Acai-Pure Scam! or Nothing's EVER Free!

The other day as I was checking out a few friends on facebook an ad caught my attention. The ad had a photo of Oprah and Dr. Oz and claimed that the acai berry blend is Oprah's secret to staying slim and beautiful. I'm not a huge Oprah fan, and as for her being slim... well, enough said. But I do love Dr. Oz. So I followed the link, which took me to a site that offered a "Risk Free Trial" of the acai berry blend. I'm no dummy, so I knew there was a catch, but as I read through the terms and conditions I decided I didn't mind the obligation of having to call to cancel my automatic enrollment in the refill service. I just wanted to try it and see. So I agreed to pay my $4.95 for shipping and eagerly awaited my skinny in a bottle!

Fast forward a week >> I received my package in the mail! Hooray! I opened it and was surprised to find the bottle of pills, and a pack of Hoodia Gum and Hoodia Water. I thought to myself, "how nice, they sent more free trial stuff!" A little later I looked at the packing receipt... "Are you kidding me?" They sent me my trial offer, and then two other products, which they charged me for! The gum was $9.95 and the water was $29.95! My total was $44.85!

I figured maybe I'd overlooked something, so I went back to my order confirmation, no indication there. I returned to the website and reread the terms and conditions, which I believe to be unclear now (at the time I placed my order, I thought I completely understood what I was getting into). I tried calling the company first thing Monday morning and received an automated message that something to this effect, "Due to the volume of calls we are experiencing extended wait times; the extimated time until your call is answered is: 77 minutes 5 seconds."

At this point I have written two emails and a letter and am returning all products, unopened. In short: nothing is EVER free. Buyer BEWARE!

One more thing: this company has many slightly varying acai sites. The site I went to was http://www.acai-pure.com

Keith Olbermann on Proposition 8

More on Proposition 8

The following is a piece written by one of my favorite college professors. No wonder I liked him so much!

Proposition 8 and the Mormons
Tuesday night I was moved. We were all moved. My family and I had just watched as the first African American eloquently and humbly accepted election to his country’s highest office. There was a sense of history in our living room. My kids knew it. I could see it on their faces. Then we changed the channel.

I was looking for news on California’s Proposition 8. At the same time we were electing the first black president, and in many ways for the first time fulfilling the American promise of equal rights for all, Californians were voting to take rights away from about 10% of their fellow citizens. Until Tuesday, California had marriage equality. Proposition 8 will end that.

I was disappointed to see Proposition 8 ahead on Tuesday night, and further saddened at Wednesday’s news of it passing. My sadness was not just for my gay relatives and friends, but also for my country. There was bitterness to the irony. Just as one group sees a dream fulfilled, another has a dream deferred. Just as black Americans symbolically achieve full citizenship, we rob gay Americans of that same. I was further disappointed because of how it all went down. I grew up a Mormon kid in Salt Lake City. It was a great place to grow up. I had a stable family and a religious community who cared for me. The Mormon congregation instilled in me values of charity and Christian love. And to this day, my Mormon friends are some of the most compassionate people I know. Yet, "Slate" reports that at least $14 million in support for Proposition 8 came from individual Mormons. One Lindon, Utah, man alone gave $1 million.

The Mormon network made possible much of the grassroots organizing. If Mormons are anything, they are organized. Proposition 8 supporters tapped into local congregations, word came down from Salt Lake City, and Mormons united to talk to friends, go door to door, and get the word out. I anticipated Mormons [supporting] Proposition 8. The Mormon community is usually the tail light on the caboose of social change. Black men could not hold the Mormon priesthood until 1978 and women are still barred from doing so.

But what I did not anticipate was the enthusiasm with which Mormons would take up the issue. I can think of a dozen causes that deserve such enthusiasm. There are plenty of hungry, sick, and poor Americans on whom to focus such energy and resources. But instead the cause was discrimination. What hurts me the most is that I know these people. I love these people. They are good, hardworking, honest citizens. To be fair, Mormons are not all of one mind. To their credit, many active, believing Mormons were troubled by the advice from their leaders and did not support Proposition 8. They were as disappointed in their church as I was.

This story has a final irony: Mormonisms’ own marriage history. Utah was denied statehood until Mormons gave up the practice of polygamy. In short, Mormonism has been the victim of marriage discrimination before, but for some reason the lesson was lost. I am still hopeful, however. The Mormon view on marriage equality, the nation’s view on marriage equality, will change. Bigotry dies out. A younger generation takes over. People change their mind. After all, we just elected our first black president.

-David Sumner
Oregon

a blog is born

Born and raised in conservative Utah, I have always held a different view... I suppose I'd call myself a supressed liberal. The creation of this blog is in response to the surge of political banter that I have been engaging in recently with my friends, who happen to all be very Mormon, and uber-conservative. Never having been one to rock the boat, and having been taught to leave religion and politics off the table, I now have twenty-nine years worth of repressed opinions that have scratched their way to the surface. I am tired of biting my lip as conservatives spout off the collective views of Sean Hannity. Fed-up with Proposition 8 and all of it's proud support from my friends and neighbors who all claim to "know and love" many a gay person.

Opinion, Salt Lake Tribune

As I was scouring through the letters to the editor the other day, I found this wonderfully sarcastic entry that I'd like to share:

Thanks, Mormons

I congratulate Mormons on their Proposition 8 victory. I am impressed with their willingness to donate time and money to a cause in a state where less than 2 percent are of their faith.

With all the competing issues and causes, such as poverty, the environment and finding a cure for cancer, I'm grateful they chose to give so much hard-earned money to banning the rights of gas and lesbians. The Catholic and other conservative Christians couldn't have done it without them.

As a Utah native, it is comforting to know that there are Mormons at home always looking out for my family's best interests. I hope Latter-day Saints will continue to assist in righting California's moral compass by helping us eliminate other impure activites and behavoirs. Perhaps they could send some nice kids form Brigham Young University to mow down the vineyards, board up the Del Mar racetrack, and turn off the power at the Indian casinos.

I cannot thank them enough for making sure Califonia's families are safe and straight.

~Karla Luff-Lopez

Temecula, California

Thank you Karla! Well said!