Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News The RoundTable Round Table for Winter 2022

Sometimes, on the way to the ferry to go home, I stop at a 76 gas station to fill the vanpool van and grab a bite to eat. There is a mobile taco truck parked off to the side of the gas station. It's a two-fer: fuel-up and fill-up.

Tonight I was in my throw-away email account, the account that I give whenever a mobile app wants an email address. There was receipt from the taco truck. I always order verbally. I don't use an app there.

I never asked for a receipt. The email account associated with the credit card has a different email account. I'm not sure how the taco truck even found the throw-away account that I had account. This is very concerning, and quite frankly, creepy.

Also tonight, Citibank VISA sent me an email to state that due to an upcoming planned trip, they put a note in my account that I will be traveling. The only way they would have known that if they were nosey and "read" the dates of the hotel stay or "read" the dates of the booked flights.

This technological snooping is beyond the pail. There is a reason why I am not on social media and never have been.

After a little investigating, it turns out that I used my Citibank VISA at the taco truck. That card is associated with Costco via a partnership as Costco's Anywhere VISA card - a branded Citibank product. I'm certainly going to let Costco know that as a Member, I don't appreciate their partner sharing my private information with the world.

Prior to Costco's exclusive partnership with Citibank and VISA, Costco's exclusive credit card was American Express. That partnership went south in 2016 because AMEX wanted to charge Costco a larger per transaction fee. Costco told AMEX to go to hell. The result is that AMEX lost 10% of its business overnight.

My raising privacy concerns with Citibank will fall on deaf ears. My raising privacy concerns with Costco due to one of its partnership will be heard.

I only used the Citibank VISA at the taco truck once or twice and it was recently. I used another bank's card there way more often and never once have I been contacted. It was only Citibank who did that - and the contact was immediate.

I so want Trump's demise to be true.

Ya’ think Joe?!?

No, it's because you people won't speak up and be heard - quit being so mealy mouthed. Sheesh!

Kevin's 0-3 record today is pretty dang awesome! The best part? He moved into Nancy's old office yesterday, arrogantly thinking he'll be Speaker today.

McCarthy then proceeded to redecorate the office. Its really hard to make up anything that about McCarthy as he does it all on his own and needs no help!

I have also been wondering. Our involvement with Ukraine is, I think, an effort, in the part of President Biden to keep our army home and us out of a war with Russia. There is also the fact that Russia has nukes which tend to concern. That being said, I also suspect that we have one or two generals who would be quite willing to have a little war with them as they haven't had one for a while, now. My wonder is about the simple fact that I haven't seen, or heard, anybody point this stuff out.

Q-evin is now 0-11. (When do you think that clown will take the hint? )

Republicans: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

McCarthy's kowtowing to the MAGA extremists is obviously not working, because they don't want The House to work. But those 21 votes are not at all necessary to elect a Speaker. Every elected House member gets to vote: So all it takes is some moderate Republican to go to the Democrats and make some agreements about power sharing, and they would have all the votes they need (mostly Democratic) to become the Speaker. We are actually seeing something more like a European Parliament, with multiple Parties. If you can't form a winning coalition on the Right, somebody will form a winning coalition on the Left. (Or in this case, the Moderates of both Parties.)

And that would serve the idiots who voted for those bozos right. Imagine having a Speaker who wanted to govern instead of grandstand! How about Mitt Romney?