I’m supposed to be at an all-hands project kick-off meeting this week, but it’s not off to an auspicious start so far.  Chicago had bad weather today, which delayed everything coming into O’Hare.  They cancelled my connecting flight out of O’Hare and the next one they can get me on (confirmed) is for noon tomorrow.  I’m on standby for 9:00am, so I’m trying to decide whether to try to get a room somewhere or crawl off into a corner and lay about until morning. 

For the moment I’m amusing myself by using the high-priced airport Wi-Fi.  At least I can claim that it’s marginally business related, since I used it to send emails to my manager and various other parties who are supposed to be in tomorrow’s meeting.  I just hope that at least one of them will check email when they get to the meeting (I also harvested a couple of cell numbers from the company directory, which I will use in the morning).

Oh well… what can you do?  There’s no point in getting upset about it.  But the more I think about it, the more I realize that while I like visiting places, I’m not too enamored of the whole process of traveling.  Somebody needs to get crackin’ on those Star Trek transporters…

And one more thing…  I think the smell of the Cinnabon stand is going to slowly drive me insane by morning.  It’s good at first, but after a while it just smells nasty.

Aside from the offensiveness (to U.S. sensibilities, anyhow) of choosing May Day for the silly boycott/walkout, I don’t know that it’ll have a lot of effect on the economy.  There might be some spotty disruptions in some businesses if they rely heavily on illegals. 

As for the boycott, I just don’t see it having much effect.  At its core, it misfires by looking only at the numbers regarding the estimated purchasing power of illegals.  In order to have any effect whatsoever, it would pretty much require all the illegals to go home* (hmm…. maybe we can convince them it would be a form of protest ).  Consider the average household.  There are certain household expenses that you just can’t make go away.  Everyone has to eat (grocery expenses).  The ones who work have to get to and from work (transportation).  The kids need clothes, shoes, etc.  So even if the household makes a decision to purchase nothing on May 1st, it doesn’t change their overall consumption.  The effect of the boycott is simply to shift the spending to another day (heck, most people buy groceries at least weekly, rather than daily, so the only change that might happen is that they go to the store on Sunday or Tuesday instead of Monday). 

While some retailers might notice a slight hit in their daily numbers, the weekly sales are likely to be just the same as always, since the lack of sales on Monday will be offset on some other day.  This is the same reason why one-day boycotts of gas don’t work, either.  Unless you can convince the entire country to stay home for one day and not use any fuel, then the fuel purchase simply gets shifted from the day of the boycott to some other day.  The sellers end up with the same sales at the end of the week.

That said, should the work disruptions cause any sort of widespread problems, I would expect the whole thing to backfire on the organizers.  Instead of bringing the undecided over to their cause, the disruptions would only serve to foster a negative perception, which (even if not consciously) an undecided person will take with them from this point forward.

* It occurs to me that in some more insular communities that some people might choose to frequent only their local merchants on the idea that keeping it in “the community” will send a message.  The problem with this is that it’s not likely to be sustainable.  First, these local, small merchants typically have higher prices.  There is only so much economic sacrifice that the average family is going to put up with, especially if their income is low enough to be sensitive to small differences in price.  Eventually, these people will be back at Wal-Mart or whatever other big retailer has the best price.  Second, these small local merchants typically don’t have the selection of merchandise that people are seeking.  Once again, this will drive them back out to the Wal-Mart and back into the malls.

So I see that some pinhead (or pinheads, as may be) has decided to create a Spanish version of The Star Spangled Banner.  If there was one song that should not have ever been translated, that’s the one.  There is absolutely no way to do it justice in another language, as the idiom and feel would be lost.

However, that said, if these idiots had confined themselves to simply trying to translate the words into Spanish for the sake of helping those in other countries to understand it, I probably wouldn’t care much.  But no, they couldn’t contain themselves, and they just had to change the music to make it more “accessible” somehow.  Then you add in the fact they called it “Nuestro Himno” and I begin to see red.

What a load of bollocks!  In terms of offensiveness, this one comes in just behind flying the U.S. flag upside down and flying the damn Mexican flag in downtown Dallas.  If these people really wanted to be Americans they’d learn English and struggle to hit the notes with the rest of us.  In English!  Just as it was written.  This is just one more thing that confirms to me that these so-called “immigrants” really just want to bring their country here, rather than really becoming Americans (like real immigrants would).

One of the upsides to Netflix is that you can take a flyer on a movie without worrying that you’ve wasted anything besides a little time.  Last year, for reasons only known to it, the Netflix recommendation engine popped up a Korean movie called Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter … and Spring.  I decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised (but beware, though, that it isn’t for kids). 

Somehow, one thing led to another, and I ended up watching a number of Asian movies; some from Taiwan, but mostly South Korean.  If nothing else it’s a great diversion from the standard Hollywood mess.  Eventually, I ended up with Oldboy (which I can’t describe easily), and I suppose that it (along with a few horror titles) landed me a recommendation for Spider Forest. 

This movie is decidely non-linear and I couldn’t help but think of Mullholland Drive after I’d finished it.  I’m still not sure whether it was good or not, as the whole thing was rather confusing.  I think one of the IMDB commenters summed it up best: “I’m sure that i’ll praise this movie AFTER i understand it..”

Anyhow, should you be looking for something different, consider looking into some of the Asian movies on Netflix.  Provided, of course, that you don’t mind reading subtitles*.

* Please don’t tell me if you’re one of those heathens who likes dubbed movies.    There’s nothing that ruins the emotion of the original more than dubbing.  Just for comparison one day I tried watching the same scene from Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte des loups) with dubbing and then again with subtitles.  The entire tenor of the scene changed (for the worse) with the dub. 

A recent case of evil animal cruelty got me to thinking a little about a somewhat related topic: unwanted animals.

Growing up in a rural area of East Texas, we frequently would have dogs or cats show up at our house after their owners had dumped them nearby.  Some people have the mistaken idea that releasing an animal in the country is somehow better for them than taking them to a shelter or otherwise taking responsibility for them.  In case anyone is still operating under this delusion, I’d like to give a few details of the reality of life for an abandoned animal in the country.  They don’t end up living a life of luxury with Farmer Brown or Rancher Joe.  On rare occasions, an animal may make its way into someone’s home (like the old lady that used to live across the road who named her dog “Donor,” hence the title of this post, or my own dog, Boots.).  But this is the exception, since none of us have room for all the animals that show up.  Generally, it’s a nasty, brutish, and all too often, short, life.

The first hazard to Fluffy, after being dropped, terrified, on the road, is the road itself, especially the nearby highway.  We would often see dead cats and dogs along the road that were unfamiliar to us.  When you consider an animal that has lived inside or in someone’s yard all its life, it’s easy to see why it wouldn’t understand the dangers of roads.

Provided that Fluffy manages to avoid being pancaked on the highway, he will likely show up at someone’s nearby house.  However, people need to know that there is no organized animal control that people in the country can call to remove stray animals.  To get an idea of the problem, take a look at this post from Petville.com (in fact, this is only a couple of miles up the road from where I grew up).  Generally, there will be a county humane society, but the animal has to be caught and taken to them.  People out in the country often have to take care of things themselves, and given the lack of availability of animal control, this is no exception.  We were the nice ones in the area, in that we’d generally just try to run stray animals off the property.  My mother’s dog was good at this, as she was genially territorial (i.e. she could be persuaded, on occasion, to put up with another dog).  Any animals that tried to stick around despite my mother’s dog were subject to being shot at with a BB-gun (only one or two pumps, though, as the intent was to scare them away, rather than to cause injuries). 

However, our neighbors were not so kind.  Any stray dogs found on their property were subject to being shot.  This was mostly defensive, since dogs (especially hungry, desperate ones) will often kill chickens and ducks.  In the country, any time livestock is subject to predation, you can expect the landowner to take decisive action against the predator.  They don’t have time to fuss around with traps or drive 30 miles to take the animal to the humane society (or for that matter to take the risk that the animal they’re trying to catch is rabid).

So, if Fluffy survived the highway, and learned to stay away from livestock, and avoided getting shot (and buried behind a barn somewhere), he’s home free, right?

Not exactly.  Out there in East Texas we have wolves, coyotes, bobcats, rattle snakes, copperheads, and water moccasins (cottonmouth).  I’ve personally seen rattlers (nearly stepped on one) and have had to shoot water moccasins.  I’ve heard the wolves at night.  Sometimes they would come right up to our front porch.  Other times we’d hear them and discover they’d been into the watermelons the next morning.  There is also rumored to be an occasional cougar (or some other similar big cat).  I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard something screaming at night that’s hard to describe, but that I’ve been told is their call.  Oh, yeah, don’t forget the occasional rabid skunk or raccoon.  If Fluffy is lucky enough to avoid being attacked and/or eaten, there’s always rabies…  And if I see a rabid animal, it’s getting shot.  Period.  End of discussion. 

It seems to me that someone who truly cared about little Fluffy wouldn’t have abandoned him in the country.  It’s a fairly simple matter to just go ahead and take him to the shelter or find someone else to take him.  There’s no shame in admitting that you can’t care for him, or that you can’t stand him chewing on the furniture anymore.  In fact, that’s the adult way:  you admit your responsibility and take action to see that the animal is properly cared for.  Dumping an animal in the country is for pathetic cowards.

My CHL will expire in July so I completed my renewal class today at The Shooting Gallery (the site has funky spacing in Firefox, just scroll down for page content).  Overall, it was a pretty good experience.  The only thing that I’d have done differently would have been to have reserved the range specifically for the group undergoing requalification.  We did our test on a live range with target shooters on either side of us.  This caused communications problems, since I couldn’t hear the range officer very well.  The other problem was that the I was the farthest left of the CHL group and there were two other shooters to my left, one of whom was firing some sort of hand cannon.  Every time he fired that damn thing I could feel it in my chest.  It also didn’t help that his shells kept flying over the divider and landing on my head.  Of course, par for the course, the bastard with the hand cannon packed up and left right after we finished.   

In trying to sign up for a renewal class, I came to the conclusion that a lot of gun people have missed the boat when it comes to being online.

I say this because I picked up several cards for instructors from a couple of different places.  All of them had websites and email addresses, so I thought I’d be able to contact them via email.  Of the ones I emailed, I got one bounce (mailbox full) and one response (unfortunately, they didn’t have a class soon enough).  The others never even acknowledged my email.  Eventually, I had to fall back on old-fashioned synchronous electronic remote vocal communication channels (i.e. the phone, which kind of defeats the purpose of having email in the first place).

Finally, I was a bit taken aback that there were people there who hadn’t fired a gun since their last range qualification.  Heck, one guy there hadn’t previously fired the gun he brought. 

So I’m out walking Boots this afternoon when she sees a squirrel and begins her stalking routine.  I moved off to the side of the trail to get out of the way of passers-by (and to avoid being run over by psycho-biker*, should he appear).  While standing there I see two women on bicycles approaching.  The one is front is older and the one is back is about 21.  My guess is that it’s a mother and her daughter.  As they ride by me, I can’t help but hear the younger one say, “I couldn’t stop staring at her boobs.”

That certainly got my attention, and I caught “she was sitting at the bar,” and something about “unnaturally huge” before they rode out of earshot.  At least that little bit helped quell my curiosity, as I can surmise (from her words and tone) that she was a bit disgusted by the woman with abnormally large (and likely fake) breasts, rather than that the younger woman was lasciviously staring at another woman’s breasts…

* I call this guy psycho-biker since he rides like a possessed mad-man.  He’s always dressed in sweats (even if it’s 90°F) and he always seems to be at least one gear too high for the terrain.  I think he does it to make his ride into a harder work-out.  Regardless, due to his gearing he’s moving far too fast to safely ride on the Bear Creek hike/bike trail.  He also doesn’t seem to like to properly give right-of-way (i.e. that whole “keep right, pass left” thing escapes him), so he’ll zoom by just inches from you. 

I was listening to my scanner last night as I was cleaning one of my pistols.  The KPD tactical channel had a lot of chatter which is a bit unusual.  After a bit I was able to figure out that they were watching somebody who kept going past the Johnson Road Park.  When he finally went into the park I heard them give the order to take him down, and then there was a message of “one in custody.” 

I was a bit curious as to what was going on, but I figured that there would be an article in the paper or a press release in a day or two.  My initial suspicion was some kind of drug bust or they were tailing a wanted fugitive.  It actually turned out to be the takedown of a prospective pedophile (PDF). 

On 04-20-2006 Keller Police arrested a 21 year-old male for on-line solicitation of a minor for sex. The case was opened on 04-10-2006 based on information received by a school resource officer. The officer met with a counselor about a possible Internet predator who had contacted two 13 year-old female students. Both students reported contact through their My Space accounts with a 21 year-old male who called himself Joe (not the offender’s true name). Joe had taken the on-line chats to a level where he wanted to set up a meeting with the girls. The victims had informed Joe that they were 13 years old and he still wanted to meet them. They became fearful for their safety at this point. After speaking with the students, the officer reviewed the My Space account of one of the victims and of the male. The male’s My Space account had other young female contacts listed on it. After gathering as much information as possible, the officer turned the investigation over to the Youth Services section of the Keller Police Department.

Detective Tom Barnett conducted interviews with the victims and their parents. After reviewing the account conversations he discovered several conversations that were sexual in nature. Detective Barnett was able to assume both of the victim’s identities on the computer. The male arranged to meet both girls on different dates for the purposes of sexual contact. The first meeting was set for 04-20-2006 at 10:30 pm at Johnson Road Park in Keller. The second was to occur on 04-21-2006. The male was given a cell phone number to call when he was on the way to the meeting.

On 04-20-2006 a female officer was given the cell phone and was to assume the 13 year old’s identity when he called. The male arrived at the park at 10:47 pm but did not enter the parking lot. He contacted the cell phone several times in an attempt lure the victim out of the park and into the street. After several minutes he finally entered the park area and made contact with the female officer. Officers immediately approached and made an arrest. The male, a 21year old Lewisville resident, was transported to the Keller Municipal Jail and booked in. He remains in custody and is awaiting arraignment on two charges of solicitation of a minor for sex (under 14).

Officers obtained a warrant and conducted a search of the male’s residence. Officers seized four computers and other information that indicates a possibility of several other underage victims.  The information obtained includes names, ages, addresses, and phone numbers of possible victims. Those leads are being followed up on at this time.

‘Unfortunately, people with illegal intentions can utilize the Internet for the wrong reasons.  We are prepared to aggressively investigate and arrest people who attempt to prey on victims in Keller”, said Chief Mark Hafner.

The Keller Police Department would like to warn parents and guardians that they should always monitor their children’s activities on the computer.  This can be easily accomplished with keystroke software.  Any parent/guardian who would like more information about how to monitor Internet activity may contact Detective Tom Barnett at tbarnett-at-kellerpd.com or 817-743-4532.

On-line Solicitation of a minor for sex (under 14) is a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison and/or a fine not to exceed $10,000. The victims identities are being withheld due to the age and the arrested person will not be identified until arraignment later this date.

We’ve been hearing more and more in the media about MySpace being a playground for child predators, but I usually tend to dismiss the news reports as fear-mongering.  I suppose the truth is somewhere in between.  And it doesn’t really matter what site it is, children shouldn’t be unsupervised online.  It’s good that the girls reported it to someone, but it’s a bit disheartening that the parents weren’t aware (or at least that they weren’t the ones to bring it to the police, should they have been aware).

On the other side of the coin, by giving unsupervised children a place to speak honestly, perhaps MySpace can also provide an “early warning” for kids who are on the edge of exploding (hat tip to Dr. Helen).

On a semi-related note, I’d love to see MySpace do a better job of explaining to users that hotlinking is bad.  Not that a wanna-be thug would likely care.

Now I’m starting to get people sending me emails via my contact form who are a bit steamed about supposedly getting spam from me.  Here’s the best, most succinct, example (from a gentleman who goes by the name TIM BLUST (and whose SHIFT-LOCK is locked in high dudgeon mode)):

I DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU GOT MY E-MAIL ADDRESS BUT PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM IT AND DO NOT SEND ME ANYMORE SHIT

Others were a bit more polite or used a bit more verbiage, but this one hit all the highlights:  How did you get my email? -and- Stop sending me emails.

It’s unfortunate that I can’t find a way to channel all the indignation and send it to its deserving target.  If I could figure it out we wouldn’t have any more problems with this spammer, as he would have long ago been reduced to a small pile of ash…

For the more irate ones, I use the following response:

I am not the one who is sending you email.  The sender has FORGED the email sender information to make it appear to have come from a user on my domain.  In general, one should never trust the “From:” address in a spam email, as spammers generally fake these to avoid getting irate emails such as the one I just got from you. 

For more information about TenTenTwelveCorp’s fraudulent emails, please go here:
http://www.aubreyturner.org/index.php?/orglog/tententwelvecorp/

The more polite ones get a bit more explanation (and no frowny).

This entry will remain as a reference for those affected by TenTenTwelveCorp’s fradulent emails.

If you have received spam email appearing to be from users at aubreyturner.com or aubreyturner.org please be aware that the sender information in these emails has been forged.  I cannot remove you from the email list, since I had nothing to do with sending the spam.  The spammer simply chose my domains to include in his fradulent emails.  For an explanation of what is happening, see below for links to two articles on the topic.

If you are receiving bounces from TenTenTwelveCorp’s fraudulent emails, welcome to the club!    It seems we’ve both been Joe Jobbed by this bastard. 

For more information, please read the following posts and the comments:
F****n’ Spammers
More F-‘in spammers