Double Dip Recession

well, we are supposed to be coming out of a recession right? but the government just approved 1.9 TRILLION in MORE DEBT.

That means that every American man, woman and child will OWE $40,000 in Government debt!

That kind of news worries a lot of people.

Not only that, but a bunch of countries like Spain, Greece and Portugal are on the verge of defaulting on all of their debt... kinda like Iceland already did.

Anyway, the latest unemployment numbers will be released later today (Friday) and if the news there is bad, that just adds to the problems.

Not to mention the second wave of foreclosures that is looming.

So, basically, the recession that people hope and pray is over, may actually get worse than before.

What's worse is that most politician's have this crazy belief that in order to get out of a recession, we have to spend MORE money!

Now, I realize that sometimes, an entity has to borrow money to invest it in growth but we have already borrowed over 12.3 TRILLION DOLLARS YOU IDIOT MORON REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS ALL OF YOU.

Dang, I sound like a fat radio show host... except that I blame both parties, not just the Dems like Brush LImpjaw and not just the Repubs like KPFA, lol

So, how are we gonna pay for all this debt? Heavy taxes or inflation, or more likely both. So, our money is gonna be worth LESS and our Taxes are gonna be higher meaning that overall, we will get poorer.

But, let's say that I'm being overly pessimistic... Let's say that we manage to get ourselves out of this whole and at the same time not get overburdened with tax and inflation...

Well, God help us if there is another economic bubble because I really think the next one will be the bubble to end all bubbles!

I better go to sleep man, now you know what I mean?

Anna Sheree sings Killing Me Softly With His Song (Cover)

My wife and I recorded a video and posted it to YouTube.

Watch it at the link in HD!

Anna Sheree - Killing Me Softly With His Song (Cover)

or watch it here I guess, same difference?




Keep your eyes open for her debut album coming sooner or later! Visit Anna Sheree's website for info & updates.

ON HOLD: Boycott Nokia & Siemens and any other company that deals with IRAN

EDIT
This morning, I am learning that there is conflicting information coming from the news reports about this whole Nokia-Siemens thing, so I may be wrong in calling for a Boycott.

However, I stand by my comments against the Ayatollah and the Iranian government in general.

Comments and thoughts welcome.

End EDIT

Hello everybody.

I should be sleeping, but I can't. I keep thinking about what's going on in Iran and wondering what I can do about it.

I am not really interested in the US military getting into a Nuclear war with Iran, and I think that Obama's response (or lack-there-of) is actually a good thing for the moment.

However, after watching this Neda Agha-Soltan and Another Man Shot by Basij Member(YouTube), I am convinced that I must do my part as a human being to speak up for those who are being muzzled by the so-called "Ayatollah" Ali Khamenei. The Basij is a paramilitary force founded by the order of the Ayatollah Khomeini in November 1979(wikipedia).

Not surprisingly, there are many European countries that do trade with Iran. Two particular European or rather multi-national companies have played a huge role in helping the Iranian government tyrannize, intimidate and kill protesters.

They are Nokia and Siemens. You can read what they have been doing here (Wall Street Journal).

In light of this information, I am boycotting both of these companies and I encourage you to do the same.

I also encourage you to visit their contact pages and let them know what you think.

Contact Siemens
Contact Nokia


You know, I really should be talking about how I recently got married and about the summer reception that is coming up. Too bad these idiots running Iran are messing with my conscience!

And, yes, I called the Ayatollah and his buddies idiots. Do I have the right to say that?

Oh, and I am by no means a Mousavi supporter... but compared to Ahmadinejad... talk about lesser of two evils...

peace and freedom,
-Tony

Predatory Lending & Capital One

I am very frustrated right now. I'm somewhat mad at myself but very upset with Capital One.

A little background:

Over the years, I have acquired some debt. Now, I am trying to pay it off. So, I looked at my various cards and started paying off the ones with the highest interest rates.

The Capital One card was at 9.9% "Fixed" APR.

Some of my other cards were at 19.99% and 24.99% variable APR, so I decided to tackle those first.

To make a long story short, while I was working at Camp MayMac this summer (or maybe when I was in Morocco), I received a letter that had a "change in terms" from Capital One. Unfortunately, I never read that letter until today.

Today, I found out that my interest rate shot up to 22.99% back in September and at one point was hovering around 27.65% (that was in October).

The crazy part is that the interest rate went up because Capital One started borrowing money at higher interest rates and passed those interest rates down to its card-holders. I got the notice, and I had a chance to "opt out", but unfortunately, I didn't read the stupid notice until today!

What gets me mad is that my APR was supposed to be "Fixed"! So, I wasn't worrying about it. I made all my payments online and I wasn't checking to see if the terms were going to change on me! Maybe this rate hiking is normal in the Credit industry, but I think it is wrong and it should be illegal.

I would understand the rate increase if I had been delinquent (even though I still don't think it's fair to hike rates to obscene amounts). But I made my payments on time!

So I called Capital One. That was another nightmare.

First, I talk to a machine that gave me every option I could want except "To talk to a customer service representative please press..." So, after fiddling around with different numbers, I tried "0" and it actually worked.

I was connected to somebody in another country and she kept telling me to speak louder because there was a poor connection. I then got transferred to a "Whitney" in Richmond, VA. The Capital One number there is 1 (800) 889-9939. She then transferred me to Marcus who wouldn't tell me his last name, but gave me his operator number: WLI796. They basically told me that I missed the opt out deadline of September 11, 2007... September 11! Boy, they chose a good date to execute their rate hike.

To be fair, the customer service reps did what they could. They brought my rate down to 14.99 variable. I can't complain about them, but I think I can complain about Capital One.

Anyway, because of this experience, I am never again doing business with Capital One. I hope that the CEO, Mr. Richard C. Fairbank, thinks about what his company is doing and puts an end to it.

I probably shouldn't have a credit card in the first place, but I for sure won't have a Capital One card as soon as I pay this one off!

peace,
-Tony

The Blog Has Moved!

Click Here to go to my current blog. I've been blogging mainly on MySpace. Will I ever return to blogger? Who knows!

anyway,
have fun reading... LOL

Chair-Man... reminiscing about highschool

I just read an email from an old friend from high-school. She used to call me "chair-man".



I remember it now. I went to Independence High School. At the time, there were about 3,800 (probably more like 3,400 with all the dropouts) but you get the picture. It was big!



Surprisingly, this large campus (click here to see a satellite photo), did not have any picnic benches for the students to sit on during lunch time. Now this is no big deal in the summer and warm days of spring but on those cold days when the grass was cold and wet, I longed for something better. So I got smart and I started to bring this old folding garden chair that had arm-rests. It was great!



Some people laughed at me, and others gave me peculiar looks. Some looked on with envy and a few would try anything for the privilege of sitting on my chair. One day, one of the security guards (some called them narcs) stopped me and questioned my motives for bringing the chair. He thought I was bringing a weapon to school. I told him that a skateboard was more dangerous than a chair and he agreed.



I don't remember where I used to put the chair though. I don't think I carried it around with me from class to class but I may have asked a teacher if I could keep it in their classroom. I don't know.



I still wonder how such a large school could lack eating spaces for their students. There were a few benches scattered around, but absolutely no tables unless you wanted to eat in a teacher's classroom.



The worst was on rainy days, when everybody would huddle underneath the awning-roof things on the buildings. We would get packed like rats, lol. But that was kinda fun (I feel sorry for the claustrophobes though).



Chair-man, dang, that trips me out.

If any of my high-school friends have a picture of me and that chair, I would appreciate a copy.

I was going to post something yesterday...

but I didn't get around to it. But, I did manage to put a few new pictures here. They are meant to help me tell a story that I plan on writing down evetnually.

Jeremiah's Song

I finished a new song today that I named "Jeremiah's Song (Instrumental Breaks Mix)" and you can download it by clicking here.

Papa Antonio

Some sad news to report, my mother's father, Antonio Rodriguez Zamora, passed away last week in Oakland. He had been sick for quite some time so I am glad that he is not suffering any longer. May he rest in peace.

Mom is currently in Mexico where they will be burying him. Hopefully, she has a safe trip back to Morocco.

Saying good-bye to the 'South'

Well, Rita came and went. I guess it didn't hit as hard as Katrina did which is good. Now, I am have been far from Louisiana for more than a week. It definitely was an amazing experience. The following are some of my most vivid memories...

The Arrival

24 CityTeam volunteers and myself arrived at Bethany just past midnight on September 17th (Friday Night-Saturday Morning). We were to sleep in Tent City which had been set up in a grassy area under some trees prior to our arrival. Unfortunately, it had rained earlier that day and all our tents were wet and in puddles of water! To make things worse, the rain had caused what seemed like millions of fire-ants to come out of their soggy nests, crawl all over our legs and bite, just for fun. It took about an hour to drain, relocate, re-assemble clean out the tents and set up our cots but by then I was just glad to be able to sleep.

The Weather and the Love (Bugs)

Boy is it muggy in Louisiana! The humidity was very high and it always seems to be hot. In fact, when the rains were coming down from Rita, the water felt warm! I always thought that rain was supposed to be cold. Anyway, when it wasn't raining, we had to deal with these nasty creatures they call love bugs(Wikipedia.org). They are seriously the stupidest insects I have ever seen. They spend most of their life mating in mid-air and they seem to like smashing into windshields and car bumpers just for fun.

The Kids

My main job at the shelter was to help with the children's program. Ana, my fellow volunteer and I had the privilege of dealing with some really cool kids. We played games and had a homework club. One particular toddler became very attached to me after we all went to the park one day. Back in the shelter, I took him to pick out a book and after I had read it, he took it back to where it belonged and grabbed another one! This child was amazingly well mannered and very bright for his age. I was sorry to say good-bye after only two days of really getting to know him. CityTeam has a picture of the two of us hanging out which you can see by clicking here (of course, I look like a dork, but hey, it isn't about me right?)

The People

Well, the shelter was full of people but the ones I spent the most time with besides the kids were the other volunteers. Old friends like Christine and Theo. New friends like Lawrence and Tyrone. There were many others, some of whom are still in Louisiana helping out.

The End

There were many things that I did in Baker but to write them all down would be torture for me and for you too. I left Louisiana on Friday, September 30th, 2005. It was an unexpected trip but I am very glad I took it.