Amen, Bro!

http://www.piyooshrai.com/2014/04/lessons-for-father-who-do-you-work-for.html

Smarter thieves means we need smarter cops....and a purge in Washington

I'm currently reading Griftopia by Matt Taibbi....yet another punch in the stomach to my ever-more corroded notions that America is a nation of justice and equal treatment of law for all.

With Mr. Taibbia's background, it's no surprise that the book has a bit of a leftist-leaning bias...but I think that shouldn't be taken as a reason to avoid the book. I mention it simply so you have some idea of the perspective the author carries into his book....and you can prepare the appropriate "bias filters" as you consider the writing.  I'd offer the same warning for any detected bias...regardless of political spectrum it leans towards. I.e. don't read only those that agree with you....and be EXTRA careful about your "bias filters" when you're reading those whom you agree with...sneaky mindfucks creep in too often in such moments of letting your guard down.

 Nonetheless, having worked in the mortgage industry during the sub-prime boom that lead up to the 2008 crash, and being closely involved in that industry during the crash, I assure you that much of what Griftopia describes is accurate.  I would differ with some of the descriptions, opinions and conclusions the book presents, yet overall, the main point he makes and the tone of his writing make the book a worthy read for anyone who wasn't intimately involved with the high level financial shenanigans that went down.  For the rest of us, Matt explains the overall arc of this recent international financial scam in his entertaining and accessible writings.  Sadly, the overall arc is a description of how, yet again, the powers that be have pulled a giant con on the masses, enriching themselves at the expense of the common man and his offspring for generations to come.

Today I stumbled upon this article in the NY Times regarding a recent investigative report from the Inspector General of the Justice Department.  Although its focus is on fraud closer to the loan origination side than Griftopia's (which covers the BILLIONS of dollars swindled via the treasury and the financial markets), it still is sickening in its revelations of the scope of the problems. The report, “Audit of the Department of Justice’s Efforts to Address Mortgage Fraud,” emphasizes how our law enforcement and regulatory agencies are at best, incompetent in the face of "white-collar" criminals, or quite possibly, complacent in the fleecing of the American taxpayer (and other victims around the world) via corruption throughout our government and financial entities.

Religion and sex are power plays

Manipulate the people for the money they pay

Selling skin, selling God

The numbers look the same on their credit cards

Politicians say no to drugs

While we pay for wars in South America

Fighting fire with empty words

While the banks get fat

And the poor stay poor

And the rich get rich

And the cops get paid to look away

As the one percent rules America

  - Spreading the Disease, Operation Mindcrime - Queensrÿche

Español Banking Terms for your Mexican Visa Efforts

Well this (i.e. http://costablanca.angloinfo.com/countries/spain/bankterms.asp ) was a start but some of these are wrong and some may be regional to Spain instead of Mexico (as needed for our Mexico VISA application/processing).  Thus my list of banking statement terms translated to Spanish from English.  I.e. DSD's translation of his bank statements from English to Español.  YippieKiEh, Motherfuckers!

English	Spanish
Account Number	Número de cuenta
Amount	Cantidad
Assets	Activos
ATM & Debit Card Withdrawals	ATM y Retiros Tarjeta de Débito
Balance	Saldo
Balance Summary	Resumen de saldo
Balancing Your Checkbook	Cotejar tu cuenta
Beginning Balance	Saldo Anterior
Card Purchase	Compra con Tarjeta
Card Purchase Return	Devolución
Card Purchase with PIN	Compra con Tarjeta con NIP
Checking Account Summary	Resumen de la cuenta de cheques
Checks Paid	Cheques Pagados
Continued	Seguido
Credit	Crédito
Customer Withdrawal	Retiro de cliente
Date	Fecha
Description	Concepto
Deposit	Depósito
Deposits and Additions	Depósitos y adiciones
Electronic Payment	Pago Electronico
Electronic Withdrawals	Retiros electrónicos
Ending Balance	Saldo final
Fees	Honorarios
Fees and Other Withdrawals	Honorarios y otros retiros
Free Checking	Cuenta gratis de cheques
Page 1 of 6	Página 1 de 6
Primary Account	Cuenta Principal
Savings Account	Cuenta Ahorros
Service Fee	Pago por Servicio
This Period	Este periodo
Total	Total
Total Assets	Total de Activos
Transaction Details	Detalles de la transacción
Transfer	Transferencia
Withdrawals and Other Fees	Retiros  y otros honorarios

Waiting for TelMex

Tuesday August 23rd, 2011



Still no Internet today. The house’s property manager, Cipriano Ramos (who has been a HUGE help to us as we’ve been trying to get settled in here) called TelMex today and we went through the tier-1 tech support to no avail. There are supposed to send a technician out in “24 to 36 hours.”


At Teizcali school starts at 7:50AM. Since we don’t have a car we walk to school. Our _route_ takes about 20 to 25 minutes. Thus wake up time is around 6:15 or so. We are not a bright-and-early type of family so this early start time plus the one hour difference in time zones between Oaxaca and Denver, CO, USA means things are a bit grouchy around here.


After walking down to B’s school this morning I found out that TELMEX techs can show up well outside of American or Mexican “business hours.” They can seemingly come as early as 7 am and as late as 8pm….any day of the week. And if you miss them when they come you allegedly go to the bottom of the queue. I will not be leaving the house it seems.

Donuts v. Bagels

I'm not much of a breakfast guy.  I'm lucky if I get a ClifBar with my morning coffee.  But I enjoy a bagel or donut if given the opportunity.  But here is what I want to know:

If everybody slices a bagel in half, why is only one side coated with toppings?  I.e. shouldn't there be schtuff (e.g. poppyseeds) on BOTH sides?  I can understand with a donut as you eat the thing whole.

Somebody address this market opportunity!

The $500 Denon audio cable

http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicated-Link-Cable/product-reviews/B000I1X6PM/ref=cm_cr_pr_helpful?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0

Ah, yes, yet another example that some of us out there are making TOO MUCH DAMN MONEY &/or are too stupid to be allowed to use the Internet alone!!.  Oh, wait, I should say some HAVE too much money as they surely aren't working for their income....are they? OMFG!

Anthony Sloan RIP

Background: http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218200

His (memorial?) site (some incredible photos): http://www.anthonysloan.com/

DSD Comment: I don't know if I ever met the guy, but if I did, I missed a key opportuntity to chat with what appears to have been a very interesting man.

:-(

Stop the HighDef Madness

Ok, I am well aware that it is Xmas and the retailers are doing whatever they can to stir the feeding frenzy of consumerism that passes itself off as "Christmas giving." But the whole push to digital TV and HighDef schtuff has officially gone too fucking far with this: http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6565742.html?nid=4262

South Park in High Def? The show is intentionally crappy animation with paper cuts-outs and stop-action animation. Man, get a 42" HD flat panel and you'll do ANYTHING to justify the "need" for it. Worse than crack.

But then, I'm just jealous.

Keep the teeth, Santa. I want trains and Legos.

So B lost his second tooth yesterday. He lost the first one about a week ago. So now he is missing his two front lower teeth. Seems like were all set up for some sort of Leave_It_To_Beaver era Christmas card photo. But B doesn't need to limit he wish list with Santa to just two front teeth; he has the adult teeth already halfway in.

Parenthood is such a funny drug - doing things such as making you proud of a ubiquitous biological process.

So what is the state of the Tooth Fairy economy, you ask? B wanted to keep his first tooth so we told him to leave a note for the T.F. and expect that the absence of a tooth would mean no payment. "She" (cuz all T.F's are female, right?) left him a dollar coin for getting the first tooth out by himself (no string tied to a door knob) and told him the next tooth would also get a discounted payment. For the second he rec'd a five spot. WTF! I think I got a quarter per tooth, on average. Man we parents of singles are spoilers. Shame on the Tooth Fairy.

DSD

Who owns Coward Yellow?

" 'Post-It' and the color canary yellow are trademarks of 3M."

Ok, as a big "L" libertarian I'm all for the concept of intellectual property but it's time to confess my discomfort with the ownership of colors, naturally occuring gene sequences, and immortal Disney characters.

"While the banks get fat

And the poor stay poor

And the rich get rich

And the cops get paid

To look away

As the one percent rules America"