Geeks vs. God: Best Buy Fights to Suppress Free Speech of Priest Who Called Himself the “God Squad”
Father Luke Strand only wanted to serve his faith. A beloved Catholic Priest who devotes all his time and energy working for a small community center in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, he is the epitome of the humble Christian. Seeking to reach out to a young audience with the message of love and devotion, he created an oval emblem for his Volkswagen Beetle in 2008. It read, “God Squad.”
Best Buy, the nearly bankrupt billion-dollar electronics company, has long made a name for itself enforcing severe dress codes and copyright claims. Because their products break down with such regularity, they offer a service called the “Geek Squad.” They take great pride in this little side business of theirs, but would it be even necessary in the first place if their products operated as advertised? And what is this service but a thinly disguised opportunity for awkward teens to exact revenge on the older generation? Their desks are always staffed by minimum-wage young people who stomp around importantly in their blue shirts, telling you to wait forever as they stare into computer screens, most likely playing online fantasy games or else they’re off texting in the breakroom. And when you do get to speak with one of these fellows, they act like you’ve been shot from a cannon from the 1950s, brain damaged and all, just because you can’t locate the internet browser on your PC.
In this particular case, Best Buy sent a team of lawyers in the most threatening fashion imaginable to force poor Father Luke to cease and desist. They claimed he was robbing them of business and sullying their important name. Alas, Father Luke is not a rich man, he has no millionaire barristers in his rolodex. He did what the best of us has to do in times of great strife. He walked to his little car and removed the “God Squad” emblem, forever robbing the people in his community from that tiny touch of inspiration that might have turned them towards the loving embrace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
You could argue that maybe Best Buy was simply ashamed of being associated, even if by happenstance, with Christian morality. But maybe we are seeing something more significant here than a vague matter of copyright. In many ways, this fight symbolizes the drama in this country between Christians and technologists, between faith and science “theorists”. The bias of the younger computer generation is well known. They trend towards atheism or else extreme forms of liberalism where everything from gay rights to drugs are accepted. We have a huge cultural divide in this country right now, between children in their teens, 20s and 30s who have not learned hard work or responsibility. We are living in the worst economic times since the Great Depression. We have a president who has lost faith in American greatness, who has no clear foreign policy agenda and who has failed to inspire the people of this country.
On the other side, we have men like Father Luke. Heroes and moral leaders! We need their strength and their joy if we are ever to retain the primacy that is the United States of America. Who are these corporate lawyers to tell us that faith does not fit into their boardroom version of free speech? This is a far larger issue, this is the fight to save the souls of the 300 million people who live and breathe in this country. These cretins at Best Buy should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for harassing and tormenting a simple Catholic Priest.
Have we really lost all sense of direction and love in this country? Are we going to let a bunch of nerd squad kids threaten and mock us into silence? Who are they in the first place? Show your faces and let’s see what this geek army is made of! Are you afraid to expose your kiddie porn collections and computer hacking, your time wasted chatting around the world with strange men, the depths of depravity you are only promoting by adding yet more and more filth to the internet each day? This is exactly the sort of thing our moral leaders have been warning us about for years: atheists have found the newest and most perverse ways to spread their hatred of God and to bring down America. These are your socialists, your liberals, your computer geeks, your teenage outcasts, your haters of love and liberty and faith and God. Their sickness is profound, their sickness is America and sex and drugs and the death of everything that once made this country so incredibly great, and there is only one cure: accepting the Savior and accepting him now.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/100671289.html
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Author: Stephenson Billings
Stephenson Billings is an Investigative Journalist, Motivational Children's Party Entertainer and Antique Soda Bottle Collector all in one special, blessed package! Facebook me here or Fanmail me: StephensonBillings@yahoo.com !
7:49 pm
You sure, have no idea how ANYTHING works do you?
// They take great pride in this little side business of theirs, but would it be even necessary in the first place if their products operated as advertised?//
Ok, let’s say you buy a computer at Wal-Mart or Target, or you just purchase one online. Let’s say something goes wrong, no one else seems to be able to help, and because of that, Best Buy is able to help out people who either screw up their product, or got screwed over by a competitor. It’s called a business, as well as supply and demand. The next time you’re computer breaks, you should probably just shut up and not say anything.
//And when you do get to speak with one of these fellows, they act like you’ve been shot from a cannon from the 1950s, brain damaged and all, just because you can’t locate the internet browser on your PC.//
If you can’t locate your internet browser, you probably HAVE been shot from one. You also can’t sit there and act all high-and-mighty for some terrible service, every day people in their field get ordered around by assholes like you, demanding that they fix their computer because it’s the customers fault that they downloaded a virus like an idiot, so seeing someone who’s a wee bit pissed shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, especially if they’re trying to help you learn how to turn your damn computer on.
//He walked to his little car and removed the “God Squad” emblem, forever robbing the people in his community from that tiny touch of inspiration that might have turned them towards the loving embrace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. //
Except they don’t want to be affiliated with someone who will steal their logo design, font and all, because that’s taking away THEIR right to own a trademark. YOUR people infringed upon THEIR right. They probably have no problem with the name “God Squad”, everyone names a group after something that’s remotely popular in this world today. However, when your advertisements for your group are dangerously close to the advertisements of another group, there WILL be legal action. This would have only been a silly case if this guy had just been sued over the whole “God Squad” thing, but instead, YOU provided pictorial evidence that there was a dangerous similarity between one group and another.
Also, nice job trying to bullshit your way into saying that atheism and “theorist” (seriously, why the fucking quotes around theorist? Do you know what the hell a theory is?) by saying that because your group decided to push legal boundaries and having to repent in some way for it, that the people responsible for it, who’s rights were being violated in the first place, are trying to corrupt and destroy everything.
Seriously, go to a fucking community center or talk to someone who’s computer literate, they will help you understand how this series of tubes works.
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8:02 pm
“And when you do get to speak with one of these fellows, they act like you’ve been shot from a cannon from the 1950s, brain damaged and all, just because you can’t locate the internet browser on your PC.”
Haha, wow, anybody who can’t locate the internet browser on their computer really IS brain damaged!
“The bias of the younger computer generation is well known. They trend towards atheism or else extreme forms of liberalism where everything from gay rights to drugs are accepted.”
And old farts like you trend towards religion or other extreme forms of conservatism where everything from homophobia to misogyny are accepted.
“Who are these corporate lawyers to tell us that faith does not fit into their boardroom version of free speech?”
Corporate lawyers.
“This is a far larger issue, this is the fight to save the souls of the 300 million people who live and breathe in this country.”
How many times do we have to say this? Not everybody in this country WANTS you to “save” them!
“Are you afraid to expose your kiddie porn collections and computer hacking, your time wasted chatting around the world with strange men, the depths of depravity you are only promoting by adding yet more and more filth to the internet each day?”
I cannot WAIT until you get your both your ass AND your balls sued off for slander!
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9:46 pm
Claire, I think this is an interesting issue and you certainly can’t copyright the word “God” in today’s culture. The significance of this case is clear, it was a corporate inhumane structure versus a simple man of faith. The outcome is personally upsetting to me, as I tried to express in the writing of this piece. I do not consider anything libelous, more insights into the nature of the world we live in today. There is a genuine battle going on in the streets and homes of America.
As a side note, not all technical issues are black and white and I’m not sure what type of computer you have but we all have problems when the products we’re sold aren’t what we expected.
–Stephenson
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9:51 pm
“As a side note, not all technical issues are black and white and I’m not sure what type of computer you have but we all have problems when the products we’re sold aren’t what we expected.”
If you’re referring to your inability to access the internet, that’s not a “technical issue”. It simply means that you’re a dumbass.
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9:52 pm
//Claire, I think this is an interesting issue and you certainly can’t copyright the word “God” in today’s culture.//
No, but you can certainly copyright a logo design, which seems to be what was violated by your buddies.
//The significance of this case is clear, it was a corporate inhumane structure versus a simple man of faith.//
Actually, it was a corporation wanting to make sure no lines are blurred with a religious organization as to not offend anyone of any faith.
//The outcome is personally upsetting to me, as I tried to express in the writing of this piece.//
Like I said, you find it wrong that Christians should have to follow the rules and laws set in place by your precious court-room buddies. Ironic, ain’t it?
//I do not consider anything libelous, more insights into the nature of the world we live in today. There is a genuine battle going on in the streets and homes of America.//
And what battle would that be? The battle for freedom and truth and no oppression, or the battle of Christian Tyranny led by assholes like yourself?
//As a side note, not all technical issues are black and white and I’m not sure what type of computer you have but we all have problems when the products we’re sold aren’t what we expected. //
So you’ll bash the company for providing a service to fix computers even if the parent company is the one that may have provided the computer, yet you will crawl to them and ask them to fix your computer when something goes wrong. How much of a fucking hypocritical asshole are you?
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10:02 pm
I would encourage you to use clean language here.
If this is a simple question of a company’s copyright, why would they be so hostile to a single priest? Why attack him in such a way? They could have easily let this one slip by as recognition of the goodness and morality that is the backbone of this country. If you really cared about America, you’d understand why this is relevant.
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10:13 pm
//If this is a simple question of a company’s copyright, why would they be so hostile to a single priest? Why attack him in such a way?//
A simple C&D of using their logo design hardly qualifies as hostile attack. If Best Buy was as hostile as you’d wish, then they would have sued the crap out of him before anything. A lawyer going up to you and asking you to choose a different design and holding a piece of paper does not equal a declaration of war.
//They could have easily let this one slip by as recognition of the goodness and morality that is the backbone of this country. If you really cared about America, you’d understand why this is relevant.//
Except they are NOT a part of any religious group. That would actually be infringing upon their workers rights due to YOUR COURTS ruling to keep religion out of the work force if the established work force is not religious in the first place. What if the people who were there are Jewish, or Muslim, or Buddhist, or any other religion that exists today? Wouldn’t their rights be infringed if they have to work for a religious group that they don’t agree with or not a part of?
Want to start up a company based on religion? Fine, you’ll probably get some flak, but as long as you make it clear that you’re founded on religious ground, there’s not a lot anyone can do. Want to turn a pre-existing company into a religious one? No way in hell will anyone let that fly, and that’s exactly what you’re wanting Best Buy to do, to bend over, and either let them be trampled by Christianity, or say that they’re a Christian group and offend all of their non-Christian workers and potentially customers.
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12:20 pm
Obviously you know nothing about the framers of the constitution. Yes they were all for relgious freedom, but a true patriot and student of american history will also know about half of the framers where atheists, most notably Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Your abuse of this idea of a good natured person must have a religiously based sense of morality is why I and many others of our generation refute religion. It’s one more form of infringement of liberty and knowledge through structured order, propaganda, and oppression of true free will. Yet also it stands on an ideology of peae, love, understanding, and goodwill to all, yet most often maintains prominence doing the exact opposite of what it promotes. Examples, the catholic church and it’s Dogmas. George W Bush, the rising evangelical movement in the breadbasket states. You really have no grasp on what’s really going on in the world if you feel that an infringement on a copyrighted logo is a direct affront at religion. As Americans one must respect and honor the rights of all fellow citizens if we truly wish to be free. Even if it offends you, you must be tolerant. The preist should’ve known better than too nearly verbatim borrow one of the more easily recognized trademark logos. Basically he broke the law and was asked please stop or will take you to court and make you stop. As far as BestBuy threatening to sue the crap out of a Priest, you must best smoking way better stuff than me, no corporation would drag it’s name down sueing a small town preist over something this trivial.
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9:27 pm
“Best Buy, the nearly bankrupt billion-dollar electronics company, has long made a name for itself enforcing severe dress codes and copyright claims. Because their products break down with such regularity, they offer a service called the “Geek Squad.” They take great pride in this little side business of theirs, but would it be even necessary in the first place if their products operated as advertised? And what is this service but a thinly disguised opportunity for awkward teens to exact revenge on the older generation? Their desks are always staffed by minimum-wage young people who stomp around importantly in their blue shirts, telling you to wait forever as they stare into computer screens, most likely playing online fantasy games or else they’re off texting in the breakroom. And when you do get to speak with one of these fellows, they act like you’ve been shot from a cannon from the 1950s, brain damaged and all, just because you can’t locate the internet browser on your PC. ”
Their dress codes make sure that people don’t come in with material that might be offensive to certain denominations.
They sell products from manufacturers who may or may not sell excellent products, but all have to pass certain standards.
Actually, the ‘young people’ who staff it are not minimum wage. Anything in the computer industry, since it is considered skilled labor, pays more than minimum wage.
I’ve been to the tech support center of several best buys. There aren’t any break rooms.
They’d be fired if they were caught using the company’s meager bandwidth to play games, if the computers they use could even play them, they’re always searching a database for ‘other occurences’ (stuff happening more than once), to see if they need to send someone in person.
You know that using the internet is one of the simplest things to do, right?
“In this particular case, Best Buy sent a team of lawyers in the most threatening fashion imaginable to force poor Father Luke to cease and desist. They claimed he was robbing them of business and sullying their important name. Alas, Father Luke is not a rich man, he has no millionaire barristers in his rolodex. He did what the best of us has to do in times of great strife. He walked to his little car and removed the “God Squad” emblem, forever robbing the people in his community from that tiny touch of inspiration that might have turned them towards the loving embrace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ”
I can think of a much more threatening fashion to send lawyers.
The reason they wanted him to stop using the image that was so close to theirs is that if they did something bad, Best Buy might be held accountable.
The rest is just the normal stupid drivel you seem intent on spouting as much as possible.
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9:38 pm
I’m sorry but I’ve had different first hand experiences there. You’re in Canada, correct? Maybe things are a bit different there. In any event, the point of this article had to do less with there customer service and more about their attack on the Catholic Priest which you avoided entirely.
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9:45 pm
No, this blog post is about how you feel that Christians should be able to trample over the rights of a corporation; and that if a Christian group is guilty of something, that they’re being repressed, even if the evidence is provided by your own hands.
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8:49 pm
OMG! A VW Bug has been the Geek Squad emblem since it was started in a guy’s HOME! The Priest used a VW Bug. The logos are identical! This has nothing to do with squashing the Priest’s rights, this has to do branding and copyright. I think if the sign on the car was a triangle, a star, whatever shape, besides the identical Geek Squad shape, and it was on a Prius, BB would not have asked him to remove it.
For an author, Mr. Billings, you should KNOW the difference between their, there and they’re; and use them al correctly. You damage the reputation of writers everywhere. Use a dictionary! If you can find your browser…
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10:07 pm
I wish you people who want to argue for the sake of arguing would stop pasting Mr. Billings’ words into your comment? I think there are many people who would like to respond also, but give up rather than scrolling through half the article again that you have cut and pasted, as though you’re going to do some serious deconstructing of his points. Especially since the most clever comeback you can muster is “YOUR A DICK.”
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10:10 pm
That is funny! Yes, this comedian guy loves to do that cut and paste. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize it makes it very hard to read.
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10:16 pm
I cut and paste to rip apart your arguments. You cut and paste and link to your own articles because you can’t come up with actual backing.
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7:37 am
hi little boy.i’m from god squad.get in the car and i’ll give you a piece of candy.
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10:39 pm
We quote his sentences because we actually like to make clear what we’re trying to say. If we want to deconstruct specific parts, it’s pretty necessary to point out what we’re saying.
And you really think people give up because the comments are too long? It doesn’t take all that long to get to the bottom of the page if you’re doing it right. Of course, if you’re the kind of person who has trouble opening an internet browser…
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10:47 pm
Honestly, most of the time the long comments don’t fit on my screen and I’ve mentioned this to certain people who post here, particularly when they respond to responses of responses– things get so indented and narrow it’s difficult to parse out. I have my fonts large too to make it easier to see everything but in general I just want people to be concise and know what they’re saying, not throwing out unfounded accusations.
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10:49 pm
So you have a reading problem, and yet you will blame us for your reading problem. If you seriously have a reading problem, I suggest you stop posting shit online, otherwise you’ll just make a bigger fool of yourself, and go see an eye doctor. If you’re STILL having a reading problem, you might just want to swear off the internet period.
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10:52 pm
Hm. Seems a little odd. Browser thing? I just see indented comment boxes that are more narrow but longer. I don’t think it’s a widespread problem in either case.
I don’t know why I’m suddenly helping Billings. It’s been a weird night.
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10:56 pm
//I don’t know why I’m suddenly helping Billings. It’s been a weird night.//
Because he’s such a pathetic moron that no one on either side will help him, so those that are the most venomous towards him pity him the most.
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11:15 pm
I think it’s mostly because, if we’re going to take the time to think up new and creative ways to accuse him of closeted homosexuality, I want to make sure he’s at least able to read it.
But I think I like your explanation better, so that’s what it is from now on.
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9:30 am
Billy, when you have a firm grasp of the English language you can try to educate others on what they’re doing wrong in regards to how they post.
Until then “Your a dick” should correctly be spelled “You’re a dick”. You see in this case “you’re” is a contraction for “you are”. “Your a dick” implies that there is some type of ownership/possession involved.
Thanks. Class dismissed.
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6:23 pm
Please don’t put words in my mouth. I didn’t say that and you’re acting like a child.
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6:32 pm
Unless your name is Billy, I doubt he was talking to you.
Once again, you show that you don’t bother reading, and just assume things. Paying attention to what people say helps if you want to make a valid case.
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8:36 pm
Defensive, isn’t he, Comedian?
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8:49 pm
More like he’s defensive towards the wrong people XD
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9:14 pm
If that comment wasn’t directed at me, who in the world was it intended for? You people have gone overboard here and I don’t have a floatation device for you.
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9:46 pm
Uh, the guy who’s named William whatever? Billy is a shortened form of William, and if you have a problem with keep a track of who’s talking to who, you should probably just leave the internet at this point.
Hell, I’m tempted to just call you Billy from now on, just to screw with you.
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9:53 pm
You’re right, Comedian. See it’s all these indented columns and the fact that you guys respond so much it doesn’t fit on my screen. Some of your single comments don’t even fit on my screen! Does that happen on your computer?
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9:56 pm
No, my eyes can see just fine so everything’s just fine. Maybe this is a sign from god that your ways are too old to apply to modern day society and that you should do something about that?
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11:13 pm
Dudesnude Adam,
Do you get it? I was referring to the crackpots that unnecessarily cut and paste long passages of the article we have all just read, and then spew misspelled profanity and third grade comebacks. Do you offer grammar advice to them?
I feel stupid even responding to you. But people like you are the lifeblood of this site, and for that, I thank you.
God bless you,
W/S
P.S. I’ve fed you a straight line so that you can have a witty comeback. Or are you too dumb to find it?
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10:19 pm
The whiny cunt doth protest too much, methinks.
If your dissatisfied with their service, learn to fix your computer yourself. I don’t know how I’d take it if I worked in tech support and someone came up to me telling me they can’t figure out how to open their internet browser. Not well, I’d wager. That isn’t a “computer problem”. That’s a “fecking eejit problem”.
I think it’s fantastic that you took a rant about a lawsuit over the words “God squad” and turn it into a pretentious and paranoid tirade about how the younger generation, the athiests, the liberals and your own president are out to get you.
I’m also quite enjoying the irony of the fact that you’re using the internet (i.e. technology) to bitch about anyone younger than you and their technology.
I don’t really even know what you’re supposed to be complaining about here. It’s just a bloody name. He’ll stop using it, and the world will carry on spinning. Harldy the greatest injustice in the world.
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10:30 pm
I didn’t say it was my printer that was broken, not sure why you assumed that.
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10:34 pm
Got some reading comprehension problems there buddy? I don’t see any mention of a printer in the man’s post, so I don’t know why you would assume something like that.
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10:36 pm
I didn’t assume your printer was broken. That’s why I didn’t mention it.
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10:38 pm
You talked about ink jets.
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10:42 pm
Your post is the very first to use the word “ink” or “jets.” Or “printer.” Might I offer you a nice big cup of shut the fuck up?
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10:45 pm
Because pictures seem to be clearer with Stevie:
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10:48 pm
Well whatever but he was talking about ink jet problems and I don’t really care anymore.
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10:52 pm
Hang on. You mean “eejit”, don’t you?
Means “idiot”, mate.
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10:52 pm
You can’t read, and you DON’T read, there was no mention of ink jets you nimrod. He said that there’s more of a “fecking eejit problem”, or (because you can’t read) a fucking idiot problem. eejit is not, nor should it sound like ink jet.
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6:29 am
If you’re not going to use basic English, how am I supposed to understand you people?
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4:11 pm
//If you’re not going to use basic English, how am I supposed to understand you people?//
By reading and paying attention, rather than just glimpse over a couple of words and go with whatever you think it says.
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6:09 pm
“If you’re not going to use basic English, how am I supposed to understand you people?”
Can’t blame us for your incompetence, mate. I’ve used the term quite a few times on this site before. Could have paid attention to the context I used it in then, perhaps.
Christ, you could have just googled it, if you were really stuck.
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6:17 pm
maybe because of what makes you think you can get away with useing incorrect english billings.
once again simply makeing asmuptions when you encounter something you are not sure about is a horrible idea.
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6:24 pm
This printer thing is not a relevant issue so let’ move on guys.
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6:34 pm
//This printer thing is not a relevant issue so let’ move on guys.//
You’re the one that brought up the printer, and it’s relevant because no one mentioned it, you’re too much of a dumbass to completely read things through and try to understand them and so you made a completely unrelated point.
Why don’t you just run away from this site you coward, you run away from everything else.
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4:55 am
billings you are the only one who bring it up so if it’s so irrelevant why do you keep doing that?
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10:55 pm
“That’s strange. Bob NEVER wants a second cup of shut-the-fuck-up at home!”
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10:57 pm
“I picked the wrong week to quit shutting-the-fuck-up.”
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1:30 am
“I like my shut-the-fuck-up black, like my men.”
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4:41 am
“They trend towards atheism”
they do not. calling yourself indightful in relegious afairs you should know that despite most claiming to be atheists they are really agonostics.
that is right the majority of the people in question are aginostics.
now i dare you to explain what an agonostic is.
as for you problems with the service they provide.
you see yourself as a counseler yes? now how would you feel is every day you were aproched by people aqsking “is it okay for me to stab a knife in your eye?” completly seriously because they don’t have any idea. imagine hundreds of people asked you stupid shit like that every day. don’t you think you’d begin to look just a tiny bit down on the stupider of the crowd?
as for the nececity of the service. yes in theory if the products work they wouldn’t need people specificly to fix them. the thing is the reason they need fixing is because of idiots like you who abuse the product and thus make it not work.
finaly as for the case about the priest. he stole a copy rigthed logo end of.
if he wanna make his own logo that isn’t stolen he fucking well can.
yes they could let it slide but they do not want to be asociated with christainity as that can be hurtful for their buisness.
free speech doesn’t mean he get to steal copyrigthed logos.
“These cretins at Best Buy should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for harassing and tormenting a simple Catholic Priest.”
he started. you should be ashamed of harashing al quda i guess. they just f´lew a little plane into your towers that’s no excuse to want justice is it now you fucking hypocrit?
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6:31 am
Jazze, it is a fascinating topic! I should write about it some day but there are literally thousands of articles online about the geek-atheism connection. Here’s a blog post that sums it all up:
Why Are Geeks Often Atheist?
http://jawadonweb.com/?page_id=875
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5:17 pm
no billings just no.
most people are agonostics that include the geeks.
i asume you don’t even know what geek means let alone agonostic so me trying to once again explain it is rather pointless.
atheism requires devotion to denying the existance of god. very few people do that. very very few.
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7:08 pm
FTA: “The absence of proof does not mean there is no proof at all; but it does give a strong reason to doubt if there is any.”
This line almost completely sums up the difference between geeks and people like yourself. There is no proof of this theory, so you simply take it as truth based on faith. A geek, however, would demand that there be some sort of proof to back up the claims. I know that having to find proof of the claims that you make up is difficult, but that’s why a lot of people are arguing against what you are saying. The claims that you are making are not backed up with any sort of data. If you, personally, had taken a computer in to be worked on by the Geek Squad and felt that you were being looked down upon, then it may have been a problem with that particular technician at that particular store. If, however, there were examples of this behavior in a large number of Best Buys, then I’m sure it would be well known to the public. There are several websites and news organizations that report on these things.
As far as my own personal experiences go, a lot of the geeks that I have met and talked to about religion and faith are not atheists. There are a decent sampling of them that come from a variety of faiths, including Christianity of various nature, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim. Most of the rest are some form of agnostic, believing in the foundations of science, such as the Big Bang and Evolution, but also believing there must have been some hand involved in the guidance of these principles.
So, please, for the sake of your readers, if you are going to make a claim against a group of people or an individual, have the evidence present in your article to back up the statements you make.
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11:04 am
Because GOD doesn’t let you play D and D. Thus “God” sucks monkey balls, as he has for a while, though his “prophets” hide this fact by calling it wrong. I hear God plays a mean skin flute.
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11:13 am
“Have we really lost all sense of direction and love in this country? Are we going to let a bunch of nerd squad kids threaten and mock us into silence? Who are they in the first place? Show your faces and let’s see what this geek army is made of! Are you afraid to expose your kiddie porn collections and computer hacking, your time wasted chatting around the world with strange men, the depths of depravity you are only promoting by adding yet more and more filth to the internet each day?”
I literally stoppped reading after this. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD GOOD SIR???
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11:26 am
You, sir, are an IDIOT.
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1:39 am
I’m wondering why Father Luke would be caught dead driving around a little gay car like that. You know…this could very well tie into your article “Is My Husband Gay?” A man like Father Luke could most likely be a gay man since he drives such a flashy sassy gay car.
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7:26 pm
Get you facts straight. Best Buy didn’t ask him to change anything but the logo. If you call that an attack, then you sir are an idiot. Take your feeble worded “attack” and find something better to do with your life.
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6:53 pm
WELL, WHAT IVE LEARNED FROM THIS SITE IS THAT THE LEFT HAS ITS OWN LOW IQ SEGMENT THAT CANNOT GRASP THAT THIS IS SATIRE.
VERY ELUCIDATING. I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE A LOT MORE “REAL’MERICANS” POSTING “HOO RAA…WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE SITE WOULD ACTUALLY BE LAMPOONING THE LEFT, AS THE PRIME VICTIMS OF THE SATIRE ARE THOSE UP-IN-ARMS ABOUT THE WONDERFUL WORK OF MR BILLINGS.
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8:28 pm
Well I’ll be. For one, none of the authors of the articles I read can write properly, and second of all, for this article especially GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT.
Geek Squad was started by a guy in Minneapolis whose kids go to a CATHOLIC SCHOOL! He hired geeky guys who knew computers inside and out. They did great business and were noticed by Best Buy, who bought Geek Squad, as an accoutrement to their own technology business.
Best Buy doesn’t MAKE the computers. They can’t control if items break after warranty. And the Geek Squad men don’t ALL play RPG computer games, use drugs, or make minimum wage.
This article is ridiculous. It is nothing more than a string of unrelated topics. As a female techie married to a male techie, with children; we don’t do 95% of the things mentioned in this article: except make fun of people that buy computers yet can’t use them!
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2:40 am
They sent a person to talk to Father Luke about the copyright infringement to begin with. They were kind about it, he told them no a few times so they took it a step higher. They would have done the same if I had stuck their logo on the side of a volkswagon and termed it ‘Green Squad’. Just because he is a priest doesn’t mean he should get away with copyright infringement.
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4:37 pm
Wow. so many things so very wrong in your article. I’m not even talking morally. I mean you are almost entirely factually wrong.
“has long made a name for itself enforcing severe dress codes and copyright claims. ”
While not factually wrong, your use of loaded language is meant to deceive the reader. Geek Squad has a uniform. Pretty much ever retailer has this to one degree or another. It provides brand recognition and helps to maintain the type of environment they wish to maintain. We’ll chalk this one up under “morally wrong”
“Because their products break down with such regularity, they offer a service called the “Geek Squad.” They take great pride in this little side business of theirs, but would it be even necessary in the first place if their products operated as advertised? ”
Actually, Geek Squad is geared more towards installation and training. Most of the trouble shooting they do is user error. If the product itself is broken, you’re more likely to get a replacement.
And, yes, things made by men break sometimes. This may shock you, but no man is perfect.
“And what is this service but a thinly disguised opportunity for awkward teens to exact revenge on the older generation?”
Actually, this is an attempt to cash in on the lucrative support industry. That’s how the real money is made. And, wow, do you sound like a cranky old man with that comment.
Seriously, if you were the head of a major retailer, would you want “an awkward teen” out there “exacting revenge” on your customers?
“Their desks are always staffed by minimum-wage young people who stomp around importantly in their blue shirts,”
That’s not Geek Squad. That is the regular sales associate. I really don’t know how much they make. I don’t think you do, either. You probably just used minimum wage as an insult. Real Christian of you there, using someone’s paycheck as a measure of their character.
“telling you to wait forever as they stare into computer screens,”
Yes, we all hate waiting for the paper work to get done. Can you imagine how much longer you’d have to wait if they weren’t a little organized?
“most likely playing online fantasy games”
1) I love Deadspin and find it hilarious you’d use them as a source.
2) Your link leads to an unsubstantiated story of some employees stealing evil, sinful porn of customer computers. Are you worried about them stealing your porn?
3) I have yet to see a business that allows employees to waste its resources in such a way. Odds are, if anyone of authority found out, that employee would be fired.
“or else they’re off texting in the breakroom.”
Spend a lot of time in a Best Buy breakroom?
“And when you do get to speak with one of these fellows, they act like you’ve been shot from a cannon from the 1950s, brain damaged and all, just because you can’t locate the internet browser on your PC. ”
I think that is more being dumbstruck that such a mentally deficient person can remember to breathe regularly, never mind buy a computer and then call for help.
“In this particular case, Best Buy sent a team of lawyers in the most threatening fashion imaginable to force poor Father Luke to cease and desist. ”
They sent a letter, they didn’t sent Cousin Vito with a lead pipe.
“They claimed he was robbing them of business and sullying their important name.”
He was using their brand recognition. That’s actually really important if you run a business.
“Alas, Father Luke is not a rich man, he has no millionaire barristers in his rolodex. He did what the best of us has to do in times of great strife. He walked to his little car and removed the “God Squad” emblem, forever robbing the people in his community from that tiny touch of inspiration that might have turned them towards the loving embrace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ”
It was a stupid pun. If his parishioners lose their faith that easily, then he’s a lousy priest. I actually like that he made an attempt to put a more modern edge of the RCC’s image. It was funny and a good conversation starter. He can probably keep the name, just not infringe on Best Buy’s copyright.
And I can’t even go into the rest of that article. Sheer lunacy.
Honestly, people like you make rational people of faith like myself ashamed to identify as Christians (Catholic to be exact).
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6:27 am
Father Luke was infringing on Best Buy’s brand by mimicking their logo. Some poor graphic designer in the marketing department of Best Buy somewhere designed that logo- and the priest came along and ripped it off.
If the priest wanted to have a “God Squad”, he should have designed his own frigging logo, rather than STEALING one. Isn’t “THOU SHALT NOT STEAL” one of the commandments? He stole. It’s as simple as that. That doesn’t make him a very good priest, does it?
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1:35 pm
I dont understand, this is just a simple case of copyright law doing what copyright law always does.
big companies suing anything that could ever be considered similar.
pretty cut and dry in my opinion, but I guess if you know nothing about copyright law then you might think something is going on here.
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5:26 am
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5:30 am
wow, failed almost as hard as this thread fails.
your god is dead, thus rendering your argument invalid
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