You just never consider that it could happen to you…and then it does. Then you want to smack yourself in the head.

PSA for today: check your credit card transaction history every month. The sad tale:

I have a credit card through PayPal (a division of evilBay). The Thriller, who pays the bills online every month, noticed that the balance on this account — which he always paid in full — never stayed at zero. Each month, there was a thirty-some dollar charge. He kept paying it, assuming I was just making purchases with it. He even made mention of it once, several months ago: “Your PayPal MasterCard balance…I keep paying it off and it keeps coming back with money on it.” At the time, I think I had charged something online, and I told him so. The matter was dropped.

Then yesterday happened. Long story longer: I spent the entire afternoon on the phone with PP’s fraud department. Seems a lovely bunch of chaps in Great Britain have been charging $40 to my credit card every month since January, just for kicks and giggles — right under my nose.

There’s probably no way I’m going to get my $400 back — I mean, it’s been months and this is eBay, fuh cryin’ out loud, who don’t give a dinkly doo about their customers — but I am sixpence the wiser. Never again will I just assume all is well. Chicanery to the left of me; jugglery to the right. You just can’t trust anything these days. I feel violated and stupid.

So, fiends, a lesson for those who have credit accounts, and for those who might in the future: be suspicious all the time. Never assume your credit card company (or bank) is watching out for you. Don’t believe their hype about “red flagging fraud.” A bogus company that changes its name every month and has a US toll-free number (that doesn’t work, of course — I tried them all) but originates in the UK is not cause for a red flag in their software? I’m not shifting blame, mind. But geez. What a way to run a railroad…

Anyway, I’ve done the research, made records of all the fraudulent charges, compiled them into a report, filled out all the paperwork and faxed it in. And that is how I spent my Monday afternoon.

Cripes.

FO

Yesterday, in my school email, I found this letter:

Each time I get one (which is quite frequently), I find myself wondering, Who actually falls for this stuff? The answer: many folks. It’s unbelievable.

Called “Nigerian 419″ scams because of Nigeria’s law enforcement code for fraud (419), these schemes promise huge windfalls of cash if you’ll only do this, and send this, and pay this fee, and keep this “confidential.” People have gone so far as to physically meet these crooks in Europe somewhere to seal the deal, resulting in losing their life savings, their families, and even their lives. And it doesn’t help that the bad guys will go to incredible lengths to propagate the ruse. Amazing.

Again…to me, and seemingly to anyone with the slightest bit of cautious savvy (and that should define anyone who has an email address, but sadly…), there is no possible way to take seriously an email from a stranger that begins with “Hello Dear” (a badly mangled translation of our standard “Dear _______” greeting), or purports to be royalty or a government official using a Hotmail account.  Also, in an age when our culture is steeped in general suspicion of outsiders or strangers, it is doubly puzzling how people can get sucked in. But they do, and you might be surprised at exactly who they are.

According to my research, it is a sad situation. Oftentimes, people who are duped are a) older, lacking the requisite suspicious nature that keeps us out of trouble like this; b) in a “bad place” in their lives emotionally, seeking a way out through a new beginning with new people; c) desperate — in a horrible financial state and needing a quick fix; or d) just plain greedy, which puts them in the precarious position of being vilified right along with the criminals when the jig is up and they realize they’ve been smoked.

Do you know of anyone who’s fallen for this? I don’t, personally. (And if I fell for it myself, truthfully, I wouldn’t tell anyone.) There are people who deliberately pose as victims, just to lure the snakes out of the underbrush and give them a taste of their own venom. I find that funny, and just a little satisfying, I must admit.

Careful out there, fiends.

PSA Fink

Regardless of your opinions about war, keep in mind that somebody’s great-grandfather, grandfather, uncle, dad, brother or friend risked — and in many cases, gave — his life so you and I could pontificate on them. Thousands more still risk and give their lives, adding into the mix sisters, aunts, moms, etc. So there you go.

Today is a day not to proselytize, but rather to remember. Today, I honor my dad. Please feel free to add to my list and post the name, rank, branch and conflict of a veteran you loved who has passed away or was killed in action.

After that, have a picnic, hug your family, and enjoy the day. Cuz you gotta go to work tomorrow.

Happy!

FO

SN Charles A. Collins (1933-1995), United States Navy, USS SALEM, Korea

You might have read that Michael Vick, former NFL quarterback doing 2 years at Leavenworth, plans to file for reinstatement to the league after pleading guilty to running a dog fighting ring. He hopes that his admission of guilt will shorten his sentence.

Now I believe that someone can do wrong, then rehabilitate. If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell thinks Vick has paid his debt and it’s all right for him to go back to playing football, then that’s his call. I do wonder if the ticket-buying public will completely accept him back, but then again, I’ve heard it said that pro football is more about revenue than football, so…

But why did Vick (and his pals) do this? Certainly it wasn’t because he needed the money — although I guess he needs it now because he’s broke, which makes me wonder how anyone could go through $130 million in such a short time. Still, how could anyone do this and sleep at night?

This is Lucas. He was Vick’s #1 champion fighting dog. His face is torn up with scars. He’s being rehabilitated by some great folks at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, along with 21 of the 47 Pit Bull Terriers seized from “Bad Newz Kennels.”

Georgia, seen here taking a siesta with her handler, was likely one of the most abused of all Vick’s dogs, according to the feature I read. Vick hired a veterinarian (who should have his/her license revoked forever) to pull all 42 of Georgia’s teeth, presumably so she would not bite the male dogs she was repeatedly given to for breeding purposes.

The New York Times article also tells about another Vick-tim named Cherry, who…

…is so terrified of people that he won’t walk on a leash. He just prostrates himself and refuses to budge, so he has to be carried everywhere. Later, when he is finally persuaded to take short walks, he skulks, pressing himself against the nearest wall or fence, as if trying to be invisible.”

It is thought that Cherry was used as a “bait dog.”

Again, I ask: Why would someone do this to an animal? I’m no extremist, but to me, torturing a living being that cannot defend itself, or that does not know what is happening to it or why — for entertainment, fuh cripesake — is the lowest, most vile form of cruelty. The whole mess just makes me seethe with rage.

I believe that the people who did this lack a specific chip in their brain circuitry. The empathy chip; the human decency chip; the Dear-God-Don’t-Make-Me-A-Sociopath chip. Seriously, something is wrong with these guys. And they’re not alone.

In my life, I’ve seen people slap, punch, kick, scream at, and basically try to scare to death innocent dogs. I’ve heard of people feeding them alcohol until the dogs pass out, vomit, or stumble around and hurt themselves. To those folks, I say c’mere. Gotta tell you something. Take your dog to the nearest animal shelter. Then get a cat-o’-nine-tails, remove your shirt, and flog yourself unconscious. Have a friend coat your bed with salt and place you in it. Simmer. Wake up. Scream. Rinse. Repeat.

I think all dog owners should live by this list:

The List of “Nevers”

1. NEVER hit or kick a dog — ever, for any reason — unless it’s attacking you and you fear for your safety.
2. NEVER, upon realizing that your puppy has torn up a magazine or had an accident on the floor while you were gone, rub his snout in the mess or shake the magazine in his face while yelling at him. Want to turn your dog into a psychological mess? Then do that Jekyll-and-Hyde song and dance. Did you ever know someone — maybe a family member — whom you loved and wanted to please, but whose moods were so erratic that you feared him/her walking in the door? Then you know what I mean. Your dog adores you; don’t slap his face for it. There are other ways to redirect bad behaviors. Learn them and do what’s right by your pet. There are lots of great sites, like this one, with excellent information, for free.
3. NEVER assume your dog knows that you’ve had a sucky day at work or school, or a fight with your significant other, or that you’re in a bad mood. Be an adult and put it aside; don’t take it out on your pet.
4. NEVER blame your dog for what is your fault. If you don’t let him out for 12 hours and he has an accident on the floor, clean it up without comment and learn from your mistake. How would you feel if you weren’t allowed to go to the bathroom for 12 hours at a time, or if you had no water to drink all day long because someone was afraid you’d have to go to the bathroom?
5. NEVER assume that since you’ve given this dog a home, he should be grateful to be completely ignored. Dogs can feel loss, depression, boredom, anxiety and loneliness, the same as you and I. If the novelty of having a pet has worn off for you, then give the dog to someone who will treat him with the love and respect he deserves.

Our dogs probably think the sun rises and sets on us, and they want nothing more than to please, and be loved by us. We need to give them the chance to do that.

Sure, release Vick early. But release him to a halfway house and give him a job, lasting for the remainder of what would have been his prison term. Put him to work in a local shelter, or in a vet hospital where abused animals are treated.

Fink out.

PS – National Geographic produced a special about Vick’s dogs. I’d like to see it when it comes around again.

PPS – Browns fans: interesting article off the AP wire yesterday (although I don’t know where ESPN gets off coding the link I clicked to say, “Browns owner puts Crennel, Savage on notice”).

Photo credit: New York Times

With the listing Titanic of the banking industry looming large in the headlines, and the Dow plummeting 700 points, it is easy to concentrate our concern on Wall Street right now. (Personally, I have a problem with bailing out the very people whose footloose practices and limitless hubris got them into the mess they’re in right now, but that’s a post for another day.)

Remember, friends – there are real people suffering elsewhere, too, and not over losing their six-figure salaries. They’re suffering because the building they worked in has been washed away. Because they no longer have a place to live. Because the neighborhood they raised their children in is now gone.

I know there are folks going through hard times everywhere. But if you can, please spare a thought for the recovery effort in Texas, which has been summarily ignored by the press in favor of coverage of the screaming Beakers of Wall Street.

I spoke to #2 son last night (who shall now and forever be referred to by his new RtB code name, Lars), and he said that his new bride (who shall now and forever be referred to by her new RtB code name, Helen) told him on the phone yesterday that Galveston smells like thousands of refrigerators containing rotten food (which is very likely the case). She also observed hundreds of dead birds, and “pond muck” covering almost every surface. Here is a collection of pictures I found that someone took this past Sunday. In essence, people’s lives were simply wiped away and replaced with filth. They need help.

Therefore, I am going to give a gift at RedCross.org – if you are reading RtB today, and you haven’t given yet, would you consider it as well?

It’s as easy as clicking here and giving a small donation. $10, $15. Everything helps; you know it does. I’m going there now.