“Ghosts of Rwanda” or “Hotel Rwanda”

It’s always a bummer when you read an interesting book and then watch a movie, which does not quite meet your expectations. Maybe this is why, after seeing “Ghosts of Rwanda” (a great documentary produced by PBS), I could not bring myself to watch “Hotel Rwanda”, a move based on the same story. Even though most critics and movie goers gave it favorable reviews, I was afraid that the movie would spoil the effect of the documentary.

Nevertheless, I recently read an old post written by Scott Hanselman in which he recommended the movie, and knowing Scott’s interest and knowledge of Africa, I thought I would give it a try. After watching the movie, I can say that I liked it as well. I did not pick such subtleties mentioned by Scott as inconsistencies in names, languages, and dialects, although I suspect that being produced by Westerners for Western audiences, the movie is not 100% authentic; however, I think it is a great movie, which tells a fascinating and moving story, and it does it well.

Between the two — the move and the documentary — I still like the documentary better, so for those who saw only of them, I recommend watching the other. You should not be disappointed.

The banks are losing money… Your money!

Anyone paying attention to the news must know that financial institutions have been losing money, and they have been losing big. The amounts of write-offs are mind-boggling: Washington Mutual: $1.4 billion, Bank of America: $6.5 billion; Citigroup $13 billion… And these just first-quarter losses (for 2008).

Anyway, while banks are losing money, it’s time to check your own statements, because you may have been losing money, too. It may be a coincidence, but for some reason, within the last 3-4 weeks I was charged four times, all by mistake. First, Citibank imposed a monthly finance charge on the account I had for years. I’m sure that I met all requirements of the free account, but the charge sneaked on me, and I would not have detected it if not for a warning from Mint.com (after this notification, I came to appreciate Mint’s services). Then I received an annual charge for my free AAdvantage card (a customer service representative said that it was a mistake). Then, I got a charge for an annual credit card transaction summary, which I had never requested, nor received (I don’t even know what it’s for). Finally, one of the credit cards suddenly enrolled me in a protection plan (it’s one of these deals when they send you check for $6 or so, cashing which you get automatically enrolled in the plan; I’m pretty sure I have not cashed any such checks lately).

I’m no conspiracy theorist, but this seems very suspicious. (BTW, these incidents do not seem to be related to my identity theft issue, since these are legitimate accounts belonging to me.) Fortunately, banks agreed to reverse the charges, but if I were less attentive, I would’ve lost $50-$60 in few weeks. In the big scheme of things, $50-$60 is not a big amount, but I would rather spend it on things other than erroneous finance charges. I suspect you would, too, so go ahead and check your bank statements.

Someone stole my identity. Now what?

The 2007 tax season brought me an unpleasant surprise: my (e-filed) federal tax return was rejected. The Federal EF Rejection Diagnostics form indicated the problem:

“Reject: Error Code 0515: Your Social Security number cannot be used more than once in the return or on another return.”

Apparently someone had already filed a tax return using my name and Social Security number. A classic case of identity theft. So what do I do now?

I started by visiting the local IRS office. After waiting a couple of hours, I talked to a nice lady who appeared genuinely surprised to learn about my problem. Based on the IRS computer record, the person using my identity filed his (her?) tax return in New York, NY (I’m in Northern California). The IRS lady instructed me to send my tax return forms via regular mail and recommended to contact Social Security Administration to make sure it did not issue a duplicate number (I can’t imagine how this can happen, but who knows). She also suggested to file ID theft reports with the Federal Trades Commission (FTC) and police.

From the IRS office, I headed straight to Social Security Administration. As I suspected, my number had not been issued to anybody else (duh!) and my record (address, employer, etc) looked fine.

Then I called Equifax to set up a fraud alert. Equifax promised to alert the other two credit bureaus — Experian and TransUnion — and indeed, a few days later I received confirmation letters from both of them (I did not have to call them). I do not remember if I requested a credit report, or if it was part of the fraud alert process, but in about two weeks, I also got my credit report from Equifax (in future, I would recommend getting a credit report first, because once a fraud alert is set, getting a credit report will be more difficult). I did not find any suspicious activities in the credit report.

Next stop was the local police station (I think police reports are supposed to be filed at the department based on the home address). An officer filed an identity theft report and gave me the report number. Several days later, I got a call from an investigating officer, who said that they would’ve transferred my case to New York, but since they did not know the exact address of the scammer, they did not know which precinct should’ve handled the case. He said that they would transfer the case to IRS (I assume, to the Criminal Investigation unit).

Finally, I filed an ID theft complaint with FTC. The FTC form and instructions are a bit confusing. For example, in one section, it asks for the information related to police report (name of police department where report was filed, report number), but the instructions tell you to take the FTC complaint form to police so it can be filled her. I guess the order does not matter as long as both FTC and police are notified.

About a month later, I called IRS to check out the status of my case. I did not find out much. An IRS representative mentioned that me that my tax return still listed the New York address (which, I assume is phony) and that the case was handled by a different department. She said that I should expect IRS to contact me within 45 days of the call. I think this is the same promise I heard in the IRS office, but it has not been 45 days, yet, so I’ll be waiting. Based on accounts of other people who experienced the same problem, I do not expect a quick resolution. I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, here are some suggestions for people who run into a similar problem.

First, report the problem to IRS. Either visit a local IRS office or call the advertised number (1-800-829-1040; you may need to check the number in case it changes). If you call, you need to navigate the maze of voice prompts to get to a real person, and you may get a message saying that there are too many callers. Don’t give up, try calling at a different time. For example, I had to wait about 10 minutes around 4 PM PST on Monday before reaching a person, while a few hours before I got disconnected because of the high call volume. When you talk to an IRS representative, try to find as much about the thief as possible (reported address, date when tax return was filed, etc). Also record the representative’s name and ID. And mark the date, so you do not forget to follow up if you do not hear from IRS within 45 days. Second, contact Social Security Administration to verify your personal information: address, employer, etc. It’s very unlikely that someone else gets your Social Security number, but check it just in case. Third, request credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, and then set up a fraud alert (you can set up a fraud alert at on of the credit bureaus). Forth, file a police report with your local police department. Record the report number. Fifth, submit an ID theft complaint to FTC. Finally, call IRS again to verify that your case is being investigated.

Here are some helpful links:
What can I do if I think someone has filed a tax return using my social security number?
What To Do If Your Personal Information Has Been Compromised
Identity Theft and Your Tax Records
Has Your Identity Been Stolen?
ID Theft Complaint Instructions
Recover From Identity Theft
Your Access to Free Credit Reports
Helping Victims

More on IRS and identity theft in the news:
IRS Promises Identity Theft Protection in Testimony to Senate Committee
IRS chief to tackle identity theft

Merry Christmas!

Here is a sweet Christmas animation — created by the award-winning Russian animator Mikhail Aldashin — that you may enjoy:

Best wishes!

Buying prescription glasses online

Since I’ve had LASIK, I do not wear prescription glasses (at least, not at this point), but if you (or your loved ones) do, consider buying glasses online. Apparently, you can get very nice, quality frames and lenses for less than $100, but to get the best out of your online order, check out these posts:

Adventures in $40 eyeglasses
Eyeglasses Stores are for Suckers
Eyeglass Retailer Reviews

A couple of recommendations. First, before ordering, check what other customers say about a particular store. Also, check how it’s rated by Better Business Bureau. Second, see if the vendor offers any online coupons.

Power to the (old) people

Mona Shaw is my new (okay, old) hero. In case you haven’t heard about Mona Shaw, she is a 75-year old lady, who was seeking satisfaction from her cable, Internet, and phone service provider, and had to take matters in her own hands (okay, it was a hammer). That’s… COMCASTIC!

Living on the edge… of a chair

The life of the security director of the Sacramento Public Library James Mayle is full of dangers. First, there is a risk of being caught helping his wife’s contracting companies cheat the library system out of an estimated $650,000. Second, there is this… chair! According to The Sacramento Bee:

“[Mayle] has a pending worker’s compensation claim related to pain sustained after falling off his chair.”

Kudos to SacBee for investigative journalism. And kudos to the chair, although it should have kicked Mayle’s butt harder.

Ballet, ballet…

Do you like ballet? Ladies? Gentl… I mean, ladies? If you do, here are some clips you may enjoy:

Maya Plisetskaya: Camille Saint-Saens “The Dying Swan” (3:16)
Maya Plisetskaya: Bach “Prelude”(6:38)
Maya Plisetskaya: Ravel “Bolero” (Part 1) (9:49)
Maya Plisetskaya: Ravel “Bolero” (Part 2) (9:54)
Polina Semyonova: Herbert Groenemeyer “Demo” (from album “Mensch”) (6:38)

If you like Maya Plisetskaya and speak Russian, check out this interview:

Part 1 (9:45)
Part 2 (9:43)
Part 3 (9:46)
Part 4 (9:36)
Part 5 (9:18)
Part 6 (4:14)

OK, gentlemen, here is something you could enjoy:

Maski Show: Camille Saint-Saens “The Dying Swan” (5:29)

Best of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

It looks like more observers think that CNN should surrender its “the most trusted name in news” motto to Comedy Central. Although Comedy Central often goes overboard and slips from funny and intelligent to dumb and vulgar, when it comes to exposing stupidity, corruption, and incompetence of the government and policy makers, few programs do it better than The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. If you like The Daily Show, you should enjoy the following episodes (there may be a couple of episodes from the Colbert Report spin-off as well):

Clinton vs. Obama Philadelphia Debate Review: Stephen Colbert believes that ABC did a great job with the one-on-one Clinton vs. Obama Democratic debate, and so does ABC (3:19; for the most interesting part, watch from 2:20)
Bush Truly Happy: Jon shows footage of Bush on the Wright standing mower, which combines the popularity of mowing your lawn with the fun of standing (4:07)
Jonah Goldberg: National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg argues for the rise of Liberal Fascism in the U.S. (6:37)
Bush’s Future Tense: President Bush addresses the troops while visiting the Middle East and predicts the end of history (2:37)
Kids’ Healthcare Veto: President Bush’s veto of the children’s health care bill takes him into cartoon villain status (4:56)
Chris Mathews: Jon Stewart gives Chris Mathews the worst interview of his life (6:35)
Keys to Success: Using his eight keys for success, John Hodgman redefines failure in Iraq (6:26)
Stephen H. Hayes: Jon responds to Dick Cheney biographer about Bush administration’s handling of dissenting opinions (8:24)
Even Dick Don’t Know Dick: Dick Cheney has so many secrets that not even Dick knows Dick as the 1994 Dick Cheney can attest (2:47)
President Bush in His Own Words: The President struggles to bring higher thought down to the masses (4:38)
Exper Tease: Jon finds out exactly what President Bush is and is not in terms of areas of expertise (3:23)
Eight Men Out: John Oliver remembers what happened the last time Karl Rove swore to tell the truth under oath (3:48)
Doris Kearns Goodwin: Jon summons historian Doris Kearns Goodwin to help settle score with Jon Bolton (4:43)
John Bolton: Jon takes the former U.N. ambassador to task about the Bush administration’s lack of transparency (8:24)
Pleasure of the President: “At the Pleasure of the President” is a lousy talking point, but a GREAT romance novel (2:39)

More clips from The Daily Show:
Video clips from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Infomercials: good products, bad products

Say you’re watching an infomercial for a new product thinking: “If this thing really works, I’m buying it now.” The problem is that you have no idea whether it works or not. You can always find out whether it’s a good product or a scam by trying it yourself, but before you reach for a credit card, at least check what other people say about it:

Infomercial Ratings
Infomercial Scams