Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Fraud Update

Chase gave me no trouble at all, issued a new card with next day delivery free, and I just need to sign something they are sending verifying it is fraud.

It seemed to be helpful to mention that if you "google" the name showing on the fraudulent card, immediately forums come up that verify other people have had the same problem.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Sexting is the New Thing?

I guess I'll have to risk sounding like an impossible old goober, but I have to tell you that sometimes you just see things with up and coming generations that makes you say, "you know, they are just a different breed." This business of girls sending other people pictures of themselves nude, using their cell phones, just puzzles the heck out of me.

This story is making the rounds now. Occasionally, I also have heard of guys cracking up in their cars on the highway after their girlfriends just sent them pictures of their bare breasts. That's funny. The problem is, of course, too many times they break up and, oops, those pictures are out there! It can get legally complicated when the girl is underage. There was a case in Pennsylvania not too long ago where the state police wanted to teach all the guys that all of a sudden had pictures of an underage girl a lesson: threats of charges of child pornography trafficking started to get tossed around, and at the very least these high school students were told they had to get rid of the pictures. At some point someone had to tell the cops the pictures were out there in cyberspace and probably every computer in Hong Kong had the pictures.

Apparently, again, the girls in the above link just didn't quite understand something like this could happen! Yet they were sending the pictures to everybody! Back in my teenage days, there were some wild girls around, but none of them thought they could start passing polaroid pictures of themselves around and not worry about it. A different breed out there today, no doubt about it.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Fraud Dept.

This one showed up on one of my credit cards. I suspect fraud and am checking it out. In the link, you see people are advising to monitor activity for other fraudulent charges on any card this comes up on.

I emailed an alert out to all, in case this is widespread. I am buying 100% the idea that this little charge tests whether your card is for real or not to the criminal.

I'll tell you what is making me plenty mad so far: this dates that are posted on the Forum start last December, yet, clearly, the credit card companies cheerfully continue to allow charges to go through. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Three Tests in One!

OK, you can test yourself here for three things simultaneously:

*Whether you would like musicals or not.
*Whether you would want to be a salesperson or not.
*Whether you would like barbershop singing or not.

The Link

Anybody seen the old movie "Hospital" ?

Can't resist posting this one. Sorry for the string of "hey check it out" posts, I keep planning a real post soon.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Interesting, in light of current events

Some wikepedia writer wrote this:

"Milton Friedman's monumental A Monetary History of the United States, co-written with Anna Schwartz, makes the now standard interpretation of what made the "great contraction" so severe. It was not the downturn in the business cycle, trade protectionism or the 1929 stock market crash that plunged the country into deep depression. It was the collapse of the banking system during three waves of panics over the 1930-33 period.[39]"


LINK

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Carry an Umbrella if on Wall Street?

There have been a bunch of suicides with financial people, not necessarily from Wall Street [and not just affected-by-Madoff]. A baker's dozen so far. Seems like I've heard that it was kind of a myth stock brokers jumped off buildings in 1929. Now I wonder.


1 Adolf Merckle, industrialist
2 Steven Good, real estate executive
3 René-Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, investor
4 Eric Von der Porten, fund manager
5 Alex W. Widmer, banker
6 Choi Seong-guk, asset manager
7 Joseph A. Luizzi, futures trader
8 Karthik Rajaram, entrepreneur
10 Edwin Rachleff, stock broker
11 Scott Coles, mortgage executive
12 Barry Fox, financial analyst
13 Walter Buczynski, mortgage executive

LINK

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Oh, Pulease!!

I am starting to think that the people who have predicted the Safety Nazis will be able to succeed in banning smoking absolutely everywhere, including the privacy of one's own home, may be correct. The latest.

Friday, January 2, 2009

A New Bag Lady

She calls herself here.

PS: corrected the link to start with page one.

OK, now I know what to bet on

I'm going to find Centenarians, who probably feel pretty lucky, and bet them they don't make it to be Supercentenarians. [definition of the latter is someone making it to age 110]. I'll give 'em 110 to one odds. *diabolical laughter*.

"Assuming that there are 300 million U.S. Citizens, the chances of someone becoming a centenarian is 1:4 thousand (~80,000 US centenarians today); on the other hand, the chances of someone becoming a Supercentenarian is only 1:4 million."