Warning - IDT Phone Service - Verizon - Unhealthy, Inexcusable Repair Delays

First let me tell you that for the past 5 or so years, my mother has had IDT telephone service in New Jersey, mostly without a problem. She is 88 years old and has a medical alert system connected to her phone.
On Friday, October, 30 2010, her service went dead, when callers called they got a busy signal, when she tried to call, all that was heard was a very loud buzzing noise. I called IDT, which is located in Newark, NJ., but believe I was talking to someone in India as they did not speak very good English. On Monday, November 2, 2010 I received a call back from IDT explaining how they can not do anything about the problem since they only lease the lines from Verizon, who is responsible for the repairs, and that a service was scheduled for the next day.
On Tuesday, a technician came to the house and determined that it was indeed an outside problem with the wiring and would schedule a bucket truck to repair it, which was scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5. I must remind you that this woman of 88, with a Medical Alert System tied to her phone, lives alone and is mostly deaf.
I contacted Verizon several times to no avail, because Mom is an IDT customer, they would not even talk to me. At this point, I continually tried contacting IDT and they kept ignoring my request and ultimately stopped receiving my and my brothers calls.
Verizon did not show up on Thursday after Scheduling the repair with me on Wednesday, no calls from them to expect delay, or re-schedule.
Sunday, November 8, 2010 I called Comcast for telephone service, explaining the entire situation to them. They immediately dispatched a truck to Mom's house, installed a new phone line and number. They were terrific and I applaud them for understanding.
Today, November 10, Verizon showed up to repair the line, which they did, explaining that it was a simple grounding issue and should not have taken so long.
IDT and Verizon have just lost a lifelong customer and I caution all of you that have either service to reconsider as it could be the matter of life or death if you have a problem with your phone lines.
I might add that I also contacted the New Jersey Public Service Commission who advised me that my only recourse was to call the BBB.

Is Horse Racing A Sport??? Online Gambling Laws Say No!

Illinois has just introduced online gambling for Horse Racing and has allowed three (3) companies to offer this service.

This is contradictory to the federal laws of the US and yet it is allowed in many other States as well.

Federal Laws make betting on any Sport illegal under the 1961 Wire Act. Although Horse racing is and has been clearly defined since the days of the Roman chariot races as a sport, the DOJ does not go after domestic suppliers of this service.

If one is to look objectively at the sport, it can be deemed a team sport as there are trainers, jockeys, horses, grooms, owners, venues, set competition and many other factors that all need to come together to participate.

What, other than the horse itself, makes this a legitimate betting venue and the NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, not.

This is a high form of hypocrisy, being displayed by the elite of this country that still regard this as the Sport Of Kings, and as such, does not fit into the sporting category and has had separate legislation to ensure it stays that way.

Rep. Barney Frank and his Financial Service Committee is trying very diligently to correct this injustice. There are now 61 co-sponsors for H.R. 2267 which seeks to overturn the UIGEA and make legal at the Federal level, all online gambling.

I urge you all to contact your representative and suggest they support this bill.

Online Gambling Bill HR2267 Gaining Strength Again

Thanks to a big push by all of us, the following Congressional Representatives added their support for HR2267 & HR2266. HR2266 is to delay for one year the implementation of rules entered by the Bush Admin. and sponsored by NFL lobbyists that makes transferring money to illegal offshore casinos the responsibility of Banking and credit card processors without the benefit of defining what is illegal.

HR2267 is a bill that will legalize, license, regulate and tax online gambling in the U.S.

Send a thank you to Rep Betsy Markey, [CO-4], Rep Russ Carnahan, [MO-3], Rep Bill Pascrell, Jr. [NJ-8] for their support, as well as Rep Judy Biggert, [IL-13] for her support of HR2266.

Keep up the good work and keep in contact with your representatives by snail mail, email, phone and in person contact to ask those not already a co-sponsor to please sign up and help restore this freedom to us.

HR2266 now has 35 co-sponsors.

HR2267 is at 54.

Please also thank Rep. Barney Frank [MA-4] for his sponsoring these bills.

Online Gambling Bill Gaining Strength Quickly

HR 2267 is now at 51 co-sponsors The following House Reps. joined Barney Franks bill to overturn the UIGEA and make it legal, regulated and safe for Americans that want, gamble on the Internet: Rep Kinda T. Sanchez, [CA-39], Rep Mike Thompson, [CA-1], Rep Daniel B. Maffei, [NY-25].

HR2266, a companion bill that if approved, will delay the implementation of rules put into law on Jan. 19, and sanctioned by the NFL and their politically connected lobbyists. The law is to be made effective this December to prevent monetary transaction to offshore casinos that offer online gambling. This bill now has 32 co-sponsors with the addition of: Rep Mike Thompson, [CA-1] and Rep Daniel B. Maffei, [NY-25].

Please call to thank them for their support. For the remaining members of Congress, it is up to you, the people to call, email, snail mail, or visit them and insist they get on board to restore our freedom.

Online Gambling Bill Get Support From Rep. John Conyers, Jr.

Rep John Conyers, Jr. [MI-14] has joined the ranks of co-sponsors to bring Online gambling to the United States. Rep. Conyers is Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary and serves on these other (Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties).

To be sure, this is an important alliance for those who oppose the UIGEA. Congressman Conyers becomes the 49th co-sponsor to HR2267., and with Rep. Rep Paul D. Tonko, [NY-21] they bring to 30 the number of co-sponsors for HR2266, which is a bill designed to delay for one year, the implementation of rules set by the Bush administration on his last day of office. This bill may be moot if the markup for HR2267 is done and passes into law.

Be sure to thank your congressperson for their support and if they have not yet signed on to these to bills, please contact them often until they do.