Banks are greedy

I went to the bank with a colleague yesterday. She wanted to cash a check. The check was from JP Morgan Chase Bank, so we went into a Chase branch in town. She talked to the clerk, signed the check, and then they took it away. Five minutes later, the clerk came back and said that apparently, the bank cannot cash a check unless you have an account with them. So basically a check they have allowed from one of their clients may not be cashed even at their own bank. Not unless you have an account with them. What kind of horse puckey is that? So a bank can let you write a check, that they won't even cash? Here is a can of food for you, but sorry we won't give you the can opener. Not unless you make sure that all your food is socked away in our pantry. What a load of crap.

I really don't understand what is going on in the thought process of most bank executives. This is a pretty interesting article about people changing their accounts. Apparently only a small percentage of people actually change their banks because the flipping bankers have made it so hard to leave. They tie in Direct Deposits along with direct withdrawals. Then if you leave the bank and forget to change on of the withdrawals, they nail you with a finance charge and then send it to a collection agency since you don't bank with them anymore. So here is a good article that explains how to change you bank. Don't be afraid of the monkeys. They are financial bullies, but you can leave them. I get really irritated at these jerks. They are one of the MAIN reasons the global economy is in the tank, but the still have the gall to bully average people. Let me sum it up like this:

What you get
Overdraft fees: 50$
Late fees: 20$
Below your allowable minimum: 20$
ATM usage fees: $3.00/transaction
Using a clerk to deposit into your own account: $3.00/transaction
Credit card interest rates: 23%
Interest on your checking account: 0%
Interest on your savings account: 2% (MAYBE)

What the bank gets
Your money...indefinitely
Free use of money for collateral on investments earning an unknown %
Billions of dollars in bailout money when they mismanage YOUR money

These jerks could really learn something from the credit unions. At my credit union, they give the user free checks, free ATM usage, a small 1% interest rate on the checking account, a 3% interest rate on my savings account, and a credit card they back that has a flat rate of 11.99% FOREVER.
So if you are being bullied by these guys, just find a credit union or switch to another bank. Eventually, these dirt bags will get the message that they can't keep screwing their clients.

Censorship

One of the things that I always get a kick out of in the USA, is the issue of censorship.  Maybe it is living in the middle east, but I have a slightly different perspective on it than a lot of librarians.  First, I am a "card carrying" member of the American Library Association.  The ALA's Library Bill of Rights encourages libraries to challenge censorship, while at the same time providing librarians with tips on how to select materials for the library.   I do appreciate the idea that censorship in an extreme form can lead to a lower educational standard, a decrease in intellectual curiosity, and a stagnation of living standards.  However, I also know that over the course of time, librarians have always "censored" what was brought into the library based on the culture of the society.  I also appreciate the idea of challenging those cultural boundaries and getting people to think.  In America, and most of the "Western" world, people scream censorship any time information is kept from them.  A recent example is hullaballoo over the refusal of the Obama administration to release photos of torture.  I am not sure why people want these photos to be released in the first place, after all if a rape victim is going to court to prosecute the perpetrator, they cannot be shown in the media for that either.  I think it has something to do with respecting the privacy of the victim.  This same thing was going on during the Bush administration, and this is a continuation of a policy in place for a few years now, but oh how the people scream censorship.  A little persective is needed here. This story is HUGE news, but are the pictures really necessary for the promulgation of this story?  The fact is that people are actually being made aware of this story.  Think about how it is in many other places in the world.  The news is COMPLETELY controlled by the government, and anyone reporting something that makes the country sound bad or disagrees with the leader or even someone in a position of power can be put in jail or possibly even be killed.  There are tons of things that happen/hapened in Saudi Arabia that never were put into their newspapers or showed up on their news.  In fact, there are times when the news in and out of the country is blocked because it shows Saudi Arabia in a bad light.  Yes, they can even block the satellite based news.  In 1995 after the bomb went off in Riyadh, the news was cut across the country.  Any stories that may have looked like the powerful people in Saudi were wrong or did something that was wrong got banned.  There was even an in absentia death sentence passed on a Saudi reporter that reported about some of the problems within the country.  Currently, in the country where I am based, there was a massive Gangs of New York style fight between a gang of Pakistanis and a gang of Indians.  People were knifed, clubbed, and even shot.  This never showed up in the local paper because it might make people think that this isn't a perfect family oriented community.  However, it has been pretty good about reporting on social issues and social changes.  According to an article in today's news, the media is going to be clamped down on even more.  Now there could be fines or jail time if reporters cover anything that portrays the country, it's leaders, or its policies in a negative way.  When you live or have been exposed to this kind of censorship, it's really hard to take the censorship that occurs in the USA very seriously. 

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Buy American!

Remember the old days when there was a big campaign by all the US manufacturers to buy American?  Well, If you are in the market to buy a car, now is a great time to prove how much you love America.  Buy a GM car or truck.  After all, the American people are now owners of over 70% of the company.  Some people are saying this is socialism, but I say no.  I say this is capitalism.  The company was going bankrupt and wanted the American people to bail it out.  We bailed it out, but why should they just have taxpayer money for free?  So instead, the American government got a controlling share in the company and huge amounts of stock.  This is an investment, and I, for one, would like to see a return on our investment.  GM may still go bankrupt, but in due course, it can once again be a valuable company and may be valuable enough that the American government can sell its share of the stock at a profit.  So, go out there and protect your investment.  Buy American and buy GM! 

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Economic slavery

Well, following along a similar theme to what I blogged about last time. Here is an interesting article from the paper this week that discusses the economy, sort of. Apparently, the leader of the country thinks that the money situation isn't so bad. It is the cultural and moral mistakes that should be corrected. When people in the west think of the moral mistakes, we might think of poor treatment of workers or women. The reality is that this is GCC code for, "the west and all these expats are polluting our cultural values". They are most likely thinking along the same line as the Saudis. They want all women to wear abayas all the time and all the other things that come with having a hard line theocracy. Next thing you know, they will be blaming the americans for all their problems, especially since America has a military base. They are following in the footsteps of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I have a friend who has told me that a lot of the local papers have been really complaining about the expats in this country. The locals seem to think that their lives would be better if all the expats left the country. See my previous blog if you wonder what might happen if all the expats left. Frankly, I feel that the local population would sometimes prefer to just buy all the people they need and keep them as slaves to just do as they are told.

Did you know that this country officially got rid of slavery before 1900, but in practice there was still an unofficial slave trade going on even in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Check out this interesting memoir by John Wilton. This is only a segment of the whole chapter. If you are interested in the whole article, please find it here. John Wilton was a member of the British diplomatic corp that worked in many of the GCC countries in the late 40's and early 50's. In fact, while I was working in Saudi Arabia, I heard a few stories (not verified) about a number places on the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia that had actual slave markets. This was in 1995 and 1996. Look at what is happening in the GCC today in terms of labor practices for people who can't afford to defend their own rights and it amounts to the same thing as slavery. Here is a website that has a whole lot of good information about it. The local government makes a lot of noise about trying to fix these problems, but then the local population makes even more noise about how they hate the expats in their country. It's pretty easy to do the math. There is even a plan to have an "Industrial City". This will keep all the human chattel in one place. It's all very disturbing.

Here is another story that I find funny. If you have been in the GCC for any length of time, you will find this amusing. The very idea that all these countries will agree on a common currency is unrealistic. Some altruistic people in these countries have visions of a united region, but there has been talk of a common currency for at least 15 years. The leaders of these countries are all too egotistical and have very firm beliefs that their country is far superior to the others. The idea that they will have any kind of united schema of any kind is a huge joke.

GCC economics

Ok, I know this is a little weird, but I have had something tickling my brain. There is something about the culture in the GCC that the people now believe they are entitled to everything. They even think that people exist to do their bidding. This comes from living in welfare states. Most of the time people think of welfare states as places where everyone lives in some basic housing, with basic food, and an abundance of drugs. In this society, though, the basic housing tends to be a massive villa, a load of money to get married, money for having kids, interest free loans that may or may not be paid back, free water and electricity, etc. etc. I cannot even begin to tell you how many Bentley's, Ferrarri's, Lambourghini's, Mazerati's, Rolls Royce's etc. All this in a population of around 250,000. How is this possible? It happens because we are in a country where gas and oil are sold and bring a ridiculous amount of money. Everyone has seen the images for years of the Gulf Arab with buckets of money and all these cars. Guess how they get all this money? Check out this article to see. The reality is that in this time of economic crisis, these countries are doing pretty well. They have plenty of cheap or comparatively cheap labor. In times like this, it just makes sure they have even MORE cheap labor. However, their economy cannot exist without people. According to a local paper, one of the GCC countries has had to deny a shrinkage in it's labor force. See this story for more details. If the labor force does start shrinking, they have a LOT of problems on the way. I have heard a number of stories about different countries have seen their labor force leave these countries and move home. In a country like this, with a population of around 250,000 locals, how in the world would they manage to run everything that makes their money without the help of all the extra 750,000 expats? They can't. Wouldn't it be beneficial to them to treat people better? If nothing else, a little appreciation for the help they are given even if it is paid for would go a really long way towards good relationships with others. It might even keep a lot of good hard working people from leaving.