http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2009/01/10/immoral-advances-is-science-out-of-control/comment-page-5/#comment-1500483

POST 228

At some point there has to be a decision on what and how far our Medicare funds are to be spent. This case below may be appealed, but Canada's Supreme Court may or may not agree to hear it!

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/money+evaluating+prisoner+change/1388289/story.html

I am not taking sides in this case, but would note there are those in our society would offer to do the operation for free using a rusty sardine can lid!

Gilly,
Im notifying the sysop about spam on DV...

As to your post,
I wonder if it would solve this persons problem, or just make him a jail house hooker..

That is another whole topic, jail house purpose and performances regards behavioral corrective action. It is in many cases an abject failure and waste of the public taxpayers funding.

As to SPAM, I reread the item and true to my usual mental programming had tuned all that out, like almost all other advertising. The proliferation of obnoxious and inappropriate advertising is vexatious, but also brings to mind that how much of it is blatant organized crime scams. I would never buy anything over the internet period, since I have no trust that I will ever see the item(s), and think that there is next to no guarantee of quality, quantity, warranty, etc. How many people are scammed by such adverts will never be known, since they are often too embarrassed to lodge any complaints.
 It is my belief that we need Federal Gov't legislation forcing the internet providers to not allow advertisers to post any kind of pitches without first providing a significant surety bond(s). Failure to deliver would and should be automatic bond forfeiture. This would be difficult to administer, but there needs to be some sort of a filtering mechanism to weed out the scam spam ads. WE have similar trash phone calls, which I rant and rave at the callers over it being a private number and not a public electronic news media.
 The ones that get me right wound out are those originating in the Indian subcontinent from North American businesses that farm this nuisance marketing method out to very low cost providers and refuse to hire or pay North Americans to do real work in a conventional medium. And we now are seeing the beginning of the end of printed newspapers, too, in part due to reduced ad revenues.

As to spam, we need a group willing to track them..
Give me Banking authorization, and internet Authorization..

Contact the site owner, and person responsible, TALL them to give you the info on WHO posted it, or you Block there site from seeing the light of day.
The money has to go someplace, and the person(s) that created the spam, HAS to have a bank someplace.  Track the money and tell the banks to follow thru, or you will lock them down.  Ban their site as well as ban them from the WHOLE of banking international.
It wouldnt take long.
You can also do it with a WHOLE nation..GIVE us the info, or we CUT the net off.

As to shopping on the net, NOT to much of a problem.
ONLY shop where you KNOW the company..
Only shop if you can CALL THEM and talk to a human.
Listen to the background, on the call.  A business has a distinct SOUND..Boiler rooms dont sound the same.
Iv even tested a few small companies, and reported my findings.
Also setup a group that TELLS WHO they would trust, and those they DONT.

As I have found with evaluating products, EVERY company has good and BAD..If all you see is GOOD, count the number of posts...As on EBAY..a person that is a 100% seller, and only has 2 posts??  probably isnt worth the time.  If they have 100 posts and 100 sales, they SHOULD be pretty good.

If it was that simple to accomplish our joint task force called PHONEBUSTERS [RCMP & OPP anti rackets group] would be almost out of business! One of the problems with these electronic money transfers is that they end up in off shore tax shelters either in the Caribbean or Asia. Likewise with the proceeds of the illegal drug trade. Tracking and then trapping is time consuming, expensive, and involves other legal jurisdictions who are not always cooperative.

I take the attitude that while I was working I got along fine with out using the internet to purchase or pay. I did use the net every time I swiped my plastic at an ATM for cash, of course. One of my colleagues got robbed and partially beaten up at an ATM that was placed poorly in a truckstop's convenience store's back corner. [Exit # 23 I-65 in lower Indiana]. But by and large most of us were relatively safe, though careful, when living on the road for days or weeks at a time. The use of the electronic transponders like E-Z-Pass significantly reduced the need for commercial drivers to carry much cash, but lumper's fees were another story! ATMs are everywhere, and even provide US Dolllars from Cdn fund accounts! But getting reimbursed for fees charged was always a grievance.

When you retire it is amazing how much you can and have to to do with out!

getting the backing of the banking community shouldnt be hard..
Getting the backing from the ISP/EFF and other net corps should be easy..

Only ones going to throw a fit are those doing illegal things.
The USA gov, is going after banks NOW for those rich folks trying to hide money..  WHY not do it for sapm and the internet.

As to shopping the net,
I dont see your point.
YES dealing without CC cards can be great.  But its TOTALLY link to your credit rating.  And if you need that 1 item, that would take ABIT of saving for 3-4 months, its NOT a bad thing.
Since Im on SSD(social security disability) I cant afford ANYTHING without a CC card.  I can purchase something NEEDED NOW, that would take 2-4 months to SAVE for.  Get the use of it, and still pay it off, with what I can scrape together.
I thought your point was about internet purchases.
And there are a few places that are good.
I also find my DEBIT/CC card safer then carrying cash.  And think your friend got LUMPED by the Lumpers.

To be more specific about shopping, I want to see it now, and not have the hassle of returns. I, too have limited income, but need to protect my savings, since in this recess/depression what ever, there are threats to our pensions, plus like most we have lost 30% of our investments but if we stay the course and don't tap into that money, it will rebound slowly before it becomes time to start collapsing the tax shelter. There are also threats to our healthcare system, plus the tax rates are increasing as usual. The only reductions here are in the income taxes and the Natural Gas rates will be lowered starting next month for the coming year.
What I also want to avoid is any personal identification details out on the net. As long as I am healthy enough, I should drive and walk to the banks.

As I was deleting some of the SPAM on my gmail accounts, I got nosey. I would hazzard a small wager that some of those authors are using some sort of psychodelic substance! They give a different meaning to the term user!