The heading says it all

DATE: May 4

TITLE: The heading says it all

I don’t quite know what to make of the following comment.

I’ve had odd comments before, including ad hominem attacks, but this one takes the weird cake.

In May of 2015 I wrote a piece I called “Who got it where?” detailing what happened when a group of young men (who should have known better) tried to disrupt a live news broadcast from Toronto’s soccer club, Toronto FC’s home opener by shouting something obscene at the female reporter. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) said that when identified, these young men would be banned from all MLSE arenas. In addition to Toronto FC, that includes the Maple Leafs (hockey), Raptors (basketball) as well as the minor league associates, Toronto Marlboroughs and Raptors 905. As well, when the video went viral, the employer of one of the young men recognized him and his actions cost him a six figure job.

Today, the following comment was posted on that blog and I have no idea what “battleof theatlantic19391945″ is talking about. I’ve removed any possible links to keep me in WordPress’s good books, but otherwise haven’t changed a thing.

battleoftheatlantic19391945
battleoftheatlantic19391945.

Reblogged this on battleoftheatlantic19391945 and commented:
“WINGNUT WEDNESDAY=WITH DIZZY ISSY-ISMAIL-Alias; CP 24 NEWS, TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, May 4/2022@16:59- HEY CANADIAN GOOFS OF PROOFS, CONCERNING TORONTO NEWS STATION CP 24 NEWS, TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, WITH THE DARK DIDDLER FROM India-DIZZY IISSY-Isail-Alias…Long Haired Pony Tail FAIREY-OF Miss Mary…HILLYARD, and Big Busted WILMAS…Tokyo Roses, Axis Sally, ETC., Incorporated, AND THEN SOME!!!” “WELL, YOU CP NEWS CORRESPONDENTS, DOING THE SPORTS TODAY@12:30 P.M., ARE Dizzy Issy RATS-EYES PROFILED; as I do NOT NEED to be WALKING INTO a Eatery in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, PURCHASING FOOD, While Dizzy Issy AND Company HAVE A BUNCH OF TORONTO-CANADA RATS, TELL YOU where I am, AND What I am doing!!!” “JUST BECAUSE, I more than precisely FIGURED OUT YOUR TORONTO POLICE FORCE, TORONTO-ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE; to a FINE TOOTHED COMB, DOES NOT MEAN YOU CP 24 NEWS PROOFS OF GOOFS; HAVE TO GET ALL BENT OUT OF SHAPE ABOUT IT, and FURTHERMORE, YOU and DIZZY Issy-Pretty Paki Blue-Mary’s Fairies; SHOULD MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, AND LEAVE THE BEAUTIFUL MODELS in THE WORLD-UP TO Mr. Murza’s Levi’s Bluej-ean’s, AND THEN SOME!!!” “GET BACK TO WORK, KEEP YOUR Canadian Big Noses Out of People’s Business; AND STOP being a CANADIAN PEDOPHILE CIVILIAN SATELLITE-COMPUTER SPY RING=VAS/Viewer-Associate-Supporter…RAT!!!” Posted by: Brian CANUCK-THE BREEZE Murza, Present Day Military Analyst/Amateur, High Treason Q.E.II Analyst, W.W.II Naval Researcher-Published Author, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

So, unless this truly is the ravings of a madman, can somebody please decipher this for me?

Thanks.

Cat.

What are you talking about?

I received the following as a spam comment on a previous posting, “I think not” of September 23. The post dealt with an email I received “confirming” my order of 12TB of space from Apple on iCloud at a price of $1,499.99 US. At the time that would have been $1,890 Canadian.

The message I received was this:
B: I think not! If I hear any more from you about this, you’ll be hearing from my solicitor. Sorry, but I don’t have any references I can cite.

To save him any (well deserved) embarrassment, I’ve deleted his email address.

Now, unless he was the person that sent the original attempted scam, his threat to sic his solicitor on me is meaningless. And he further shot himself in the foot by stating he doesn’t have any references he can cite.

So I can only think this person is just some troll trying to stir up some excitement on New Year’s Eve.

Enjoy your (socially distant) New Year’s Eve and have a safe 2022.

Remember to hug an artist – we need love too.

Cat.

The return of Joseph

With the pandemic seeming to monopolize the news I haven’t written anything yet this year. The frequent reporting of case count and death totals, internationally, nationally and locally has me to the point where I now watch one newscast a day. I am aware of the American election and the circus and insurrection that followed (and still goes on) but as someone who isn’t American, I saw no reason to comment.

My regular followers and readers may recall “Joseph”, whom I took to task on several occasions over his comments on some of my “Bring him to justice” postings. Well, he’s back with more inane comments and ad hominem attacks. This time, on a posting, “Bring him to justice – where are the words?” from April 2019 lamenting the lack of news coverage over the George Flowers incident, his comment was “100%”. What the hell does that mean? Does he agree there should have been more coverage, or is he indicating his pleasure with the lack of coverage?

The other two comments were ad hominem attacks that don’t bear repeating here. I will say that they both refer to the fact I’m a transwoman. In one, he obviously didn’t read the post correctly where I said the Court ordered Flowers to serve two years less a day in a federal facility, because he states that length of term is served in a provincial jail. Joseph, read my words again “The Court imposed a sentence of time served plus two years less a day in a federal penitentiary.” (Bold face added. C) The other comment made some weird reference to my chin.

Joseph, three things: first, as I’m sure you know, the word “tranny” is very offensive unless you’re referring to an automotive transmission. Second, I didn’t you know had some strange chin fetish. And finally, my being transgender didn’t seem to bother you when you accused me of just being bitter because Flowers rejected me. What changed?
Cat.

Bring him to justice – writer’s comments

I began writing the “Bring him to justice” series of blogs in 2012. Over the intervening years I have received many comments. Some have been encouragement to keep writing of that matter. Some have been thanks for bringing and keeping it before the public. Others have been questions regarding the state of the situation and still others provided me with links to Jamaican news coverage of his attempts to avoid extradition.

Then there are the others. I’ve read, and often approved, comments defending George Flowers or offering excuses for his actions. And in cases where the person offering the comment could neither defend nor excuse him, they chose instead to attack the writer.

On September 23, 2020 I published “Bring him to justice – justice served” outlining Flowers’s guilty plea and the resulting sentence. In that blog I said “And to supporters of him I’d like to point out that his guilty plea is an admission that he did in fact do what he was accused of doing. Spare me your bullshit excuses for his actions. You’ve wasted enough of my time already.” I guess those last two sentences worked for I’ve heard nothing from those who previously defended or excused him or launched personal attacks on me. And honestly I’m not surprised his so-called supporters were so quick to abandon him once he entered his plea. Something about rats and sinking ships comes to mind.

I can understand not hearing from those people who encouraged and supported me, for September 23, 2020 marked an end to one part of their ordeal. I sincerely hope the guilty plea and the imposed sentence gives you some relief.

Cat.

I’m insulted

While trying to post the previous blog, I checked comments waiting for approval and found three. All were on different blogs and came from different ip addresses. The text was the same in all three: This blog O Canada what have you done? has helped me a
lot with my dog. Also, I used this training course (site name deleted) and now my dog follows everything I ask.
Kiss you All!

If you’ve been a long-time reader, you know I didn’t like the Stephen Harper government so that I railed against them yet again would be no surprise. This particular instance the actions of that government struck me as especially high-handed. Until this bill was passed, in order to strip someone of their Canadian citizenship, it was necessary to go through the courts. The Act in question changed it so the decision would be made not by the courts, but by the Minister responsible for Citizenship and Immigration. Naturally I was – and still am- opposed to such a star chamber approach and voiced my opinion.

There is nothing in that blog that would lend itself to training a dog unless, to get silly for a moment, the training goes something like “You will obey me or I will strip your identity as a Great Dane and make you a pug instead”. We had Samoyeds and a book we read on training Samis stated “figure out what the dog wants to do, tell him to do it, then praise him when he does.”

Obviously, these three comments were sent by bots using key words in the three blogs in question to generate the message, but I’m still insulted.

Remember to hug an artist, we need love (and fewer insults) too.

Cat.

Horrors! A spelling cop!

I received the following as a comment intended for my post “Bring him to justice – progress report”:

Pigment Red 122
obviously like your website however you need to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth nevertheless I will definitely come back again.

First, this person has apparently never heard of spellcheck. Second, I suspect that his/her main quarrel is that I use English, not American spellings, so the addition of the “u” in words such as “colour” are upsetting him. Too bad. I was educated in Canada so find it natural to use English spellings. (As a matter of trivia, one of the first things our first Prime Minister passed was a law requiring the “u” in words such as “neighbour” and “colour” and I don’t think that’s been repealed.) I will admit that it is well worded, which I’ve found is quite rare in comments of this type.  Finally, does the writer think I don’t know how to proofread?

I will definitely come back again. Please don’t. If your only comments are going to be criticisms of my spelling, which apparently doesn’t mesh with your view of the way things “should” be, go elsewhere.

Since it’s January 1, I wish all my followers and readers a safe and happy 2020. Remember to hug an artist, we need love (and spellcheck) too.

Cat.

How indeed?

Those bots that use key words in postings to send emails or comments really do need to be refined. Although doing so would probably reduce the material available for me to use for blogs. However, the way these throw random words together can be very amusing on occasion, even if they have no bearing on the item being commented upon.

As I wrote in “How can you not know this?”, I was taking part in a study in Toronto yesterday, so didn’t see this in my spam folder until today.

blogfreely

Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.
Look advanced to far added agreeable from you!
However, how could we communicate?

The blog this is directed at was “If you can’t rebut, attack” from March of 2015. In this, I took someone to task because rather than try to counter my arguments/comments on a situation, they chose to launch a direct attack on me. Oh hell, it’s short, so I’ll just reprint it here. It better shows the inappropriateness of “blogfreely”s comment.  The person “Joseph” is referring to is George Flowers, who has been the subject of my “Bring him to justice” series of blogs.

Mar 25, 2015

If you can’t rebut, attack.

Earlier today, a reader named “Joseph” posted a comment on “I don’t follow the logic” in which he made some general claims without backing them up. In response to this comment, which was really only an attack on some other people and myself, I wrote “Anything constructive to add?”.Joseph seemed to feel I was writing an untrue (his word) story. In my responses (two of them) to his comment, it appears I hit a nerve. I haven’t approved his latest comment because it is nothing but another attack rant.

The first part of it refers to other people, so I won’t copy it here, but the rest refers to me, so here it is, complete with foul language and misspellings:
Your saying because the police put out a warrent he’s guilty?
WowYOUR just a lonely little person with nothing better to do but write story’s for your friends.
You are no writer that’s for sure.Won’t even waste my time anymore.You must be one of the ones he told to fuck off.
All your friends but you
You angry?
No, I’m saying the police believe they had enough evidence to issue the warrants. It’s up to the Canadian courts to determine his guilt or innocence following his extradition after two years in a Jamaican jail.
YOUR just a lonely little person with nothing better to do but write story’s for your friends.You are no writer that’s for sure.
I’m not going to dignify these comments with any further comment, for your judgement would depend upon your point of reference.
Won’t even waste my time anymore.
Good. Please unfollow my blog.
You must be one of the ones he told to fuck off. Actually, had he approached me, I’d have told him to take a hike. I didn’t like him on sight. I found him arrogant and thought he was nothing but a poseur.
Joseph, as I wrote above, some of my comments must have hit home or else rather than attack me, you would have attempted to rebut my points. For your information, the term for an attack on a writer, is “ad hominem”. I didn’t use it earlier because I didn’t want the big words to confuse you.
Cat.

Now that you understand the piece “blogfreely” commented on, you can see how my opening comments apply to the message. “Amusement account”? Maybe to some readers, but I doubt “Joseph” found it funny.

However, how could we communicate? I’m going to be generous and presume the message came from a bot and wasn’t written by an actual English-speaking person. Because I couldn’t have a conversation with any type of machine that throws words together randomly, and neither could I have a conversation with a person who writes like this because the only part that makes sense is the last question – sort of.

Cat.

I’d rather do it myself

I found the following in the comments on WordPress this morning. I’ve removed all references and links that could get me in trouble with WordPress (again).

Hi. I see that you don’t update your page too often. I know that writing content is time consuming and boring.
But did you know that there is a tool that allows you to create new articles using existing content (from
article directories or other pages from your niche)?

And it does it very well. The new articles are high quality and
pass the copyscape test. You should try *** tools

Let’s look at this critically. “I see that you don’t update your page too often”. If I didn’t know the message came from a bot, I’d be flattered that someone checked my page so frequently that they’d noticed.

“I know that writing content is time consuming and boring.” Sorry, but I don’t consider writing as either time consuming or boring. If you consider writing such an onerous task, you shouldn’t be doing it.

“But did you know that there is a tool that allows you to create new articles using existing content (from article directories or other pages from your niche)?” Great. So there is a tool that will write articles for me. Articles that won’t scan the way my writing scans (or doesn’t – your choice) and may not be on a topic I would even consider writing about. Or is this really saying “we have this fabulous tool that will plagiarize other articles and mould them into something new for you.”

I write about whatever stirs my interest and arouses some feeling. That’s why I may not update every day, or week. It depends upon what’s wound me up and whether I feel I can get a decent blog from it. The series “Bring him to justice” is a good example of not writing on a daily or weekly basis. This series deals with a man who didn’t tell his partners he was HIV positive – for at least a decade! As I know people he dated, I’m quite passionate about seeing him before the courts, but I only update when I have concrete information. I won’t print rumours for fear they may jeopardise the Crown’s case or possibly give his victims false hope.

Finally, what the hell is the “copyscape test”?

So, thanks for your offer, but I’d rather do it myself.

Cat.

Bring him to justice – comment response

The following is a comment on “Bring him to justice – one step closer”:

Any word on this reprobate? This monster needs to be brought back to face justice. I understand the concern for his victims, but is it okay for him to get away with what he did and not have to pay in anyway? Does he have the right to live a free man in Jamaica while his victims have to live with what he did to them? Shouldn’t he pay for his crimes? If he gets away with what he has done, it sends the wrong message to others who may be infected with HIV and think they have the right to privacy. I think he needs to pay so it sends a loud and clear message to others.

Rather than respond directly to the writer, I felt it would be better to respond this way, for there is much to say on this.

This monster needs to be brought back to face justice. First, there is no further news on his return. I’ve been told through sources that his lawyer has filed suit against the Jamaican Minister of Justice claiming Flowers’s rights were violated by some action of the Minister. Until that case is heard, no further action on the extradition can happen. I know, I know. It doesn’t make me happy either.

I understand the concern for his victims, but is it okay for him to get away with what he did and not have to pay in anyway? No, it certainly isn’t okay for him to get away with what he did. But, look at it from the victim’s point of view. After their encounters with Flowers, many of these women were ostracised by their friends and in some cases, family. Some of the fortunate ones were able to either rebuild their lives or re-invent themselves with a new circle of friends who know nothing of the past. When (or if) this goes before a Canadian court, whoever Flowers retains to represent him will rip these carefully constructed lives to shreds, once again making these women victims.

Does he have the right to live a free man in Jamaica while his victims have to live with what he did to them? Shouldn’t he pay for his crimes? Well, he isn’t living as a “free man”. He is in a Kingston jail and as I understand it, he is in segregation so no, he doesn’t have the right. In the (extremely unlikely) case the Jamaican courts see fit to overturn the extradition order and release him, he will find his troubles have only started. Jamaica consistently ranks among the top of lists of the world’s most homophobic countries. Gays and trans people are frequently beaten and killed just for being who they are. If word gets out that Flowers, walking the streets of Kingston or any other Jamaican area, is HIV positive, or has AIDS, his taste of freedom may be brief indeed. And as this case has been covered in the Jamaican media he would find it difficult to conceal his identity.

If he gets away with what he has done, it sends the wrong message to others who may be infected with HIV and think they have the right to privacy. Back to what I wrote earlier, if he does face Canadian justice, and his lawyer does succeed in destroying the lives of the witnesses, what kind of message does it send then? Perhaps it would have the effect of keeping others from coming forward to authorities from fear of exposure in the media.

Cat.

Notes on a phishing expedition

I found the following in my gmail spam this morning and it easily lends itself to explaining some of the telltales it is a scam and/or phishing expedition. I’ve put the areas I wish to discuss in boldface for you.

CONTACT HSBC BANK FOR YOUR BANK TRANSFER UPDATE

Mr. Stanley Clarke @gmail.com>

01:48 (9 hours ago)

to

HSBC Regional Bank FL (HSBC Regional Bank)
Avenue Cotonou , BP 988 Cotonou Benin Republic.
Telex :5211 F B COTONOU BENIN REPUBLIC .
Tel::+22968579277
From the desk of, Mr. Stanley Clarke ,
Director Payment Department. Hsbc Bank
of West African(HSBC Regional Bank)
Instant compensation Payment valued at US$7,500.000.00 usd

It is my modest obligation to write you this letter as regards the authorization of your owed payment through our most respected financial institution (HSBC Regional Bank). I am Mr. Stanley Clarke , the chief executive officer, foreign operations department HSBC Regional Bank, the British government in conjunction with U.S government, united nations organization on foreign payment matters has empowered my bank after much consultation and consideration to handle all foreign payments and release them to their appropriate beneficiaries.
Having received these vital payment numbers, you are instantly qualified to receive and confirm your payment with us within the next 48hrs.

Be well informed that we have verified your payment file as directed to us and your name is next on the list of our outstanding fund beneficiaries to receive their payment before the end of this first term of the year 2015. Be advised that because of too many funds beneficiaries due for payment at this first quarter of the year, you are entitled to receive the sum of Seven million Five hundred thousand United State dollars (7,500.000.00 us dollars only) as part payment of your fund.
So you are therefore advise to re-confirm the following Information for immediate payment processing.

1) Your full name:…..
2) Your full address:….
3) Your contact telephone and Fax:…..
4) Your profession:…….
5) Any valid form of your identification/driven license:…

As soon as we receive the above mentioned information, your payment will be processed and released to you without any further delay. Be also informed that You are not allowed to communicate with any other person(s) or office so as to avoid conflict of information, you are required to provide the above information for your transfer to take place through HSBC Regional Bank to your personal bank account.

We look forward to serving you better.

Yours sincerely.

First, I doubt strongly a firm with the global reach of HSBC would be using a gmail address. Email would probably come from their own site. Incidentally, I deleted the sender’s name which was shown as “johnsonmarkso99″ because I’ve had a problem with WordPress not liking too many email addresses in blogs – they take it as spam and shut you down.

Next, Benin Republic. Benin seems to have become the new Nigeria for this type of scam. I’ve also received similar messages from Burkina Faso among others.

Another clue this is a shotgun style scam is that it isn’t addressed to anyone in particular.

US$7,500,000 is a nice amount to offer. Not too large as to seem suspicious, yet not small enough to make people ignore it. However, the way they showed the amount “US$7,500,000.00 usd” is not the way a legitimate banking operation would show any dollar figure.

Dummy, you forgot to change the year to 2016. If you did indeed mean “the year 2015″, you’ve been very lax in performing you duties in advising me.

Now that they’ve dangled the bait in the form of seven-and-a-half mill, they set the hook. Notice the information they ask for, especially the inclusion of a copy of some form of identification. If you were foolish enough to actually send them the requested information, you can not only kiss the 7.5 good-bye, but you’ve given them sufficient information to steal your identity. But of course since you’re one of my followers or readers, you have the smarts not to fall for this.

The fact you are advised not to tell anyone about this is to stop you from going to the authorities once they’ve stolen your name. (Damn!! Since I’m telling you, I guess I’m not getting my money. Oh well.)

There is one more thing that is glaring in its absence. They ask for all kinds of information except for the number of the bank account in which you want the money deposited. Were this legitimate, wouldn’t you think they’d need that information?

These are a few of the things to watch for the next time someone tells you they’ve got millions for you and they are all red flags.

Enjoy your weekend (unless you’re in the northeastern US, in which case, stay safe); don’t take any wooden nickels and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.

Cat