Perhaps it is time we all just stopped dead in our tracks and reaccessed the way things are going. You know, catch our breath.
In an earlier blog I mentioned that the banks were raising rates to cover their bailout costs and that it seems like a “Ponzie” scheme. The more I thought about it, the angrier I have become.
That they would do this just to save their own asses instead of genuinely working with people makes my blood boil!
It is unfortunate that the fiscal policy makers that are largely responsible for this mess get to avoid taking the blame by no longer being in office.
If you or I committed a crime against the American People, we would still get prosecuted if we lost our jobs.
Much of this was egotistical hubris by under qualified leaders who wore blinders and with their own personal agenda.
I say this not for revenge or to point fingers as much as for the fact that if these parasites were to be held accountable to even the smallest degree, it may stave off future malfeasance at our expense.
What do you think?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Hidden Credit Traps
Credit Tip...
While it may not show on any form and lenders are loathe to admit it, anyone who jumps on the bandwagon and cancels their home phone (land line) in favor of the “cellular revolution” may be harming their credit.
Having a home phone with a specific geographical location is considered a stability factor by most lenders of all sorts. Sales people for the lenders who are trying to get you to fill out an application likely will not tell you that it matters, but, when your application is reviewed it does factor in.
With a fixed location the lender knows where to contact you. They feel more secure if they were to have to collect or repossess something.
If you cannot afford a home phone, then you might have trouble paying whatever debt (loan payment) you are applying for. If all you have is a cell phone, you can block the collection calls and live anywhere! Loan and repo companies are not comfortable without someplace to reach you reliably .
This quiet, little known, almost hidden, and undiscussed factor can have a negative impact on your credit ratings, scores, and availability of existing credit.
You get a letter telling you your interest rate has gone up or, pay your balance down or, dropping your available credit line or, canceling your account altogether, and you haven't done anything wrong! You don't understand and they will not tell you why. You hear things like “review” and “policy” etc.
You didn't know that going completely wireless (locationless) with your home phone could hurt you!
So before you jump into all the flashy cell offers, think and research what the repercussions may be.
While it may not show on any form and lenders are loathe to admit it, anyone who jumps on the bandwagon and cancels their home phone (land line) in favor of the “cellular revolution” may be harming their credit.
Having a home phone with a specific geographical location is considered a stability factor by most lenders of all sorts. Sales people for the lenders who are trying to get you to fill out an application likely will not tell you that it matters, but, when your application is reviewed it does factor in.
With a fixed location the lender knows where to contact you. They feel more secure if they were to have to collect or repossess something.
If you cannot afford a home phone, then you might have trouble paying whatever debt (loan payment) you are applying for. If all you have is a cell phone, you can block the collection calls and live anywhere! Loan and repo companies are not comfortable without someplace to reach you reliably .
This quiet, little known, almost hidden, and undiscussed factor can have a negative impact on your credit ratings, scores, and availability of existing credit.
You get a letter telling you your interest rate has gone up or, pay your balance down or, dropping your available credit line or, canceling your account altogether, and you haven't done anything wrong! You don't understand and they will not tell you why. You hear things like “review” and “policy” etc.
You didn't know that going completely wireless (locationless) with your home phone could hurt you!
So before you jump into all the flashy cell offers, think and research what the repercussions may be.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Financial Jackels and other predators
I think that one of the saddest things that I have seen happen during the recession is the unscrupulous profiteering by so many companies just trying to promote their own particular venue to those who can least afford it through fear and misrepresentation. Some examples of these are:
All the phone calls and TV ads on extended auto warranty's that by and large are nothing but a scam, with high deductibles, very little real coverage, and no authority or association with any of the manufacturers or dealers. They imply that they are official and that something is happening with the warranty on your car, however, in many cases there is no warranty for anything to happen to. They are simply trying to get you to buy or subscribe to a service out of fear.
Another rather atrocious procedure are the new car dealers who promise that you can return a new car 3-9 months later with no damage to your credit if you lose your job. Well, if you traded in your old car when you bought the new car, are they going to give you your old car back when you turn the new car back in or are you going to be left hitchhiking to try and find that new job.
Something else I find unconscionable is the banks who borrowed our money, a loan from all of us, to stay in business raising our interest rates so they can pay us back and stay in business. That simply amounts to borrowing money from us and then robbing us for the money to pay ourselves back. They are hitting us twice. Sounds almost like a "Bernie Madoff" Ponzie scheme!
Because of all the uncertainty in the credit markets, we all need to be aware of the many phone calls and ads we get regarding credit cards, interest-rate reductions, and bill consolidations. Most of these are simply blind calls by unscrupulous agencies trying to get your personal information.
If you need to seek relief with any of these matters you're far better off doing your own research, being very wary, and in most cases, trying to deal with someone local and established like a Credit Union.
At some point we need to start trusting each other again. Starting with our neighbors, our friends, and our local businesses. It is likely going to take a great deal of grass roots reconstruction to get the economy moving again.
Make no mistake, the carnage will be massive.
All the phone calls and TV ads on extended auto warranty's that by and large are nothing but a scam, with high deductibles, very little real coverage, and no authority or association with any of the manufacturers or dealers. They imply that they are official and that something is happening with the warranty on your car, however, in many cases there is no warranty for anything to happen to. They are simply trying to get you to buy or subscribe to a service out of fear.
Another rather atrocious procedure are the new car dealers who promise that you can return a new car 3-9 months later with no damage to your credit if you lose your job. Well, if you traded in your old car when you bought the new car, are they going to give you your old car back when you turn the new car back in or are you going to be left hitchhiking to try and find that new job.
Something else I find unconscionable is the banks who borrowed our money, a loan from all of us, to stay in business raising our interest rates so they can pay us back and stay in business. That simply amounts to borrowing money from us and then robbing us for the money to pay ourselves back. They are hitting us twice. Sounds almost like a "Bernie Madoff" Ponzie scheme!
Because of all the uncertainty in the credit markets, we all need to be aware of the many phone calls and ads we get regarding credit cards, interest-rate reductions, and bill consolidations. Most of these are simply blind calls by unscrupulous agencies trying to get your personal information.
If you need to seek relief with any of these matters you're far better off doing your own research, being very wary, and in most cases, trying to deal with someone local and established like a Credit Union.
At some point we need to start trusting each other again. Starting with our neighbors, our friends, and our local businesses. It is likely going to take a great deal of grass roots reconstruction to get the economy moving again.
Make no mistake, the carnage will be massive.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The Great Depression 2009
The world today has changed and become a place that few of us alive today recognize. The fact that Bush and his gang of thugs, Cheney, Rumsfield, and Rove have turned the United States into a Third World country and created a worldwide economic depression the likes of which he have never been seen within the history of the mechanized age.
Objectively examining the carnage they have left behind is less of an exercise in logic, than it is watching a horror movie come to life and growing exponentially, as it bears down on all of us.
In retrospect, it would seem that those of us who recognized a problem growing, perhaps should've spoken out louder, however, that became increasingly more difficult with the abridgment by the Bush administration of the Bill of Rights and the constitutional amendments, not to mention basic constitutional guarantees and liberties.
At the start of the Bush administration we had the largest budget surplus in history and at the end the largest debt.
We have spent ungodly sums blowing up the desert and rebuilding it for people that don't like us while at home people are losing their homes and have no health care. I'm all for helping the less fortunate, but to give them all these things at the expense of our own citizens is plain stupid!
With the cascading economic crash of the markets and a never ending war, it became blatantly clear that the Government's fiscal and foreign policies were flawed and being orchestrated by someone who had blinders on with no sense of reality!
We have now lost MORE U.S. lives in Bush's war over WMDs that did not exist, than we did in 9-11!
I, personally, never would have expected to see the world in its current state, short of a major nuclear or biological conflict.
I am like so many other baby boomers, who as we near retirement, find that we have lost everything we have worked for all our lives with no way to recover, and no way to replace jobs, pensions, and homes that we have lost .
There is no way to know for sure how we are going to get out the situation in which we find ourselves. The fact that a group of idiots in Washington can do more damage to this country and the world through their pride, arrogance, and generally sanctimonious self serving attitude, continues to amaze me.
The question remains, what the hell do we do now?
Objectively examining the carnage they have left behind is less of an exercise in logic, than it is watching a horror movie come to life and growing exponentially, as it bears down on all of us.
In retrospect, it would seem that those of us who recognized a problem growing, perhaps should've spoken out louder, however, that became increasingly more difficult with the abridgment by the Bush administration of the Bill of Rights and the constitutional amendments, not to mention basic constitutional guarantees and liberties.
At the start of the Bush administration we had the largest budget surplus in history and at the end the largest debt.
We have spent ungodly sums blowing up the desert and rebuilding it for people that don't like us while at home people are losing their homes and have no health care. I'm all for helping the less fortunate, but to give them all these things at the expense of our own citizens is plain stupid!
With the cascading economic crash of the markets and a never ending war, it became blatantly clear that the Government's fiscal and foreign policies were flawed and being orchestrated by someone who had blinders on with no sense of reality!
We have now lost MORE U.S. lives in Bush's war over WMDs that did not exist, than we did in 9-11!
I, personally, never would have expected to see the world in its current state, short of a major nuclear or biological conflict.
I am like so many other baby boomers, who as we near retirement, find that we have lost everything we have worked for all our lives with no way to recover, and no way to replace jobs, pensions, and homes that we have lost .
There is no way to know for sure how we are going to get out the situation in which we find ourselves. The fact that a group of idiots in Washington can do more damage to this country and the world through their pride, arrogance, and generally sanctimonious self serving attitude, continues to amaze me.
The question remains, what the hell do we do now?
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Salt Water, Salt Air, and Memories
How long have all of us that have taken to the sea at one time or another wondered what it would really take to tie us down to land and forsake a love so powerful that it is legend in poem and song?
The answer is not so much a physical thing as it is mental, or at least for me that was the case. I suppose it all came down to the point where it was no longer important enough to fight the pain of moment and to let go of dreams long cherished..
Yes it's true!
It was not the pain of age and increasing disability but the pain of remembering when and where and why not now.
That I had allowed my life to become compromised by responsibility and ideals both noble and oppressive is not even a question for debate. In a vain inglorious effort to comfort those I cared for it became overtly apparent that "NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED".
It is quite sad that I feel that all the glories of my life are in the past and I look toward everyday with trepidation for the trials and tribulations it will surely bring.
Ahh, Horatio, but I was young once! And strong and alive, not believing in my own mortality and ready to conquer the universe.
It was magic then, a magic time and I, the weaver of spells.
And now the magic is gone. And I, only a pitiful reflection of who I once was..
And I miss the sea most of all...
The answer is not so much a physical thing as it is mental, or at least for me that was the case. I suppose it all came down to the point where it was no longer important enough to fight the pain of moment and to let go of dreams long cherished..
Yes it's true!
It was not the pain of age and increasing disability but the pain of remembering when and where and why not now.
That I had allowed my life to become compromised by responsibility and ideals both noble and oppressive is not even a question for debate. In a vain inglorious effort to comfort those I cared for it became overtly apparent that "NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED".
It is quite sad that I feel that all the glories of my life are in the past and I look toward everyday with trepidation for the trials and tribulations it will surely bring.
Ahh, Horatio, but I was young once! And strong and alive, not believing in my own mortality and ready to conquer the universe.
It was magic then, a magic time and I, the weaver of spells.
And now the magic is gone. And I, only a pitiful reflection of who I once was..
And I miss the sea most of all...
War Stories...then and now...and always
There are reasons to fight and serve, but they are much more infrequent than those in power would have you believe.
And then for the media to treat it like a sporting event and politicos to take the high ground is ridiculous. There is nothing civil about war ! There are no rules !
As a graduate of gladiator schools here and there and conflicts declared and otherwise, that makes me more qualified than most to tell war stories for I know the truth of them.
The truth is that war stories, REAL WAR STORIES, are waking nightmares that do not mellow with retelling or remembrance. They are horror stories that leave oozing, open scars on your soul and, if you are wise, you try not to salt the wound too often.
There is no glory in winning "great battles" because they are about pain and blood and death, horrors previously unimagined, with only the fact that you kill and mame better than your opponent and get to survive. No honor, no glory, only survival.
When I hear naive, idealistic young warriors without combat experience or their families speak of honor and serving their countries, it makes me sad to realize that for most of them enlightenment will come only at the moment of death or loss, if they are "lucky enough" to get to reflect for a few seconds. Many die ignorant of the fact that it was not for freedom, or right, but for the arrogance and power of those who do the ordering but not the dying. A flag in a case and half hearted condolences cannot replace a son, daughter, father, mother, brother, or friend. The flag rots, the case cracks, the memories fade and the pain dulls but 20 years later the loss remains. And what was gained?
In the heartbeat before the abyss I know they wonder why. They want to kiss the girl, hold the baby, hug a family member, eat a cheeseburger, laugh with a friend, at least one more time, not die in the dirt for someone else’s political or economic agenda.
They may go because of orders, ideology, or a hundred other "excuses" but they fight for their lives.
As far as the "Geneva Convention" and rules of war and engagement go, the American Revolution was fought largely by "terrorists" without uniforms.
Freedom fighter or terrorist? Depends on where you fight, who you fight, your point of view, and whether you win or not.
Winners write history and losers are always evil.
And then for the media to treat it like a sporting event and politicos to take the high ground is ridiculous. There is nothing civil about war ! There are no rules !
As a graduate of gladiator schools here and there and conflicts declared and otherwise, that makes me more qualified than most to tell war stories for I know the truth of them.
The truth is that war stories, REAL WAR STORIES, are waking nightmares that do not mellow with retelling or remembrance. They are horror stories that leave oozing, open scars on your soul and, if you are wise, you try not to salt the wound too often.
There is no glory in winning "great battles" because they are about pain and blood and death, horrors previously unimagined, with only the fact that you kill and mame better than your opponent and get to survive. No honor, no glory, only survival.
When I hear naive, idealistic young warriors without combat experience or their families speak of honor and serving their countries, it makes me sad to realize that for most of them enlightenment will come only at the moment of death or loss, if they are "lucky enough" to get to reflect for a few seconds. Many die ignorant of the fact that it was not for freedom, or right, but for the arrogance and power of those who do the ordering but not the dying. A flag in a case and half hearted condolences cannot replace a son, daughter, father, mother, brother, or friend. The flag rots, the case cracks, the memories fade and the pain dulls but 20 years later the loss remains. And what was gained?
In the heartbeat before the abyss I know they wonder why. They want to kiss the girl, hold the baby, hug a family member, eat a cheeseburger, laugh with a friend, at least one more time, not die in the dirt for someone else’s political or economic agenda.
They may go because of orders, ideology, or a hundred other "excuses" but they fight for their lives.
As far as the "Geneva Convention" and rules of war and engagement go, the American Revolution was fought largely by "terrorists" without uniforms.
Freedom fighter or terrorist? Depends on where you fight, who you fight, your point of view, and whether you win or not.
Winners write history and losers are always evil.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Where is Ross Perot when we need him?
Do you ever wonder why it is that a company that is perfectly sound one day can the very next day be worthless all on the basis of opinion and rumor by some self-serving “idiot” .
During our recent financial meltdown, it has astounded me how many companies were doing well until a credit rating Bureau or self proclaimed expert said they were not!
They were still the same company they were the day before. The only difference was that some “Chicken Little” had gone about shouting that the sky was falling! (And they had probably sold the stock short or bought a whole bunch of put options just beforehand)
In this age of instant information, it is ridiculously easy for panic to gain a frightening momentum and turn into a detrimental wave. If these feeble minded pundits proved anything, it is that the economy is susceptible to rumor and panic and can therefore be manipulated particularly by the government and the news media.
While I don’t have any first-hand information or evidence that there was a conspiracy among various credit reporting agencies and the news media, it seems highly unlikely that the doomsday panic we have suffered globally could have come about without, at least, some complicity somewhere along the way.
Sometimes I watch these commentators and it appears that they get an evil thrill by churning an already unstable situation into yet more and more violent actions and reactions.
It is amazingly easy for someone on TV making $300,000 or $400,000 annually to give advice to the rest of us. However, it all too often, does not have any relevance to the real world that all the rest of us live in.
It is equally as sad that many of the politicians that also share the blame for the situation as it stands, are the first to shout about how they are trying to protect us. They are part of the problem to start with and simply trying to protect their own butts.
Very few of them have any real business experience dealing with payrolls, insurance, benefits, profit and loss, hiring, firing, or successful business management. Yet they stand tall and speak with bluster of their plans to fix the economy. How can they have any reasonable plan when, in fact, they really don’t know anything about the subject. They are for the most part, lawyers, many of whom have never practiced but simply went into politics and became the vampires of society.
Maybe we need to elect more businessmen with real experience to run the government and less lawyers who only complicate things for the benefit of their contributors and themselves. Anyone who goes to school just to learn how to take advantage of the rest of the population certainly should not be allowed in a position of power.
A lot of this stuff isn’t that hard, they just make it so to try to justify their existence. Perhaps Shakespeare had it right. “First, kill all the lawyers”.
During our recent financial meltdown, it has astounded me how many companies were doing well until a credit rating Bureau or self proclaimed expert said they were not!
They were still the same company they were the day before. The only difference was that some “Chicken Little” had gone about shouting that the sky was falling! (And they had probably sold the stock short or bought a whole bunch of put options just beforehand)
In this age of instant information, it is ridiculously easy for panic to gain a frightening momentum and turn into a detrimental wave. If these feeble minded pundits proved anything, it is that the economy is susceptible to rumor and panic and can therefore be manipulated particularly by the government and the news media.
While I don’t have any first-hand information or evidence that there was a conspiracy among various credit reporting agencies and the news media, it seems highly unlikely that the doomsday panic we have suffered globally could have come about without, at least, some complicity somewhere along the way.
Sometimes I watch these commentators and it appears that they get an evil thrill by churning an already unstable situation into yet more and more violent actions and reactions.
It is amazingly easy for someone on TV making $300,000 or $400,000 annually to give advice to the rest of us. However, it all too often, does not have any relevance to the real world that all the rest of us live in.
It is equally as sad that many of the politicians that also share the blame for the situation as it stands, are the first to shout about how they are trying to protect us. They are part of the problem to start with and simply trying to protect their own butts.
Very few of them have any real business experience dealing with payrolls, insurance, benefits, profit and loss, hiring, firing, or successful business management. Yet they stand tall and speak with bluster of their plans to fix the economy. How can they have any reasonable plan when, in fact, they really don’t know anything about the subject. They are for the most part, lawyers, many of whom have never practiced but simply went into politics and became the vampires of society.
Maybe we need to elect more businessmen with real experience to run the government and less lawyers who only complicate things for the benefit of their contributors and themselves. Anyone who goes to school just to learn how to take advantage of the rest of the population certainly should not be allowed in a position of power.
A lot of this stuff isn’t that hard, they just make it so to try to justify their existence. Perhaps Shakespeare had it right. “First, kill all the lawyers”.
Monday, April 6, 2009
"Realities 2009"
Well, it’s been a couple of years since my last entry!
Right after my last log on we found out my wife had a aggressive form of Breast Cancer and our life turned into a nightmare caught up in a hurricane.
Between the surgeries and the chemo , we have barely been able to breathe. Now with chemo ending, we may not see the light at the end of the tunnel (I hear it was turned off in Washington due to budgetary problems), but at least the runaway train may slow down.
Hopefully, that will allow us to deal with all the other problems that have cropped up while we were dealing with Cancer .
The amount of money that the medications and treatments require is absolutely staggering. With no health insurance, it’s like playing “lets make a deal with your life” and scary as hell ! Overall the medical bills, so far, have exceeded over $500,000 !! (Yes folks, that a HALF A MILLION DOLLARS)
Some of the Doctors have been great but others have been blood sucking mercenaries. We have gotten bills from medical personnel and offices that we never even knew existed, talked to, or agreed to any services or payment. Everything they send is accompanied with a threat of some sort. To our credit, of lawsuits, collections, etc. What's worse is that they only seem to exist in the ether. No office, phone, or location. Just a auto answer “billing service” located in another state 2000 miles away
It is amazing how fast you can go from comfortably semi-retired to broke and almost homeless when they hold your life ransom. And, of course, what the Doctors and hospitals didn’t get, evaporated in the economic meltdown those idiots in Washington let happen through pride, hubris, denial, self righteous sanctimonious finger pointing (after the fact) and trying to avoid responsibility.
In answer to the question of whether we are better off now than 8 years ago the almost universal answer is a resounding NO! With our retirement accounts decimated and nonexistent and the economy in free fall things just get scarier.
The fact is that many of us feel that we are now living in a 3rd world country and it's profoundly sobering and ghosts of the “great depression” are popping up everywhere.
I will try to get back here on a regular basis from now on and start getting caught up.
That's it for now....
See you later.....
Right after my last log on we found out my wife had a aggressive form of Breast Cancer and our life turned into a nightmare caught up in a hurricane.
Between the surgeries and the chemo , we have barely been able to breathe. Now with chemo ending, we may not see the light at the end of the tunnel (I hear it was turned off in Washington due to budgetary problems), but at least the runaway train may slow down.
Hopefully, that will allow us to deal with all the other problems that have cropped up while we were dealing with Cancer .
The amount of money that the medications and treatments require is absolutely staggering. With no health insurance, it’s like playing “lets make a deal with your life” and scary as hell ! Overall the medical bills, so far, have exceeded over $500,000 !! (Yes folks, that a HALF A MILLION DOLLARS)
Some of the Doctors have been great but others have been blood sucking mercenaries. We have gotten bills from medical personnel and offices that we never even knew existed, talked to, or agreed to any services or payment. Everything they send is accompanied with a threat of some sort. To our credit, of lawsuits, collections, etc. What's worse is that they only seem to exist in the ether. No office, phone, or location. Just a auto answer “billing service” located in another state 2000 miles away
It is amazing how fast you can go from comfortably semi-retired to broke and almost homeless when they hold your life ransom. And, of course, what the Doctors and hospitals didn’t get, evaporated in the economic meltdown those idiots in Washington let happen through pride, hubris, denial, self righteous sanctimonious finger pointing (after the fact) and trying to avoid responsibility.
In answer to the question of whether we are better off now than 8 years ago the almost universal answer is a resounding NO! With our retirement accounts decimated and nonexistent and the economy in free fall things just get scarier.
The fact is that many of us feel that we are now living in a 3rd world country and it's profoundly sobering and ghosts of the “great depression” are popping up everywhere.
I will try to get back here on a regular basis from now on and start getting caught up.
That's it for now....
See you later.....
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