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Live Whacking Permalink Archive
click "Live Whacking" button for the latest entries


1 September 2003

Quote of the day

I'll keep the money and you can have the rope.

- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
link


His divine right to a free lunch

In some analysis worthy of capitalism-fearing wussy Ross Gittens, Niall Cook is whinging about the horrors of paying fees for ATM use.

Most people are prepared to pay a fee to withdraw money from another bank's ATM. It's called making a consumer choice. A choice noone is obliged to make. Niall's having none of it though, and blows his lid with this childish screech:

We're a captive audience, a dedicated user group, an addicted collective of easy access money junkies. Who gives a shit where it comes from, as long as it comes. Yeh, so what if I have to pay $1.30 to use a Commonfilth ATM. The Wankbank machine is 100 metres away & I need money NOW!!

He gives us some history:

So, here we are, twenty years after the introduction of the ubiquitous ATM and everyone has their plastic access card & PIN. Of course, a few things have changed. Like the fact that we originally sold our customers on the idea that this was a totally free service being offered by your friends, the banks. Fucking idiots we were, staff & customers alike.

Well, the "fucking idiots" were people like Niall who seemed to have trouble comprehending that banks operate as businesses and not charities, and that if he didn't like their service, he didn't need to bloody well use it.

Here's some fantasy-land nostalgic whining:

It's all a part of what banking has become. Gone is the edict of service.

Oh yeah, I miss that wonderful "service":

- I really miss having to travel to a branch and standing in queues for 40 minutes just to get that good old-fashioned "service".
- I just hate the fact I have 24/7 access to cash.
- I just hate the fact that the nasty banks are enabling me to conduct all my transactions online, any time of the night or day.
- I just hate the control this gives me over all my own accounts without ever having to visit a branch.
- I just hate the mass of information that is available on banking fees and charges on the web, in bank brochures and over the phone.
- I just hated the fact that I was able to travel to the USA & Canada with no cash or travellers cheques, and was able to stick my ANZ card into any ATM in that continent and pull out as much cash as I needed.
- I just hate the fact that in the last two years I have been able to take out two bank loans without being obliged to visit a branch.

Yeah, I sure do miss all that service we used to get in our pre-ATM paradise.

But noooooo. This stuff is bad, because cheapskate luddite mumblers like Niall hate having to pay for his massively expanded ability to manage his money. Guess it sounds too much like hard work.

Here cometh the big revelation:

The moral of the story, and the associated link, is that of the major con job. We've all been conned, customer & bank staff alike. This is how banks make money.

Hate to break this to you boyo, but most of us are already aware that banks make profits. And we know fees are part of it. Go read your bank statements sometime, or the documents available from your bank upon request: this means you haven't been conned. You have made a choice to use a service for which there is a cost. Don't blame the bank if you're too bloody lazy to examine their fees and services, or shop around for a better deal.

If you don't want to pay the price, don't use the service. And stop moaning your sorry arse off about not getting something for nothing.
link


Sex on wheels

Set for release in 2004 is Aprilia's totally revamped RSVR. I want one of these so bad I can taste it. Sleek, sexy, with that big, booming and utterly horny V-twin engine. I mean a real v-twin, with horsepower, and handling. Not those big, fat, boring tubs of tractor-shite known as Harleys.

This - my friends - is a real motorcycle.


link


The Green Left Nazis

Their latest newsletter/magazine/compost heap is out. Among this week's gems....

- The Jews apparently sabotaged the ceasefire & roadmap to peace. You know, the one where Palestinians keep murdering Jews but the Jews can't shoot back. The article includes this classic quote:

In the eyes of Bush, to kill terrorists is a good thing.

- The wonderful terrible news that Mumia Abu Jamal is slowly dying.

His eloquent advocacy for the poor and oppressed has made him a target of the repressive state establishment.

Well, that and murdering a cop.

- Oh, and lots of America-Is-Evil stuff. Go read.
link


 

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