Consumer Alerts: Netflix Plan Change; Costco Tandoori Wrap

 The email the other day told me that the plan I'm on with Netflix is being discontinued.  They announced that I would save 40%.  But then in the smaller print it said, I'd get ads at that lower price.  

A few short ads.  Few is pretty vague.  So is short.  Anything over 5 seconds is too long for me.  And in the middle of a movie?  That's sacrilege. 

"Designed not to interrupt you during a scene" - So does this mean at the end of the scene, but in the middle of the movie, they will interrupt?  Totally unacceptable.  

My current bill is $11.99 per month.  That's up from $9.99 a month not that long ago. [I looked on line.  Seems they announced the increase in June 2023 and it went into effect in October 2023, best as I can tell.]

That's less than a year ago.  Can we expect annual bumps from now on? 

Compared to going to the theater, Netflix is a great deal.  So great that we find we are spending way too much time watching.  At least we limit to after dinner, generally not starting until 8:30 or 9:30.  And trying to end around 11pm.

But as I think about it, we lose a lot of reading time and a lot of time when we used to talk to each other.  And I have noticed that blogging gets cut back by Netflix.  

So I replied that we did not want ads and were ready to cut loose from Netflix. 

I got another email - My current plan would end September 30.  I replied that our Netflix addiction would end September 30.  Of course, the emails from Netflix were not ones you could reply to and I got notices that they weren't delivered.  

Prices go up because people are willing to suck it up and keep paying.  In this case I need to figure out how to let Netflix know, I don't plan to pay after September.  

Meanwhile, I had to go to Costco to get a repair on one of my hearing aids - which they did and it worked.  But as I gathered some fruits and veggies and fresh salmon, I saw some Tandoori Chicken Wraps.  Looked good and they had a $2 off sign, so I thought we could try them.  

Today, when I looked to see if and how to heat them up, I saw there were no directions.  Just the longest list of ingredients I can remember ever seeing.  

From what I could tell checking a Reddit discussion, you were supposed to eat them cold.  We did.  

Boring!!  (Does it make sense to put exclamation points after boring?  Probably not)  Despite all the ingredients it didn't really taste like anything.  It was mushy. Avoid.  

Back To Netflix 

And if you have Netflix, and you're also unhappy about this, you can go to manage your account and play around until you find the contact button.  Then you have a choice of phone or chat.  

I chose chat, because I can make screenshots of what was said, but I'm pretty sure it was a bot responding.  When, at one point, I asked how many siblings do you have and where are you in the birth order, the response was 

"I'd be happy to answer Netflix-related questions today. Do you have any questions about your account or our service?"

At the end when they asked if I had more questions, I said that they hadn't answered whether they were a bot or human and the answer was "I am a human."  Must be depressing having people think you aren't human all day - assuming that was true.  

Maybe we need to have legislation requiring customers be told whether the chat or voice they are talking to is a human or not.  With consequences if they lie.   

I'd suggest people go into your accounts and tell them you are going to cancel your accounts at the end of September (or whenever your basic service ends).  If enough people do that, perhaps they will reconsider.  And you can always rejoin later if you have severe withdrawal symptoms.  

 

Project 2025 Table of Contents + Links For Info On Each Author

The Heritage Foundation has the 800+ page Project 2025 posted online.  It outlines the steps to be taken when President Trump takes office. While Trump recently said he knows nothing about Project 2025, this is clearly untrue [how unexpected].  Many of the authors of sections of the report worked in the Trump administration.  

I recently read someone who suggested downloading a copy of the report because now that it is getting attention in the media and is likely to become a target in the president campaign, they might take it down.  So I've downloaded it and you can download it here.  I promise you this will become the focus of much attention in the election.

As I said, there are over 800 pages.  So as my first blog post about this (well I think I've mentioned it), I'm just offering you the table of contents.  

My value added is that I'm adding to each author a link to info about them.  

But I warn you.  As I'm doing this I realize that somebody - the Heritage Foundation? - appears to have done a good job of scrubbing info about these people off the internet. Others are highlighted on friendly websites, like the Heritage Foundation itself.  But even there you can get information.  Newspaper articles and government documents are still up in some cases.  

So minimally you'll get a sense of who these people are, but Google searches don't net much on these folks, except the most well known.  The Wikipedia entries often have lots of footnotes that take you to more information.

PROJECT 2025 TABLE OF CONTENTS

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.......................................................................................................ix

THE PROJECT 2025 ADVISORY BOARD................................................................xi

THE 2025 PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION PROJECT: A NOTE ON “PROJECT 2025”.....................................................................................xiii

AUTHORS....................................................................................................................................xv

CONTRIBUTORS..................................................................................................................xxv

FOREWORD: A PROMISE TO AMERICA..................................................................1

Kevin D. Roberts, PhD

SECTION 1: TAKING THE REINS OF GOVERNMENT...........................19

1. WHITE HOUSE OFFICE.....................................................................................................23

Rick Dearborn

1. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES..................................................................................................43

Russ Vought

1. CENTRAL PERSONNEL AGENCIES: MANAGING THE BUREAUCRACY..............................................................................69

Donald Devine, Dennis Dean Kirk, and Paul Dans    [Can't find much on Kirk. Given the photo, this could be the guy.]

SECTION 2: THE COMMON DEFENSE...............................................................87

1. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.........................................................................................91

Christopher Miller

1. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY......................................................133

Ken Cuccinelli

1. DEPARTMENT OF STATE..............................................................................................171

Kiron K. Skinner

1. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY......................................................................................201

Dustin J. Carmack

1. MEDIA AGENCIES.............................................................................................................235

U.S. AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA.................................................................235

Mora Namdar

CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING......................................246

Mike Gonzalez

1. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT........................................253

Max Primorac

SECTION 3: THE GENERAL WELFARE..........................................................283

1. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE..........................................................................289

Daren Bakst

1. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION...............................................................................319

Lindsey M. Burke

1. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND RELATED COMMISSIONS..................................................................................363

Bernard L. McNamee

1. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.......................................................417

Mandy M. Gunasekara

1. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES................................................................................................449

Roger Severino

1. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT....................................................................................503

Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD

1. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR...........................................................................517

William Perry Pendley

1. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE........................................................................................545

Gene Hamilton   [Hamilton was an aggressive advocate for expanding family separation prosecutions ]

1. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND RELATED AGENCIES............................................................................................581

Jonathan Berry

1. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION...............................................................619

Diana Furchtgott-Roth

1. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.............................................................641

Brooks D. Tucker

SECTION 4: THE ECONOMY......................................................................................657

1. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE................................................................................663

Thomas F. Gilman

1. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY........................................................................691

William L. Walton, Stephen Moore, and David R. Burton  [Not sure this is the same William L. Walton, probably]

1. EXPORT–IMPORT BANK................................................................................................717

THE EXPORT–IMPORT BANK SHOULD BE ABOLISHED.....................717

Veronique de Rugy

THE CASE FOR THE EXPORT–IMPORT BANK..........................................724

Jennifer Hazelton

1. FEDERAL RESERVE..........................................................................................................731

Paul Winfree  [See this also from a Wikipedia footnote]

1. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION..................................................................745

Karen Kerrigan

1. TRADE.......................................................................................................................................765

THE CASE FOR FAIR TRADE................................................................................765

Peter Navarro

THE CASE FOR FREE TRADE...............................................................................796

Kent Lassman

SECTION 5: INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES................825

1. FINANCIAL REGULATORY AGENCIES................................................................829

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION AND RELATED AGENCIES......................................................................................829

David R. Burton

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU....................................837

Robert Bowes  [Couldn't find much]

1. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION................................................845

Brendan Carr

1. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION.......................................................................861

Hans A. von Spakovsky

1. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.............................................................................869

Adam Candeub

ONWARD!................................................................................................................................883

When I was about halfway through this list, Google got me to this Twitter thread, that was written to point out that while Trump claims to know nothing about Project 2025, many, if not most, of the authors were in his administration.  Most significantly, he adds photos.  

Trump is desperately claiming he has “no idea who is behind” Project 2025.

Here are some of the top Trump advisors and allies who are behind his Project 2025 agenda.

🧵 pic.twitter.com/HJck9lOJO6

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) July 9, 2024