Hi Andrea
I tried to make a donation to the site today as I have enjoyed and learned a lot from everybody who participates. Paypal unfortunatly does not recocnize SA or even the existence of the African continent from what I saw. Could you please mail them and ask them to acknowledge Africa. It might sound silly but Africans can also donate to a worthy site.
Regards
Stuart <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Wow, that is quite an oversight!
It reminds me of what Woopi Goldberg said about always having a soft spot in her heart about Star Trek. She said that the reason she did Star Trek for no special outrageous salary was because when she was a little girl watching TV, Star Trek was the only thing on TV in the US that talked about the future that had people who looked like her in the show. They were the only show that said Africans make it to see the future.
PayPal had better straighten up before we take it to Chris Rock - “Can’t a black man donate to the site of his choice? You saying Africans only take donations, and don’t make them?”
Too bad Johnnie Cochran passed away, the settlement he could get on this would allow us to open HairTell Franchises to make sure everyone can find someone good in their area.
Hi James
If there is a SA location I couln’t find it on the drop down menu, neither anything to do with Africa. Hopefully I was wrong and Paypal was right.
I am strange in the sense that I am an African who is not black skinned. This might upset certain people, including at least one president to the north of SA and possibly Paypal.
Guys, I am not trying to be rude, but this is the second time an American payment system has not recognised my country. (see some of my first posts). I am only trying to help a good site.
Regards
Stuart
Be at peace Stuart. As you read around the site, I am sure that you find that we have a sense of humor around here. I was trying to be funny.
Truthfully, the only South Africans I ever met were all white. The only Blacks from Africa I have ever met were from Kenya, Liberia and a few places in between.
I am sure Andrea will check out the SA PayPal Problem and get back to you with something other than jokes. You could just route your donation through that Swiss bank account of yours. LOL There I go again. I just can’t help myself. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Sombody Stop Me Before I Joke Again!
Sorry about the troubles, Stuart. PayPal used to have SA service, but it was discontinued:
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_help-ext&eloc=3&loc=1
You can send a donation in US funds by mail to:
Andrea James
5419 Hollywood Blvd #C-142
Hollywood, CA 90027
USA
Some out-of-country people have sent money electronically via Western Union as well. If you have an account, you can do this online, but otherwise you will need to go to one of their branch offices.
Sorry about the inconvenience! We aren’t quite completely globalized yet!
Hi Andrea
Thanks for your reply. These things happen. I will land in the US in about 2 weeks and will see what I can do then.
Regards
Stuart
Hi James
Not to worry, I was not upset and I enjoyed your reply, particularly the sueing part.
I have still not forgiven Paypal for forgetting the African continent however…
Glad to know you have met South Africans also, I know Andrea has from her Afrikaans replies. As I have mentioned I feel very at home in this forum and will make a donation once I land in the US shortly.
Any skin colour comments I made were also my attempt at being funny. Colour makes no difference to me. White guys on a largely black continent need to have a sense of humour about such things.
PS: How do you open a swiss bank account? Never been there yet…
Kind Regards
Stuart
Actually, I had better learn how to open one and get my own Swiss Account fast before the next “US Patriot Act” outlaws them for US Citizens.
Just wait until you get to the US and see the changes. George Orwell’s Books are coming true Big Time!
The job of The Office of Homeland Security is to make you scared, and rob you of your privacy for starters.
Soon we will all need passports to cross state lines. It won’t take long for us to be able to re-stage the play “Sizwe Bonsai Is Dead” in the US, and everyone will understand the plot, and say, “I know someone who…”
Hi James
Well somebody here is talking to somebody there. Ours are called “Control Acts” and they all happened now this year. There is I believe one called “travel control” on the cards, but I still have a bicycle so maybe I can escape for a while.
Regards
Stuart
Oh BTW
I am holding a lobby against the “leg shaving control act”. Oops, I better log of before both governments introduce a “humour control act”. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
Regards
Stuart
Oh, we are ahead of you, see Howard Stern vs The FCC <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
Hi James
Well this is my 6th trip to the US and now I really see what you meant about that Patriot Act. That is harsh! You get watched for taking a book out of the library? Anyway our FICA Control Act is similar as far as financial and residential & tax information, but the one you guys have is one up on that. For the first time here I feel like I am in an Orwell setting, but I still love Florida as much as ever! I hope suntanning is still allowed for visitors…
Regards
Stuart
It is allowed, you just have to pay extra taxes and “user fees”. They may, however try to confiscate your tan at the boarder though <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />LOL
There are 193 countries on this planet. Paypal provides service to 45 out of 193. I am assuming that all of those 45 countries have people of color with all socioeconomic backgrounds and all kinds of technological support levels. This, in my opinion, is not a racial game being played by paypal. Can either of you name a company on this earth that refuses to profit from anybody’s currency? We are are brother’s and sister’s under the skin when it comes to money and profits.
There may well be a problem with the e-commerce side of things that may not be making Paypal too profitable in Africa, not to mention all the non-African countries that are not being supported by paypal at this time. Do you know if processes are in developement now to re-include the African continent back into the paypal fold?
Also, have you considered that they may have needed to shore up and secure the system, so that consumer confidence and trust remains high?Perhaps there has been a security breach and they need to close up shop to do code reviews or unit testing, or create cryptographic techniques and authentication techniques to ensure the security that people expect when they do business over the internet.
Computer security is a highly complex field, and it is relatively immature. It takes a ton of money to maintain and protect it from flaws and hackers and I don’t believe for a minute that it is in any way racially motivated. If you have proof that it is , I’m right behind you with indignation. Paypal has pulled out of Africa for now, they didn’t say forever. Let’s try to give them the benefit of the doubt as we should do for anybody.
Who knows, perhaps with all the billions of dollars in ongoing litigation (class action lawsuits), maybe they are going bust even though e-bay is behind them. Many consumers are frustrated with paypal because they have a policy and history of closing accounts and withholding funds for reasons they will not disclose. Paypal is not subject to normal banking regulations,so consumers do not have any of the legal safeguards that they would have to protect them if they were dealing with a convential bank.
Lastly guys, the United States Department of Homeland Security was created in 2002 in response to an attack that happened on September 11, 2001. Remember that one? Plane loads of innocent people were rammed into buildings full of innocent people in lower Manhattan, rammed into a well-known building on the Potomac river, and rammed into the fertile farmland in northern Pennsylvania. We lost 2,823 innocent souls on that day. The Department of Homeland Security was created primarily to conglomerate existing federal agencies so that they will do something like they should have done before 9/11/01 — SHARE INFORMATION that may have helped thwart another attack from people that want to kill us. Likewise, the U.S. Patriot Act of (November) 2001 was enacted in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It passed in the Senate 98-1. The chief architect of the act was assistant attorny general Viet D. Dinh who knows more than enough about what true government oppression really is. You see, U.S. laws are not enacted on this scale because our government just wants to harass us for no reason, there is a cause and effect. It is the duty of the President to protect the people of his or her country. I have never had my rights intruded upon, nor has any of my family, friends or acquaintences. I have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. I’m more concerned that they are not doing enough as there are many rich targets not being scrutinized and protected.
I’d be more impressed if these millionare protesters like Whoopi, Chris Rock and Howard Stern were out there protesting the bigger fish who really stomp on people’s human rights and freedoms wilst they sit pretty, safe, rich and comfortable in their mansions whining about, really nothing. Where are their voices when the warlords in Somalia and the corrupt dictators kill and burn people in their humble villages? Is anybody concerned or protesting about that nut case dictator in North korea who is sitting on 5-6 nuclear bombs? Haven’t heard a squeak fromthe likes of them, and these situations are very dire.
One of many great things about the U.S. is I can write this and not have to fear a be-headng or a trip to my local mass grave(remember a guy named Saddam)? I can say what I want to because we all have the precious gift of freedom in the United States. I have no fear of the U.S.Patriot Act or the Homeland Security Department. A friend, who happens to be an immigrant from Somalia, just became a U.S. citizen at a ceremony here in Columbus. She cried after the swearing in and said she loves America because we have laws that are enforced. There is no chaos or uncertainty. We have a predictable flow of electricity, food, educational opportunity,etc. And some complain about library books and bank accounts surveillience? Small price to sacrifice for hoping to prevent another 9/11.
The 9/11 commission report is a must read for anyone making light of laws that may prevent another terrorist attack. I got mine at Sam’s Club for four bucks. It’s not too dry,either,for a government book, but no pictures…
Edited part:
Hey! I know this is a hair consumer website, but this is the ‘comments welcome’ section. I guess we can relate this to hair though - some of the stuff I said is a little “hair-raising”. Read the 9/11 Commission Report and that will really raise your hair, that is if you got any left after your trip to your friendly electrologist or in some cases, laser practitioner.
Love,
Dee
The best defense is a good offense! When we kill enough terrorists and their supporters they will get the message. I am not saying we should go out of our way to kill civilians but saving them is not our primary goal. Our primary goal is to get Bin Laden, Zarqawi, and others, dead or alive! And if we must kill others to get them, then that’s just the way it is! If we suspect Bin Laden is traveling with a group of civilians, we have no other choice but to take them out. He has escaped too many times due to concern about “collateral damage.”
Since we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, how many terrorist attacks have there been on US soil? So maybe we’re on the right track. The arab terrorists and the countries that support them have to be made to realize that the consequences of their actions will have an extremely high price so as to be almost unthinkable.
I agree that some Homeland Security provisions don’t make much sense. Do we really need to be strip searching old ladies when our borders are still wide open and all of the terrorists are middle eastern males under the age of 40? Think about it!
RJC2001
Hi dfahey
If you read my posts you will see that I am not insinuating any racial prejudice in my comments about paypal. I am being quite lighhearted about it and as I am white skinned in Africa I tend to be colourblind anyway which is how we live in South Africa now. It is obviously a financial reason why paypal discontinued their services to SA, because this is how businesses work. I know there are other ways to make payments and transfers internationally as I run an export business worldwide and do this all the time. I was joking in my comments, and as James said we all seem to have a good sense of humor on this forum.
As far as US acts go I, like most other visitors, to this country respect the laws and obey them. This does not mean they are not harsh and maybe a bit too much. Most of my family live in the US which is why I come here a lot. One member of my family was at work on Wall Street on 9/11 and saw the second plane hit in person, while I was watching it live on CNN in SA, wondering if she was alive or dead at the time. As you can imagine I have a good understanding of the feelings of the Amercan people on this subject.
Try this as an example from another country: Firearms control is SA. You may not own more than 1 firearm unless you are a registered active sports shooter. If you inherit firearms you are automatically in breach of the firearms control act and will be arrested for illegal possetion of firearms and ammunition and will recieve up to 15 years in prison. A bit hair raising don’t you think? you need to predict death and inheretance to stay out of prison?
SA alone looses about 1600 people a day to AIDS (yes a day) and the government, while doing a good job in other areas, spend billions prosecuting innocent civilians for inhereting firearms and trying to licence them. It takes about 2 years and a lot of money in my country to buy a rifle for hunting; how long does it take in America? (I know the answer to that).
Laws are political and rarely practical and the same with business which is rarely fair and often fails to deliver as promised which is a key thread of this forum and is why I like to visit this site and post my comments about hair removal. This post of mine in unusual in that I try to stay away from formal or political issues, but I hope I have qualified some of my statements even if they were made in jest.
I hope that Paypal will sort out any security issues related to African payments as there is no security differance whether you pay from Africa or the US - the internet works the same all over the world!
Regards
Stuart
Hi Stuart. I apologize for putting you in the position of having to defend yourself. I appreciate and understand everything you have said.
Dee
All my racial comments in this string are also in jest.
However, my understanding of the Patriot Act is no joke. During 9/11 many of us New Yorkers had our cell phones “Bulleted”. This is a process where the network administrators hits your phone with the order to power down, making it impossible for you to make calls. Since the normal reaction to your cell phone turning off without your input is to turn it back on, many people actually had their phones broken by the repeated frequent “bulleting” they received that day. The cell phone companies replaced all the phones for free and with no questions asked! (sure, we will replace that phone for free rather than charge you $200US for a new one, or take the opportunity to try to upsell you on the newer model) The homeland security act goes through, and now all cell phones are personal tracking devices, and the government is subsidizing the replacement of home phones (that don’t move, and may cover many people) with cell phones, that are usually used by only one person and with family plans everyone in the family has one for cheap.
The final word I have on this is that having information was not the problem with 9/11, those who could have done something had all the information they needed, they just did not act on it. Homeland security just allows them to share more information and not act on it. They now have information the framers of the US constitution did not ever intend for this government to be able to collect, nor act on. So now the IRS (an illegal organization under the constitution that never was properly ratified into existence) can find out where you are through your personal Global Positioning Device via that nifty camera phone, what you read, and what brand of underwear you buy. While you are being strip searched at bridges and airports and such, there are 8 troopers charged with guarding the Washington State Boarder, and citizens vollunteering to monitor the walk over from Mexico. Now that makes us all feel safer! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />
Hi Dee
Thanks, I was not offended or anything, but I felt I needed to clarify my comments.
Regards
Stuart
All my racial comments in this string are also in jest.
However, my understanding of the Patriot Act is no joke. During 9/11 many of us New Yorkers had our cell phones “Bulleted”. This is a process where the network administrators hits your phone with the order to power down, making it impossible for you to make calls. Since the normal reaction to your cell phone turning off without your input is to turn it back on, many people actually had their phones broken by the repeated frequent “bulleting” they received that day. The cell phone companies replaced all the phones for free and with no questions asked! (sure, we will replace that phone for free rather than charge you $200US for a new one, or take the opportunity to try to upsell you on the newer model) The homeland security act goes through, and now all cell phones are personal tracking devices, and the government is subsidizing the replacement of home phones (that don’t move, and may cover many people) with cell phones, that are usually used by only one person and with family plans everyone in the family has one for cheap.
The final word I have on this is that having information was not the problem with 9/11, those who could have done something had all the information they needed, they just did not act on it. Homeland security just allows them to share more information and not act on it. They now have information the framers of the US constitution did not ever intend for this government to be able to collect, nor act on. So now the IRS (an illegal organization under the constitution that never was properly ratified into existence) can find out where you are through your personal Global Positioning Device via that nifty camera phone, what you read, and what brand of underwear you buy. While you are being strip searched at bridges and airports and such, there are 8 troopers charged with guarding the Washington State Boarder, and citizens vollunteering to monitor the walk over from Mexico. Now that makes us all feel safer! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />
Hi James
As you say it all comes down to information collection. How they use it is the problem. One of our ministers who is a medical doctor spent months together with our president trying to challenge the fact that AIDS exists! Fortunatly we know that body hair exists and that it can be removed <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
Regards
Stuart