Looking for other things on the Internets brought me news that a secret AT&T communications bunker in Chatham county has closed. The site, known locally as “Big Hole,” sits near Fearrington Village and has generated wild rumors in the 46 years its existed.
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Meddling
It would’ve worked, too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids!
There are 614 posts filed in Meddling (this is page 57 of 62).
Craigslist oddities
After my friend Mike B. sent me a scary story of oil prices, I took a moment to shop for hybrid cars on Craigslist. Lo and behold I found ads for two different cars that are written surprisingly similarly (emphasis mine):
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Everyone’s a Eugene
Interesting. I did a search on “they call me Eugene”, looking for a dumb novelty song from the early 80s. Instead of my song, I found a bunch of fake websites with that phrase designed to game the search engines:
your up to date arthritis news site 1375 By Mortgage Refinancing …
They call me Eugene Keith Diaz. I live in a cozy 2 bedroom timber frame home a few miles outside of Woodmore, KS. Me and my family have been living here …
www.mortgage-refinancing.name/129.html – 4k – Cached – Similar pages – Note this
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Somsak Saeku convicted
Somsak Saeku, the defendant in my jury duty case, was convicted last week of wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen goods.
I can’t say I’m surprised: he was acting as his own attorney and while I didn’t hear the evidence, from what I read in the news there was a lot of it. Had I been on the jury I think I would’ve found it very easy to render a verdict.
Not so Great Atlantic Warranty
Got a mystery call to my mobile phone from a number which does not exist: 760-204-8438. I get so pissed off when I pay for Great Atlantic Warranty to spam my mobile phone.
In related news, many unhappy customers are flocking to my website, looking to vent about this untrustworthy company. If you’ve been called by them please weigh in!
Update 22 Oct 2008: Word on the street is that Great Atlantic Warranty is now North American Warranty Solutions.
Warranty calls continue
When will they ever learn?
We got another call tonight from the warranty scam artists, this time using the phone number 702-520-9150 as their fake Caller ID. Once the nice gentleman got on the line I bum-rushed him.
“Can I have the make and model of your vehicle?” asked “Mike.”
“How can you live with yourself?” I interrupted.
“Excuse me?”
“How can you live with yourself, working for such a sleazy company?”
Click! The next thing I heard was hold music, which turned to silence a moment later. I realized I was keeping a trunk busy on the company’s phone system, so I left my phone on hold for another 30 minutes, padding their long distance bill just for fun.
I might get even nastier the next time they call. Or better yet, I’ll try out some digits when I’m alone on the trunk. Maybe I can figure out how to make outgoing calls, or find my way to their voicemail system.
Gold medal-worthy coverups
I was visiting my dentist yesterday when he and his assistant began discussing the allegedly-underage Chinese gymnasts. The assistant had noticed a new tooth in one of the gymnast’s mouths.
“If they’re sixteen, they’ve got all of em,” my dentist remarked as he went on with his work.
“Aha!” I thought as I remembered the crucial role dental records play in police investigations. Teeth don’t lie. They’re often used in investigations to determine the age of a victim.
Earlier this week a “hacker” fluent in Chinese discovered official spreadsheets showing that gymnasts He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan are actually 14. The New York Times has also found similar evidence. Yet, the IOC today says “no proof exists” and stands by the Chinese. Unbelievable.
I’d like to believe in the pureness of Olympic sport but there’s far too much money involved for it to be pure. I wouldn’t put it past China to pull a fast one, nor for the IOC to look the other way. Both aren’t exactly known to be trustworthy.
Feds claim fire melted WTC7. Yeah, right
The N&O editor cheerfully set science aside with today’s headline Feds debunk 9/11 conspiracy theories. The story is about NIST’s report claiming the 47-story WTC7 building’s structural failure was due to fire.
Like hell it was. At least the Associated Press’s headline (“Feds: Fire took down building next to twin towers”)was not so judgmental against those who can plainly see NIST’s theory is bullshit.
In light of the Bush administration’s blatant politicization of science at every possible turn, wouldn’t you think that announcements like these deserve a more critical eye? Wouldn’t a healthy grain of salt be prudent? At the very least, perhaps not be so dismissive of those skeptical to the “official” story?
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Dog-cloning lady: fact or fiction?
Does anyone else get the idea that Joyce McKinney, the dog-cloning lady, is playing the press? This just has to be some kind of publicity stunt.
McKinney gets worldwide press when she allegedly clones her dog, but provides reporters with a bogus address. Then word gets out that in the 1970s she allegedly kidnapped a Morman man to be her sex slave. Oh, and she’s wanted in Tennessee for allegedly talking a teenager into breaking into homes so she could use the loot to buy a leg for her three-legged horse.
Come on, this lady is a walking punchline! She can’t be for real. Somebody’s being played here, I tell you.
SWAT team busts into MD mayor’s home, kills dogs
I found a disturbing story today about a drug raid gone wrong. Police tracked a package of marijuana addressed to the wife of Berwyn Heights, Maryland mayor Cheye Calvo. When Calvo brought the package inside, deputies and county narcotics officers burst in unannounced, shot the mayor’s two Labradors dead, and handcuffed him and his mother-in-law for two hours while his dogs bled to death. Cheye’s wife Trinity Tomsic was apparently the innocent victim of identity theft in a drug-delivery scam.
“He was an aggressive licker,” Tomsic said of one dog.
Oh, and contrary to the sheriff spokesman’s statements, the warrant was not a no-knock warrant, nor was it delivered to the mayor upon their entering his premisesas required by law but days later, according to Calvo’s lawyer. Prince George’s County sheriff Michael Jackson denied this raid was a “failed operation,” yet his officers apparently didn’t even know they had just kicked in the door of the mayor.
The sheriff’s office has yet to apologize or exonerate Calvo and Tomsic.
I can’t count all the ways the Prince George’s County sheriff’s department screwed up on this raid, but I’m thinking their apology will come with quite a few zeros in it. I generally support law enforcement but when there are guns involved there is just no excuse for not doing your homework.