The Squamidian Report – Jan. 26 / 19
Issue #870
Including:
From Lorne
From Russ
The Ontarion
Hi All,
First off, we are still here. I haven’t had to change my Email address,
at least not yet. My computer was not and is not compromised, just my
Email address got into the hands of a creep. After that disgusting
cyber creep tryed to coerce or scare me into paying big dollars to make
‘him’ go away, which he wouldn't have if I had done so, I made a list
of all the places and things I’d have to deal with if I did change my
Email address. A very lot of work indeed. So if I don’t end up having
to do it, I won’t. I did get a second creepy email that warned me that
my time was up and if I didn’t deposit a rather huge amount of bit coin
within the hour ‘he’ would carry through with his threat as well as
clean out my bank accounts and so on. Well, I didn’t fall for his
threats because I knew full well that all ‘his’ threats were baseless,
that ‘he’ had no info on me with the exception of my Email address
which he supposedly harvested from someone’s contact list or wherever.
I still feel violated and disgusted by this creep and by what he
accused me of doing in order to blackmail me but hopefully ‘he’ will
find that my Email address is a dead end from an extortion point of
view and move on to his next victim.
Something I did do was a search for info on cyber crime and ended up on
a Canadian government web site devoted to that subject. Although no
crime had been accomplished, one was certainly attempted, and
everything I found kept sending me in a circle, back to the fact that
this kind of thing, no matter how big or small, should be reported to
the RCMP. Well, I figured they wouldn’t and couldn't do anything about
it but I did pop down to our local detachment to have a chat with
whoever would talk to me. Turned out I was right, they were totally
uninterested, wouldn't even take down my name or any details. A waist
of time. I would hope that if someone were to have fallen for some sort
of cyber scam they might have been a bit more concerned but I don’t
really know and certainly don’t want to ever find out. For now at
least, the bottom line is keep your computers clean and protected
because if some creep gets their dirty hands on your address book or
other info, the rest of us are put at risk of being on the receiving
end of a scam attack, face it, the creeps are getting our addresses
from somewhere.
*
I
think it was Wednesday morning, l had done my usual ‘subdivision’ walk
but had used my crampons to keep from slipping on the ice. The night
before we had been drenched with heavy rains that eventually turned to
very wet snow, the kind that turns to slush as soon as it hits the
ground. Then during the night the sky cleared and the temperature
dropped to a few degrees below freezing and that slush froze solid. So,
I dawned my crampons and had an uneventful walk. Then it was time to
head for the gondola for my usual walk up there before going inside for
a coffee. I hadn’t given it much thought and the web cam showing their
deck doesn’t show the conditions all that well so I just assumed I’d be
walking on icy trails. I therefor brought my crampons up with my. Much
to my surprise, there was a fresh 10 or so inches of snow up there
(much to everyone’s surprise). Bummer, I should have brought my
snowshoes. Oh well, being I was the first customer up there and the
snow was unbroken and inviting I figured I just do the walk as best I
could without snowshoes. It was too early to bug the snowshoe rental
people and ask for a loaner pair. (We never need to rent stuff like
that, if we didn’t bring our own we just borrow whatever we need). I
headed up the trail. By the time I’d trudged a hundred meters or so to
the top of that first rise up through the trees I was totally pooped,
warn out, beat, exhausted. I knew better than to keep going and turned
back.
I went in and did my usual visit with the employees, grabbed a coffee
and sat by the wood stove as I looked out at the scenery and watched
the shoveling crew try to clear the decks. By the time I’d finished my
coffee, more customers were coming up and I figured, what the heck, I
might as well try the trail again. I went out through the lower doors
where there are some benches so I could put my crampons back on (they
frown upon people wearing spiky things on their wooden floors). About
then Lucy came along, she’s the day manager in charge of retail and
rentals, including snowshoes. I had already told her I’d tried to hike
the trail and have turned back, and now told her I was going to give it
another try. She suggested I borrow a pair of snowshoes from her as she
had now opened up the storage room where that kind of thing is kept.
So, I did. What a difference. Instead of trudging along and getting
exhausted I moved easily, given the depth of the snow. There were now
other boot tracks entering the trail head but they didn’t get as far as
my original tracks before they turned back.
I broke trail through snow covered trees with Diamond Head peak
showing to the north and the Mamquam ice fields to the east. Snow bombs
were coming down once in a while but that just made it more
interesting. I was almost back to the lodge before I met anyone heading
out and they were quite happy I had broken the trail for them. I
confess to having to stop a few times to catch my breath, thats hard
work for my old legs and lungs but its what we do.
doug
****
From Lorne
Usually I write a bunch of nonsense but this is different in that it
would be bad if it came to a non suspecting individual who
thought they were about to receive some cash. An email with the heading
'YOUR ANNUAL TAX REFUND CONFIRMATION Nr.8361912' . Showing a maple leaf
and the Canadian flag with the following - ''Hi
lbru@execulink.com, Just to confirm that we've recalculate your last
fiscal activity and determined that you are eligible to receive a tax
return of 361.46 CAD.'' And in blue print, ''In order to
claim it online, you have to complete a required form with your
personal information''. It cried scam to me. Revenue Canada does not
send emails of this sort but uses mail delivery in those brown
envelopes and never 'Hi' or end with ''regards'' The misuse of
wording is not Revenue Canada or any other government agency. But just
to satisfy myself, I called the office of the accountant that prepares
my tax return, and they agreed that it is a scam.
Lorne
Lorne was right to NOT
respond to that Email scam phishing attempt. Revenue Canada, as well as
the banks etc will only contact a customer via Canada Post mail.
Unfortunately, many people do fall for these types of scams and end up
loosing big time.
Doug
****
From Russ
Family affair
The father worked at a woolen mill in Galt, the mother worked as a
seamstress in a clothing store in the area doing alterations for
garments of customers, their daughter worked in an office in Preston.
All of their employers spoke highly of them, as being “honest,
hard-working, dedicated employees”.
One day, the father was caught “red-handed” shoplifting in a local
store. Store security made a “citizen’s arrest”, and police were called
to the scene. The officer brought both the suspected perpetrator and
the store security man to the station where the accused was searched,
and placed in a holding cell. The coat the accused had been wearing was
seized as evidence, it being ‘altered’ to conceal objects in it’s many
pockets.
We later learned the wife, being a qualified seamstress, had sewn many
large pockets into her husband’s overcoat, thus enabling him to “ply
his trade” more effectively.
A physical description of the man should be described here; he was born
in Russia, was tall, muscular, large-boned, and out-going. You would
like him. His overcoat was over-size, and in preparation for his
shoplifting, he would fill the many pockets of the coat with ‘left-over
scraps’ of material provided by his accommodating Russian wife who, by
the way was ‘as big around as she was short’. Being ‘so honest and
industrious’ she was trusted with keys to the store so she could work
evenings ‘in order to keep up with the work that kept coming into her
station’. She also took work home with her that was not garments of
customers, but stock from the store. Theft.
Meanwhile, the sweet little daughter was busy supplying (stealing)
‘office supplies’ for use in the family business of selling stuff
wholesale from the basement of their home in Galt. You should have seen
their ‘store’! The husband who was also a carpenter, had built
rows of upright shelves where their ‘loot’ was neatly arranged for
their ‘innocent’ customers. Everything had price tags from the
‘victim stores’ removed, and new tags attached bearing ‘prices below
wholesale’!
Getting back to the husband; with the pockets of his big overcoat
stuffed with scraps of material, he looked like a very tall, stout man.
He would walk around a store looking for stuff worth stealing (while
keeping an eye out for security), and each time he went to pocket
something, he’d make room for it by removing the material and
discarding it into a garbage bin. He would purchase a small item, then
leave the store ‘the same size as he went in’! He would repeat this
stunt at several stores in different communities getting so good at it,
that he became ‘careless’, and that’s when he was seen by store
security, and was apprehended on a “citizen’s power of arrest without
warrant”
Most private security persons operate the same way; after “catching the
perp IN THE ACT”, they follow the suspect through the check-out, and
make the arrest outside, after asking the perp if he had ‘forgotten’ to
pay for something. If the reply is in the negative, the “intent” part
of theft is present. Remembering the ‘simple’ definition of “Theft”;
taking the property of another, with INTENT to deprive”, we’ve all
heard the expression, “caught red-handed”, but do you know the origin
of the expression?
The term, “red-handed” dates back to Scottish Acts
Of Parliament of James 1, 1432.
“If he be not taken red-handed the sheriff cannot
Proceed against him”
Legal terms are often expressed in Latin: “flagrans delictum” means
‘caught red-handed’ such as “blood on the hands of a murderer”.
By the way; all the above information was revealed after executing a
Search Warrant in the home, and interrogating the whole family....the
young daughter ‘cracked’ first, followed my mom, who broke down in
tears; father remained stoic. All were found guilty, and because of
the size of their operation, received prison terms.
Finally, you and I have nearly the same “powers of arrest” as a peace
officer; but the difference is daunting. WE have to “find the person in
the act (red-handed)”, while a peace officer (cop) may arrest on what
is called “reasonable and probable grounds”. Many law books are filled
with “what may be accepted as R P & G”, and I’ll make no attempt to
simplify it here.
Uncle Russ.
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
It still seems weird writing 2019 I guess I was just used to typing
2018 for a whole year and it’s hard to make the change. Oh well, I’m
sure that feeling too will pass. With the arrival of sudden blanket of
snow the winter has finally come to Southern Ontario. I actually got to
use my blower yesterday since we had at least 4 inches of white stuff
on the ground. We’ve had a pretty mild winter up until now so maybe
this is a sign of what’s in store for the next couple of months. The
spokesperson for Weather Canada was on the radio yesterday saying that
he is noting indications of an early spring. He neglected to say what
those signs were but if he said so it must be true! We can only hope
for that to come sooner than usual I guess. It would be nice to see a
mild February and March for a change. Right now I’m sitting in the
office and am freezing my fingers off. It’s just my thin skin I guess
because the temp in the house isn’t all that cool. I think we’re
sitting at around 18C on the thermostat, which gives us a two-degree
leeway in either direction when it comes to the room temp. That’s not
all that cool but I’ve been quite cold since my stay in the hospital
last year and I attribute it to having a heart that’s not pumping as
well as a normally healthy one! With proper circulation in the body by
the heart one tends to keep warmer I guess so I’ve just been layering
the clothes to make up for it. Wrapping myself in my electric blanket
while watching TV is the only way I can beat the cold feeling while not
in motion. Just have to make concessions for the shortcoming of blood
circulating in my system.
I had cleared the snow off the driveway yesterday and then went out to
do some running around during the morning. When I returned home I found
that the city plow had dumped a considerable amount of show on the
driveway ramp while I was out. I started up the blower once again and
drove it down to the bottom of the drive to remove their deposit. As I
started blowing the snow across the street with some of it landing on
the roadway a city of Kitchener pickup truck came by and the driver
glared at me. I guess he didn’t like the fact that some of the snow was
landing on the “cleared” road. I figured I’d better land the snow on
the boulevard instead of on the roadway, just in case there was a city
fine for doing so. I finished the clearing of the snow by aiming the
spout at the boulevard on either side of the driveway. While I was
finishing that project I was thinking, “Why is it OK for the city plows
to dump their snow on my driveway and not OK for me to blow my snow
onto the city street?” just doesn’t seem fair does it?
Speaking of fair, let’s talk for a moment about the amount of tax
dollars that the city spends without our ok. I heard on the radio a
couple of days ago that the City of Kitchener council is contemplating
spending up to $15,000,000.00 on refurbishing Karl Zehr Square. That’s
the plot of concrete that is in front of the entrance to our City Hall.
As far as I know, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that
“attraction” right now, other than the fact that whenever I see video
of it on the news the skating rink that cost millions to build in the
first place is only being used by no more than a half dozen people at
any time. What a waste indeed! I don’t for the life of me know
why they have to spend fifteen more million on something that’s still
in good shape. If we have that much money to toss into something that’s
already completed, why don’t they do something more constructive with
that cash such as help the homeless of our region? It’s time the
council started to think more of the people that need help in our
cities rather than blowing huge amounts of tax dollars on crap like
putting a roof over the useless skating rink in front of their offices!
If we the tax payers of Kitchener start contacting our area councilors
and complaining about such frivolous waste of tax dollars maybe things
will start to change for the better. This is not the only frivolous
spending that goes on around Kitchener. I still have a bee up my you
know what about the Works Department of Kitchener plowing the streets
with expensive equipment when there is NO SNOW on the roads. What the
heck are they doing out at 2am plowing wet streets other than making
“overtime” pay? I’m befuddled with this practice for sure! Maybe I
should run for council and try to make a difference from within! On the
other hand, I’m retired, why would I want to bang my head against the
wall for even another 4-year term? Maybe a letter to my councilor now
and then would start the ball rolling toward change but then again,
maybe not!
I guess that’s enough preaching from my soapbox for this week! LOL!
Just like a letter to council, my preaching in the Ontarion seems to
fall on deaf ears most weeks anyway!
I think I’ll call an end to this week’s column and give some thought to
the content of next week’s Ontarion. With spring approaching there
should be more to write about than local politics anyway. LOL!
Hope you all are enjoying the cold weather we’re having! Think of what
I’ve just said the next time a noisy plow scrapes by you house at 2am!
Maybe a few letters to council will start the ball rolling!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
If you have knowledge, let others light their candles by it!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.
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