal" on a individual level and a national level is obtainable. It will take many years of effort on a national level, but on the the individual level, the person needs to evaluate themselves to see if they are a reputable candidate for their host country. If they like working countries like Japan and Korea might be possible places to go or if they want some free time in their days to do other things besides work, they probably should consider Germany or the Netherlands. But ultimately, work abroad should provide an experience with interacting with other cultures. Having international appeal is "win-win" for everyone. I honestly wish the future prospective college students and future leaders the best of luck. It has been a crazy, yet fulfilling ride for me.

New rules。。。

For now on there will be only postings that are approved by me and you need an ID or ID link to be able to post. I do not have the free time to combat spammers on this blog. While I know this is probably a diservice to the people that give me legit comments, usually people who post without valid ID are spammers.

Sincerely

CB-

SOPA post

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Long Lost Footage Chuckiesblurbs Vlog Ep 3

This is just lost footage. I had an idea to totally just do vlog episodes showing people who to save money, but I later scrapped the idea because of the amount of time it would have taken between looking for a better job and doing webmatering more seriously. I can only show things online these days so i just leave it at that.