Mayfair Mall: Delayed Flash Mob in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin?

Mayfair Mall (www.mayfairmall.com), in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, closed early yesterday afternoon. A large crowd of "unruly" teens smashed glass, damaged merchandise - but didn't manage to hurt themselves or anyone else. Happily.

That last is the good news. The bad news is that there's quite a lot of damage done: and quite a few kids who seem to need a reality check. In the Lemming's opinion.

So far, that's the gist of what's been released. The police weren't releasing many details of the incident. Or, rather, the Lemming didn't find any updates in the news, as of about 10:45 a.m. Central today.

Here's some of what the Lemming did find, with the inevitable comments:

Mayfair Mess: a Personal View

"No fun at Mayfair"
Todd Bragstad, Milwaukee BizTalk blog, The Business Journal (January 3, 2011)

"What my family and I witnessed on late Sunday afternoon at Mayfair Mall not only turned our stomachs, it turned us off.

"After watching throngs of young people congregating unchecked in the corridors on both the mall's upper and lower levels as we shopped, we had just paid for some items in the accessories department in the lower level of Boston Store when things got crazy.

"After hearing a commotion toward the center of the store, I looked over to see a white-cloaked cosmetics clerk yelling “stop it; get out of our store.” A line of kids were shouting and following each other single-file up and down the stairs and escalators before they raced through the store, smashing signs, knocking over displays and dodging security.

"My wife, two teenage daughters and myself...."

This blog post has the virtue of showing what happened at Mayfair Mall from 'inside:' and not edited down to a sound bite by reporters and editors.

The Lemming also appreciated this bit of background:

"...Mayfair's management and owners, General Growth Properties Inc., Chicago, took a lot of heat in 2007 when it enacted its parental guidance policy, a rule that requires mall visitors age 17 and under to be accompanied by an adult 21 or older from 2 p.m. to closing on Fridays and Saturdays. Unfortunately, it did not include Sundays...."
(BizTalk blog)

Mr. Bragstad doesn't specify who complained about the parental guidance policy, back in 2007. It could have been teens who didn't like restrictions; or it could be folks closer to the Lemming's age, who never quite got over the '60s. 'Responsibility' isn't the four-letter word it used to be, but it's still occasionally inconvenient. And that's another topic.

Mayfair Mall News: Making the Most of Few Details

"'Group Of Youth' Causes Disruption At Mayfair Mall In Wauwatosa"
WISN, Milwaukee (January 2, 2011)

"Very Few Details About Incident Being Released

"Few official details are being released about an incident that occurred at Mayfair Mall on Sunday around 5:30 p.m.

"Wauwatosa Mayor Jill Didier told 12 News there was 'definitely a disruption' that forced the mall to close early.

"A customer inside Boston Store during the disruption described what she witnessed to 12 News.

" 'A crowd of like 50 to 60 kids just came barreling through the upstairs door at Boston Store, knocking down everything they could touch. They went running down the stairs. All that we heard was glass breaking. There was security yelling to every manager to lockdown the doors, lockdown the mall, lockdown the store,' the customer said.

"That customer sent a few photos to 12 News that show mannequins and items knocked down inside Boston Store...."

The WISN article has an embedded video, and a link to photos of the Mayfair Mall damage.

The Lemming sympathizes with folks in the news business, when something like the Mayfair Mall mess happens and there aren't all that many important facts to report. WISN did a pretty good job of it, in the Lemming's opinion.

Moving along.

Mayfair Mall: Early Report and Why Earwitness Testimony Need Salt

"Mayfair Mall closes early after tumult"
Meg Jones, Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel Online (January 2, 2011)

"Unsubstantiated reports of gunfire received

"Mayfair Mall closed down early on Sunday afternoon as New Year's weekend shoppers were told to leave after witnesses reported seeing groups of unruly young people shouting and running in the Wauwatosa shopping center.

"There also were unsubstantiated reports of gunfire.

"Elsa Mercado was trying on clothes in a fitting room at Ann Taylor Loft when she heard loud noises. Her sister was at another store, and when Mercado tried to leave to check on her, she discovered she was locked in as some of the stores brought down their security gates.

" 'Someone was pounding on our door and saying, "Please let me in. There's gunfire." We unlocked the door and let him in. He was very frightened, he was very pale,' said Mercado, who used her cell phone to call 911.

"Mercado said the 911 dispatcher asked her location.

" 'They wanted to know where I was; it seemed like they had gotten a lot of calls throughout the mall,' said Mercado, who saw a group of rowdy young people she estimated to number around 100. 'It was happening throughout the entire mall. It was not isolated to one part of the mall.'

"A Mayfair Mall official said in an e-mailed statement late Sunday that the behavior of a group of young people was isolated and there were no injuries.

" 'What occurred this afternoon appears to be a group of youth intent on disrupting the shopping experience at Mayfair. The safety and security of our visitors are always our top priority. This behavior is isolated and we will not condone it,' Mayfair Senior General Manager Steve Smith said in the statement...."

"Gunfire!" Or, rather, "unsubstantiated reports of gunfire."

There's a difference. The Lemming discussed eyewitness testimony last year:

• "Chukchi Blob: It's Algae (No Space Aliens, Alas!)"
  (July 20, 2009)
  Particularly
  • About Eyewitness testimony:
  • It's not entirely unreliable
    • "Is Expert Testimony On Eyewitness Reliability Admissible?"
      Forensic-Evidence.com (March 18, 2003)
    • It's not entirely reliable
      "HOW RELIABLE IS EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY?: A Decision By New York State's Highest Court Reveals Unsettling Truths About Juries"
      FindLaw (May 16, 2001)

The Lemming hopes that Mayfair Mall's Mr. Smith is able to carry through on his assertion: "....This behavior is isolated and we will not condone it."

It's nice that nobody got hurt this time: but broken glass and damaged merchandise costs money to repair or replace. Folks working at the closed shops may not get paid for the time they'd have put in, if the young nitwits hadn't misbehaved: and the Lemming remembers what being a few hours short on a weekly paycheck can do to a household.

Bottom line: yesterday's activity at Mayfair Mall was not exactly a harmless prank. How much property damage and lost wages there was isn't clear yet: but a whole lot of folks got more than just inconvenienced.

For the sake of the kids involved, I hope that they're given an opportunity to pay for the cleanup and reimburse the folks whose jobs they interrupted. And that they learn how to behave around people who aren't their own circle of acquaintances.

Maybe that sounds "judgmental," or the more up-to-date "hateful." The Lemming doesn't think so: but that's just the Lemming's opinion.

Delayed Flash Mob at Mayfair Mall?

"Police foil planned mall flash mob"
Odd News, UPI (December 30, 2010)

"Police in Wisconsin said they foiled an attempted freeze tag-playing flash mob event on one of the year's busiest shopping days.

"Wauwatosa police said managers at Mayfair Mall became concerned after learning 130 Tosa West High School students joined a Facebook group organizing a flash mob -- a group of people assembling in a public place to perform a pre-arranged activity -- to play freeze tag at the mall Dec. 23, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday.

"Police said the students in the Facebook group were issued one-day bans from the mall on the intended day of the event and the four teens who organized the Facebook group agreed to call it off...."

Maybe this is why the police have been so quiet about yesterday's incident. In their position, the Lemming would be looking very carefully at connections between the flash mob that didn't happen on Friday, and the vandalism that did on Sunday.

Financial Cons: An Example or Two

"Tough Times Breed Financial Cons"
John R. Emschweiller, Top Stories in U.S., Wall Street Journal (December 27, 2010)

"Hard times are generating a growing number of financial scams in which victims are tempted to invest money on the false promise of big returns, often from supposed caches of overseas money.

"Louis Michael Pihakis, an 80-year-old convicted swindler, was recently indicted in a Phoenix federal court for one such 'advance-fee' scheme, in which prosecutors allege he falsely promised business people multimillion-dollar investments from a nonexistent trust in return for an advance fee that was usually several hundred thousand dollars....

"...The current economic climate, with often-tight credit markets for small businesses and swooning housing prices, has given advance-fee crooks fresh opportunities, federal officials say. 'You have people in desperate situations. Suddenly someone gives them a ray of hope' by promising to solve their financial problems, said Robb Adkins, executive director of the Justice Department's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. As a result, he said, advance-fee frauds have become a priority for the department.

"The Federal Trade Commission says consumer complaints related to advance-fee and credit-repair schemes more than doubled in 2009 to over 41,000 from about 17,000 in 2008, the latest figures available....

"...'We have victims who normally wouldn't have been sucked into such a scheme,' said Evan Davis, the case's lead prosecutor. 'But they were facing eviction. This was their last hope and they weren't asking questions.'..."

Desperation isn't Greed

It's one thing, when a 'clever' fellow buys 'never pay income tax again' advice: and later has frank and open discussions with IRS accountants. Or a 'get rich quick' scheme turns out to be the sort of thing Mr. Madoff became famous for.

People who fall for that sort of scam are victims, and sometimes lose a great deal. But the Lemming thinks that tax evasion and get-rich-quick efforts may often be motivated by greed.

When someone can't make mortgage payments, a sort of greed might have been involved. The Lemming can imagine someone buying more house that the person's finances could handle for a number of unpleasant, unreasonable motives.

On the other hand, someone could wind up defaulting on a mortgage because the person's just not good at math. Setting up terms for a mortgage can be a complicated process.

Then, there's things like getting sick and staying that way, being laid off: you get the idea.

Someone whose home or business is is imperiled by a mortgage gone bad faces a huge loss: and desperation can make folks somewhat less clear-headed than they'd normally be.

Making a Bad Situation Worse

In a situation like the one discussed in that article, targets of the (alleged) fraud "...'...were facing eviction. This was their last hope and they weren't asking questions.'..."

It's easy to say, for someone who's not about to be evicted from his home: but the middle of a crisis is not a good place to stop using common sense - and checking out what looks like a "last hope."

There seem to be few situations which are so desperate, so hopeless, so catastrophic: that a bad decision can't make them worse.

Related posts:

• "Madoff Mansion, Money, Ponzi Schemes, and Thinking
  (October 16, 2010)
• "'Work at Home,' Transferring Money Overseas: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
  (November 3, 2009)
• "Nigerian Scams, Internet Safety, Fraud, and Human Nature: The Lemming Gets Wordy
  (November 17, 2008)
• "Momentum Direct: Sounds Too Good to be True
  (April 23, 2008)
• "Six Hours Past Thursday: Odd Name for a Good Blog
  (October 6, 2007)

Bargain Assassins, Death by Mercedes, and the Good Old Days

"Think you could kill her for a little less?"
Robert Basler, Oddly Enough blog, Reuters (December 15, 2010)

"This is just pathetic. You may have seen the story about a former TV chef who pleaded no contest to trying to have his wife killed, and was sentenced to nine years in prison...."

What's pathetic, according to the Oddly Enough's Robert Basler, isn't that this former TV chef pleaded no contest, or that he tried to have his wife killed. It's the way he tried.

The Lemming is inclined to agree with Mr. Basler: though maybe not for the same reasons.

First, and not a pathetic detail, this wannabe uxoricide failed. His wife is okay. Probably royally steamed about what her husband tried to do - and how the twit tried to have her killed: and that's why this is, in Mr. Basler's opinion, "pathetic." In the Lemming's opinion, too.

Here's the deal: this former TV chef wants his wife to die. Instead of doing the job himself, or hiring a competent hit man, he - get this - offers some homeless men $1,000, in exchange for killing his wife.

Back to Mr. Basler's blog:

"...Let's all think about that. I can't decide whether this guy is cheap, or just plain stupid.

"I mean, if these poor guys were good at performing complicated tasks and following directions and so on, chances are they might not be homeless in the first place.

"If my wife ever decides to get rid of me, and who would blame her, I hope she would care enough to spend a few bucks and have it done right...."

The post is done in Mr. Basler's inimitable fashion: and the Lemming found it funny. Your experience, as the Lemming's said before, may vary.

Now, about what that one-time chef tried: and how he tried it.

The Lemming does not think that it's okay to kill one's spouse. Not just on the technical detail that it's illegal these days: there are moral and ethical concerns. As the Lemming put it, in another blog, "murder isn't nice, and you shouldn't do it." (A Catholic Citizen in America (December 26, 2008) That sounds judgmental: and that's another topic.

Now, it's just as well that the Lemming's beliefs include rules about killing for personal reasons. Dig a short distance into the Lemming's psyche, and you'll find: well, let's say an appreciation for the 'good old days.'

That's what prompted the Lemming's response to another Oddly Enough post, one which discussed an unusually bizarre and demeaning (in the Lemming's opinion) bit of fashion. One involving bleached teddy bears. Here's what the Lemming opined, regarding the model's expression:

"...I can't tell for sure, since photography hadn't been invented when some of my ancestors hacked their way into possession of Cawdor Castle,¹ but I suspect that's the sort of look my great-to-some-power grandmothers may have had, before they stuck something long and sharp into an offensive person...."

Then there was the Lemming's reminiscences, not previously recorded in this blog, in connection with a news item from Texas. The article, about a two-timing husband, an enraged wife, and a silver Mercedes, recalled to the Lemming the High Renaissance in Italy, when daggers and poison were employed when settling personal disputes, rather than lawyers and courts. Sometimes poisoned daggers, and that's yet another topic.

This set of headlines may jog your memory:

• "Jury Gives 20-Year Term In Murder of Husband"
  Nick Madigan, U.S., The New York Times (February 15, 2003)
• "Woman Videotaped Running Over Spouse"
  ABC News (July 29, 2002)
• "Police: Wife Runs Over Cheating Husband"
  KPRC Houston (July 25, 2002)

Now, the Lemming wishes to emphasize that, in the Lemming's considered opinion, killing your spouse is not only illegal: it's wrong. Even if you've got some reason for doing so. Which, in this case, judging from details in the news, Clara Harris had.

Her husband had cheated on her before, been confronted, agreed to stop: she'd gone to what the Lemming believes are unreasonable lengths to placate the him - and then the jerk cheats on her. Again. Picking up the story, as reported a few days later:

"...Last Wednesday, Clara Harris, accompanied by her 16-year-old stepdaughter, confronted her husband at the hotel where he was meeting his alleged mistress, Gail Bridges, authorities said.

"Bridges and Clara Harris confronted each other in the lobby and Harris tore Bridges' shirt, witnesses said.

"As David Harris walked Bridges to her car, Clara Harris and the 16-year-old girl got into their Mercedes-Benz and crashed into David, sending him 25 feet the other direction, witnesses and police said.

"Prosecutor Mia Magness said Clara Harris then crossed two grassy medians and ran over her husband three more times before putting the car into reverse and backing over his body, leaving the car parked on him...."
(ABC News)

Another account identified the car as a silver Mercedes. Sort of the 20th-century equivalent of a hand-crafted, bejeweled, made-to-order personal dagger.

The detail that stuck in the Lemming's mind was "leaving the car parked on him."

Now, once again, the Lemming does not condone murder. On the other hand, the way Clara Harris acted - making sure she had a witness, using a weapon that could be identified as belonging to her, and leaving the weapon with the body in a public place? That reminded the Lemming of the 'good old days,' when an insulted woman might shishkebab the guilty party: leaving her dagger in the body to leave no reasonable doubt as to who was responsible - and, by implication, why the deed was done.

That was then, this is now: and the defense tried to pass the hotel parking lot incident off as an "accident." (The New York Times)

Not-totally-unrelated posts:

• "Fencing Stolen Art: Bakwin Paintings, a 'Criminal Lawyer,' and Common Sense"
  (November 18, 2010)
• "Frankenmodel: Or, 'After This Job, You Die' "
  (January 29, 2010)
• " 'Beware Little Old Ladies With Handbags' "
  (August 21, 2009)
• "Purse Snatcher Picks Wrong Victim"
  (June 28, 2008)
  • With 12 second video
  • He really picked the wrong victim
    • Target, actually

Fencing Stolen Art: Bakwin Paintings, a 'Criminal Lawyer,' and Common Sense

"Art stolen from Sturbridge home in '78 returned to owner"
WHDH-TV (November 17, 2010)

WHDH-TV's account is a sort of conclusion to this more detailed, if not quite so up-to-date, account:

"The Bakwin Paintings – a tale of fraud and deceit"
Withers Worldwide (June 1, 2007)

"In 1999, an insurance underwriter asked the Art Loss Register in London to search its database of stolen art to confirm that the seven paintings he was asked to insure during transport from Russia to the UK had not been stolen. The Art Loss Register reported that the images of the paintings matched seven paintings stolen in 1978 from the private residence of Michael Bakwin, a Massachusetts collector. The paintings were valuable: they included a Cézanne, two Soutines, an Utrillo and a Vlaminck. Mr Bakwin instructed the Art Loss Register to try and recover them...."

"...Instead of handing the stolen paintings to the police, Mardirosian kept them and tried to sell them or return them in exchange for cash. When his name became public following the opening of the sealed envelope, he reportedly told Field Fisher Waterhouse, the London law firm ostensibly representing Erie, 'to give up'. Field Fisher Waterhouse terminated their representation...."

The thief who stole the paintings in the first place is dead. That should be "alleged thief," since the case apparently didn't go to trial.

An interesting detail: Withers Worldwide identified Robert Mardirosian as a "criminal lawyer practising in Massachusetts." There's a wisecrack about 'truth in advertising' lurking around the phrase "criminal lawyer," but the Lemming will leave that exercise up to the reader.

One thing that stands out in these accounts, for the Lemming, is how a lawyer - presumably sober and in possession of most of his marbles - could have thought he'd get away with fencing stolen property. By going through a legitimate agent. Not someone specialized in handling stolen property. Dealing with a professional fence wouldn't have been so daft. Illegal, unethical: but not so daft.

A few generations back, with slower and less detailed communication, maybe. Now?

The lawyer's in prison.

Madoff Stuff Auctioned Off: Diamond Ring, Underwear

"Auction of Madoff effects raises $2 million"
Reuters, (November 13, 2010)

"A diamond engagement ring that belonged to the wife of Bernie Madoff fetched $550,000 at an auction on Saturday, while a pair of black velveteen slippers embroidered with the convicted swindler's initials went for $6,000, U.S. marshals said.

"The auction of jewelry, furniture, antiques, clothing and other personal effects to help compensate Madoff's victims raised more than $2 million, the marshals said...."

Well: It's a start. That $2,000,000 isn't a big fraction of the $60,000,000,000 or so that Madoff stole. But, like the Lemming wrote: It's a start. Earlier this year a Madoff mansion moved a step closer to being sold - for something in the neighborhood of $5,000,000. (October 16, 2010)

Now, a much less serious look at that Madoff auction:

"The Used Underwear of the Apocalypse?"
Oddly Enough, Reuters blog (November 12, 2010)


(Reuters, via Oddly Enough blog, used w/o permission)

"Blog Guy, thank you so much for keeping us alert on signs of that Apocalypse which seems to be hurtling toward us. Last week you warned us about the proliferation of craters and sinkholes. Are there any new signs?

"You bet. Tomorrow, keep your eyes on an auction of stuff that once belonged to Bernie Madoff, the mega-swindler who is serving 150 years in prison..."

"Blog guy" raises an interesting point - who would buy Mr. Madoff's used underwear?

But then, the Lemming doesn't understand why people want to own things like a commemorative Elvis toothpick holder either. (The Lemming is not making that up.)

Related post:

• "Madoff Mansion, Money, Ponzi Schemes, and Thinking"
  (October 16, 2010)

Madoff Mansion, Money, Ponzi Schemes, and Thinking

"Madoff's Palm Beach Mansion In Contract"
Developments, The Wall Street Journal real estate blog (October 12, 2010)

"(Updated with price and buyer information)

"In Palm Beach the last Bernard Madoff home on the market has gone into contract in the $5 million range. The 8,800 square foot mansion originally listed last September for $8.49 million and most recently, for $6.5 million.

"The buyer was a California couple whose identity could not be learned. If the deal closes, they would own a five-bedroom home on the intracoastal waterway with water views and a pool. The home is near the Palm Beach Country Club, which counted Mr. Madoff as a member and from which he drew many investors; he is serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina federal prison. The Palm Beach home has terra cotta tile floors, vaulted ceilings that reach 22 feet in the great room, atriums and a balcony running the width of the house, according to the listing...."

The sale of that house, and an auction coming in November of more of Madoff's stuff, won't - in the Lemming's opinion - pay for damage done in Mr. Madoff's $60,000,000,000 ponzi scheme. But it's reasonable to try getting some of the money back. Which I trust will go in part to Mr. Madoff's victims.

'If It Sounds Too Good to be True:' THINK!!!

The impression the Lemming has is that Mr. Madoff's Ponzi scheme was so disastrously successful because of a combination of trust, greed, and bureaucratic slapstick comedy. I don't mean to sound vindictive, but on the whole I rather hope that Mr. Madoff is held in custody for the remainder of his life - and denied access to more suckers. I don't think he's a safe person to have running around loose.

There are plenty more Mr. Madoffs around, though, who are quite willing to bilk folks. It's the old story: 'If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.'

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Con Man and Expensive Art"
  (August 4, 2010)
• "Black Friday Bargains Sound Too Good to be True: And Often Are"
  (November 22, 2009)
• " 'Work at Home,' Transferring Money Overseas: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"
  (November 3, 2009)
• "Nigerian Scams, Internet Safety, Fraud, and Human Nature: The Lemming Gets Wordy"
  (November 17, 2008)

Background:

• "Ponzi scheme"
  moneyterms.co.uk
• "Two Years After Madoff: Ponzi Hell Continues"
  Amey Stone, Daily Finance (October 16, 2010)

Con Man and Expensive Art

"Art Dealer Is Sentenced for $120 Million Scheme"
The New York Times (August 2, 2010)

"He cultivated their trust with his longstanding reputation as a prominent art dealer and endeared them with a smile, backslapping charm and firm reassurances. But he used it all to steal — not only money and valuable artwork, but also family heirlooms, memories of loved ones and connections to the past.

"Those viewpoints were shared Tuesday by 10 victims of Lawrence B. Salander, the once-esteemed art dealer who pleaded guilty in March to a $120 million fraud scheme that included stealing from the likes of John McEnroe and the estate of Robert De Niro Sr., an artist and the father of the actor...."

I got the impression that The New York Times' editors were not very sympathetic for Mr. Salander. Can't say that I blame them. The sort of crime he committed, betraying the trust of people whose good will he had cultivated, is quite deplorable.

Like the time he came to a house where the father had died, cried, and walked away with about $2,000,000 in art - which he then sold.

Mr. Salander is looking at a sentence of 6 to 18 years, plus $114,000,000 in restitution - the latter is somewhat hypothetical, since the judge said that the one-time-art dealer probably couldn't come up with the cash.

Fraud, fakery, and high-end art seem to go hand-in-hand: but I suppose it's at least partly a matter of what sort of crimes tend to get in the news.

Then there are artists who throw paint at something, call it art, and sell it to collectors for exorbitant sums. That, I think, is a daft way to spend money: but like the folks who bought those taxidermy BrewDog beer, it's their decision.

Ripping off a bereaved family: that's quite literally a crime.

Crooks Punch the Wrong Octogenarian

"Don't you mess with grandpa, sonny"
KOMONEWS.com (April 23, 2009)

"Ted Mazetier may be a grandfather, but at 84 years old, he's still got his chops.

"And two men learned that the hard way.

"Mazetier was driving down South Proctor Street Wednesday night when he spotted a car on the curb and two guys standing nearby. He thought they needed help, so he stopped.

"But as soon as he pulled over, the two men pounced...."

The bad news is that Mr. Mazetier got a black eye.

The good news is that he left a deep impression on each of the assailants. After which they fled. And were, eventually, caught.

They'd pulled a similar attack earlier.

I suppose it's unfair. Mr. Mazetier is a WWII vet, and spent much of his life keeping an eye on criminals in U. S. prisons. How could the two assailants have known that this octogenarian was about as helpless as Bruce Lee?

And the moral of this story is - - -

• You can't judge a book by its cover?
• Old geezers aren't necessarily easy targets?
• Crime hurts?

---

A tip of the hat to irish_brigid, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this.

"Beware Little Old Ladies With Handbags"

Particularly if they've raised a large family.

"Tribute to OAP who tackled robber "
BBC (September 19, 2007)

"A pensioner who chased an armed robber with her handbag has been likened to Glasgow Airport hero John Smeaton by court prosecutors.

"Helen McAdam, 71, found herself in the middle of a raid on a security van as she popped into her local Tesco for a pint of milk.

"The 5ft 4in grandmother swung into action after being threatened at gunpoint by 44-year-old William Carlin.

"Carlin was jailed for eight years at the High Court in Glasgow...."

"...She said: 'I tried to hit him with my handbag. I was angry. When I swung it he was away like a shot.'

"Mrs McAdam then chased Carlin and memorised the make and colour of his getaway car and a partial registration.

"She handed the details in to Tesco before carrying on with her shopping.

"When she returned home she told husband Danny: 'You'll never believe what happened at the supermarket, a man stuck a gun on me. I never put that on my shopping list.'..."

"...When asked by prosecutor Iain McSporran if she would do the same thing again if confronted by an armed man, she said: 'I'd face the devil. I've raised a big family and I'm afraid of nobody.'..."

I'm not at all sure that raising a large family is quite equivalent to combat experience: But I think it does encourage a certain level of mental discipline; and a capacity for reacting quickly and decisively to unexpected situations.

And of course, as law enforcement nearly always says here in America: conventional wisdom is that one should not take on an armed criminal. There's something to that.

A tip of the hat to irish_brigid, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this.

Rogue Hosting Company and Server Shut Down: Oddly Enough, I Approve

"Feds Shutter 'Black Hat' ISP"
Wired Privacy, Crime and Security Online (June 4, 2009)

"For the first time, the Federal Trade Commission is shuttering an internet service provider it alleges, 'recruits, knowingly hosts, and actively participates in the distribution of illegal, malicious and harmful electronic content' such as botnets and child porn.

"The company, doing business as 3fn.net and APS Telecom, 'actively recruited' to its hosting service thousands of 'rouge' and 'black hat' web sites distributing 'illegal, malicious, and harmful electronic content including child pornography, spyware, viruses, trojan horses, phishing, botnet command and control servers, and pornography featuring violence, bestiality, and incest.'..."

"...Many of the thousands of sites it hosted were based in Russia, where admins on Thursday were scrambling to resume service. The complaint alleges Pricewert officials helped its member sites create and configure botnets...."

And:

"FTC shuts allegedly rogue Internet provider"
The Associated Press (June 5, 2009)

"The federal government has severed the Internet connection of a company accused of helping criminals serve up a 'witches' brew' of nasty content online, from computer viruses to child pornography.

"It's likely to be just a short-lived victory in the fight against cybercrime, though, since bad guys are very good at getting back online quickly.

"The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that it has ordered the shutdown of a company called Pricewert LLC, described in a complaint filed in San Jose, Calif., federal court as an Oregon-based shell company run by 'overseas criminals', operating out of Belize and running many its illegal operations out of servers in Silicon Valley...."

The Wired article includes links to .pdf format copies of a San Jose, California federal judge's order for "upstream internet providers and data centers to stop servicing the company, also known as Pricewert,..." and the FTC's lawsuit.

The Associated Press's article points out that one shutdown doesn't mean the end of a problem. The example they give is "...a notorious Internet provider called McColo Corp., which was also operating out of a data center in Silicon Valley...."

McColo was thought to be the source of about half the world's spam when the company's Internet providers pulled the plug on its servers. Sure enough, spam dropped around the world: but it's been growing again.

Interestingly, The Associated Press doesn't identify Russia as the home of many of the company's clients, and puts "overseas criminals" in quotes. There may be very good reasons for the omission, and the use of quotes: but I was reminded of a major metropolitan newspaper's past diffidence regarding Russian (Soviet, at the time) naughtiness ("The New York Times, Insularity, and Assumptions " Another War-on-Terror Blog (October 21, 2008)).

Cybercrime: I May Have Been Wrong

I don't think that the latest shutdown will have more than a temporary effect on the distribution of malware and kiddie porn. But, I think that shutting down the 3fn.net AKA APS Telecom AKA Pricewert operation is a good idea.

I have, in the past, written "...I think serious attention won't be paid to information technology issues until people who grew up with it are in leadership positions: and that will take decades." (April 24, 2009) And:

"I think that it may be another thirty years, at least, before several things come together to make a solution possible:

• "People who have grown up with the Internet, and understand it to some extent, are old enough to be in positions of authority and responsibility in business and government
• "Enough countries are sufficiently connected to the Internet - and have political leaders who are not afraid of its citizens

"The first is around twenty to thirty years out. The second is anyone's guess." (April 29, 2009)

A serious, practical, sanction against someone engaging in serious crime is something I hadn't expected to see for a very long time - if ever.

Sure, the RIAA gets after people who threaten the entire recording industry by downloading 24 songs on Kazaa.

Slapping a private citizen with a $220,000 fine for handling two dozen songs is safely inside the envelope, in terms of dealing with criminal activity.

But, go after a company big enough to hire technicians who help clients maintain botnets - networks of computers infected with the client's viruses - and using information technology that didn't exist when most Senators and Representatives were born?

An outfit that big, using technology that America's leaders may or may not understand: I am pleasantly surprised to see legal action being taken.

The Dark Side of Being Protected

I don't approve of kiddie porn, and I think that time wasted dealing with malware is much worse for a business - and an economy - than am employee pilfering paper clips. But, I've argued against efforts to 'save the children' from online porn.

That's because I value freedom of speech.

Today, the Internet is one of the few places where people don't have to get permission from a peer review board, or an editor, or some other traditional information gatekeeper, to share their ideas with others.

Some of what's shared is crazy: like the shape shifting space alien lizard people I've referred to in another blog. I think the marketplace of ideas will keep lunatic fringe ideas where they started out: on the fringe.

Aside from the self-interest of someone whose views may not always meet with the approval of the dominant culture's leaders, I think that society benefits when people are able to communicate with each other.

America came close to having a federal agency which would decide who was allowed to put information on the Internet, and who would be barred from doing so.

I'd like to believe that this was a well-intentioned effort, backed by groups whose philosophies have little in common aside from a fervent desire that only 'correct' ideas be published: like the Christian Coalition and the Feminist Majority. (I'm not making that up.)

I'm particularly troubled, when pre-publication censorship is demanded - to 'save the children' or 'stop the hate,' or whatever. That gets into the "I thought he was going to hit me, so I hit him back first" logic of comic strip anti-hero Andy Capp. America, and other countries, have laws covering libel and slander which can be used to counter damaging statements.

What 3fn.net AKA APS Telecom AKA Pricewert was doing was 'way beyond what I think of as covered by 'free speech.' Never mind the kiddie porn: botnets steal processor time and bandwith, at best. "Malware" is called that for a reason.

Related posts:

• "Searching for 'Work From Home,' 'Free Games,' or 'Screensavers' ? You Might Find Trouble"
  (May 28, 2009)
• "Anti-Cookie Law - EU Protects Subjects From Web"
  (May 18, 2009)
• "Quarantine for Malware Carriers??"
  (April 26, 2009)
• "Conficker-Infected Computers Send Spam, Fake Anti-Malware"
  (April 24, 2009)
• "Lemming Tracks: The Zlob Worm and Related Malware Issues"
  (April 19, 2009)
• "PINs - Not Nearly as Secure as We Thought"
  (April 15, 2009)
• "Lemming Tracks: Caught up After a Perfect Storm of Malware and Easter Weekend"
  (April 13, 2009)
• "Lemming Tracks: A Perfect Storm of Malware and Easter Weekend"
  (April 10, 2009)
• "Conficker Alive and Well: and Quietly Active - or a Vast Conspiracy?"
  (April 10, 2009)
• " 'Twitter Nitwits' - Catchy Post Title, Pretty Good Advice"
  (April 9, 2009)
• "Downadup, Conficker Internet Worm, or Kido: Bad News"
  (March 30, 2009)
• "Best-Case Scenario: Phishing"
  (March 2, 2009)
• "Google Blacklists Internet - By Mistake"
  (February 1, 2009)
• "Downadup, Conficker or Kido: Whatever You Call it, it's Bad News"
  (January 25, 2009)
• "AVG and Linkscanner: Sounds as if Anti-Malware Software Acts Like Malware"
  (June 15, 2008)
• "Blog Day: My Post"
  (August 31, 2007)

Purse Snatcher Picks Wrong Victim

"Purse snatcher smackdown."
YouTube (August 14, 2007)
video 0:12

She got her purse back, and apparently decided not to risk an extended dispute with the thief.

"Operation Malicious Mortgage" - Law Enforcement at Work, or Some Kinda Plot?

Silly me. I thought that "Operation Malicious Mortgage" was a law enforcement action against people who committed crimes that took about a billion dollars out of Americans' pocketbooks. There are a couple of takes on this, at least:

• It's a crackdown on people in big companies
  "FBI says it is aggressively probing mortgage fraud"
  Reuters (June 19, 2008)
  • "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday it is aggressively investigating corporate fraud related to mortgage lending, generally involving large corporations.
  • " 'I'm content to say (they're) generally rather large corporations,' FBI Director Robert Mueller told reporters at a news briefing. The agency previously had said its probe of potential fraud in the home mortgage industry encompassed 19 companies. It has not identified them...."
• Is not!
  "More on 'Operation Malicious Mortgage' "
  Los Angeles Times (June 19, 2008)
  • "A few updates on 'Operation Malicious Mortgage,' the Department of Justice name for today's announcement of various recent mortgage fraud prosecutions.
  • "The DoJ's press release, which you can read here, says the initiative involves 144 cases and 406 defendants across the country. Many of the indictments have been previously announced, including four in Southern California. More on the California cases at the bottom of this post.... "
    
  • "...Analysis: These appear to be a collection of smallish and unrelated prosecutions, but if you bundle them together and give them a name, you can portray them as part of a "crackdown," or, as the Department of Justice likes to say, a 'takedown.'
  • "Relatedly: What is with the need to make every effort into an "Operation"? Operation Malicious Mortgage? A recent California fraud prosecution was called "Operation Homewrecker." I'm quite certain the readers of this blog can do much better in the 'Operation Name that Operation' game. Please send your nominations via the comment button....."

I get the impression that the L.A. Times is suspicious of the FBI's motives and methods in this caper. It may come from being a leading member of the Fourth Estate.

I'm unsophisticated enough to be glad that 'alleged' perpetrators of fraud have been caught, and may, eventually, face some consequences for their crimes.

Better Ideas from the Netherlands: Give a Shoplifter More Than Fifteen Seconds of Fame

"10,000th Shoplifter Gets Parade"
The Consumerist (May 12, 2006)

"A Dutch store owner, sick of shoplifters, decides to give the 10,000th shoplifter a big prize, including party hat, cake and an in-store marching band."

Video (88 seconds)

Kudos to the store owner, for a truly inventive way of dealing with at least one shoplifter. The publicity may have both drawn customers - and discouraged other shoplifters from seeing what he'd try next.

"Smiley Face Killer" - Paper Proposes New Wrinkle

The 'Smiley Face Killings' are taking on the look of an old-fashioned mystery.

• Drownings
• Dozens of them
• Victims showing up months later: laid out, not sprawled
• An eldritch symbol connected with the body in at least five cases
• Obviously, these are all accidental deaths

I can imagine a cigar-chomping, beer-bellied, tough-talking big city cop saying that last line. Although he'd probably say something like, "da guy drowned. Coroner says so. Good enough for me. Now beat it."

Problem is, this isn't something from the adventures of Bat Shott, Detective. It's very real.

Retired NYPD detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte have evidence, and a theory to go with it.

Local law enforcement, and the FBI, Think that the deaths aren't related, and that most of them are accidental drowning. After all, the argument goes, the guys were drinking before they went in the water.

Apparently nobody's said it, but I can here the objection-quashing "What other explanation is there?" follow-up.

The retired NYPD cops may be right.

Or, those law enforcement agencies, may be right.

There is a middle ground - some could be real serial killings, others could really be accidents.

Now, the word "hoax" is in the mix.

• "Smiley Face Killer Photos: Provides Clues, Link: Is it a Hoax?"
  National Ledger (May 1, 2008)
  • "Is the Smiley Face Killer real or an urban legend? The 'Smiley Face Gang' as dubbed by a group of policemen may be a group of serial killers responsible for the deaths of at least 40 young men ...
  • The deaths (are they murders?) all share common traits. The men are well-liked, athletic college guys who drowned mysteriously, usually disappearing after a night of drinking. Are they accidents are something far more sinister?"
• "FBI: 'No Evidence' to Support 'Smiley Face Gang' Serial Murder Theory; Victims' Families Say There Is"
  FoxNEWS (May 1, 2008)
  • "Gannon and Duarte told reporters that the drownings seem to have been staged, especially since many victims were missing for months before their bodies turned up and some corpses looked like they had been tampered with.
  • "Further, a smiley-face symbol was found painted at some of the drowning locations — in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.
  • "Jenkins' body was discovered in the Mississippi River about four months after he disappeared in 2003. Police concluded he accidentally fell into the water and died after a night of drinking, but the retired detectives believe his death is suspicious in part because of how his body looked when it was found: encased in ice with his hands folded across his chest."

Previous post on this topic: " 'Smiley Face Killer' - Individuals do Make a Difference" (April 29, 2008)

"Smiley Face Killer" - Individuals do Make a Difference

This is one of those serious posts I do, now and then.

When my home state gets in the news, I prefer it to be for something happier than the "Smiley Face" killings.

When Chris Jenkins' body "was found floating on his back with his arms crossed on his chest - an unusual pose for a drowned person." Since he'd last been seen at a bar, or for some other reason, his death was ruled 'accidental.'

I'm not blaming local police. Minneapolis law enforcement may have had perfectly good reasons for assuming that someone whose body turned floating in the Mississippi, face up, laid out like a corpse for a funeral, had died accidentally. And, Chris Jenkins' official cause of death has been changed from 'undetermined' or 'drowning' to 'homicide.'

And all 40 cases that a couple of retired New York detectives linked probably didn't seem more than accidental drownings. Besides, I get the impression that law enforcement agencies don't share data to any great extent.

I also get the impression that the investigative practices of law enforcement focus on where a body is found, not where it was dumped in the water.

The "Smiley Face" linked to these 'alleged' killings

I found a few news articles on the subject:

• "DETECTIVES: Chris Jenkins murder connects dozens around country
  KSTP (04/23/2008 - Updated 04/29/2008)
• "Minneapolis Police Won't Link Chris Jenkins Death to Smiley Face Murders Theory"
  myFOX Twin Cities (April 29, 2008)
• "Ex-NYPD cops say smiley face is link in 40 deaths by serial killer syndicate"
  New York Daily News (April 29 2008)

Individuals count: These 'alleged' killings might never have been noticed, if two men from New York hadn't made it their business to dig up facts.

Now, for a blatant plug: BlogCatalog is urging individual bloggers to "Unite for Human Rights" on May 15. I posted about this before, in "Bloggers Unite for Human Rights" (April 17, 2008).

Here We Go Again: Tax Time, Tax Scams - This Call Isn't from the IRS

"Legal Thriller Author Warns: Once Tax Season is over a Deadly New Tax Scam Awaits You"
Con Man's Blog (April 7, 2008)

New, and yet not new.

I'll repeat the first two words in the post: "Stop, Think" - particularly when it's a scary, or a hopeful, message from someone who says he/she/it is from the IRS.

The post ends with good advice: try to get a phone number from the person. Don't call it. Whether you get it or not, look the IRS up in a legitimate directory, and call them yourself.

D.B. Cooper - FBI Releases New Info, Photos

"D.B. COOPER REDUX Help Us Solve the Enduring Mystery"

The FBI is taking another look at the case of a hijacker who parachuted out of an airliner in 1971 with $200,000 in stolen cash. They're showing pictures and giving information that hasn't been released before - and hope that it jogs someone's memory.

Vandals and Data Lines

"Vandals strike 6 more high-speed data sites in the Twin Cities"

The damage has been minimal, this time. "In the span of four days last week, vandals knocked out landline and wireless phone and data service to thousands in St. Paul and Minneapolis."

On the other hand, a small bunch of thugs disrupted the flow of information in part of a small city without too much trouble. That's a concern for anyone who uses the telephone - or the Internet.

Congressional Approval at Record Low: Maybe This is Why

Sorry, this isn't the most upbeat post on "Apathetic Lemming of the North."

No wonder Congressional approval was 18% last month, according to a Gallup Poll. A page on thefleecingofamerica.com listed what the 500 or so employees of a company had been up to.

Some of the best news in the list was that only 7 had been arrested for fraud, and a mere 3 had done time for assault.

If this were a private-sector company, it would be in serious trouble. Since it's the American Congress: it still doesn't look good.

Michael Vick: Who Needs a Trial?

One of the wonderful things about the blogosphere is that opinions can be published here, even if they haven't passed an editorial board, or originated in one of the traditional centers of culture and refinement. In America, that's New York City, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and to a lesser extent San Francisco and parts of Oregon.

Here are examples of the blogosphere's freedom at work.

In case you haven't read enough about the pre-trial convictions of Michael Vick, here are a few of the blog posts on the subject.

• The Vick Case…doesn’t innocent until proven guilty still apply? (July 27, 2007)
  
• What Happened To "Innocent Until Proven Guilty"? (July 28, 2007)
  
• Michael Vick: Innocent Until Proven Guilty...right? (August 1, 2007)
• Is Michael Vick Innocent Until Proven Guilty, or Should He Go Straight to the Dog House? (August 03, 2007)
• Innocent Until Proven Guilty (August 3, 2007)

This is an unusual post for "Apathetic Lemming of the North," so here's the background:

Last Saturday, I heard that the Atlanta Falcons owner, Arthur Blank, said publicly that Michael Vick lied about Vick's involvement in a dog-fighting operation.

Mr. Blank seems to base his conclusion on the fact that a dog-fighting operation seems to have been conducted at a residence owned by Mr. Vick. The owner has more to go on, of course. The men, who almost certainly were directly involved, accused Mr. Vick of participation, with lurid stories to back up their claim.

I do not blame Mr. Blank for his public accusation of Mr. Vick.

Mr. Blank is following a long tradition of executives and business owners, making irrational and draconian decisions, based on limited and dubious information.

Mr. Blank may even be right.

For those who have been away from Earth recently, Michael Vick is a football player who has been accused of involvement in a dog-fighting enterprise on a property he owns. As far as I can tell, there is at best limited evidence of Mr. Vick's involvement, apart from his ownership of the house and grounds where the dog-fighting and training took place.

Last week a news report said that Mr. Vick would most likely pead guilty.

I have been appalled at coverage of Mr. Vick, and his treatment to date. He's lost valuable promotional contracts, been effectively banned from the career he chose, and now has been accused of lying, on the basis of the accusations of two men who admit they participation in criminal behavior.

Mr. Vick may be guilty, but what's been done to him puts me in mind of the 'he's guilty: we'll hang him now, and have a trial later' situation some movies use.

Particularly after the Duke debacle, this guilty-until-proven-innocent situation disturbed me. But I didn't have a blog with a defined topic that allowed discussion of the Michael Vick phenomenon.

Finally, I had an idea: Look up other blogs about Mr. Vick's troubles, and put links to them in an ALN post, with a longer-than-usual discussion.

Update, August 20, 2007, 1:14 pm central time USA - I heard on the news that Michael Vick has entered a guilty plea: apparently on the charge of interstate movement of dogs for gambling purposes. More charges may be brought, of course.

What I said about the treatment of Vick in news media, and by the Falcons owner, stands. Guilty until proven innocent is what legal systems derived from the Napoleonic Code use. We've got innocent until proven guilty as a principle in the USA, at least theoretically.