It looks like the tides have turned and it is going to come down to Obama and McCain. I guess there is still a very small chance that Hillary can get the nod, but it seems unlikely.
In any case I have some friends that are supporting Obama. I don’t, but we each have our opinions. One thing that they have that I do not is that they have a candidate they believe in. I have never been able to vote for a candidate that I believe in. I am jealous.
In fact, I am pretty disenfranchised with the whole thing.
I do not like Obama, and I do not like Clinton. It’s not that I wouldn’t vote for a democrat, but I will not vote for someone that supports socialism and fascism.
I also can’t stand McCain.
Normally, I wouldn’t give McCain my vote…and I may still not. The only reason I would vote for him is to put a republican in the white house and try to keep some semblance of balance. The house / senate could still override the president’s veto, but it becomes more of a challenge. Look what having an all-republican house, senate and white-house did. We need balance.
So once again, I feel fooked. There isn’t anyone that I like and it seems like a hopeless situation.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
FHA Increase
It looks like the FHA has increased loan amounts to $200,160 for a single family in Texas. I live in a fairly decent neighborhood and my house was nowhere near $200k. In rural areas $200k will get you a pretty sweet pad on some acreage.
If the idea behind FHA loans is to help provide loans to people who either can’t afford it or have bad credit. These would be high-risk loans, right?
So again, here we see a fine example of loaning excessive money for homes to high-risk applicants.
If the idea behind FHA loans is to help provide loans to people who either can’t afford it or have bad credit. These would be high-risk loans, right?
So again, here we see a fine example of loaning excessive money for homes to high-risk applicants.
Government Bail-Out of Mortgages
If you take my recent post a step further this same issue has also caused the bubble that has now burst and is hurtling us towards a recession. I saw on the Consumerist web site that they were ragging on the Bush administration for only passing some legislature to give people and additional 30-days to figure out how to work something out with their lender before they get foreclosed on.
The comments back were pretty much chastising the Consumerist for taking such a position. I agree with them. As my friend says, anybody has the right to enter into a bad contract or agreement. This goes for the lender as well as the lendee. Nobody forced anyone to buy houses that were (and still are) overly priced on interest only loans with 3 ~ 5 year flexible arms.
They either did it as an investment property, or because they couldn’t afford to do a conventional loan. One guy, and I mean ONE guy on the Consumerist commentators said that it is cold hearted to not consider all of the other things going on in someone’s life like their credit card debt, cost of food, job market, etc. Hey! You know what? It’s called a fucking budget! You take all this stuff into account and then you look at the bottom line and then you’re supposed to say that you either can, or cannot, afford to take out that loan. Lost your job? That sucks, but sometimes that is life. Life isn’t always fair. If I lost my job I have money saved up to get me through. Again, it’s that whole budget thing.
And as for the lenders? They are just as guilty. They knowingly lent people this money without considering the risk of their investment. It was very shortsighted of them and all they saw were the dollar signs flashing in their eyes! Hey! Look at this! This guy can’t possible afford the $400,000 house on this note. If the interest rate changes we’ll get house and his money and then get to resell the house!! YIPPEE!! Only, they didn’t anticipate the consequences of their actions by creating a false economic value of homes.
Here is an amusing stick-figure slideshow of how the process worked.
So now the bottom is falling out and somehow once again the government is being blamed. What about the people making bad decisions?
I applaud the government for taking some steps to try to get people to work it out. The reality, though, is that most of the people defaulting on their loans could never really afford it in the first place. Apparently, a large percentage of them have never made a mortgage payment or were already severely behind. Statistically speaking, these people never pay their bills on time and probably never will.
Now I am hearing of proposed legislation to empower judges to absolve remaining debt on home loans! This is absolutely absurd. What do you think is going to happen when a huge chunk of these banks and lenders get told to go fuck themselves and that they are out BILLIONS of dollars? Who is going to pick up the tab on this one? I suppose Joe-Taxpayer and those that make their mortgage payments, because surly they are going to pass this cost onto the consumer. Yeah, that’s really going to stimulate the economy.
The comments back were pretty much chastising the Consumerist for taking such a position. I agree with them. As my friend says, anybody has the right to enter into a bad contract or agreement. This goes for the lender as well as the lendee. Nobody forced anyone to buy houses that were (and still are) overly priced on interest only loans with 3 ~ 5 year flexible arms.
They either did it as an investment property, or because they couldn’t afford to do a conventional loan. One guy, and I mean ONE guy on the Consumerist commentators said that it is cold hearted to not consider all of the other things going on in someone’s life like their credit card debt, cost of food, job market, etc. Hey! You know what? It’s called a fucking budget! You take all this stuff into account and then you look at the bottom line and then you’re supposed to say that you either can, or cannot, afford to take out that loan. Lost your job? That sucks, but sometimes that is life. Life isn’t always fair. If I lost my job I have money saved up to get me through. Again, it’s that whole budget thing.
And as for the lenders? They are just as guilty. They knowingly lent people this money without considering the risk of their investment. It was very shortsighted of them and all they saw were the dollar signs flashing in their eyes! Hey! Look at this! This guy can’t possible afford the $400,000 house on this note. If the interest rate changes we’ll get house and his money and then get to resell the house!! YIPPEE!! Only, they didn’t anticipate the consequences of their actions by creating a false economic value of homes.
Here is an amusing stick-figure slideshow of how the process worked.
So now the bottom is falling out and somehow once again the government is being blamed. What about the people making bad decisions?
I applaud the government for taking some steps to try to get people to work it out. The reality, though, is that most of the people defaulting on their loans could never really afford it in the first place. Apparently, a large percentage of them have never made a mortgage payment or were already severely behind. Statistically speaking, these people never pay their bills on time and probably never will.
Now I am hearing of proposed legislation to empower judges to absolve remaining debt on home loans! This is absolutely absurd. What do you think is going to happen when a huge chunk of these banks and lenders get told to go fuck themselves and that they are out BILLIONS of dollars? Who is going to pick up the tab on this one? I suppose Joe-Taxpayer and those that make their mortgage payments, because surly they are going to pass this cost onto the consumer. Yeah, that’s really going to stimulate the economy.
Instant Credit Anyone?
Although I still consider myself to be young, the inevitable reality is that I am 36 and rapidly approaching 37. When I was younger it was difficult to establish a line of credit. I remember living in my apartment and wanting to buy some new furniture. I shopped around a bit and nobody would give me a loan so I could have a new place to rest by butt and prop my feet up.
Loan? Forget it
Credit card? Forget it.
So I went down to the bank and took out a secured loan (that is, I already had the money) for the amount of the furniture I wanted and then bought the furniture. I spent the next few months paying off the loan with a very small amount of interest.
When it was done, I had established some credit and was now eligible to get credit cards or other loans. It wasn’t that difficult, but it was drastically different than how things are today.
Today, you are “pre approved” for all kinds of loans and credit cards. People with horribly bad credit can get all the credit they want if they don’t mind paying the obscenely high interest rates that go along with it.
Maybe the credit card companies are playing the odds because they know some poor college kid is going to rack up $10,000 worth of Pizza and not be able to pay off the interest for a long, long, long time.
A lot of people want to blame the government for the credit crisis we are in, but the government is not solely to blame. I’d say that the majority of the blame rests with the institutions that continue to give out loans and money left and right to anyone that says they want a loan or credit card.
Loan? Forget it
Credit card? Forget it.
So I went down to the bank and took out a secured loan (that is, I already had the money) for the amount of the furniture I wanted and then bought the furniture. I spent the next few months paying off the loan with a very small amount of interest.
When it was done, I had established some credit and was now eligible to get credit cards or other loans. It wasn’t that difficult, but it was drastically different than how things are today.
Today, you are “pre approved” for all kinds of loans and credit cards. People with horribly bad credit can get all the credit they want if they don’t mind paying the obscenely high interest rates that go along with it.
Maybe the credit card companies are playing the odds because they know some poor college kid is going to rack up $10,000 worth of Pizza and not be able to pay off the interest for a long, long, long time.
A lot of people want to blame the government for the credit crisis we are in, but the government is not solely to blame. I’d say that the majority of the blame rests with the institutions that continue to give out loans and money left and right to anyone that says they want a loan or credit card.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
I Found Them!
Supposedly, there are approximately 17,000 Kenyans living and workign in North Texas. That's quite a staggering number considering I didn't realize there were anywhere near that many here in the entire state.
But I found them! Apparently they all work at Fry's down the street from my house!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Obama and my Concerns
For a while now, I’ve been trying to read up on some of the right-wing rhetoric about Obama. As I’ve stated, I haven’t been real impressed with him from what I’ve read, but I have also never heard him speak. I understand that he is a very dynamic and charismatic individual and even most hard-core-conservatives say you have to hear him.
Yet, there are still some major allegations that are levied at him. Namely:
1) While he continues to talk of change, hope, unity, etc., he has as of yet failed to provide any real substance or a plan of action. What is this change that is coming?
2) He is Muslim, has ties to the Muslims, and is empathetic to Muslims. Pick any combination of the three.
3) He is a member of a racist church and is himself racist.
All of which ultimately bring into question his commitment and convictions to the U.S. and our way of life.
With regards to the talk of change, hope, unity, etc., I can’t say that I personally have an opinion one way or the other. I simply do not know enough to make an informed decision.
With regards to Obama being a Muslim, there are an awful lot of emails circulating. Some of these indicate that he is Muslim, was at one time a Muslim, and that he was sworn into office on the Quaran. The good thing about the Internet is the immediate availability and distribution of information. The bad thing about the Internet is the immediate availability and distribution of bad information.
If you just take a little time to read up, you would quickly find that Obama not only isn’t a Muslim but that he never was Muslim. His father wasn’t even a Muslim at the time Obama was born and his mother is Christian. Osama himself claims Christianity as his religion.
He also didn’t swear in on the Quoran. That honor goes to Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison.
But….and isn’t there always a but…. The rest of the allegations bother me. They bother me because the more I dig for information the more they are apparently true with little or no contradictory information.
That Obama has close ties to Muslim supporters that are trying to impose Sharia law is absolutely true. This includes support of his 1st cousin Raila Odinga. Odinga is a Muslim that is leading a front / jihad in Africa to impose Sharia law. This is not a peaceful endeavor and includes the murder of many Africans. Muslims have been committing genocide in Africa for years, but you don’t hear about it much in the media.
http://michaelinmi.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/barack-obama-and-his-support-for-islamic-sharia-law-and-al-qaeda/
http://righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2008/01/obamas-sharia-c.html
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2008/01/barack-obama-backs-taliban-supporter-in.html
http://stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/02/01/barack-obama-kenya-his-cousin-odinga-and-islamic-jihad/
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.arabic/browse_thread/thread/da1e125d12657ecd
and if those aren’t enough just google it.
As for the racist church, I had to think about this one for a while but have finally come to the conclusion that I believe the church to be discriminatory if not outright racist. A brief excerpt from their mission statement:
Commitment to the Black Community
Commitment to the Black Family
Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
Personal Commitment to Embracement of the Black Value System.
Now what I won’t do is launch into some rhetorical tirade about how if you swap the word “white” for “black” in the above that people would have a field day with it. And I don’t have a problem with black people supporting each other within the community and trying to make a better name and place for themselves. The whole world would be a better place if we all focused our time, effort and energy a little more positively.
It’s the last two that bother me. In my opinion those two mission statements simply imply that there is a different system and set of values for black people than other races and that they should be supported and nurtured. That’s pretty racist just about no matter how you slice it.
Then I also read first-hand reports of the church itself and some of the things that were said during sermon. These included stained-glass windows depicting dejected black people in handcuffs with white people as the judges and officers. Sermon’s that included a directive:
“Black people! Grow up! Stop helping white people” – Rev. Moss
I don’t think there is any way around that statement. He isn’t just telling black people to stand up for themselves. He’s objectifying white people as an oppressor and telling black people to be defiant to them. That’s not only un-Christian like, it’s pretty racist.
As one first-hand account put it “And where other churches might talk about the devil or about evil, Trinity demonizes white people.”
But all of this doesn’t answer the ultimate questions:
Is Obama a racist?
Is Obama empathetic to Muslims, Islam and Sharia law?
I guess only Obama can answer that, but I’d be concerned.
Yet, there are still some major allegations that are levied at him. Namely:
1) While he continues to talk of change, hope, unity, etc., he has as of yet failed to provide any real substance or a plan of action. What is this change that is coming?
2) He is Muslim, has ties to the Muslims, and is empathetic to Muslims. Pick any combination of the three.
3) He is a member of a racist church and is himself racist.
All of which ultimately bring into question his commitment and convictions to the U.S. and our way of life.
With regards to the talk of change, hope, unity, etc., I can’t say that I personally have an opinion one way or the other. I simply do not know enough to make an informed decision.
With regards to Obama being a Muslim, there are an awful lot of emails circulating. Some of these indicate that he is Muslim, was at one time a Muslim, and that he was sworn into office on the Quaran. The good thing about the Internet is the immediate availability and distribution of information. The bad thing about the Internet is the immediate availability and distribution of bad information.
If you just take a little time to read up, you would quickly find that Obama not only isn’t a Muslim but that he never was Muslim. His father wasn’t even a Muslim at the time Obama was born and his mother is Christian. Osama himself claims Christianity as his religion.
He also didn’t swear in on the Quoran. That honor goes to Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison.
But….and isn’t there always a but…. The rest of the allegations bother me. They bother me because the more I dig for information the more they are apparently true with little or no contradictory information.
That Obama has close ties to Muslim supporters that are trying to impose Sharia law is absolutely true. This includes support of his 1st cousin Raila Odinga. Odinga is a Muslim that is leading a front / jihad in Africa to impose Sharia law. This is not a peaceful endeavor and includes the murder of many Africans. Muslims have been committing genocide in Africa for years, but you don’t hear about it much in the media.
http://michaelinmi.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/barack-obama-and-his-support-for-islamic-sharia-law-and-al-qaeda/
http://righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2008/01/obamas-sharia-c.html
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2008/01/barack-obama-backs-taliban-supporter-in.html
http://stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/02/01/barack-obama-kenya-his-cousin-odinga-and-islamic-jihad/
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.arabic/browse_thread/thread/da1e125d12657ecd
and if those aren’t enough just google it.
As for the racist church, I had to think about this one for a while but have finally come to the conclusion that I believe the church to be discriminatory if not outright racist. A brief excerpt from their mission statement:
Commitment to the Black Community
Commitment to the Black Family
Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
Personal Commitment to Embracement of the Black Value System.
Now what I won’t do is launch into some rhetorical tirade about how if you swap the word “white” for “black” in the above that people would have a field day with it. And I don’t have a problem with black people supporting each other within the community and trying to make a better name and place for themselves. The whole world would be a better place if we all focused our time, effort and energy a little more positively.
It’s the last two that bother me. In my opinion those two mission statements simply imply that there is a different system and set of values for black people than other races and that they should be supported and nurtured. That’s pretty racist just about no matter how you slice it.
Then I also read first-hand reports of the church itself and some of the things that were said during sermon. These included stained-glass windows depicting dejected black people in handcuffs with white people as the judges and officers. Sermon’s that included a directive:
“Black people! Grow up! Stop helping white people” – Rev. Moss
I don’t think there is any way around that statement. He isn’t just telling black people to stand up for themselves. He’s objectifying white people as an oppressor and telling black people to be defiant to them. That’s not only un-Christian like, it’s pretty racist.
As one first-hand account put it “And where other churches might talk about the devil or about evil, Trinity demonizes white people.”
But all of this doesn’t answer the ultimate questions:
Is Obama a racist?
Is Obama empathetic to Muslims, Islam and Sharia law?
I guess only Obama can answer that, but I’d be concerned.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
LINUX Hates Me
For those of you not into computers, there is a whole vast array of operating systems. Operating systems (or OS for short) is the basic program that allows you to interface with your computer and run other programs such as your browser (to surf the web) or email.
Without getting into the specifics and variations (such as mainframes) and giving you a lesson on this, it comes down to a handful of OS’s that the average Joe might use:
Microsoft Windows and all it’s derivatives
MacOS
LINUX / UNIX
Windows wins the popularity award. It doesn’t mean it’s the outright best but it does mean that they were very successful at marketing it and they did a lot of good things with integrating the applications.
MacOS has always been the OS of choice for those into graphic arts, audio / video applications, or that think they are part of the elite avant-garde users, or just hate Bill Gates and Microsoft.
LINX / UNIX is the preferred operating system of many administrators because of it’s stability and open-source platform (LINUX). It’s also a great OS for hackers due to it’s granular level of control.
But first, let me clarify two things:
Article 1 – If you are the kind of person that would argue that LINUX and UNIX are not the same thing, then you are also probably the kind of person that would argue that variants such as Debian, Solaris, AIX, etc. are not LINXU or UNIX. It’s really simple, they are ALL freaking UNIX. Do you know why I am just as dangerous in Ubuntu as AIX as Solaris? Because they all have the same command structure and share commonality between directory structures….oh, I know…it’s hard for me to say that when Ubuntu puts it’s distribution build libraries under a sub-directory with a slightly different name than CentOS, but I can fuck either box up just as easily. If you are this person, get over it. Get out of your mom’s basement, go grab a beer and try to have some fun.
Article 2 – MacOS is LINUX with a nice-fancy GUI thrown on top of it. If you want to argue that it’s a derivative of debian, see article 1. The main reason I’ll never own a new Mac? The cost. I don’t see why I should pay twice to three times as much as the same hardware that I can get from another vendor, and they still don’t have two buttons for the mouse on the laptops!! HELLO! This has been around for 20 years! Put another button or two on the mouse and quit trying to be so god-damned separatist. Your GUI shell is not worth that kind of money. Far cooler ones are out for LINUX and they are FREE. Last but not least, don’t argue with me how intuitive a Mac is. I’ve used them. I’ve even used them with people that love Macs. You know what? It’s so intuitive they can’t find files and folders because they aren’t sorted alphabetically and in order to do so would require an act of God and five hours on the phone with tech support. Yeah, that’s slick.
All of that being said, I really like LINUX. It’s free. It’s stable. It’s inherently more secure than Windows, and it can be highly customized.
But it hates me. I’m not a “normal” user. I’ve used computers since I was about 5 or 8. I was programming my own stuff in the 5th grade and grew up around them all my life. I got into network some years ago and never looked back. What I’m trying to say is that I am not your average idiot when it comes to computers. But I am also not an uber-geek LINUX guy (see Article 1). Because of this, I find LINUX very frustrating. It’s difficult to get around and everything is cryptic. OH! But you just load this GUI shell, and this application and now it’s all graphical. Umm…yeah, that’s AFTER you get the basic OS installed, the shell AND the slick package that is supposed to alleviate all the other dependency problems that LINUX has.
Why, just in the last few days I tried loading Ubuntu on two test machines I have here. One is an old dell piece of crap that is great for testing. It has very little RAM and two hard drives in it.
The other is a Compaq 1RU file server with a gig of ram and a SCSI RAID controller.
Guess what Ubuntu did? It loaded right up on the dell, and then proceeded to puke on boot-up and never worked again. Nice.
Then I tried loading it on the Compaq. The installation GUI loads up just fine, but it can’t find the SCSI controller and hard drive array. So I went out to Ubuntu and read the documentation on installing the required drivers during the installation process so it could find the hard drives. You have got to be kidding me. I’d rather have my eyeballs plucked out by Jehovah Witnesses on crack.
That’s not to say I’ve never gotten some flavor of LINUX to load on either machine but really, things should not be so difficult.
You know what loaded great on either machine the first try? Windows. When LINUX can get it’s proverbial shit together to pull this one off and be usable to the less-than-average user then we’ll probably have a winner.
Advantage here? Probably Mac – but not at the cost.
Without getting into the specifics and variations (such as mainframes) and giving you a lesson on this, it comes down to a handful of OS’s that the average Joe might use:
Microsoft Windows and all it’s derivatives
MacOS
LINUX / UNIX
Windows wins the popularity award. It doesn’t mean it’s the outright best but it does mean that they were very successful at marketing it and they did a lot of good things with integrating the applications.
MacOS has always been the OS of choice for those into graphic arts, audio / video applications, or that think they are part of the elite avant-garde users, or just hate Bill Gates and Microsoft.
LINX / UNIX is the preferred operating system of many administrators because of it’s stability and open-source platform (LINUX). It’s also a great OS for hackers due to it’s granular level of control.
But first, let me clarify two things:
Article 1 – If you are the kind of person that would argue that LINUX and UNIX are not the same thing, then you are also probably the kind of person that would argue that variants such as Debian, Solaris, AIX, etc. are not LINXU or UNIX. It’s really simple, they are ALL freaking UNIX. Do you know why I am just as dangerous in Ubuntu as AIX as Solaris? Because they all have the same command structure and share commonality between directory structures….oh, I know…it’s hard for me to say that when Ubuntu puts it’s distribution build libraries under a sub-directory with a slightly different name than CentOS, but I can fuck either box up just as easily. If you are this person, get over it. Get out of your mom’s basement, go grab a beer and try to have some fun.
Article 2 – MacOS is LINUX with a nice-fancy GUI thrown on top of it. If you want to argue that it’s a derivative of debian, see article 1. The main reason I’ll never own a new Mac? The cost. I don’t see why I should pay twice to three times as much as the same hardware that I can get from another vendor, and they still don’t have two buttons for the mouse on the laptops!! HELLO! This has been around for 20 years! Put another button or two on the mouse and quit trying to be so god-damned separatist. Your GUI shell is not worth that kind of money. Far cooler ones are out for LINUX and they are FREE. Last but not least, don’t argue with me how intuitive a Mac is. I’ve used them. I’ve even used them with people that love Macs. You know what? It’s so intuitive they can’t find files and folders because they aren’t sorted alphabetically and in order to do so would require an act of God and five hours on the phone with tech support. Yeah, that’s slick.
All of that being said, I really like LINUX. It’s free. It’s stable. It’s inherently more secure than Windows, and it can be highly customized.
But it hates me. I’m not a “normal” user. I’ve used computers since I was about 5 or 8. I was programming my own stuff in the 5th grade and grew up around them all my life. I got into network some years ago and never looked back. What I’m trying to say is that I am not your average idiot when it comes to computers. But I am also not an uber-geek LINUX guy (see Article 1). Because of this, I find LINUX very frustrating. It’s difficult to get around and everything is cryptic. OH! But you just load this GUI shell, and this application and now it’s all graphical. Umm…yeah, that’s AFTER you get the basic OS installed, the shell AND the slick package that is supposed to alleviate all the other dependency problems that LINUX has.
Why, just in the last few days I tried loading Ubuntu on two test machines I have here. One is an old dell piece of crap that is great for testing. It has very little RAM and two hard drives in it.
The other is a Compaq 1RU file server with a gig of ram and a SCSI RAID controller.
Guess what Ubuntu did? It loaded right up on the dell, and then proceeded to puke on boot-up and never worked again. Nice.
Then I tried loading it on the Compaq. The installation GUI loads up just fine, but it can’t find the SCSI controller and hard drive array. So I went out to Ubuntu and read the documentation on installing the required drivers during the installation process so it could find the hard drives. You have got to be kidding me. I’d rather have my eyeballs plucked out by Jehovah Witnesses on crack.
That’s not to say I’ve never gotten some flavor of LINUX to load on either machine but really, things should not be so difficult.
You know what loaded great on either machine the first try? Windows. When LINUX can get it’s proverbial shit together to pull this one off and be usable to the less-than-average user then we’ll probably have a winner.
Advantage here? Probably Mac – but not at the cost.
Deliver Us From Evil
This is the title of a movie that I managed to get through last night. It was difficult because I kept getting client calls late into the night. Fortunately, it was a documentary so it wasn’t hard to watch a chapter and then not watch it for a bit.
The movie touches on the issue of the sexual abuse of children and the massive cover-ups that take place within the Roman Catholic church. I guess everyone knows this happens and jokes about it, but I wasn’t quite aware of how severe of a problem that there is.
The film estimates that there are approximately 100,000 victims of pedophilia within the U.S. It also estimates that 80% of victims will never come forward. That’s a fairly staggering number.
Worse, though, is that the Roman Catholic Church has aggressively denied and covered up the problem. In multiple instances they sent a known pedophile to other parishes to work with children and then paid these pedophiles to keep quiet about it. This goes all the way up to the current pope as he had direct involvement in some of the cover-ups. It’s estimated that the Church has spent over 1 BILLION dollars in legal fees and payouts to victims.
Worse yet…. It doesn’t appear that they’ve done anything to resolve the issue. I guess I never liked the idea of church very much in the first place, but this is pretty despicable by any standards of morality or civility.
The movie touches on the issue of the sexual abuse of children and the massive cover-ups that take place within the Roman Catholic church. I guess everyone knows this happens and jokes about it, but I wasn’t quite aware of how severe of a problem that there is.
The film estimates that there are approximately 100,000 victims of pedophilia within the U.S. It also estimates that 80% of victims will never come forward. That’s a fairly staggering number.
Worse, though, is that the Roman Catholic Church has aggressively denied and covered up the problem. In multiple instances they sent a known pedophile to other parishes to work with children and then paid these pedophiles to keep quiet about it. This goes all the way up to the current pope as he had direct involvement in some of the cover-ups. It’s estimated that the Church has spent over 1 BILLION dollars in legal fees and payouts to victims.
Worse yet…. It doesn’t appear that they’ve done anything to resolve the issue. I guess I never liked the idea of church very much in the first place, but this is pretty despicable by any standards of morality or civility.
Monday, February 11, 2008
A Year in the Making
A little over a year ago I was on my way home from Montana. Since I had spent a considerable amount of time there and my house was painfully devoid of artwork I wanted to get a nice panoramic photo of some mountains and scenery to hang in the house.
I shopped at several galleries, and almost picked up a photo or two but nothing ever quite struck me as what I wanted to see. What my mind “sees” when I think of Montana. Then, one day I was up at Moonlight Basin getting some runs in and there it was!! Up on the wall was a gorgeous photo showing Loan Peak Mountain, the Spanish Peaks mountain range, some water, trees, etc. THIS was the photo I wanted, but I had little chance of sneaking it out of the building considering it was roughly 20 feet long.
Because MLB is a client of mine I had an “in” and asked if I could get a print of the photo that was hanging on the wall. It took some time and they finally decided that I could get a print of it. Because of the size of the photo it could only be printed on canvas.
Over the course of the next year there were many email exchanges discuss price, if it was being done, etc. Part of the problem is that the printers kepts losing the emails and then “forgetting” about them. I felt bad because I didn’t want to bug the girl at MLB that I was working with. She was great, though, and kept working with me through the process.
Finally, they emailed me and told me it was done!! The total cost was a fraction of what I thought it would be so I was really happy about that. I got the check in the mail that very day and about a week later my tube finally showed up in the mail.
I promptly took it down to several frame shops to get it quoted and ended up going with Aaron Brothers. Bling! had suggested I try them out and not only did they have a great price but they were really wonderful to work with.
I picked it up last night and while it would have been easier to wait and have a friend help me hang it, I made a beverage and grabbed a tape measure, a level, a laser level, a pencil, two ladders, and a notepad. It really wasn’t that painful, and I got it hung in a little under an hour while taking my time and sipping on my beverage.
Here is the product!! I haven’t decided if I got the height right or not. I might move it down a little bit, but I am going to let it sit there for a week and see if I like it or not. It also needs some additional lighting and that may take me a little while to get around to.
But finally….after a year…..
I shopped at several galleries, and almost picked up a photo or two but nothing ever quite struck me as what I wanted to see. What my mind “sees” when I think of Montana. Then, one day I was up at Moonlight Basin getting some runs in and there it was!! Up on the wall was a gorgeous photo showing Loan Peak Mountain, the Spanish Peaks mountain range, some water, trees, etc. THIS was the photo I wanted, but I had little chance of sneaking it out of the building considering it was roughly 20 feet long.
Because MLB is a client of mine I had an “in” and asked if I could get a print of the photo that was hanging on the wall. It took some time and they finally decided that I could get a print of it. Because of the size of the photo it could only be printed on canvas.
Over the course of the next year there were many email exchanges discuss price, if it was being done, etc. Part of the problem is that the printers kepts losing the emails and then “forgetting” about them. I felt bad because I didn’t want to bug the girl at MLB that I was working with. She was great, though, and kept working with me through the process.
Finally, they emailed me and told me it was done!! The total cost was a fraction of what I thought it would be so I was really happy about that. I got the check in the mail that very day and about a week later my tube finally showed up in the mail.
I promptly took it down to several frame shops to get it quoted and ended up going with Aaron Brothers. Bling! had suggested I try them out and not only did they have a great price but they were really wonderful to work with.
I picked it up last night and while it would have been easier to wait and have a friend help me hang it, I made a beverage and grabbed a tape measure, a level, a laser level, a pencil, two ladders, and a notepad. It really wasn’t that painful, and I got it hung in a little under an hour while taking my time and sipping on my beverage.
Here is the product!! I haven’t decided if I got the height right or not. I might move it down a little bit, but I am going to let it sit there for a week and see if I like it or not. It also needs some additional lighting and that may take me a little while to get around to.
But finally….after a year…..
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Over Simplification?
I have a few friends that like to email stuff from time to time. I’ll tease them a bit here because they often like to blind carbon copy (bcc) everyone and don’t often coordinate their efforts. This means I get the same email two or three times from the people that I know.
But some of them are good and informative. Here is one that I got recently. It was apparently written by a guy named Charley Reese. I have not been able to confirm this, though it seems plausible given Reese’s background.
BY CHARLEY REESE
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one single thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common confidence conspiracy regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a SPEAKER, who stood up and criticized G.W. Bush ALONE for creating deficits.
The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.
Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.
REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.
I cannot think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it is because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it is because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.
There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess.
It’s an interesting synopsis and to a large extent it’s right on the money. But alas, it may be just an over simplification of the way things work. In any organization, business, or government you have a few people that control and represent (if they choose) the people of that entity. In our case, this comes down to 545 people representing about 330 MILLION people. That’s 0.00017% of the population that tries to appease the rest of us and run the country.
And let’s face it, we know they don’t all get along or believe in the same things just as the 330 million citizens don’t. We also didn’t get here overnight. Some of the laws, codes, and practices are things that were put on the book in previous administrations that may have been good for the time, but are no longer applicable.
We also have a very difficult time changing things once they are put into place. So while it would be easy to take the above writing and simply say “fix it” it would be much harder to execute if you could even get the 545 people to agree on anything.
The one thing that is absolutely true about this article is that it is those 545 people that are responsible for where we are going and have the authority and opportunity to change things. But they are not alone. They are not solely responsible for the actions of the rest of us in the U.S. Not all problems are a direct result of the government being involved or not involved as the case may be. As a citizen you bear some of that responsibility. By your actions or inactions you also allow situations to develop and arise and then what do you do? Blame it solely on the 545 people in office?
But please don't misunderstand me, I pretty much agree with what he has to say.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
A Brief Lesson In Politics and Definitions
The debates are heating up and it looks more and more like Obama has a very solid chance of winning, but it’s not over yet. One rumor I am hearing is that we could see a Clinton / Obama ticket. The best of both worlds? Perhaps if you are democratic liberal. It’s a nightmare if you are a republican conservative. Which are you?
I’ve often used the term “socialist” in reference to Clinton and Obama. I’ve also been refuted or told that “socialist” is the wrong word to use. But I’d like to draw from a few definitions (all taken from dictionary.com):
so·cial·ist /ˈsoʊ ʃə lɪst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[soh-shuh-list] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. an advocate or supporter of socialism.
2. (initial capital letter ) a member of the U.S. Socialist party.
–adjective
3. socialistic.
If we look at this definition we can pretty much derive that someone is a socialist if they advocate or support socialism. Many people confuse socialism with communism. They are oh, so very close, but not quite the same thing. So, the next definition is socialism:
so·cial·ism /ˈsoʊ ʃəˌlɪz əm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[soh-shuh-liz-uh m] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.
Note that on definition #1 the ownership and control is usually an organization such as the government. What this effectively means is that the government becomes responsible for the production and allocation of wealth or services as it sees fit. Clinton is a supporter of socialized medicine. It was her thesis in college and she tried to push it while her husband was in office. At this time I won’t argue the benefits or detriment of socialized medicine though I will say that I believe some type of reformation is necessary. She still supports socialized medicine. She also has repeatedly stated that she wants to take the profits of businesses and individuals to support government programs (i.e. redistribution). Obama and Clinton also support other similar systems and the further taxation of the American people. They are socialist by the very definition of the terms.
The next question you should be asking is if this is good or bad. I suppose that depends on what your beliefs are with regards to governmental and financial systems. Most fiscally conservative people see this as a bad thing. I tend to agree with it. Our country was built and founded on principles of capitalism, not socialism. I see this as Anti-American, but I suppose America is defined by what it is and not what it was supposed to be.
The other thing I find ironic about all this is that pretty much all democrats as well as some republicans and independents are upset with Bush and Cheney because they have managed to expand the reach and power of the government.
I agree with people when they say that they see this as a bad thing. I personally believe that the government should stay out of business and private lives with the exception of regulations for safety. This is an idealistic approach and is obviously not feasible. That does not mean that I support Bush and Cheney’s approach to expanding the power of government.
But let’s take the argument from a liberal / democratic approach. They don’t like Bush and Cheney for this reason, yet at the same time they are supporting candidates that want to dramatically expand the power of the government through socialistic systems! That’s pretty hypocritical in my opinion. If you follow logic and reason one should not criticize Bush and Cheney and at the same time support Obama or Hillary.
But I’ve often said that politics is like religion. If you talk to religious zealots (ok, even your plain-Jane religious folks) you will find that they are very adept at dismissing logic and reason when it fits their cause. The same thing is true of politics.
Bush and Cheney are often referred to as “fascists.” For definition sake, and since this entry contains definitions I’ve included the definition of a fascist here.
fas·cist /ˈfæʃ ɪst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fash-ist] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a person who believes in or sympathizes with fascism.
2. (often initial capital letter ) a member of a fascist movement or party.
3. a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views.
–adjective
4. Also, fa·scis·tic /fəˈʃɪs tɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fuh-shis-tik] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation. of or like fascism or fascists.
It is also necessary to define fascism to conclude one is a fascist:
fas·cism /ˈfæʃ ɪz əm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fash-iz-uh m] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. (sometimes initial capital letter ) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
2. (sometimes initial capital letter ) the philosophy, principles, or methods of fascism.
3. (initial capital letter ) a fascist movement, esp. the one established by Mussolini in Italy 1922–43.
This becomes interesting because to a large extent, fascism tends to support socialism and vice-versa. This is true of Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, etc. These people were fascists. The closest you can come to Bush being a fascists is by the 4th definition which states:
“a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views.” One might argue that by expansion of governmental power that he could be classified as a fascist, but I’d say that’s stretching it. I would be more likely to say that democratic politicians are closer to fascism than republican candidates, but I suppose that is arguable depending on which politician you pick and chose from.
I wonder if it’s through misinterpretation that our language evolves and changes. The definitions of liberals and conservatives has certainly changed over time. It would be interesting to have an English scholar comment on this one as I certainly do not have the education and knowledge to address it empirically.
My bottom line – I hope that you have a better understanding of the actual definitions of the words and what they mean. I do not support socialism and I do not support fascism, but I think they have both been misinterpreted or misused.
I’ve often used the term “socialist” in reference to Clinton and Obama. I’ve also been refuted or told that “socialist” is the wrong word to use. But I’d like to draw from a few definitions (all taken from dictionary.com):
so·cial·ist /ˈsoʊ ʃə lɪst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[soh-shuh-list] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. an advocate or supporter of socialism.
2. (initial capital letter ) a member of the U.S. Socialist party.
–adjective
3. socialistic.
If we look at this definition we can pretty much derive that someone is a socialist if they advocate or support socialism. Many people confuse socialism with communism. They are oh, so very close, but not quite the same thing. So, the next definition is socialism:
so·cial·ism /ˈsoʊ ʃəˌlɪz əm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[soh-shuh-liz-uh m] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.
Note that on definition #1 the ownership and control is usually an organization such as the government. What this effectively means is that the government becomes responsible for the production and allocation of wealth or services as it sees fit. Clinton is a supporter of socialized medicine. It was her thesis in college and she tried to push it while her husband was in office. At this time I won’t argue the benefits or detriment of socialized medicine though I will say that I believe some type of reformation is necessary. She still supports socialized medicine. She also has repeatedly stated that she wants to take the profits of businesses and individuals to support government programs (i.e. redistribution). Obama and Clinton also support other similar systems and the further taxation of the American people. They are socialist by the very definition of the terms.
The next question you should be asking is if this is good or bad. I suppose that depends on what your beliefs are with regards to governmental and financial systems. Most fiscally conservative people see this as a bad thing. I tend to agree with it. Our country was built and founded on principles of capitalism, not socialism. I see this as Anti-American, but I suppose America is defined by what it is and not what it was supposed to be.
The other thing I find ironic about all this is that pretty much all democrats as well as some republicans and independents are upset with Bush and Cheney because they have managed to expand the reach and power of the government.
I agree with people when they say that they see this as a bad thing. I personally believe that the government should stay out of business and private lives with the exception of regulations for safety. This is an idealistic approach and is obviously not feasible. That does not mean that I support Bush and Cheney’s approach to expanding the power of government.
But let’s take the argument from a liberal / democratic approach. They don’t like Bush and Cheney for this reason, yet at the same time they are supporting candidates that want to dramatically expand the power of the government through socialistic systems! That’s pretty hypocritical in my opinion. If you follow logic and reason one should not criticize Bush and Cheney and at the same time support Obama or Hillary.
But I’ve often said that politics is like religion. If you talk to religious zealots (ok, even your plain-Jane religious folks) you will find that they are very adept at dismissing logic and reason when it fits their cause. The same thing is true of politics.
Bush and Cheney are often referred to as “fascists.” For definition sake, and since this entry contains definitions I’ve included the definition of a fascist here.
fas·cist /ˈfæʃ ɪst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fash-ist] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a person who believes in or sympathizes with fascism.
2. (often initial capital letter ) a member of a fascist movement or party.
3. a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views.
–adjective
4. Also, fa·scis·tic /fəˈʃɪs tɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fuh-shis-tik] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation. of or like fascism or fascists.
It is also necessary to define fascism to conclude one is a fascist:
fas·cism /ˈfæʃ ɪz əm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fash-iz-uh m] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. (sometimes initial capital letter ) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
2. (sometimes initial capital letter ) the philosophy, principles, or methods of fascism.
3. (initial capital letter ) a fascist movement, esp. the one established by Mussolini in Italy 1922–43.
This becomes interesting because to a large extent, fascism tends to support socialism and vice-versa. This is true of Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, etc. These people were fascists. The closest you can come to Bush being a fascists is by the 4th definition which states:
“a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views.” One might argue that by expansion of governmental power that he could be classified as a fascist, but I’d say that’s stretching it. I would be more likely to say that democratic politicians are closer to fascism than republican candidates, but I suppose that is arguable depending on which politician you pick and chose from.
I wonder if it’s through misinterpretation that our language evolves and changes. The definitions of liberals and conservatives has certainly changed over time. It would be interesting to have an English scholar comment on this one as I certainly do not have the education and knowledge to address it empirically.
My bottom line – I hope that you have a better understanding of the actual definitions of the words and what they mean. I do not support socialism and I do not support fascism, but I think they have both been misinterpreted or misused.
Friday, February 01, 2008
A Quick Scare
Through an interesting set of co incidents I had brief scare that I was a victim of identity theft.
I’ve always tried to be fairly conscious of my personal information, but you might recall that not too long ago my wallet was “lost” and I never got anything back. The only thing that was ever returned was my driver’s license, which showed up in the mail about two months later. Kind of odd.
Over the last week I was in California. Most of it was business, but since I had to be there on Tuesday I flew in on Friday and went snowboarding with one of my co-workers.
We headed up to Dodge Ridge near the Tahoe area and got some nice fresh powder in due to the storms rolling in off the Pacific.
About 2 days ago while still in California I get a call from someone at Tejas De Brazil on my cell phone. They wanted to let me know that I had left my credit card up there, but that they had locked it up in their safe.
I immediately called them back and spoke to the manager. They asked if I was Mr. “Smith” and of course I said I was. They said they had my credit card. I explained to them that I was in California and that was not possible. Again, they confirmed that I was Mr. “Smith.” And had I ever dined there before. I explained that I had, but it had been years and I was in California and there was no way that was me. It bothered me that they called me on my cell phone and so I asked how they got the number. They told me that the person left that number when making the reservations – for a party of NINE! This place goes for about $50 a plate, so figure the bill was somewhere around $500 not including any alcohol.
I politely asked for the name on the credit card. Surprisingly enough it was almost identical to my legal name. The only real difference being that the first name on the card was close to my middle name (which I go by), and the middle initial was the same as my legal first name. You can imagine that with a name like “Smith” that it could easily be a coincidence if you excluded the fact that they called ME on my cell phone.
Now I am thinking that someone is trying to pull a fast one. I get as much information as I could and call up “Rip-U Bank,” which is the bank on the card that Tejas De Brazil had. Coincidentally my credit card is always with a “Rip-U Bank.” At first I got a little bent out of shape because they wanted MY account information. I asked what would happen if I didn’t have an account with “Rip-U?” Did that mean that they wouldn’t explore the possibility of identity theft? No no no…of course not! Then the security guy asks how long I’ve had my cell phone and I explained it was at least seven years old.
Now the guy hypothesizes that someone with a nearly identical name as mine just happened to transpose a couple of numbers for his cell phone and that they accidentally called me. I asked if he was serious or kidding and that I’d have better odds of hitting the lotto. He did not find me very amusing, but I wasn’t laughing, either.
After being assured a call back I took his name and manager’s name. They indicated they would note it on my account and return my call.
The next day, no call. Imagine that, eh? I called them today and got a different guy on the phone. This guy was very helpful. He called the merchant while I was on hold and got all of the account information for the card that was the restaurant. He looked up that account and then cross-referenced it to mine. NOTHING matched. That’s good! It just means that we have nearly identical names.
So the big mystery is how they called me on my cell phone. The “Rip-U” bank guy figured this one out after talking to Tejas for a while. Well, as it turns out if you ever go to Tejas De Brazil and make a reservation they stick your number into a database. When the guy left his credit card they looked up MY name instead of his and called me. That made much more sense.
It was a bit of a frightening experience, but all is well in the end. “Rip-U” bank even put a security hold on my credit cards until we straightened this out. The only thing that really irks me is that the first guy just didn’t seem to take this very seriously.
I’ve always tried to be fairly conscious of my personal information, but you might recall that not too long ago my wallet was “lost” and I never got anything back. The only thing that was ever returned was my driver’s license, which showed up in the mail about two months later. Kind of odd.
Over the last week I was in California. Most of it was business, but since I had to be there on Tuesday I flew in on Friday and went snowboarding with one of my co-workers.
We headed up to Dodge Ridge near the Tahoe area and got some nice fresh powder in due to the storms rolling in off the Pacific.
About 2 days ago while still in California I get a call from someone at Tejas De Brazil on my cell phone. They wanted to let me know that I had left my credit card up there, but that they had locked it up in their safe.
I immediately called them back and spoke to the manager. They asked if I was Mr. “Smith” and of course I said I was. They said they had my credit card. I explained to them that I was in California and that was not possible. Again, they confirmed that I was Mr. “Smith.” And had I ever dined there before. I explained that I had, but it had been years and I was in California and there was no way that was me. It bothered me that they called me on my cell phone and so I asked how they got the number. They told me that the person left that number when making the reservations – for a party of NINE! This place goes for about $50 a plate, so figure the bill was somewhere around $500 not including any alcohol.
I politely asked for the name on the credit card. Surprisingly enough it was almost identical to my legal name. The only real difference being that the first name on the card was close to my middle name (which I go by), and the middle initial was the same as my legal first name. You can imagine that with a name like “Smith” that it could easily be a coincidence if you excluded the fact that they called ME on my cell phone.
Now I am thinking that someone is trying to pull a fast one. I get as much information as I could and call up “Rip-U Bank,” which is the bank on the card that Tejas De Brazil had. Coincidentally my credit card is always with a “Rip-U Bank.” At first I got a little bent out of shape because they wanted MY account information. I asked what would happen if I didn’t have an account with “Rip-U?” Did that mean that they wouldn’t explore the possibility of identity theft? No no no…of course not! Then the security guy asks how long I’ve had my cell phone and I explained it was at least seven years old.
Now the guy hypothesizes that someone with a nearly identical name as mine just happened to transpose a couple of numbers for his cell phone and that they accidentally called me. I asked if he was serious or kidding and that I’d have better odds of hitting the lotto. He did not find me very amusing, but I wasn’t laughing, either.
After being assured a call back I took his name and manager’s name. They indicated they would note it on my account and return my call.
The next day, no call. Imagine that, eh? I called them today and got a different guy on the phone. This guy was very helpful. He called the merchant while I was on hold and got all of the account information for the card that was the restaurant. He looked up that account and then cross-referenced it to mine. NOTHING matched. That’s good! It just means that we have nearly identical names.
So the big mystery is how they called me on my cell phone. The “Rip-U” bank guy figured this one out after talking to Tejas for a while. Well, as it turns out if you ever go to Tejas De Brazil and make a reservation they stick your number into a database. When the guy left his credit card they looked up MY name instead of his and called me. That made much more sense.
It was a bit of a frightening experience, but all is well in the end. “Rip-U” bank even put a security hold on my credit cards until we straightened this out. The only thing that really irks me is that the first guy just didn’t seem to take this very seriously.
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