Identity theft in Virginia

Talk about pertinent current events – in the WaPo day-before-yesterday was a story about this woman who, with her husband’s complicity, used someone else’s identity (“lost” drivers license, etc.) to get a mortgage on a $400k townhouse. The victim got suspicious when he received a refund check from the mortgage broker for overpayment of closing costs – for a mortgage he didn’t have, for a townhome he didn’t own.

What’s troublesome about the article is that WaPo seems to insinuate that all is well, because the guy wasn’t out any money (the thief was making payments) and the thief eventually was caught and now prosecuted. Furthermore, the woman is Hispanic with a slew of kids. WaPo doesn’t state as much, but I’m wondering about her immigration status as well. Poor, poor immigrant must use someone else’s docs to buy a home for her family. American Dream shouldn't be denied to immigrants, wah-wah! Like hell – DH Jeff and I probably couldn’t get a $400k mortgage – and we have good jobs with no kids!

The bottom line is that yes, the thief was caught and prosecuted (and should be to the full extent of the law!), and no, there weren’t any financial costs to the victim; however, it is up to him to clear up the situation with the bank regarding the mortgage, it’s up to him to correct his credit record with the reporting agencies, and up to him to do any other follow-up to clear his name. I’m sure he must feel very vulnerable and now wonders – is this it or is my name and credit still compromised, another bomb waiting to drop? Read the whole story here.

Las Vegas Eats

As promised, here are some of the restaurants that we really enjoyed while in Vegas and why.

Café Ba Ba Reeba, 3200 South Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109, (702) 258-1211. We both love tapas and this place was fun, had tasty, garlicky favorites, had some selections we hadn’t tried before (like these yummy mild peppers in sea salt), and reasonably priced (comparable to that of Jaleo’s here in DC). OT.

Todd’s Unique Dining, 4350 East Sunset, Henderson, NV 89014, (702) 259-8633. This was probably the star of our stay, restaurant-wise. The restaurant is actually in a strip mall and has a cozy, neighborhood feel to it. The service is pleasant and attentive. But the real draw is their exceptional food. For instance, I had a seared ahi filet over wasabi mashed potatoes, with a spray of enoki mushrooms – yum! The pricing is a bit high – best for a treat evening – but well-worth it. OT.

Emperor’s Garden, 4215 Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas, NV 89102, 702-889-6777. This place has really good Chinese food – the Sichuan selections are spicy and full-flavored, with plenty of sauce to soak up with rice. Pleasantly different from the preparation here in DC and reasonably/comparably priced.

Verandah, Four Seasons Hotel/ Mandalay Bay Resort, 3960 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89119, (702) 632-5000. Beautiful ambience, exceptionally attentive and pleasant service (I did have to giggle when they brought a little foot stool for my purse), and wonderful food – very fresh ingredients with wonderful seasonings. The pricing is high, so again, best for a treat evening out once in a while. OT.

Honorable mention to the Charlie Palmer’s Restaurant lounge, right beside Verandah, Four Seasons Hotel, 3960 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas, NV 89119, (702) 632-5120. Big, cushy chairs in little groupings around a coffee table, with soothing lighting and pleasant staff who don’t rush you. Very relaxing! Next time we go to Vegas, we’ll have to check out the restaurant.



OT = Listed on OpenTable.com, wherein you can make reservations online.

Book & movie review: The Children of Men

The Children of Men, by P.D. James, the book on which the recent film was based, is a dire what-if tale of a world without a future, caused by sudden, inexplicable universal sterility. The story unfolds twenty-five years after the last baby was born, around a middle-aged university professor in London, who had become detached from life and humanity far before this crisis. Through his journal entries the reader learns how society is dying: the emergent pathologies, the devolutions, the apathy. One day, however, a compelling young woman crosses his path and captures his attention. This is where the story takes off.


The basic premise of the book and film are the same (worldwide inability to procreate); however, James tells a much better, a much more psychologically and emotionally haunting story. I saw the movie first and thought that it was a pretty good story and well-acted (by Michael Caine, Clive Owen, Julianne Moore) despite the pro-illegal sob-story subplot. Then I read the book and thought, this a great story as is, but the Hollywood lefties had to impose their politics, ignore the book's well-crafted characters, nuances and compelling issues - pretty much dumped the whole plot of the book. Essentially, the film-makers took a neat idea from the book and fabricated their own, politically slanted and fractured narrative - in my mind, a much inferior one to the original.

Identity Theft: what you can do - PSA

After returning from Las Vegas recently, I checked my credit card account online and almost had a heart attack when I noticed $8000 in pending charges. My first thought was some scumbag clerk or wait staff in Vegas had lifted my number and went to town. So I called the credit card company and learned that no, no credit card fraud, just my school accidently done multiple charges for the one tuition bill - and those pending repeat charges would just fall off eventually, not to worry. They have in the mean time, but thank goodness I called!

Short-story-long, my first thought was that this was a case of identity theft, which is BIG business and costs victims not only financially, but in hassle and time lost trying to correct the situation. Coincidentally, I had done a presentation last semester on identity theft and had put together a list of steps & contacts of what to do if you're victimized. Below is that list with links to government agencies' websites for more information and to submit a report online.

-----------
What should you do if you think your identity has been stolen?

1. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC):
· By phone (FTC identity theft hotline): 1-877-438-4338
· Online: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/

The FTC maintains a database of identity theft cases used by law enforcement agencies for investigations.

2. Contact the fraud departments of any one of the three major credit bureaus:
· Equifax: 800-525-6285 or write to P.O. Box 740250, Atlanta, GA 30374-0250
· Experian: 888-397-3742, fax to 800-301-7196, or write to P.O. Box 1017, Allen, TX 75013.
· Trans Union: 800-680-7289 or write to P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634

The credit bureaus will place a fraud alert on your credit file, requesting creditors to contact you before opening any new accounts or making any changes to your existing accounts. Once the credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the other two credit bureaus will automatically be notified to place fraud alerts. All three credit reports will be sent to you free of charge.

3. Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.

4. File a police report.

5. Submit a copy of the report to your creditors and others that may require proof of the crime.

6. Call IRS at 1-800-829-1040 if you think your identity has been stolen and used inappropriately for tax purposes.

Sources: IRS, FTC, DOJ

Thoughts on the morning

I’ve successfully worked out in the mornings 3 days this week – very exciting! – and run for 2 of them. A few observations:

- It’s a very nice time to work out – peaceful, even.
- there are a lot of runners quietly running around at 6am.
- My butt and sometimes lower back hurts after a run even though I stretch before and after, and have proper running shoes. My courses are up and downhill as my courses are hilly. Maybe I just have to run more often?

Gangs & stuff

Sort of good news in Maryland: an MS-13 scumbag who orchestrated the gang rape of two teenage girls was sentenced to 37 years behind bars (evidently, this isn’t the same judge who dismissed charges of a Liberian child rapist in Montgomery County –see below). This criminal was caught and charged through a RICO operation. Yeah, RICO!

Now, although I’m gratified that this SOB will be behind bars for a long time, he’s still taking up public (taxpayer) resources – food, shelter, medical/dental, etc. And he’ll probably meet up with his MS-13 buddies already in prison – and still operate from the inside. And, ok, the article in WaPo mentioned that he spoke through an interpreter, which I take to mean he’s an illegal. And probably, too, are the scads of relatives present in the courtroom who, along with the defendant, wept at the injustice of the verdict. Read the whole thing for yourself, especially the part where the scumbag says that God knows his heart and that he didn’t do anything wrong. Rich. My only hope is that the system doesn’t allow time off for good behavior.

Oh, yeh, I'm back from Vegas

I guess from the last post, you've figured out that I'm back at the ol' homestead. Vegas was a blast, and not only in temperature.

Speaking of heat, though, the average high temp during our stay was 108 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temp, it does feel like a furnace, albeit a dry one. Here are some musts, if you're to remain healthy and conscious during your stay:

- water, water, water! And by "water" I mean H20, not soda or anything else. DH Jeff & I were constantly drinking water because the dry, hot air sucks the moisture right out of you. And fast. I've heard tales of dehydration and it's not pretty.

- sunblock, sunblock, sunblock! I used SPF 45 and sunbathed. Evidently I missed a spot or two and burned after only about two hours in the sun. I mean REALLY red in the missed parts. Those spray-sunblocks are good - just get someone to spray your back.

In up-coming posts, I'll share what we did & the best places to go (restaurants, etc.).

Miscarriage of justice writ large

In today's WaPo, there's an article that totally infuriated me - and not just in the usual outrage-y way, but in the where's-the-justice way, in the incompetent judge way, in the child-advocacy way. Ok, here's what it's about: in Montgomery County (MD), a Liberian man was charged with raping and repeatedly molesting a 7-year-old girl over a year's period. He was brought to trial. Now, the judge, a Katherine D. Savage, is dropping the charges because over the three year period of the trial, the courts couldn't retain a suitable interpreter for him under the period acceptable to uphold speedy trial rights.

Other interesting facts:

- the accused [sexual predator/child molester scumbag] attended high school in Montgomery County, where presumably the standard operating language is English;

- the accused [sexual predator/child molester scumbag] was taking classes at a community college in Maryland, where presumably the standard operating language is English;

- a court-appointed psychiatrist recommended that "an interpreter be appointed." (WaPo, July 22, 2007). The court followed suit and was evidently bound by this recommendation. I have to wonder why the shrink recommended that, why the justification.

- Montgomery County cannot retry this scumbag again for these charges;

- WaPo claims to have found at least one agency that could provide Vai (a tribal language spoken in Liberia & Sierra Leone) interpreters at short notice.

- the prosecution not only had DNA evidence against the accused, but eye witnesses to the crimes.

- the accused is free to go now.

The prosecution will probably appeal, but what the hey - the guy is free as a bird to rape and molest again, and the victim has received absolutely no justice under our wonderful legal system. The scumbag's rights were upheld, the victim's were - well - at best, theoretical. Now she and her parents must live in the fear that this rapist (a relative, no less), is released back into her community.

The moral of the story? Let's see...If you're raped, make damn sure your rapist speaks & understands English, and understands that what he was doing was actually wrong (that wasn't brought up in the article, but judging from the incidence of rape by all types - UN "peacekeepers", child soldiers, other soldiers, every other Moslem male, etc, in many parts of Africa, I'll make the leap that the accused was bringing up the cultural variance defense). Or maybe: we gratefully import poverty, crime & all sorts of predation in the name of a multi-culti sense of diversity - and our courts happily evidence the kind of incompetence and disfunctionality existent in the courts in countries from which these criminals come. And if you're a kid, you quite literally screwed. Your parents can't protect you everywhere, not even (especially???) from predatory relatives. The courts won't protect you either.

Our justice system, specifically in Montgomery County, specifically in the court of Judge Savage (interesting name, huh, considering the case and her action in it?), failed miserably in bringing to justice a heinous criminal and henceforth, failed in protecting not only this 7-year-old from further injury, but other children who are vulnerable to this free violent criminal. I would not be surprised, nor particularly troubled, if this community took it upon itself to exact a justice unanswered by our supposed rule of law.

A further thought: perhaps the moral of the story is to promptly kill your or child's attacker, because the court system, especially certain judges, will focus solely on the constitutional rights of the accused and disregard the wellbeing of the victim and society at large.

Hiatus

Well, as of late I've been pretty good about posting; however, for the next week and change, I'll be off to Vegas with DH Jeff to see the in-laws and I will be having TOO MUCH FUN to post. Sorry about that but facts are facts. BUT I'm going to take notes on my favorite places (besides the Wynn Hotel) out there & post my thoughts, well, post-vacation. heh. See you then, renewed!

On depression

There's a good article in the Health section of WaPo yesterday (7/10/07) on depression from a sufferer's perspective. I can identify with much of what she says about not wanting to use meds to alleviate it; feeling like it was the easy way out; feeling relief and a sense of optimism and purpose when the meds kicked in; acknowledging that meds can make things more tolerable; but they don't magically resolve anything; however, they can be a good and useful tool when dealing with depression. Check it out.

Morning workout update

Well, this might be an emerging habit after all. I mean working out in the morning. Yesterday, both of us worked out early in the AM & today, I went to AM spin class. If we can keep this going, it'll be a major coup! For now, I'm basking in the well-accomplished week. Yippee!

5 things: hot sauces

In the continuing series of 5 things, I’ve decided that today’s highlighted items are of a hot sauce persuasion. Now, my philosophy on hot sauces is that the perfect one is thick, chunky, garlicky and at the same time, capable of making your nose run and your mouth burn. Smoky, chipotle flavors are good too. Thin, vinegary varieties are at the lower end of pleasure – ok as a stopgap when having nothing else and when faced with bland airline food. The bounty of available thicker, hotter & tastier sauces available make this a moot point. So…here are my 5 favorites of the moment:

1. Uncle Brutha’s Fire Sauce No. 9: Chile verde, garlic & ginger. This is the most flavorful, spicy, garlicky, wonderful sauce I’ve had the pleasure to sweat over in a while. Has a nice thick consistency. My personal favorite of the moment. Can be purchased online or at Whole Foods.

2. Uncle Brutha’s Fire Sauce No. 10: Four chiles & garlic. From the same company as #1 above. Smoky, full-flavored, garlicky and with the same thick consistency as #1. Can be purchased online or at Whole Foods.

3. King Street Blues Chipotle Kick Pepper Sauce. Smoky, full-flavored, garlicky and with thick consistency. DH Jeff’s personal favorite of the moment. Personally, I prefer the Uncle Brutha’s chipotle sauce (#2 above) to this, but they’re very similar. Can be purchased at Whole Foods or I reckon, at the local King Street Blues restaurants (Arlington & Alexandria, VA).

4. D.L. Jardine’s Blazin’ Saddle Habanero Pepper Sauce. This is a nice, bright, spicy habanero (is that redundant?) sauce with a slightly thinner consistency than #s 1-3 above. Still in Renée range of thickness though. Can be purchased online, Whole Foods, or at any hot sauce emporium.

5. D.L. Jardine’s Texas Kicker Habanero Pepper Sauce. Another nice, bright, spicy habanero sauce from the D.L. Jardine’s family of sauces. This sauce is at the threshold of the acceptable thickness and consistency. Any thinner and you’ve got, well, Tabasco sauce. Can be purchased online, Whole Foods, or at any hot sauce emporium.

Honorable mentions to Melinda’s family of hot sauces* and Day of the Dead Hot Sauces. For those chile heads in your world, samplers of these make great gifts!


* Just a quick visit to Melinda’s web site revealed new varieties which I haven’t had the opportunity to taste. Honorable mention is primarily for the XXXtra Hot Sauce, readily available at grocery and gourmet stores. I’ll get back to you when I’ve had a chance to try the new ones. Wahoo! New potential favorites!

Run, Nic, run!

I must confess, I'm between bemused and smitten with the new French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. He's pro-American, law and order, his own man - and not Chirac. Now I have one more reason to like him: in today's WaPo is an article about how he just loves to run (usually in his favorite NYPD tshirt!), which is causing a complete uproar in the French press and with French intellectuals because evidently it's "un-French" to jog. Sarkozy could care less. Ha! Read the whole article here.

Photo credit: Remy De La Mauviniere, Associated Press; Washington Post, July 7, 2007.

More from the religion of heinous violence

Well, if you've been keeping up on current events, then you know about the whole Glasgow airport thing and the cars and stuff. And I suppose, you know by now that these actions were not taken by a bunch a sparked-up Presbyterian grandmothers from Boise, right?

My question is, why does the West think it can continue to appease, placate, pander to or just ignore these folks whose mission is to kill-kill-kill us? This must stop and we (the broad Western "we") must put our collective foot down. These actions are not just criminal, they're terrorist in nature. They will not stop. Why aren't we really fighting back?

I fear it's getting to be too late & the civilized world is done for. I'd love to see someone prove me wrong, but unless we start taking decisive action against this threat, it will be too late. Writing on wall, people!

Wonders never cease

Ok, so maybe it's not quite a pattern yet, but it cannot be called a complete fluke. Speaking of my early morning exercise, that is. This morning, I actually got myself up, pulled on clothes and running shoes & went running, then to the gym for some weights.

The mere fact that I was able to wrench myself from a perfectly comfortable bed with my perfectly cuddly husband this morning at 5:45am (imagine!) and actually was able to leave the apartment without wimping out and diving back into bed is noteworthy, don't you think?

Oh, if I could do this 5 times a week! Wow, having my whole evening free! Not having to motivate myself after work! Not having to fight crowds at the gym! Going to work knowing I've done right by my body! Wahoo!

Ok, here's the test: tomorrow morning, 6:15am, there's a spin class at the gym. Let's see if BOTH Renee & Jeff can make it! Wow, then when class is over, we could toddle down to Whole Foods and grab some coffee and noshes on the way home! I'm so excited! We must actualize this plan! Wahoo!

UPDATE: We didn't make it to spin, but we went and did weights. Anyhow, we made it to the gym! This could be a trend...

2nd shot at amnesty bill killed

And thank goodness for that. The bill, no matter what amendments were added, was still horrible legislation, which at best would have no effect (completely unenforceable and therefore ignored) and at worst, would reward illegal behavior; the added legalized foreign nationals completely overwhelming the already strained capacity of the FBI, DHS, etc., to process applications & background checks (I mean, come on, they already have backlogs in the hundreds of thousands and can’t seem to keep track of the files they’re currently processing); not to mention social and healthcare services (because with legalization comes greater access to welfare, food stamps, medicaid, etc., and the need to process even greater volumes of applicants than before).

No, the bill wasn’t “reform,” no, it wasn’t an “overhaul” and no, it wouldn’t have improved any immigration issues; it is just a misbegotten, voluminous mess and ultimately, a huge waste of taxpayers’ money. Illegals aren’t following the law anyway (either rushing the border or overstaying their visas), so what makes these yahoos think they would fall cooperatively in line and observe all the convoluted rules according to this proposed law (going back to their country, renewing guest-worker visas, etc.)? We have immigration laws on the books already, but what we’ve (the U.S.) shown them (the illegals), is that we’re willing to disregard our laws or unevenly apply them. To a person coming from somewhere like Mexico, wherein there are plenty of unenforced laws (rule of law is notional at best) and almost anything can be bought, maneuvered or extorted, this country and our governance thereof may only seem to be a better functioning variety of their native environment. And they have and will act accordingly.

Furthermore, because historically (read: after 1986 amnesty), such laws didn’t result in secure borders; because millions of tax dollars have been wasted on non-functioning systems (software, for instance) to track deportees, dangerous illegal alien criminals, or just visa over-stayers; and because even if the systems do work, they aren’t used consistently by agencies or available to and shared throughout law enforcement and intelligence agencies [read Michelle Malkin’s book Invasion for details about these fiascos], there is little hope that such a complicated, impractical scheme such as this bill would resolve anything at all. As it could make things a whole lot worse, I’m hoping this monster won’t be re-animated.

Read the WaPo article on its recent demise here.

States take on immigration

Today in WaPo There was an article about how several states are stepping up to the plate and putting forth bills that target illegal immigration in ways that could be effective in discouraging the continued presence of these scofflaws in their states. Clearly, many constituents are frustrated with the lack of meaningful action by federal government to stop the flood of illegal immigration, and their state-level representatives are actually doing something about that frustration. These bills include limits on illegals’ access to government services, ability to hold jobs and to acquire driver’s licenses, as well as enabling law enforcement to inquire about a person’s legal status and detain those who are here illegally. I think this is a very positive trend and if passed, these bills may indeed create a hostile environment for illegal immigrants in the respective states. There’s more than one way to skin this cat and it’s nice to see state lawmakers taking ownership of their own state’s situation. Read the whole article here.

Movie Review: Pan's Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth involves a fairy tale, but make no mistake about it – this is not a kid’s story. The protagonist, a young girl named Ofelia creates this fairy tale world to buffer herself from the very traumatic and violent real world around her. Her pregnant mother is married to a sadistic captain in the Spanish army in 1944 fascist Spain. The captain insists that his wife join him at the front of current fighting against the communist rebellion even though she’s dangerously close to giving birth. As Ofelia’s real existence becomes more lonely, isolated and precarious, she delves deeper into the realm of the fantastic, wherein she attempts to prove herself as worthy to become Princess of that realm.

I would highly recommend this film. Even with subtitles (the movie is in Spanish), the movie draws you into the dark real and mystical action. Really good characters all around: the winsome and brave Ofelia, the brutal captain Vidal, the kindly Mercedes, the wise, old Pan and the creepy guy with eyes in his hands. The violence is shocking, but not gratuitous. And I found it interesting, even with my limited Spanish, to contrast what was actually being said with the subtitle translation.

5 things to say

I had an interesting interpersonal encounter today while walking back from Corner Bakery (lunch). And by interesting, I mean “revolting.” A young black woman (I suspect teenage or early twenties) stopped me and after buttering me up (yes, I know this is a good outfit –I picked it out, didn’t I?), asked me for money for food, because: I’m homeless AND pregnant.

Ok, I’m irritated that anyone would come up to me, a stranger, and demand money. Like, don’t I pay enough taxes to take care of the problem and preclude such encounters? Aren’t I gouged in taxes because I DON’T have children? They have it backwards: I should be paid for NOT having children. But I digress.

I’m not quick in these situations; I never have a snappy come-back until later. Then it’s not so snappy. After all, I may have only 4 brain cells playing bumpercar upstairs, but this was obviously 3 more than the lonely one floating in the dark that this chick was entertaining. Very lonely and understimulated.

Rambling aside, I belatedly thought of a few things to say. Here goes:

1. So where’s the sperm-donor? Why not hit him up for cash? Oh, I know, because he’s out impregnating other stupid girls. So he can brag about all his progeny without actually supporting them.

2. Give me one good reason why I should care what happens to you or your bastard child? And don’t say, “because we need a larger underclass.”

3. What kind of moron throws contraceptive caution to the wind when already homeless? Oh, wait a minute, I’ve answered my own question.

4. Sorry, those funds are earmarked for my new Jimmy Choo’s.

5. Alternately: Sorry, those funds are earmarked for my new boobs.

Ok, I think that’s enough for now. My poor little neurons are tuckered out. If I come up with other zingers, I’ll let you know. And remember boys and girls, responsibility you have to work at, but stupidity is easy and free.

This morning...

...I woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep. Finally, after trying for about an hour and a half, I decided enough already. Better to get up and do something productive rather than lie in bed wide-awake and achieve nothing more than irritability. So, what was that productive activity at 5:30 in the morning, you ask? Well, I threw on clothes and went running in the neighborhood - and then went to the gym to do a weights workout. I know, this doesn't seem possible as it usually takes an act of God to get me going in the morning, but today it all fell into place.

Let me just say that running at that hour of the morning was the most beautiful experience I've had in awhile. It's quiet, calm and fresh, no humidity and the temperature perfect(70s?). The lawns are neatly mowed and green. There are just a few motorists out so it's safe. I ran down streets that I hadn't before and checked out the new houses being built. Oh, if I could rouse myself every morning to do this, I'd be a happy camper.

Now, however, I just want to curl up and go back to sleep.