Huntington West Virginia Blog

Andy Dick lives up to his name in Huntington WV

It appears that TV entertainer Andy Dick has been arrested for sexual abuse in Huntington WV about five hours ago. He is currently lodged in the western regional jail in Cabell County WV pending arrainment.

http://www.wvrja.com/puboffsearch/offdetail.asp?root=1237143&bid=2861338&row=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Dick

It is my understanding that the alleged chef Jamie Oliver, has or will be coming to Huntington West Virginia to do a television show about how the City of Huntington West Virginia is the alleged fattest city in the world.

 Jamie Oliver has taken it upon himself to diagnose Huntington West Virginia as the fattest city in the world, while in reality, all of the competent local health care professionals in Huntington profusely deny Jamie Oliver's outrageous allegations, that are intended to do nothing more than exploit the good people of Huntington.

Huntington WV has several hundred medical doctors that are well qualified to treat Jamie Oliver's grandiose delusions that he is qualified to address the nutritional needs of an entire community. In reality, in this fair city of Huntington West Virginia, we fortunately have several fine hospitals and an outstanding Marshall University medical school, that are full of physicians. These physicians are far more qualified to teach nutrition in Huntington  WV than Jamie Oliver, and thus these physicians are far more qualified than an arrogant chef to assess and diagnose the nutritional needs of the entire community of Huntington.

Do we really want this obnoxious self serving cook-book peddler in our city selling his self serving mythology about how the whole city of Huntington is morbidly obese?

Are we expected to take this absurd individual seriously in light of the fact that we as a city have been made out to be the Sodom and Gomorrah of gluttony?

 Jamie Oliver is in reality a TV preacher who preaches against gluttony in exactly the same manner that Jerry Falwell and Jimmy Swaggart preach against promiscuity. Rest assured that he is no Billy Graham.

The self righteous pompous arrogance and the principles of preaching televised religiosity are the same, to those third rate chefs who preach cuisine as a televised pseudo religion. In short, Jamie Oliver's "style" of televised media propaganda is nothing new in that is a plagiarized transposition of the principles of a TV ministry where nutritional health is preached and gluttony condemned as a pseudo religion.

In short, he is merely a glorified Jimmy Swaggart impersonator in a chefs apron who is preaching against gluttony.... and nothing more. That's just what we need in Huntington....a self appointed and self anointed nutritional version of a television-evangelist to show the citizens of Huntington the sinful error of our dietary ways, and show us the way to nutritional salvation from the sin of gluttony on national TV.

It does not matter to Jamie Oliver if we want or desire his help, because he knows what is best for us in Huntington WV, and he knows oh so much more than we do about us.

As a resident of Huntington West Virginia, I am not in the least need of Jamie Oliver's services as a self professed nutritional messiah and I am not the least bit interested in meeting him. Jamie Oliver needs to wake up out of his arrogant delusions about Huntington WV and deal with reality for a change.

In reality, "Obesity" and its inverse form "emaciation" are forms of malnutrition, that constitute serious medical conditions that can only by law be diagnosed by a physician. Is Jamie Oliver above our laws? In reality, the majority of the residents of Huntington are offended that Jamie Oliver deems himself worthy to appoint himself to be a nutritional public heath officer for our city of Huntington without our prior consent. In reality, it is the job of the State Health Department and their county level subordinate public health officers to assess and remediate nutritional anomalies and obesity epidemics.

In reality, the American Medical Association has established a diagnostic criteria for Malnutrition and Obesity, Jamie Oliver's unsolicited efforts to help the residents of Huntington overcome our mythological citywide obesity epidemic are in reality nothing more than unsolicited medical advice from an unqualified and self appointed diagnostician.

For any unqualified source to claim that they know more about the nutritional needs of the local Huntington residents, than the local medical community who treats the medical needs of these people on a daily basis, is absurdly pompous and profoundly delusional. Mr. Jamie Oliver is no where near the nutritional knowledge of a physician. His obvious delusional thinking makes him profess himself to be such a great authority, and that is not only pompous, but to no small degree insane.

The Marshall University campus sits in the heart of Huntington WV. That campus has several thousand's of beautiful ladies that are anything but obese. Jamie Oliver seems to have lost contact with reality and he is to be pitied for his self serving delusions. The reality is that there are quite a few gorgeous ladies at Marshall University. Several thousand of them.

If in the event that the size of my posterior ever exceeds the size of Jamie Oliver's ego, I will let him know. In the mean time he is more than welcome to take his culinary televised circus out of my hometown.

Michael Jackson was one gifted androgynous person, with a multitude of  atypical eccentricities as a facade for his artistic genius in matters of musical composition and dance choreographies. His entire life was devoid of the mundane, in that Michael was compelled by his very talented nature,  to be a uniquely styled stranger to mediocre conventionality in all that he expressed and did. In the next world, I desire that he finds the peace that he was denied in this world.

Today I was interviewed by WSAZ in Huntington West Virginia on the topic of Internet addiction. I have a great deal of respect for WSAZ and I am hopeful that in the future that they do a show featuring local computer experts to discuss practical strrategies that parents can use to supervise the internet use of their children, so that parents can better protect their kids online. Just an idea. Local comments are encouraged. WSAZ was one of the first commercial television stations in the country going back to 1949, WSAZ was the first television station in Huntington West Virginia.

There is a company called AFNI (Anderson Financial Network Inc.) that has been sending out bogus Verizon bills to Huntington West Virginia residents, and especially those in the Huntington West Virginia area. It does not matter to these people if the bills are legitimate or not, it is basically a matter of paying these scam artists to get them to leave you alone. AFNI is well known for frequent computer generated phone calls that are designed to annoy and harass. In many instances the alleged bills that AFNI is trying to collect are older than the statute of limitations. In many instances the alleged bills are not owed at all, and or the product of identity theft. AFNI refuses to provide documentation from the original creditor. AFNI can and will report you to the credit reporting agencies to gain money that they are not entitled to in violation of the fair credit reporting act. If you are contacted by AFNI do not talk to them by phone but call your attorney or the police immediately. A police report filed at the Huntington West Virginia oulice Department at the onset of harassment can help your lawyer preserve your rights at a later date.

Under no circumstances give AFNI any personal or banking information. The West Virginia Attorney Generals office has an excellent track record for shutting down abusive bill collectors and scam artists. Pick up the phone and call the consumer protection division of the West Virginia Attorney Generals office. 1-800-368-8808. The best way to deal with AFNI is to give them what they deserve...lawyers.

Some have suggested that West Virginia revive Capital Punishment.

I am no fan of criminals and I have no sympathy for those who murder for the fun of it.

I am opposed to the death penalty in West Virginia and in the United States to boot.

Why am I opposed?

If we stop the executions of killers in the U.S. Then we wont look like hypocrites when we ask that other countries stop executing people for things that are perfectly legal to do here.

In short if we stop executing people for major capitol offences. Then we are not going to look like hypocrites when we ask Saudi Arabia to stop executing women for adultery. Then we are not going to look like hypocrites when we ask Iran to stop hanging gay people. In Kuwait a woman can be executed for driving a car.

In many nations, one can be executed for converting from Islam to Christianity.

If we stop executing people, we wont look like hypocrites when we demand that other nations refrain from doing so also.

In short if the criminals in this country are given life without parole as an alternative to the death penalty. Then it greatly increases the bargaining position of our diplomats who try to get other countries to stop executing political and religious offenders in other parts of the world.

In short I am willing to let some of the wicked animals on death row do life without parole if it enhances our ability to put pressure on third world countries to stop killing innocent people for petty reasons.

The French, Belgian, British, and Dutch diplomatic corps have intervened many times in the Moslem world where women are more likely to face capital punishment than men. In northern Europe capital punishment has been abolished. I wish American diplomats were leading the efforts. In some parts of Africa people (Mostly women) are still being brutally executed by stoning on occasion. It is a brutal world that we live in.

Americans have traditionally been people of great kindness and compassion and that is why we were once respected around the world. Remember the Kindness that President Truman displayed to our former German enemies during the Berlin Airlift. It was at that time the largest humanitarian campaign the world had ever seen and the world respected our kindness.

The current president of the United States has signed more death warrants and built more prisons than any other leader in American history and it does not work. Around the world Americans are no longer seen as kind humanitarian people who lead by example.

I want my country back.

I oppose capital punishment in the USA because its sets an example for developing countries to follow. No country can claim to be totally free as long as the government of that country has the capacity to (rightly or wrongly) kill its own citizens. Freedom for good people is what it is all about.

There is a group of telephone scammers working the Huntington West Virginia area known as NCO.

NCO claims to be bill collectors, but in reality NCO tries to collect on old accounts that are far outside the statute of limitation by using telephone harassment to wear the victim down, and to sometimes get them to pay a bill that they don't even owe at all. NCO has been known to go after people who merely have the same phone number that was once held by someone else, or to try to collect an alleged debt that was owed by a previous resident where the victim currently lives.

NCO was fined over 1.5 M by the Federal Trade Commission several years ago for shady collection practices so they are no strangers to federal law enforcement. Here is a link to the FTC website to verify this.

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/05/ncogroup.shtm

If you are contacted by NCO you will most likely encounter an obnoxious NCO telephone solicitor demanding that you give them checking account or credit card information to pay a bill that you allegedly owe that is most likely more than ten years old.

Do not give them any banking information whatsoever, or you will be setting yourself up for identity theft. Do not confirm or deny your social security number to the NCO caller. They will start abusively calling you on a daily basis and they use automated computer equipment to call and hang up in many instances.

Pick up the phone and call the consumer protection division of the West Virginia Attorney Generals office. 1-800-368-8808. West Virginia has very stern laws against telephone harassment and abusive debt collection practices, and the attorney generals office will not hesitate to enforce those laws and prosecute violators.

The best way to deal with obnoxious bill collectors in my experience is to bypass the collection agency and contact the original creditor and pay what you legitimately owe, and or remind the original creditor that they can be held liable for the misconduct of their agent if the statute of limitations has expired. It worked for me. Talk to a lawyer to get better advice than I can give.

To the best of my knowledge NCO is not licensed to do business in West Virginia and this poses a severe danger when NCO harasses vulnerable people in their homes by telephone demanding banking information from our citizens.

If you are getting debt collection notices by U.S. Mail from NCO for bills that you do not owe. Contact the U.S. Postal inspectors. They are very interested in mail fraud. Charleston WV Postal Inspector James R. Hoke Telephone (304) 357-4140 Email JRHoke@uspis.gov

Abusive phone calls are not only contrary to law but phone company regulations as well. Call the business office of the phone company in West Virginia (304)-954-6200 and ask for help with phone harassment issues. They will try to help you block the calls as much as possible.

The citizens of this state should never live in fear of the abusive phone calls of predatory tele-scammers like NCO. I have given you some phone numbers to make NCO live in fear of honest people. The only way to drive abusive predatory business entities out of this state is to bury them in complaints to make the cost of harassing our citizens exceed the potential for return.

Stephanie Heck Huntington West Virginia

West Virginia's Chief Supreme Court justice Elliott E. 'Spike' Maynard agreed Friday, Jan. 18, 2008 to recuse himself from a pending case involving Massey Energy Co and Massey's President, CEO and Chairman Don Blankenship. The recusal happened after pictures of Don Blankenship and Spike Maynard became public. The pictures taken and made public were joint poses of Spike Maynard and Don Blankenship while vacationing in Monaco in July 2006. IN light of the role that Don Blankenship played in the election of Justice Benjamin in the last supreme court election in the state of West Virginia. Many in West Virginia are wondering when Justice Benjamin is going to follow Maynard's example and recuse himself as well.

It is a well known matter of common knowledge in the State of West Virginia that Don Blankenship is one of the most controversial and politically vindictive coal barons in the history of this state. Don Blankenship has promoted an extreme right wing agenda that makes most Conservatives republicans look liberal in contrast to Don Blankenship. The relationship between Don Blankenship and the West Virginia Democratic Party is one of extreme animosity. As the CEO of Massey Energy, Don Blankenship is a serious economic player.

It was an extreme lapse of judgement for Chief Justice Maynard to have pictures made with Don Blankenship that cause the citizens of West Virginia to question the integrity of the West Virginia Supreme Court. It was not illegal to have ones picture taken with Don Blankenship, however it was poorly thought out. Chief Justice Maynard should have known well that Don Hatfield would exploit any and all political angles.

What the citizens of West Virginia are afraid of, is a supreme court judiciary with extremely poor judgement.

It is my understanding that the We Are Marshall Movie about the Marshall University football team plane crash in 1970 will be coming to cable TV soon. I still dont have the heart to see that movie. Everyone who was linving in Huntington West Viirginia at that time remembers the horror of that night in 1970.MAny residents of Huntington West Virgina do not have the heart to see that We Are Marshall Movie, beause we lived it.

I am wondering if computer technology jobs will ever come to Huntington West Virginia, or is this hometown of mine destined to become the call center capitol of the tele-spammer world.

Many of these computer technology jobs can be done from home by well trained workers. Many system administrators and programmers work from home to manage remote networks. In short it is possible to live in Huntington and work in California online.

Huntington and the Cabell County schools need to rise to the occasion, and start teaching computer literacy and lower level computer technology skills in the public schools. This is especially true in high school. 

I favor making basic computer literacy skills a mandatory requirement for graduation from high school. By basic computer literacy I mean the use of email and a web browser to learn how to find information and communicate online.

I also favor removing computers from grade schools with the exception of TAG programs and faculty. Grade school students are at least 7 years away from graduation, and the systems that are learned in grade schools will be massively obsolete by the time that the kids are ready to enter the work force. It is better to teach computer skills to high schools students and use the big money that was spent in grade schools on computer technology vocational programs that will result in jobs for graduates. If we spent as much money teaching computer skills to adults as we do to grade school kids, there would be much more technology jobs in this state.

Stephanie Heck

Leah Hickman's body has been found and removed from the scene of the murder crime on eighth avenue in Huntington West Virginia.

Her employer, Dress Barn on Merritt's Creek has closed for Weekend in memorial to the murdered co-worker Leah Hickman. Our entire Huntington West Virginia community has been shocked by this crime and we as a city, want the criminals who are responsible for this hideous crime against a Huntington woman to be brought to justice rapidly.

In retrospect Leah Hickman was the kind of young woman one would like to have for a daughter. She had a job in a dress shop and was going to school to improve herself. She was not known for any vices. Our community in Huntington West Virginia is saddened by the fact that she is gone and hope the Huntington police do a good job of capturing the animal who killed her. I wish to express my condolences to her family and heartfelt sympathies to her friends and associates. The Huntington West Virginia police are being tight lipped about the nature of the investigation. This is understandable under the grim circumstances.

Stephanie Heck
Huntington West Virginia

I strongly feel that the Governor of West Virginia has made a serious mistake with the Fred Armstrong termination. If there is one thing to be learned in West Virginia politics from the events of the SEGO disaster, it is that the public perception of our governor is greatly enhanced by the public's perceptions of the governors humanity. In short the governor has more to gain by admitting to a mistake and reinstating Fred Armstrong than he does to get tough and stand by his decision. If the governor stands by a decision that is widely protested throughout the state, then he merely gains a reputation for being too stubborn to listen to the populace.

If the governor gets a reputation for arbitrarily firing long term state employees who have done well for many years, this will negatively effect and adversely impact the ability of the state of West Virginia to recruit and retain high quality people for state employment. I desire that the governor do what is in the best interest of the state and reinstate Fred Armstrong post haste, unless there is some credible reason that can be given to the public as to why this should not happen.

If the governor is intent on abolishing the job rather that its holder, the governor would enhance his position by offering Fred Armstrong a job teaching history at one of the states universitys. I feel that Marshall University or West Virginia University would do well to hire Fred Armstrong as a history professor.

There appears to be a water crisis in Milton WV. An unauthorized person has apparently tampered with the Milton WV water supply in Milton West Virginia and the health department has shut down the public water supply pending testing and investigation. There is a story on this at WSAZ. http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/11814441.html

Update: The water moratorium has been lifted.

The new Milton West Virginia Message Board and community blog is really doing well. It is a place where those in eastern Cabell county West Virginia can go and discuss community affairs. There is a section of Cabell County concerns for those who live in rural Cabell County.

Milton West Virginia Message Board and Community Blog

The message board software generates an RSS XML feed like a blog but for a group rather than an individual.

I recently replaced my cable TV replaced by Direct TV satellite TV at my home in Huntington West Virginia as part of a bundled package deal from Verizon.

I am very much unhappy with the satellite TV service that I get from Direct TV.

The receiver boxes that they installed by the DirectTV installers are called "standard" boxes. However the standard receivers are not capable of receiving HD signals. This is 2007 and not 1997 and I have an HD TV. High definition HDTV is the standard in 2007 and the standard equipment used by DirectTV is OBSOLETE. You have to pay more for the up to date receiver models. I feel that pawning off out of date equipment and charging more for the up to date models is very deceptive.

They promised me 180 TV stations and once it is installed I find out that a large number of the promised TV stations in this package are nothing more than crummy XM radio stations and not actual video content. If I subscribe to a TV service I expect TV and not a bunch of crummy XM radio stations playing some types of music/noise that I don't even like. I am quite disappointed that Verizon is pawning this third rate Direct TV satellite service off on their West Virginia customers.

DirectTV is pretty bad in West Virginia and I advise my West Virginia readers to avoid it like the plague and this is especially true with Verizon bundled packages to which Direct TV is a portion. I bought Direct TV as part of a packaged bundle deal from Verizon.

I have since discovered that Direct TV has made an unauthorized inquiry on my credit report last October. This abuse of my privacy has been done to me even though I do not have a direct financial relationship with direct TV. I have never applied for employment or credit from Direct TV. I never agreed to Direct TV fishing around in my credit history thats modestly good. I assume they intend to sell the information that they are harvesting from Verizons customers and that is why I am mad at Verizon. It seems Verizon has tarnished their otherwise good reputation by subjecting their vaunerable West Virginia customers to the obnoxious behavior of Direct TV.

I am buying the Direct TV service through Verizon, and Verizion is acting as a wholesaler for Direct TV and my financial relationship is only with Verizon. My account is secured by my relationship with Verizon. There was absolutely no reason for Direct TV to access my credit report.