Reisun.org

Defenders of A.G. Gonzales keep mentioning that he is a “fine,” “decent,” “upstanding” man. I think that misses the point, either intentionally or not. I believe religious and non-religious people will agree that all human beings are fallible, and that God is the only infallible being. Given that, it makes no difference how good or honest a person is, anyone is capable of making mistakes or succombing to temptation, that is what makes human beings human.

I am more than willing to believe Alberto Gonzales the person is a decent honest person. That does not mean he gets a free pass or some carte blanche mandate to do whatever he wants without scrutiny. If mistakes were made, it is important to find out what they were, and who made them, not hide behind the “but he is a decent person” excuse.

 This country was founded with “In God We Trust,” not our elected politicians or their political appointees.

It is the classic bait-and-switch, to show more inventory on your web site than you actually have in stock, I assume hoping that when the order is placed and the item becomes “backordered” or “unavailable” the customer will then buy something else that is in stock. Still, a pretty crummy business practice.

I want to highlight some stores that I have personal experience with that do this:

• www.1800mobiles.com  (March 2007) I wanted to get a 1100mAh battery for my Cingular 3125 (HTC StarTrek) phone. Google has this first when you do a search, and indeed the website has it “in stock”. Once I placed the order the next day I get the following email:

Dear XXX,The item(s) listed below is/are currently back-ordered with a 1-2 weeks estimated time of replenishment. We will ship your item(s) as soon as available.

   QTY:  2
   ITEM: STAR161
   DESC: Cingular 3125 1100mAh Lith-Ion Battery
   OPT:  
    

Thanks,

1800mobiles operations

       Then about a week later I get an email that summarily cancels the order, saying that the product has been discontinued or some such (I unfortunately deleted the email out of disgust). Of course, this product is still listed (as of April 2007) on the web site as available and “ready to ship.”

Beware of 1800mobiles.com!