The cow and horse are gone and no one cares enough to lock the barn door
For the second time in the ten months or so, I got one of those scam calls from someone pretending to be from the IRS's Crime Investigation Unit. Last time it was a Seattle, WA area number and this time it was from the fine city of Killeen, TX. Last time I didn't do much. This time I decided to have a little fun. I called the number back (they'd left me voice mail) and waited for the guy to do his spiel before asking him for his name and IRS badge number. He gave me a number that was obviously false (obvious to anyone who has to call the IRS as often as I do on behalf of clients) and I told him so. He hung up. I then filed a report with the Inspector General division of the Department of the Treasury. The voice mail box at the IRS agency that deals with this kind of call is currently full and they don't do live response to phone calls.
Then I called the number in Killeen and when the same voice answered, I let him know I'd reported his number to the local police department. Again, he hung up. After that, of course I called the Killeen PD. The nice lady who answered assured me it is a scam and that they are "...taking no action on the issue at this time."
CNN did a story last month where they cited data showing over 3,000 documented cases where people were victims of this scam. One estimate puts the amount stolen by these scammers as more than $15 million since 2013. And when informed that this is probably going on in their city, a local police department is "...taking no action..."
Maybe they are spoofing a number and are nowhere near Killeen. Maybe not. But to make it sound like this isn't worth the time to investigate is just sad. How many more people will become victims because this kind of crime isn't getting the attention it deserves. Maybe if police departments weren't too busy writing jaywalking and moving violation tickets to balance budgets, they'd be able to do a little crime prevention work.
* * *
I wrote the following last night, before the wonderful news that indictments had been handed down in the death of Freddie Gray. But it's still relevant. I will comment on those indictments in a future blog entry.
All lives matter.
Sure doesn't seem that way lately.
Black lives matter.
Sure doesn't seem that way lately.
In fact, it hasn't seemed that way for decades now.
How do we know this?
Freddie Gray - 2015
Tamir Rice - 2014
Michael Brown, Jr. - 2014
Eric Garner - 2014
Deion Fludd - 2013
Reynaldo Cuevas - 2012
Reginald Doucet - 2011
Aiyana Jones (7 years old) - 2010
Rather than list another name for every year, let's leap back to 1980.
Arthur McDuffie - 1980
While there are many factors involved in these ugly, criminal killings, I think there is one that is the most important of all, if we are ever to find a way to stop this vicious circle.
That's right. We've got failure to communicate.
Most cops don't hit the streets for their shift, planning to kill anyone. But recent events make that difficult to believe.
The overwhelming majority of African-Americans are law-abiding citizens, who struggle more than most living in a nation where the inequality of income grows ever faster. But the media's portrayal of recent events doesn't make it seem that way.
Police officers do get the benefit of the doubt when these killings are investigated. That's a given. The relationship between the district attorneys who lead these investigations and local police officers is an incestuous one that prevents true transparency in investigating these murders.
Outside investigators, working under civilian oversight must take on these investigations. Body cameras, cameras in police vehicles transporting prisoners and more are also needed.
Stop the violence. Increase the peace. All great slogans. But they are meaningless until put into effect.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Diane Von Furstenberg's photoshopped image of Bruce Jenner's face on an old photo of herself isn't just rude and/or inappropriate. It's an attempt at unmitigated self-promotion. She should be ashamed of herself, except she has no shame.
Marissa Meyer, CEO of Yahoo "got docked" millions in pay according to news stories. That's not really what happened. Some of her pay is tied to company performance goals, and when they weren't fully met, some of that pay was lost. Considering she made $42 million while not getting the other $13 million she might have received, this is truly making a mountain out of a molehill.
I like the fact the judge in the Atlanta teacher cheating scandal reduced some of the lengthy prison sentences he handed out. The revised prison terms are much fairer.
After reading through a list of TV shows that are likely to be canceled and not return in the fall, the only one I would miss would be "Blue Bloods."
I'm not surprised that the sky-high room prices that were being asked for this weekend in Las Vegas due to the so-called "Fight of the Century" have plunged drastically in the last 24 hours. People aren't going to overpay to be in Vegas if they can't get into the fight, or see it in their hotel.
There is something wrong with a foster system that tells kids who've turned 18 that the day after graduation, they must find their own way in the world. No help, no support system. Just pack your shit and leave.
Big kudos to the women of the USC chapter of Gamma Phi Beta, for raising $21K for their housekeeper's new car. Well-played, ladies.
It will be interesting to see how things progress with the penalty for failure to comply with the Obamacare mandate to purchase insurance increasing next year. I don't believe the penalties will be high enough to make people who don't want to get coverage to change their minds.
A convenience store owner in North Carolina had over $100,000 seized by the IRS because it was deposited in cash in his bank, in amounts of less than $10,000 per deposit. Apparently the law requires him to prove he wasn't violating some law in order to get his money back. The burden of proof is on him. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Civil forfeiture laws need legislative attention.
A sign of the changing times is that we will no longer have a MDA telethon to not watch this coming Labor Day weekend. Sad.
It is interesting how Yahoo processes data. CNN sports anchor/correspondent Rachel Nichols has been barred from the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight and that story is trending, but all of the links they are supplying about the woman herself are about Rachel Nichols, the actress.
Then I called the number in Killeen and when the same voice answered, I let him know I'd reported his number to the local police department. Again, he hung up. After that, of course I called the Killeen PD. The nice lady who answered assured me it is a scam and that they are "...taking no action on the issue at this time."
CNN did a story last month where they cited data showing over 3,000 documented cases where people were victims of this scam. One estimate puts the amount stolen by these scammers as more than $15 million since 2013. And when informed that this is probably going on in their city, a local police department is "...taking no action..."
Maybe they are spoofing a number and are nowhere near Killeen. Maybe not. But to make it sound like this isn't worth the time to investigate is just sad. How many more people will become victims because this kind of crime isn't getting the attention it deserves. Maybe if police departments weren't too busy writing jaywalking and moving violation tickets to balance budgets, they'd be able to do a little crime prevention work.
* * *
I wrote the following last night, before the wonderful news that indictments had been handed down in the death of Freddie Gray. But it's still relevant. I will comment on those indictments in a future blog entry.
All lives matter.
Sure doesn't seem that way lately.
Black lives matter.
Sure doesn't seem that way lately.
In fact, it hasn't seemed that way for decades now.
How do we know this?
Freddie Gray - 2015
Tamir Rice - 2014
Michael Brown, Jr. - 2014
Eric Garner - 2014
Deion Fludd - 2013
Reynaldo Cuevas - 2012
Reginald Doucet - 2011
Aiyana Jones (7 years old) - 2010
Rather than list another name for every year, let's leap back to 1980.
Arthur McDuffie - 1980
While there are many factors involved in these ugly, criminal killings, I think there is one that is the most important of all, if we are ever to find a way to stop this vicious circle.
That's right. We've got failure to communicate.
Most cops don't hit the streets for their shift, planning to kill anyone. But recent events make that difficult to believe.
The overwhelming majority of African-Americans are law-abiding citizens, who struggle more than most living in a nation where the inequality of income grows ever faster. But the media's portrayal of recent events doesn't make it seem that way.
Police officers do get the benefit of the doubt when these killings are investigated. That's a given. The relationship between the district attorneys who lead these investigations and local police officers is an incestuous one that prevents true transparency in investigating these murders.
Outside investigators, working under civilian oversight must take on these investigations. Body cameras, cameras in police vehicles transporting prisoners and more are also needed.
Stop the violence. Increase the peace. All great slogans. But they are meaningless until put into effect.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Diane Von Furstenberg's photoshopped image of Bruce Jenner's face on an old photo of herself isn't just rude and/or inappropriate. It's an attempt at unmitigated self-promotion. She should be ashamed of herself, except she has no shame.
Marissa Meyer, CEO of Yahoo "got docked" millions in pay according to news stories. That's not really what happened. Some of her pay is tied to company performance goals, and when they weren't fully met, some of that pay was lost. Considering she made $42 million while not getting the other $13 million she might have received, this is truly making a mountain out of a molehill.
I like the fact the judge in the Atlanta teacher cheating scandal reduced some of the lengthy prison sentences he handed out. The revised prison terms are much fairer.
After reading through a list of TV shows that are likely to be canceled and not return in the fall, the only one I would miss would be "Blue Bloods."
I'm not surprised that the sky-high room prices that were being asked for this weekend in Las Vegas due to the so-called "Fight of the Century" have plunged drastically in the last 24 hours. People aren't going to overpay to be in Vegas if they can't get into the fight, or see it in their hotel.
There is something wrong with a foster system that tells kids who've turned 18 that the day after graduation, they must find their own way in the world. No help, no support system. Just pack your shit and leave.
Big kudos to the women of the USC chapter of Gamma Phi Beta, for raising $21K for their housekeeper's new car. Well-played, ladies.
It will be interesting to see how things progress with the penalty for failure to comply with the Obamacare mandate to purchase insurance increasing next year. I don't believe the penalties will be high enough to make people who don't want to get coverage to change their minds.
A convenience store owner in North Carolina had over $100,000 seized by the IRS because it was deposited in cash in his bank, in amounts of less than $10,000 per deposit. Apparently the law requires him to prove he wasn't violating some law in order to get his money back. The burden of proof is on him. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Civil forfeiture laws need legislative attention.
A sign of the changing times is that we will no longer have a MDA telethon to not watch this coming Labor Day weekend. Sad.
It is interesting how Yahoo processes data. CNN sports anchor/correspondent Rachel Nichols has been barred from the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight and that story is trending, but all of the links they are supplying about the woman herself are about Rachel Nichols, the actress.
posted by me at 8:59 PM
<< Home